A new case of Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa breeding in Silesia

• Main Authors: Lenkiewicz, Wiesław, Smyk, Bartosz
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Polish
• Published: Zenodo 2021
• Subjects: Black-headed Gull; black-tailed godwit; Limosa limosa
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5889094

A breeding of Black-tailed Godwit was found in spring 2020 on fish ponds near Potasznia in Milickie Ponds nature reserve (Lower Silesia). A pair was observed between April 30th and May 10th, with one bird incubating and the other actively chasing away other birds. The nest was located at the edge of a Black-headed Gull colony, on a pond island. The clutch succumbed to flooding after heavy rainfall. It is the first record of Black-tailed Godwit breeding in Silesia since 2012. Bearing in mind the ongoing decline of the species in Poland and the extinction of its permanent population in the Silesian Ornithological Region, the described case was probably an ephemeral one. The unusual breeding site (fish ponds) results from the disappearance of the optimal habitats. Similar breeding attempts in suboptimal biotopes cannot be ruled out in the future.