Press Releases - November/December 2006
Item 9

No. 2006/12/75
December 2006

Plover lovers needed this weekend

Over 4,000 birdwatchers will be out this weekend looking for Lapwings and Golden Plovers. Join them and help the British Trust For Ornithology chart the fortunes of these birds this winter.

It is estimated that 1.5 million Lapwings and 250,000 Golden Plovers spend the winter in Britain. The BTO want to know where they are. As the weather gets colder these birds move west across the country. Where are they now? Help the BTO to find out by counting the flocks of Lapwings and Golden Plovers in your area this weekend.
The numbers of both of these plovers doubled during October and November. Has this increase continued into December? If you see a large flock of Golden Plovers and Lapwings, you can submit your sighting using the simple casual records form on the BTO website, by visiting www.bto.org and clicking on Winter Plover Survey. You can improve the value of your sightings by returning to the area to provide monthly updates; the next organised count of these birds will be on January 21, however casual records can be submitted anytime. Remember that these two species can be rather mobile, so it’s worth checking the area thoroughly and not simply checking the one field they were in last time.

Paul Stancliffe, BTO Promotions Officer said, “Both of these species are widespread in the UK during the winter and it would be impossible to monitor every bit of suitable habitat, this is why we are asking as many people to get involved as possible to allow us to get as full a picture as we can.”

In order to take part, you need to be able to identify Lapwings and Golden Plovers, and you need to be able to read grid references. Simply pick up your binoculars and see what you can find.

Notes for Editors

1. Identification. Lapwing is an unmistakable black and white, pigeon-sized, stocky plover. It has a unique long, thin, wispy crest, and at close range can show a green and purple iridescence on the dark upperparts. The flight is deliberate and flappy, with the wings showing white below and dark above, giving a distinctive flickering effect. Golden Plover is smaller and daintier than Lapwing, is brown above and on the breast, and white below.

2. Golden Plovers wintering in Britain may come from three populations. Most are from Iceland and Scandinavia/western Russia, with fewer from Britain, Denmark and Germany. Lapwings wintering in the UK include local breeders and birds from Scandinavia and continental Europe, and from as far east as Russia.

3. Lapwings and Golden Plovers feed on a wide range of ground living invertebrates, but principally beetles and earthworms. These large eyed plovers mainly feed at night and by day are often to be found roosting on fields. Flocks of up to 5,000 can carpet fields but even reports of groups of 50 birds are important.

4. Important wintering sites already identified will be surveyed by Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) surveyors. WeBS is the scheme, which monitors non-breeding water birds in the UK. The principal aims of WeBS are to estimate population sizes, determine trends in numbers and distribution and to identify important sites for water birds.

5. The Wetland Bird Survey is funded by a partnership of the British Trust for Ornithology, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (on behalf of English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Countryside Council for Wales, and also on behalf of the Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland). The daily running of WeBS is administered by the British Trust for Ornithology.

6. Forms to submit winter plover sightings can be downloaded from the BTO website www.bto.org/goto/winter-plovers.htm

7. Colour photographs. Images of garden birds are freely available for use in association with this press release. Please contact to request an electronic version. Please quote reference number 2006/12/75.

8. Bird Information. For lots of facts and figures about Lapwings and Golden Plovers go to www.bto.org/birdfacts

9. The BTO has an ISDN line available for radio interviews.

For further information please contact:

Simon Gillings on
Paul Stancliffe: