Population status of waders wintering on Europe’s non-estuarine coasts

A total of nearly 800,000 waders of 27 species were estimated to winter on the non-estuarine coasts of the 12 countries that participated in the European Non-Estuarine Coastal Waterbird Survey (Europe-NEWS) (note, this is a minimum estimate as in some countries, counts were not extrapolated or regions were not covered). Most were found in the north-west of Europe, the UK (including the Isle of Man) holding 49.8% of the total estimate, France 19.3%, Germany 13.6% and Ireland 11.5%. The most abundant species were Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus, Dunlin Calidris alpina, Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus and Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata, though key species – those for which the non-estuarine habitats in the participant12 countries were estimated to hold over 25% of biogeographic populations – were Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula, Sanderling Calidris alba, Purple Sandpiper C. maritima and Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres. Omissions from these estimates and population trends are discussed.