The Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) in Norway: Exploring the population decline through bird ringing data and habitat selection
Abstract
The Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) is one of many farmland birds that have been suffering from population declines as a result of agricultural intensification over the past few decades. Through the use of ringing- and recovery data I have looked at the changes in the Norwegian population of Lapwings through time. Relating the changes to the changing circumstances surrounding the recovery of ringed Lapwings, I found that while the majority of recovered Lapwings previously were recovered shot, this is a less prevalent circumstance in recent decades. Using the ringing- and recovery data I have also created a Bayesian model for mortality, and in accordance with studies done in other countries I found that mortality has remained quite stable through time, thus not being the main reason for the population decline. I have also looked at habitat selection through a census study of Lapwings in different types of farmland habitats the region of Jæren, Rogaland the spring of 2013. Censusing a total of 192 farmland fields shared among 17 transects, observing in total 199 Lapwings, I did not find a statistically significant relationship between habitat selection and availability.