Justification This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Family/Sub-family Scolopacidae

Species name author Linnaeus, 1758

Taxonomic source(s) AERC TAC (2003), AOU checklist (1998 + supplements), Christidis and Boles (1994), Christidis and Boles (2008), Cramp and Simmons (1977-1994), Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), Stotz et al. (1996)

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

3,100,000 - 3,500,000

unset

15,500,000 km²

No

Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria.

Ecology: Behaviour This species is a full migrant, travelling overland on a broad front across Europe and the Middle East¹. The adults start to move away from the breeding grounds in late-June, with juveniles following in late-August, arriving in tropical Africa from late-July through August to October². On this southern migration many birds frequent stop-over sites to the north of the Mediterranean (especially in France and Italy), after which they overfly the Sahara¹. Spring departure from the wintering grounds begins in late-March to early-April², with breeding areas starting to be reoccupied from late-April (early June in northern Russia)², and with breeding occurring between May and mid-July¹. Some non-breeding birds may also remain in the south throughout the summer². The species nests in well-dispersed solitary pairs (from 1-10 pairs per km² to 50 pairs per km² in forest tundra)¹, but in winter it may occur in small scattered groups or larger flocks (20-50 individuals), and concentrations can exceed 1,000 individuals on migration³. Habitat Breeding During the breeding season this species inhabits open, swampy areas in boreal forest¹, scrubland between tundra and coniferous forest with willow, dwarf birch or spruce², wet heathlands, and extensive mossy, sedgy or grassy marshes². Non-breeding Outside of the breeding season this species is less associated with woodlands, being more commonly found in open areas such as the margins of inland freshwater lakes and reservoirs^{1, 4}, muddy marshlands, grassy stream banks, sewage farms, wet paddyfields, small temporary pools¹, permanent swamps, flooded grassland and irrigation channels³. It rarely occurs in coastal habitats, but may be found along the creeks of saltmarshes and mangrove swamps¹. Diet Breeding Whilst on the breeding grounds this species is chiefly carnivorous, taking small insects (up to 2 cm long), especially the aquatic forms such as dytiscid or hydrophilid beetles, Hemiptera and the larvae of Diptera such as midges⁴. Non-breeding During the non-breeding season the species has a more varied diet consisting of aquatic and terrestrial insects and their larvae, worms, spiders, crustaceans, gastropod molluscs, small fish (up to 2 cm long) and frogs, as well as plant matter such as seeds^{1, 4}. Breeding site The nest is a scrape on the ground amongst dense vegetation^{1, 2} or raised on a tussock or slight ridge, and can sometimes be surrounded by water². The species may also nest in trees in the abandoned nests of other species¹ such as thrushes². Management information Intensive grazing of grassland (> 1 cow per hectare) was found to attract a higher abundance of this species in Hungary⁷.

Threats The species is threatened in some European countries (such as Finland) from exploitation, and peatland drainage and destruction for forestry and agriculture¹. The populations in southern Sweden, Germany and Poland have also declined, possibly due to the threats of climatic change¹. The species is susceptible to both avian botulism⁵ and avian malaria⁶, so may be threatened by future outbreaks of these diseases.

References 1. del Hoyo et al. (1996). 2. Snow and Perrins (1998). 3. Urban et al. (1986). 4. Johnsgard (1981). 5. Hubalek et al. (2005). 6. Mendes et al. (2005). 7. Baldi et al. (2005).

Further web sources of information

Detailed species account from Birds in Europe: population estimates, trends and conservation status (BirdLife International 2004)

Text account compilers Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Jonathan Ekstrom (BirdLife International), Lucy Malpas (BirdLife International)

IUCN Red List evaluators Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2010) Species factsheet: Tringa glareola. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 9/9/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife

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