Kieviten Vanellus vanellus op bedrijventerrein Graswijk, een leven tussen hoop en asfalt

In Drenthe the Lapwing used to be a characteristic birds of meadows and fields, but numbers sharply decreased during the past decades. During 1998-2010 I studied the Lapwings in a small (22 ha) study area of which the area suitable for the species (short vegetations) decreased from 14 ha in 2000 to only 1.3 ha in 2011 (Fig. 1). Despite the decreased area for breeding and foraging, the number of pairs was stable or slightly increasing. Breeding success was high as compared to the success of lapwings on agricultural land (Table 1). The birds foraged mainly on fallow land, but in the evening, when employees of the firms had gone home, they foraged on lawns close to buildings as well.