Collared Pratincole
Glareola pratincola Linnaeus, 1766
Glareola torquata Gm.: Finsch, 1859: 385; Sintenis, 1877: 67.
Order Charadriiformes
Family Glareolidae
Conservation status: in Bulgaria: Endangered EN* [C[2(a(i+ii)+b)]]-[B[1(b(ii+iii+iv+v)+c(ii+iv+v))+2(a+b(ii+iii+iv)+c(ii+iii+iv)]+C[2(a(i)+b)]], BDA-III; International: BeC-III, BoC-II, BD-I.
General distribution. Probably an Indo-African species. In Europe it is distributed in a scattered manner. There are isolated habitats in the Pyrenean peninsula, Southern France, Italy, Hungary, the Balkan countries, Russia, the Ukraine. It multiplies around the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, in Asia it reaches the Near East and Eastern Kazakhstan.
Distribution and abundance in Bulgaria. A breeding summer visitor. In the past it bred along the Danube, along the Black Sea coast and within the country [1]. At present there are regular breeding sites along the Black Sea coast – up to the lakes Shabla (8 pairs) [3], Pomoriysko (8 pairs) [4], Atanasovsko (25-30 pairs) [5], Mandrensko (5-15 pairs) [5], and within the country – the Manchoviya Dab locality (16 pairs), a microreservoir (30 pairs) and fields near the town of Chirpan (23 pairs), near the village of Plodovitovo (18 pairs), wet meadows near the village of Belozem (23 pairs), and between the villages of Choba and Brezovo (9 pairs) [6], etc. The breeding population is subjected to large fluctuations in which the number of the breeding pairs and the places of the colonies change every year. It is estimated at 100-150 pairs [2].
Habitats. Swamps, bogs and other freshwater water basins, shore brackish and salty lagoons and saltworks, irrigation areas, arable lands, pastures, seasonally flooded agricultural lands, etc.
Biology. A colonial species. Courting is from the middle of April, the building of the nests from the end of April. Eggs (2-4) are laid in the middle of May. The young ones hatch at the beginning of June [5]. They feed on ground beetles and their larvae and also on grass-hoppers [7].
Similar species. The Black-winged Pratincole (Glareola nordmanni).
Negative factors. Loss and degradation of habitats, agricultural activities, predatory animals.
Conservation measures taken. Protected according to the Biological Diversity Act. Included in the Red Data Book of Bulgaria (1985). The breeding places along the Black Sea coast are declared Protected Territories.
Conservation measures needed. Monitoring of the distribution and the size of the breeding population for clarifying the reasons of the large fluctuations in the numbers. Study of the biology and the ecology of the species. Increase of the level of information of the local population.
References. 1. Michev, 1985; 2. Nankinov et al. 2004; 3. Ivanov, 1998; 4. Nankinov et al. 2002; 5. Dalakchieva, 2004; 6. Ornithological Database Green Balkans; 7. Kotsakov, Kantardzhiev, 1986.
Authors: Svetla Dalakchieva
