Kentish plover

The Kentish plover is distributed along the coasts of Europe, but also occurs inland in the eastern part of the continent. It is a rare coastal breeder here. It nests in the Sečovlje salt pans, and a few pairs also nest in the Strunjan salt pans and the NRSZ.

The The Kentish plover no longer nests in the area of the Ankaran bonifika and the Port of Koper. The entire Slovenian population nests at an altitude of only a few metres above sea level. In the Sečovlje salt pans, the White-eyed Earthworm nests mostly on dry and unvegetated embankments or at the bottom of drained salt pans. It also nests on dykes with salt-loving vegetation, where the nest is almost always in the shelter of one of the halophytes. In the Sečovlje salt pans, between 11 and 64 pairs nested on an area of 192 ha in the period 2002-2015, which translates into a density of 0.06-0.33 pairs/ha. Higher breeding densities are typical for sandbanks and salt marshes, while lower densities are typical for less homogeneous habitats, such as in the Sečovlje salt pans, where the The Kentish plover mostly nests on narrow salt marshes surrounded by water. The population trend in the Sečovlje salt pans, calculated with TRIM, shows a steep increase in the population. However, data from the area for 2007 and 2008 show that the breeding success of the The Kentish plover is 0.5-0.8 young per breeding pair and that the population declines by 10-20% after only two years. Threats are mainly caused by weather conditions (flooding due to heavy rainfall), inadequate water management, the number of suitable nesting sites, predators and, to a lesser extent, disturbance during the breeding season. At global and European level, its population is declining.

*In the Sečovlje salt pans it is considered a qualifying species in unfavourable conservation status.