Characterisation of microsatellite markers in the stone curlew

We characterized twenty unique polymorphic microsatellite loci in the Eurasian stone curlew Burhinus oedicnemus, a bird of conservation concern in Europe. The loci were genotyped in 24 individuals and displayed between 2 and 21 alleles per locus. All twenty loci were autosomal based on the genotyping of individuals of known sex and seventeen loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. These microsatellites will be used to investigate population structure in this species with the aim of informing those responsible for creating conservation management strategies.