Nest-site selection of Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) in the centre of its European range: adaptation to local macrohabitat factors

Abstract

The most important cause of the declining numbers of wading birds is a combination of habitat loss and degradation, as well as low productivity due to predation. Knowledge of the habitat requirements of this endangered group of species is critical for maintaining and restoring suitable breeding habitats. The aim of this paper is to characterize those habitat components of the Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) which determine its choice of nesting site. This study was undertaken in three sites in Poland, the most important breeding areas of this species in this country. Our results showed that macrohabitat factors affect curlew nest-site selection in different ways. The most important ones were distance to a forest edge, the percentage cover of managed farmland in the vicinity and the number of farmland plots close to the nest. Other habitat components, such as distance to scattered trees, distance to roads and soil category, were of lesser importance and could be treated as localized. This study is a contribution to the knowledge of the Eurasian Curlew’s nest-site selection in farmland grasslands, which may have implications for its conservation.