Rationale
(Changed due to Not applicable)
Evidence of declines in Europe, West Africa and Central Asia indicate that the global population of Black-winged Pratincole Glareola nordmanni has experienced moderately rapid declines in population size. The rate of decline is unknown but is believed to approach the threshold of 30% over three generations that would satisfy the criterion for globally Vulnerable. The majority of the global population overwinters in southern Africa. The global status of Near Threatened is adopted as the regional status.
Distribution
The Black-winged Pratincole is a Palearctic migrant which breeds in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, migrating south in the austral summer into Africa and dispersing on a broad front (Kamp et al. 2009). Southern Africa, including Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and north-western South Africa, hosts the majority of the global population during this period (Kamp et al. 2009). Within the region, the historic range of the species has declined dramatically with it being considered a vagrant in areas where it was at one time abundant (Maclean and Herremans 1997), such as the Karoo and Eastern Cape. On its African wintering grounds, the Black-winged Pratincole is nomadic, responding rapidly to environmental cues such as insect emergences after storms (Cramp and Simmons 1983). The Amersfoort-Bethal-Carolina District, Chrissie Pans and Nyl River Floodplain are listed as the key sites in the region. An examination of atlas data indicates a 42% decline in EoO between the two periods indicating that the former range has contracted significantly.
Population
The global population has been quantified at 76 000-95 000 pairs (Kamp et al. 2009). It is extremely difficult to estimate the number of birds in the region on an annual basis and numbers fluctuate greatly (Maclean and Herremans 1997). In 1991, between 205 000 and 800 000 were seen in a single flock near Kroonstad in the Free State, which was more than the entire world population estimate at the time (Maclean and Herremans 1997b). Confidence in the global population estimate is medium.
Population trend
The global population is in decline (BirdLife International 2014). Populations underwent steep declines in European Russia and almost completely disappeared from the Ukraine in 1990-2000 (Belik et al. 2000, Belik and Lebedeva 2004). Overall, the species declined by more than 50% over ten years (generation length: less than 3.3 years) (BirdLife International 2014). This trend may have ceased since 2000, and the European population represents a fairly small proportion of the global population (BirdLife International 2014). Reports indicate that the species is increasing in central and north-east Kazakhstan and south-east Russia (Kamp et al. 2009). Overall declines of approximately 20% are suspected. Confidence in this estimate is medium.
Threats
The global population has declined significantly during the course of the 20th century (Kamp et al. 2009) although reasons for the decline are not fully understood. The primary threat is the transformation of breeding habitat on the Russian Steppes for agriculture (Cramp and Simmons 1983), followed by human-induced disturbance during the breeding period. The species has an extremely low productivity with 60-100% of chicks dying annually due to trampling of nests by cattle, predation, heavy rain and hailstorms and severe droughts (Belik and Lebedeva 2004). In the region, there is speculation that initially, arsenic-based pesticides, and lately organic substitutes, such as BHC and DDT, used in locust control programmes may have caused declines in this species. The continued degradation of grasslands within the region will also have further negative consequences for this species.
Conservation
Underway
Missing
Proposed
Missing
Research
* Key foraging and roosting sites (mostly centred on large water bodies) must be identified and protected.
* Guidelines for agricultural activities and pest management should be established, and this information made available to land-owners.
