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Wader population estimates in France resulting from the 1997/98 Non-Estuarine Coastal Waterbird Survey

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Pages
23 – 30

Published
1 January 08

Authors
Bernard Deceuninck, Roger Mahéo, François Gabillard

Correspondence
Bernard Deceuninck,
bernard.deceuninck@lpo.fr
LPO – BirdLife-France, B.P. 90263, F-17305 Rochefort Cédex, France

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France-NEWS was run in parallel to the mid-January International Waterbird Census (IWC) in January 1998. It covered about 50% of France’s open (non-estuarine) coasts and recorded 106,512 waders on this habitat, which is some 17% of the 632,246 waders counted along the whole French coast. A total of 152,925 waders was estimated to be present on non-estuarine sites in France. Open coasts in France hold more than 5% of the European wintering populations estimates of Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula (6,200: 10%), Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola (8,200: 6.8%), Sanderling Calidris alba (9,800: 20.8%) and Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres (5,700: 7.1%). The two most common species on non-estuarine sites are Dunlin Calidris alpina (53,500: 4.1%) and Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus (38,000: 1.4%). In combination with data gathered as part of the IWC, France-NEWS made it possible to revise the French population estimates of all waders, with the exception of Eurasian Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria , Northern Lapwing, Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus , Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago and Eurasian Woodcock Scolopax rusticola that winter in large numbers in areas not covered by these counts.