NEST SUCCESS AND HABITAT SELECTION OF THE SEMIPALMATED PLOVER ON AKIMISKI ISLAND, NUNAVUT

Abstract

We studied nest site selection by Semipalmated Plovers (Charadrius semipalmatus) to compare microhabitat characteristics at nest and random sites, and to compare successful and unsuccessful nests on the northern shore of Akimiski Island, Nunavut, during 2002. Nesting birds selected sites with more pebbles and less vegetative cover than randomly available in the environment. Nest sites also had smaller percentage of bare mud than random sites. Plovers selected sites within 100 m of Arctic Terns (Sterna paradisaea) more often than expected based on the distribution of random sites in the study area. Twenty-three of 41 (56%) nests hatched successfully. None of the microhabitat features that we measured predicted nest success. All 10 nests near the colony of Arctic Terns hatched, suggesting that interspecific associations are more reliable than habitat features for predicting nest success.