Numenius phaeopus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	CHARADRIIFORMES	SCOLOPACIDAE

Scientific Name:

Numenius phaeopus

Species Authority:

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common Name/s:

English	–	Whimbrel
French	–	Courlis corlieu

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Published:

2009

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Bird, J., Butchart, S.

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 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.

History:

2008	–	Least Concern
2004	–	Least Concern

Geographic Range [top]

Countries:	Native: Albania; Algeria; American Samoa; Angola; Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Armenia; Aruba; Australia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahamas; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belarus; Belgium; Belize; Benin; Bermuda; Bhutan; Bolivia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; British Indian Ocean Territory; Brunei Darussalam; Bulgaria; Burundi; Cambodia; Cameroon; Canada; Cape Verde; Cayman Islands; Chile; China; Christmas Island; Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Colombia; Comoros; Congo; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Costa Rica; Côte d'Ivoire; Croatia; Cuba; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Estonia; Ethiopia; Falkland Islands (Malvinas); Faroe Islands; Fiji; Finland; France; French Guiana; Gabon; Gambia; Georgia; Germany; Ghana; Gibraltar; Greece; Greenland; Guadeloupe; Guam; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; Hong Kong; Hungary; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Japan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Kiribati; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Latvia; Lebanon; Liberia; Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; Luxembourg; Macao; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Mali; Malta; Marshall Islands; Martinique; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mayotte; Mexico; Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Montserrat; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; Namibia; Nauru; Nepal; Netherlands; Netherlands Antilles; New Caledonia; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Norfolk Island; Northern Mariana Islands; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Palestinian Territory, Occupied; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Puerto Rico; Qatar; Réunion; Romania; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Martin (French part); Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Samoa; Sao Tomé and Principe; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Serbia; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Slovakia; Solomon Islands; Somalia; South Africa; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Suriname; Svalbard and Jan Mayen; Sweden; Switzerland; Syrian Arab Republic; Taiwan, Province of China; Tanzania, United Republic of; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Togo; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Turks and Caicos Islands; Tuvalu; Uganda; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States; Uruguay; Uzbekistan; Vanuatu; Venezuela; Viet Nam; Western Sahara; Yemen; Zambia; Zimbabwe Vagrant: Afghanistan; Burkina Faso; French Southern Territories (the); Grenada; Jordan; Liechtenstein; Slovenia; Tajikistan; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S.
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Countries:

Native:

Albania; Algeria; American Samoa; Angola; Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Armenia; Aruba; Australia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahamas; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belarus; Belgium; Belize; Benin; Bermuda; Bhutan; Bolivia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; British Indian Ocean Territory; Brunei Darussalam; Bulgaria; Burundi; Cambodia; Cameroon; Canada; Cape Verde; Cayman Islands; Chile; China; Christmas Island; Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Colombia; Comoros; Congo; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Costa Rica; Côte d'Ivoire; Croatia; Cuba; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Estonia; Ethiopia; Falkland Islands (Malvinas); Faroe Islands; Fiji; Finland; France; French Guiana; Gabon; Gambia; Georgia; Germany; Ghana; Gibraltar; Greece; Greenland; Guadeloupe; Guam; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; Hong Kong; Hungary; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Japan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Kiribati; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Latvia; Lebanon; Liberia; Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; Luxembourg; Macao; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Mali; Malta; Marshall Islands; Martinique; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mayotte; Mexico; Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Montserrat; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; Namibia; Nauru; Nepal; Netherlands; Netherlands Antilles; New Caledonia; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Norfolk Island; Northern Mariana Islands; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Palestinian Territory, Occupied; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Puerto Rico; Qatar; Réunion; Romania; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Martin (French part); Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Samoa; Sao Tomé and Principe; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Serbia; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Slovakia; Solomon Islands; Somalia; South Africa; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Suriname; Svalbard and Jan Mayen; Sweden; Switzerland; Syrian Arab Republic; Taiwan, Province of China; Tanzania, United Republic of; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Togo; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Turks and Caicos Islands; Tuvalu; Uganda; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States; Uruguay; Uzbekistan; Vanuatu; Venezuela; Viet Nam; Western Sahara; Yemen; Zambia; Zimbabwe

Vagrant:

Afghanistan; Burkina Faso; French Southern Territories (the); Grenada; Jordan; Liechtenstein; Slovenia; Tajikistan; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S.

