FORAGING BEHAVIOR OF CRAB PLOVERS DROMAS-ARDEOLA AT MIDA CREEK, KENYA

The foraging behaviour of Crab Plovers is directly analogous to the 'w alk-stop-search-walk' hunting behaviour of true plovers, and changes s lightly depending whether the birds are foraging on sand or in water: they are nonterritorial when foraging. Crabs dominate the diet, but ot her invertebrates and fish are also eaten. Foraging efficiency increas es with age and adults and subadults are able to satisfy their daily e nergy requirements in a single tidal cycle. The population of Crab Plo vers at Mida Creek was much larger in 1994 than in 1992, but in 1994 a dults achieved much higher intake rates than in 1992, suggesting consi derable year-to-year variation in the carrying capacity of Mida Creek for Crab Plovers. The world population of 43-50 000 birds breeds at ve ry few colonies and the species is thus a potential conservation conce rn. Because of the relative accessibility of large concentrations of C rab Plovers away from the breeding grounds, we suggest that a programm e to monitor numbers and population demography should be targeted at n onbreeding aggregations.