TURNHOUT C VAN (2005) The disappearance of the Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris as a breeding bird from the Netherlands and Northwest-Europe. LIMOSA 78 (1): 1-14.

The Netherlands are situated at the northwestern border of the Tawny Pipit's breeding distribution. The species has shown a strong decrease during the 20th century, from 250-350 breeding pairs in 1940-60 to 60-80 breeding pairs in the early 1990s (Tab. 1). Simultaneously, the distribution of the species was reduced (Fig. 2). In the mid 1970s Tawny Pipits had already disappeared from the sandy heathlands and drift sands in the northern and southern parts of the country, as well as from the coastal dunes. In the 1990s the decrease accelerated and the two remaining core areas Kootwijkerzand and Harskampse Zand were abandoned recently (Fig. 1). Only one unpaired male was found in 2003 and none in 2004. Numbers of Tawny Pipits also decreased in surrounding countries: Belgium (disappeared in 1986), Northern France (only 70-100 pairs left), Denmark (15 in 2002), Sweden (93 in 2002) and the German federal states of Schleswig-Holstein (disappeared in 1999), Niedersachsen (1-2 sites left) and Nordrhein-Westfalen (disappeared in 1984). Only in the former German Democratic Republic larger populations are left (800-1300 pairs), with locally stable numbers in recultivated browncoal mines. Initially, the decline was caused by the cultivation and afforestation of heathlands and drift sands. The total area of drift sands in The Netherlands decreased from a maximum of 800 km2 in 1850 to only 10-20 km2 nowadays. More recently, eutrophication and acidification have caused changes in the vegetation of drift sands. Especially the encroachment of nitrophilic grasses and the exotic moss Campylopus introflexus resulted in the replacement of low, open and dry vegetation types by high and closed micro-habitats with a more constant, cool and humid micro-climate. This may have led to a decrease in arthropod abundance and thus food availability for Tawny Pipits. The smallest territories in Kootwijkerzand in 1989 were occupied earliest in the season, produced most fledglings and were situated in the least vegetated parts (50% open sand). Simultaneously with the decrease in numbers, territory size increased and nest success decreased in both Kootwijkerzand and Planken Wambuis. Finally, an increase in recreational activities will have contributed to the decline of the Tawny Pipit. Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris

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