First breeding record of Little ringed plover Charadrius dubius

Abstract

The Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius is a common passage migrant from early March to late May and from late July to early November. It has never been recorded breeding in the Maltese Islands (Sultana & Gauci 1982). It has always been frequently recorded at Gnadira, a small wetland area in the north of the island of Malta, but the maximum stay of individual ringed birds which were retrapped never exceeded 5 days (Gauci 1990). Engineering works with heavy machinery in the area, which started in 1980, and continued for 3 consecutive summers,created a number of small islands in a relatively low extensive pooL