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). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very 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.
Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of _the_WP15.xls.
AOU. 1998. Check-list of North American birds. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.
Cramp, S.; Perrins, C. M. 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Dowsett, R. J.; Forbes-Watson, A. D. 1993. Checklist of birds of the Afrotropical and Malagasy regions. Tauraco Press, Li
Sibley, C. G.; Monroe, B. L. 1990. Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. Yale University Press, New Haven, USA.
Trend justificationThe overall population trend is decreasing, although some populations may be stable and others have unknown trends (Wetlands International 2006).
EcologyBehaviour This species is fully migratory but may only move short distances in some regions (del Hoyo
et al. 1996). It breeds from May to August (Hayman
et al. 1986) in solitary pairs (Hayman
et al. 1986, del Hoyo
et al. 1996), adults leaving the breeding grounds before the juveniles between July and August (Hayman
et al. 1986). The return migration in the spring peaks between April and early-May (Hayman
et al. 1986). The species feeds in small flocks during the breeding season, but on passage and in winter feeding flocks of tens to thousands of individuals may occur (Hayman
et al. 1986, Urban
et al. 1986, del Hoyo
et al. 1996).
Habitat Breeding The species breeds on humid moss, lichen and hummock tundra (del Hoyo
et al. 1996), low-lying marshes in moss tundra (Johnsgard 1981), shrub tundra, open bogs in forest, peatlands, alpine tundra (del Hoyo
et al. 1996), highland bogs , moors (Johnsgard 1981), and swampy highland heaths with high abundances of sphagnum moss and heather (Johnsgard 1981, del Hoyo
et al. 1996). It shows a preference for nesting on short vegetation less than 15 cm tall (Ratcliffe 1977).
Non-breeding When on passage and in its winter quarters (del Hoyo
et al. 1996) the species frequents freshwater wetlands (Urban
et al. 1986), moist grasslands (Urban
et al. 1986), pastures (del Hoyo
et al. 1996), agricultural land (e.g. stubble, ploughed or fallow fields) (Urban
et al. 1986, del Hoyo
et al. 1996) and highland steppe (Urban
et al. 1986), also foraging on tidal shores, coastal rocky outcrops (Johnsgard 1981), intertidal flats (del Hoyo
et al. 1996) and saltmarshes (Urban
et al. 1986, del Hoyo
et al. 1996) in shallow bays and estuaries (del Hoyo
et al. 1996).
Diet Its diet consists predominantly of insects (especially the adults, pupae and larvae of beetles (del Hoyo
et al. 1996), larval Lepidoptera, locusts and grasshoppers (Urban
et al. 1986)), as well as earthworms, spiders, millipedes, snails, polycheate worms (del Hoyo
et al. 1996), crustaceans (Johnsgard 1981) and some plant material (e.g. berries, seeds and grass) (del Hoyo
et al. 1996).
Breeding site The nest is a shallow scrape on bare ground in flat, sparse areas with short vegetation (less than 15 cm) (del Hoyo
et al. 1996). The species is a solitary nester, although in optimal habitats neighbouring pairs may nest only a few hundred metres apart (del Hoyo
et al. 1996).
Management information Extensive grazing of wetland grasslands (e.g. c.0.5 cows per hectare) was found to attract a higher abundance of the species in Hungary (Baldi
et al. 2005), and in the UK the species shows a preference for nesting on heathlands and moors managed by rotational burning (a management strategy used to encourage grouse) as this keeps the vegetation short and prevents grasses from being displaced by heathers (Ratcliffe 1977, Johnsgard 1981).
ThreatsThe species has suffered minor range contractions due to the cultivation and afforestation of heathlands (Ratcliffe 1977, del Hoyo
et al. 1996), and is susceptible to very cold winter temperatures and severe weather conditions (Ratcliffe 1977).
Utilisation The species is frequently taken by hunters on its wintering grounds (e.g. France) (del Hoyo
et al. 1996).
References
Johnsgard, P. A. 1981. The plovers, sandpipers and snipes of the world. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, U.S.A. and London.
Hayman, P.; Marchant, J.; Prater, A. J. 1986. Shorebirds. Croom Helm, London.
Urban, E. K.; Fry, C. H.; Keith, S. 1986. The birds of Africa vol. II. Academic Press, London.
del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. 1996. Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 3: Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.
Ratcliffe, D. A. 1977. Observations on the breeding of the Golden Plover in Great Britain. Bird Study 23(2): 63-116.
Baldi, A.; Batary, B.; Erdos, S. 2005. Effects of grazing intensity on bird assemblages and populations of Hungarian grasslands. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 108: 251-263.
Further web sources of information
Detailed species account from Birds in Europe: population estimates, trends and conservation status (BirdLife International 2004)
Hear sounds for this species from xeno-canto, the community database of shared bird sounds from around the world.
View photos and videos, and hear sounds of this species from the Internet Bird Collection
Text account compilers
Butchart, S., Ekstrom, J., Malpas, L.
IUCN Red List evaluators
Butchart, S., Symes, A.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Pluvialis apricaria. Downloaded from
http://www.birdlife.org on 20/06/2013.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2013) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
http://www.birdlife.org on 20/06/2013.
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
To contribute to discussions on the evaluation of the IUCN Red List status of Globally Threatened Birds, please visit BirdLife's Globally Threatened Bird Forums.
Additional resources for this species
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