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Behavioural Plasticity in Foraging Mode of Typical Plovers

The foraging behaviour of typical plovers is highly stereotyped, and short-billed plovers all forage visually in a run—stop—search manner. To date, the use of a sandpiper-like foraging method by typical plovers is considered anecdotal in non-breeding plovers, since only one study has described Grey Plovers Pluvialis squatarola foraging as sandpipers do, striding slowly and pecking at the water surface during short periods. We studied the behaviour and intake rate of Grey and Ringed Plovers Charadrius hiaticula foraging like sandpipers on suspended prey items in the water column of hypersaline pans, and investigated factors that may influence their occurrence. The feeding rate was 48.9 ± 18.0 (SD) and 19.1 ± 6.3 prey min-1 for Ringed and Grey Plover, respectively. For Ringed Plovers, the net intake rate was 0.23 ±0.05 kJ min-1, and for Grey Plovers 0.09 ± 0.01 kJ min-1. The sandpiper-like foraging method was particularly important for Ringed Plovers, since up to 24% of the population foraged in this way at high tide. We found that the sandpiper-like foraging method is a common foraging method in Ringed Plover feeding in prey-abundant pans and is occasionally used by Grey Plovers as well. We showed that behavioural plasticity in foraging methods of typical plovers may be greater than has been assumed previously. These results suggest that typical plovers can successfully locate and capture small prey items while walking continuously and without the need to stop to improve visual acuity.