Current state of Black-tailed Godwits <i>Limosa limosa limosa</i> breeding in France

In recent decades, the NW Europe population of the nominate subspecies of the Black-tailed Godwit, Limosa limosa limosa, has been in steep decline. As no changes in survival have been apparent so far, these declines are likely to have been caused by declines in recruitment, possibly due to decreasing quality and availability of breeding habitat. Most nominate Black-tailed Godwits breed in agricultural grasslands in the Netherlands and, to some extent, in Germany. Here we show that, in contrast to the general decreasing trend, numbers of breeding pairs have actually increased at the southernmost limit of their distribution in France, from 51 pairs in 1985 to 164 pairs in 2011. We review current knowledge of this godwit population as a basis for a demographic study