Ringed plover
Charadrius hiaticula
The ringed plover (not to be confused with little ringed plover) is a small, dumpy, short-legged ground nesting wading bird. It is brownish grey above and whitish below. It has an orange bill, tipped with black, orange legs and a black-and-white pattern on its head and breast. In flight it shows a broad white wing-stripe. It breeds on mudflats, saltmarsh, coastal/inland shingle habitat and artificial gravel environments. The breeding population is complemented in winter by birds from Greenland and Canada passing through on migration.
The ringed plover is an amber list species (medium conservation concern) due to a decline in the UK winter population over the last 25 years. In 2006 there were estimated to be 540 breeding pairs and 34,510 wintering individuals. Although the majority of pairs breed at coastal sites, there is growing evidence that numbers using inland locations are increasing. The bird requires open shingle areas for nesting, and access to habitats rich in invertebrates to feed chicks plus some cover to protect chicks from natural predators. Decline in the species nationally is due to a combination of factors, the most important of which is a reduction of suitable nesting sites through development, disturbance and vegetation growth. Other factors are the indiscriminate use of beach cleaning methods, sea rise due to climate change and predation from fox, gull, crow, hedgehog, stoat, weasel and mink.
In the Tees Valley there has been a significant reduction in breeding habitat range since the 1980’s. A breeding bird survey by the Teesmouth Bird Club from 1999-2006 shows 32 pairs holding territories, mainly at coastal sites. In the mid 1980’s observers recorded breeding pairs (a maximum of 32 recorded) on the north side of the Tees Estuary, on industrial sites, mainly on the ICI Brinefields site. In 2006 no breeding territories were evident on these sites. The reasons for this loss are unclear. New open shingle areas on the Brinefields site have not been colonised and there has been no perceived disturbance of nest sites nor increase in natural predators on these industrial sites.
