Habitat Selection by Golden Plover Pluvialis Apricaria Chicks

Despite the listing of golden plover Pluvialis apricaria on Annex 1 of the European Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds there is virtually no information on the habitat requirements or diet of their chicks. We used radio telemetry to investigate habitat selection of 22 broods on two upland study sites in northern England. Broods (< 16 days old) avoided old or extensive stands of heather Calluna vulgaris but selected small patches of heather mixed with grass. They also selected marshes (mainly soft rush Juncus effusus), grassland and Eriophorum vaginatum mire. Habitat selection broadly fitted the distribution of their favoured prey (Tipula spp. and beetles). We suspect food availability, vegetation structure and cover from predators may partly explain habitat preferences. We suggest moorland could be managed for golden plover broods by managing stocking densities to create patchworks of grass and heather and a heterogeneous mature heather sward and by blocking drainage ditches to create areas of soft rush. Habitat-Selektion von Goldregenpfeifer-Küken (Pluvialis apricaria) Trotz der Auflistung des Goldregenpfeifers (Pluvialis apricaria) in Anhang 1 der „European Direc-tive of the Conservation of Wild Birds “ gibt es kaum Informationen über die Habitatansprüche und die Nahrung der Küken. Wir nutzten die Radio-Telemetrie für die Analyse der Habitat-Selektion von 22 Bruten auf zwei Hochland-Untersuchungsgebieten in Nord-England. Die Bruten (< 16 Tag