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 increasing, 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 (Pontoppidan 1763)

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), SACC (2005 + updates), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), Stotz et al. (1996), Turbott (1990)

Taxonomic note Calidris paramelanotos (Hayman et al.1986) was treated as a subspecies of C. melanotos following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993) but is now considered a hybrid of C. melanotus and C. ferruginea following Higgins and Davies (1996). Calidris cooperi was described by Baird in 1858 based on a specimen collected on Long Island, New York, USA in May 1833 (Cox 1990b). There is a possible Australian record of a bird captured at Stockton, New South Wales, Australia, in March 1981 (Cox 1990a), but studies of the type suggest that the form is of hybrid origin, Curlew Sandpiper C. ferruginea and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper C. acuminata (Cox 1990b).

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

1,800,000 - 1,900,000

unset

1,200,000 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, moving long distances by well-travelled routes^{1, 2}. During the autumn migration adults precede the juveniles, with males leaving 3-4 weeks before the females in early-July, and juveniles following 4-6 weeks later¹. On this southern migration, the species crosses Europe in July, reaching Africa from mid-July to September¹. The return migration to the breeding grounds begins late-April to May, with arrival in the Arctic beginning in early-June, and breeding stretching from June to July¹. Many 1st-year birds remain on the wintering grounds, and non-breeding adults remain just south of the breeding grounds in Central Siberia during the summer¹. Nest density on the breeding grounds in commonly 1-2 pairs/ha⁴, but pairs will sometimes nest as close as 200-300 m¹. The species is gregarious outside of the breeding season, occurring in small parties or larger flocks of up to several hundreds on the coast, but usually in smaller numbers inland (although gatherings of hundreds can occur locally on passage)³. It forages both diurnally and nocturnally¹. Habitat Breeding This species breeds on slightly elevated areas in the lowlands of the high Arctic^{1, 4} especially on southward-facing slopes⁴, as well as along the coast and islands of the Arctic Ocean¹. It shows a preference for open tundra with marshy, boggy depressions and pools^{1, 2} from melting permafrost and snow². Non-breeding In the winter the species chiefly occurs on coastal brackish lagoons, tidal mud- and sandflats, estuaries, saltmarshes^{1, 2}, exposed coral, rocky shores and tidewrack on sandy beaches³, and also inland on the muddy edges of marshes, large rivers and lakes (both saline and freshwater), irrigated land, flooded areas¹, dams³ and saltpans¹⁰. Diet Breeding On the breeding grounds the diet of this species consists mainly of insects, such as the adults, pupae and larva of Diptera (e.g. midges, craneflies⁴) and beetles, as well as bugs and leeches¹. Non-breeding In the winter its diet consists of polycheate worms, molluscs, crustaceans (such as amphipods, brine shrimps and copepods), and occasionally insects and seeds¹. Breeding site The nest is a cup positioned on the margins of marshes or pools, on the slopes of hummock tundra, or on dry patches in Polygonum tundra¹.

Threats In China and South Korea important migrational staging areas of this species around the coast of the Yellow Sea are being lost through land reclamation, and degraded as a result of declining river flows (from water abstraction), increased environmental pollution, unsustainable harvesting of benthic fauna and a reduction in the amount of sediment being carried into the area by the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers^{5, 7, 9}. The species is threatened on the south-east coast of India (Point Calimere) by illegal hunting (bird trapping), reservoir and marshland habitat alteration by salt-industries, and habitat degradation by diminishing rainfall (changing the salt regime)⁶. It is also threatened at Walvis Bay in Namibia, a key wetland site in southern Africa, by habitat degradation (e.g. changes in the flood regime due to road building, and wetland reclamation for suburb and port development), and disturbance from tourism¹². This species is susceptible to avian influenza^{8, 11} and avian botulism^{13, 14} 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. Barter (2002). 6. Balachandran (2006). 7. Kelin and Qiang (2006). 8. Melville and Shortridge (2006). 9. Barter (2006). 10. Khomenko (2006). 11. Gaidet et al. (2007). 12. Wearne and Underhill (2005). 13. Blaker (1967). 14. van Heerden (1974).

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: Calidris ferruginea. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 6/9/2010

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.

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