Range Map:

Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Behaviour This species is fully migratory and travels over land on a broad front utilising few staging areas on route (in autumn no known concentrated staging occurs)^{1, 5}. It breeds from May to August² either in well-dispersed³ solitary pairs¹ or in loose groups depending on the topography of the land⁵. The autumn migration occurs from July onwards² with the return passage to the breeding grounds occurring chiefly between March and May² (non-breeders may also remain on the wintering grounds all year round)¹. When not breeding the species usually forages singly or in small groups¹, flying in small parties³ or larger flocks on migration^{4, 5}and roosting communally at night in mangrove trees or in shallow water¹. Habitat Breeding The species breeds on dry scrub heathland⁵, moss and lichen tundra with stunted bushes³, sedge meadows³, wet moorland^{1, 5} and mossy hummock bogs^{4, 3} in open areas, river valleys¹, along the shores of tundra lakes⁴, in birch forest near the Arctic treeline¹, burned areas of forest⁴ and open montane forest¹ in the boreal, subarctic and subalpine zones^{1, 3}. It generally avoids extremes of cold and wet, steep slopes, bare rock and gravel expanses or tall dense vegetation (e.g. dense forest)⁵. Non-breeding On passage in the autumn and spring the species frequents wetlands, tidal flats¹, short-sward wet and dry grasslands^{1, 2}, farmland² and heathland with Empetrum spp., generally occupying coastal habitats in the winter such as muddy, rocky or sandy beaches¹, coral shores⁶, exposed reefs, tidal mudflats¹, sandflats⁶, mangrove swamps¹, tidal marshes³ and lagoons⁶. Diet When inland on migration and during the breeding season its diet consists of adult and larval insects^{1, 3} (e.g. Coleoptera, Orthoptera and cranefly larvae), spiders, millipedes, earthworms, snails, slugs, seeds, leaves and berries¹ (e.g. of ericaceous plants)³. On the coast during the winter the species takes crustaceans (e.g. crabs), molluscs, large polychaete worms and occasionally fish, reptiles or young birds¹. Breeding site The nest is a shallow depression^{1, 5} often positioned on hummocks or in short heather or grass^{3, 4} in dry exposed locations^{1, 3, 4} sometimes far from water^{3, 4}. When the breeding habitat (e.g. tundra or heathland) is flat and open the species nests in solitary pairs, but where irregular features such as hummocks and tall vegetation patches give more visual isolation the species may nest in loose groups⁵. Management information A study in the Shetland Islands, UK found that when trying to enhance the grazing quality of heathlands by re-seeding (e.g. with high quality grass-seed mixtures) it is better to apply lime, grass-seed and inorganic fertiliser directly to the surface of the ground rather than ploughing and harrowing the ground first, as the latter maintains more natural vegetation hummocks and heather used by the species for nesting⁸. Re-seeding of heathland with prior ploughing and harrowing may improve feeding conditions for pre-breeding adults however⁹.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine

Habitat and Ecology:

Behaviour This species is fully migratory and travels over land on a broad front utilising few staging areas on route (in autumn no known concentrated staging occurs)^{1, 5}. It breeds from May to August² either in well-dispersed³ solitary pairs¹ or in loose groups depending on the topography of the land⁵. The autumn migration occurs from July onwards² with the return passage to the breeding grounds occurring chiefly between March and May² (non-breeders may also remain on the wintering grounds all year round)¹. When not breeding the species usually forages singly or in small groups¹, flying in small parties³ or larger flocks on migration^{4, 5}and roosting communally at night in mangrove trees or in shallow water¹. Habitat Breeding The species breeds on dry scrub heathland⁵, moss and lichen tundra with stunted bushes³, sedge meadows³, wet moorland^{1, 5} and mossy hummock bogs^{4, 3} in open areas, river valleys¹, along the shores of tundra lakes⁴, in birch forest near the Arctic treeline¹, burned areas of forest⁴ and open montane forest¹ in the boreal, subarctic and subalpine zones^{1, 3}. It generally avoids extremes of cold and wet, steep slopes, bare rock and gravel expanses or tall dense vegetation (e.g. dense forest)⁵. Non-breeding On passage in the autumn and spring the species frequents wetlands, tidal flats¹, short-sward wet and dry grasslands^{1, 2}, farmland² and heathland with Empetrum spp., generally occupying coastal habitats in the winter such as muddy, rocky or sandy beaches¹, coral shores⁶, exposed reefs, tidal mudflats¹, sandflats⁶, mangrove swamps¹, tidal marshes³ and lagoons⁶. Diet When inland on migration and during the breeding season its diet consists of adult and larval insects^{1, 3} (e.g. Coleoptera, Orthoptera and cranefly larvae), spiders, millipedes, earthworms, snails, slugs, seeds, leaves and berries¹ (e.g. of ericaceous plants)³. On the coast during the winter the species takes crustaceans (e.g. crabs), molluscs, large polychaete worms and occasionally fish, reptiles or young birds¹. Breeding site The nest is a shallow depression^{1, 5} often positioned on hummocks or in short heather or grass^{3, 4} in dry exposed locations^{1, 3, 4} sometimes far from water^{3, 4}. When the breeding habitat (e.g. tundra or heathland) is flat and open the species nests in solitary pairs, but where irregular features such as hummocks and tall vegetation patches give more visual isolation the species may nest in loose groups⁵. Management information A study in the Shetland Islands, UK found that when trying to enhance the grazing quality of heathlands by re-seeding (e.g. with high quality grass-seed mixtures) it is better to apply lime, grass-seed and inorganic fertiliser directly to the surface of the ground rather than ploughing and harrowing the ground first, as the latter maintains more natural vegetation hummocks and heather used by the species for nesting⁸. Re-seeding of heathland with prior ploughing and harrowing may improve feeding conditions for pre-breeding adults however⁹.

