Ardea
Official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists' Union

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Berg A. (1993) Habitat selection by monogamous and polygamous Lapwings on farmland: The importance of foraging habitats and suitable nest sites. ARDEA 81 (2): 99-105
Habitat selection of polygamous and monogamous Lapwings breeding on farmland was studied at a farmland site in central Sweden during the spring of 1988. Foraging habitat was an important factor in the habitat selection of Lapwings. Wetness was more important than land use, since both flooded tillage and flooded grasslands were used more than expected for foraging, while dry habitats were used less than expected. Strong preferences for flooded tillage were found early in the season, while both flooded tillage and flooded grasslands were preferred late in season. The area of dry tillage (preferred nesting habitat) within territories did not differ from what could randomly be expected, probably because this habitat is common and not a limiting factor at the study site. Polygamous males had larger territories with a larger area of foraging habitats than monogamous males. The area of nesting habitat did not differ significantly between these two types of territories, again suggesting that foraging habitats were more important for territory establishment of Lapwings. There seemed to be a trade-off between establishing a large territory (and possibly attracting several females) and anti-predator defence, since territory size was negatively correlated with the number of close neighbours, which earlier has been shown to affect the predation risk in the same population.


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