Monitoring Collared Pratincoles in the Camargue
Objectives
The Collared Pratincole (Glareola pratincola) is a species with an extremely small nesting population in France, less than 150 pairs, essentially in the Camargue. It is listed as endangered on the Red List of birds in France.
The threefold aim of this project is to monitor the trend of the breeding population as well as its breeding success, to establish links with local stakeholders to preserve the colonies in the Camargue, and to create sites that are favourable for nesting to ensure the conservation of this fragile population.
Actions and methodology
This monitoring was initiated in 2000 by the Tour du Valat and conducted by Nicolas Vincent-Martin (PACA Nature Conservation Agency), before being entirely taken over by the Tour du Valat team in 2011.
Several prospecting outings take place every year starting in April to identify where the colonies are located. Once their location has been determined, weekly monitoring is conducted remotely to estimate the number of nesting birds and their breeding success.
When possible, we also contact the owners or managers of the farmland where the Collared Pratincole nest, to reconcile as much as possible agricultural uses with the protection of the colonies.
The Tour du Valat has also been developing an area on its estate since 2012 to make it attractive to Collared Pratincoles for breeding. We are planning to extend this type of action to a network of sites in the Camargue, to multiply the opportunities for this species and to guard against the risks of regular visits by predators to these areas.
Results
The 16 years of monitoring have allowed us to establish that the breeding population over this period was between 37 and 127 pairs, and that the breeding success was from 0.5 to 1.07 fledglings leaving the nest per pair.
A Sciences and Management handbook The Collared Pratincole in the Camargue, published by the Tour du Valat in 2013, describes the results of this monitoring programme and the measures to be implemented to improve the conservation of this species in the Camargue. You can access it free of charge in the “For more information” section below.
Team
- Project leader: Yves Kayser
- Staff involved: Jocelyn Champagnon
- Date of project: Since 2000
Partners
Technical partners
Financial partners
Publications
- La Glaréole à collier en Camargue. Brochure Sciences et Gestion. 2013. Tour du Valat, Arles.
- Kayser Y. 2016. Suivi de la reproduction de la Glaréole à collier Glareola pratincola en Camargue et ses environs et actions de conservation pour l’année 2015. Rapport Tour du Valat, Arles.
- Kayser Y. 2017. Suivi de la reproduction de la Glaréole à collier Glareola pratincola en Camargue et ses environs et actions de conservation pour l’année 2016. Rapport Tour du Valat, Arles.