Systems:

Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	The species is susceptible to avian influenza so may be threatened by future outbreaks of the virus⁷.

Major Threat(s):

The species is susceptible to avian influenza so may be threatened by future outbreaks of the virus⁷.

Bibliography [top]

	del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. 1996. Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 3: Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Flint, V. E.; Boehme, R. L.; Kostin, Y. V.; Kuznetsov, A. A. 1984. A field guide to birds of the USSR. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Grant, M. C. 1992. The Effects of Re-Seeding Heathland on Breeding Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus in Shetland. I. Nest Distributions. Journal of Applied Ecology 29(2): 501-508. Grant, M. C.; Chambers, R. E.; Evans, P. R. 1992. The Effects of Re-Seeding Heathland on Breeding Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus in Shetland. II. Habitat Use by Adults During the Pre-Laying Period. Journal of Applied Ecology 29(2): 509-515. Hayman, P.; Marchant, J.; Prater, A. J. 1986. Shorebirds. Croom Helm, London. Johnsgard, P. A. 1981. The plovers, sandpipers and snipes of the world. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, U.S.A. and London. Melville, D. S.; Shortridge, K. F. 2006. Migratory waterbirds and avian influenza in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway with particular reference to the 2003-2004 H5N1 outbreak. In: Boere, G.; Galbraith, C., Stroud, D. (ed.), Waterbirds around the world, pp. 432-438. The Stationary Office, Edinburgh, UK. Snow, D. W.; Perrins, C. M. 1998. The Birds of the Western Palearctic vol. 1: Non-Passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 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.

Flint, V. E.; Boehme, R. L.; Kostin, Y. V.; Kuznetsov, A. A. 1984. A field guide to birds of the USSR. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

Grant, M. C. 1992. The Effects of Re-Seeding Heathland on Breeding Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus in Shetland. I. Nest Distributions. Journal of Applied Ecology 29(2): 501-508.

Grant, M. C.; Chambers, R. E.; Evans, P. R. 1992. The Effects of Re-Seeding Heathland on Breeding Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus in Shetland. II. Habitat Use by Adults During the Pre-Laying Period. Journal of Applied Ecology 29(2): 509-515.

Hayman, P.; Marchant, J.; Prater, A. J. 1986. Shorebirds. Croom Helm, London.

Johnsgard, P. A. 1981. The plovers, sandpipers and snipes of the world. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, U.S.A. and London.

Melville, D. S.; Shortridge, K. F. 2006. Migratory waterbirds and avian influenza in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway with particular reference to the 2003-2004 H5N1 outbreak. In: Boere, G.; Galbraith, C., Stroud, D. (ed.), Waterbirds around the world, pp. 432-438. The Stationary Office, Edinburgh, UK.

Snow, D. W.; Perrins, C. M. 1998. The Birds of the Western Palearctic vol. 1: Non-Passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Urban, E. K.; Fry, C. H.; Keith, S. 1986. The birds of Africa vol. II. Academic Press, London.

Citation:	BirdLife International 2009. Numenius phaeopus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 21 May 2012.
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