Calidris alpina

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:

Calidris alpina

Species Authority:

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common Name/s:

English	–	Dunlin
French	–	Bécasseau variable

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: Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; Armenia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Belarus; Belgium; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Canada; Cape Verde; China; Côte d'Ivoire; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Djibouti; Egypt; Eritrea; Estonia; Ethiopia; Faroe Islands; Finland; France; Gambia; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Greenland; Guam; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Hong Kong; Hungary; Iceland; India; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Japan; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Latvia; Lebanon; Liberia; Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Maldives; Mali; Malta; Mauritania; Mexico; Moldova; Montenegro; Morocco; Nepal; Netherlands; Northern Mariana Islands; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Palestinian Territory, Occupied; Poland; Portugal; Qatar; Romania; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Serbia; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Slovakia; Slovenia; Somalia; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Svalbard and Jan Mayen; Sweden; Switzerland; Syrian Arab Republic; Taiwan, Province of China; Tajikistan; Thailand; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States; Uzbekistan; Viet Nam; Yemen Vagrant: Antigua and Barbuda; Aruba; Australia; Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Bermuda; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Brunei Darussalam; Burundi; Cameroon; Cayman Islands; Chad; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Costa Rica; Cuba; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; French Guiana; Ghana; Gibraltar; Guadeloupe; Guatemala; Jamaica; Kenya; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Liechtenstein; Malaysia; Martinique; Mongolia; Montserrat; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Puerto Rico; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Togo; Turks and Caicos Islands; Uganda; Venezuela; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S.; Western Sahara Present - origin uncertain: United States Minor Outlying Islands
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Countries:

Native:

Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; Armenia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Belarus; Belgium; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Canada; Cape Verde; China; Côte d'Ivoire; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Djibouti; Egypt; Eritrea; Estonia; Ethiopia; Faroe Islands; Finland; France; Gambia; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Greenland; Guam; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Hong Kong; Hungary; Iceland; India; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Japan; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Latvia; Lebanon; Liberia; Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Maldives; Mali; Malta; Mauritania; Mexico; Moldova; Montenegro; Morocco; Nepal; Netherlands; Northern Mariana Islands; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Palestinian Territory, Occupied; Poland; Portugal; Qatar; Romania; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Serbia; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Slovakia; Slovenia; Somalia; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Svalbard and Jan Mayen; Sweden; Switzerland; Syrian Arab Republic; Taiwan, Province of China; Tajikistan; Thailand; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States; Uzbekistan; Viet Nam; Yemen

Vagrant:

Antigua and Barbuda; Aruba; Australia; Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Bermuda; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Brunei Darussalam; Burundi; Cameroon; Cayman Islands; Chad; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Costa Rica; Cuba; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; French Guiana; Ghana; Gibraltar; Guadeloupe; Guatemala; Jamaica; Kenya; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Liechtenstein; Malaysia; Martinique; Mongolia; Montserrat; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Puerto Rico; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Togo; Turks and Caicos Islands; Uganda; Venezuela; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S.; Western Sahara

Present - origin uncertain:

United States Minor Outlying Islands

Range Map:

Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Behaviour This species is a fully migratory circumpolar breeder with several sub-populations that employ a number of migration strategies, from short coastal flights to long, non-stop flights overland on a broad front¹. The sub-population that breeds in north-east Greenland migrates through Iceland, Britain and western France to arrive in its West African wintering grounds (specifically Banc d'Arguin in Mauritania) from late-July, returning again between March and early-April¹. European birds may gather in large congregations from the beginning of July in areas such as the Wadden Sea or the Wash to moult¹, and some juveniles may remain in the non-breeding range all year¹. The species breeds dispersed or aggregated in loose colonies, and travels in group sizes of up to 1,500 on passage, remaining in large groups (up to hundreds of thousands of birds) throughout the non-breeding season^{1, 2}. The species is active both diurnally and nocturnally^{1, 2, 3}. Habitat Breeding In the breeding season this species frequents moist boggy ground interspersed with surface water, such as tussock tundra and peat-hummock tundra in the arctic, as well as wet coastal grasslands, salt marshes and wet upland moorland^{1, 2}. Non-breeding In the non-breeding season this species mainly prefer estuarine mudflats, but also frequent a wide variety of freshwater and brackish wetlands^{1, 2}, both coastal and inland, including lagoons, muddy freshwater shores, tidal rivers, flooded fields, sewage farms, salt-works, sandy coasts^{1, 2}, lakes and dams⁴. For roosting during high tides and at night this species prefers large fields of naturally fertilised short pasture or soil-based crops with few vertical structures that could be used by predators³. Diet Breeding This species is omnivorous during the breeding season, consuming mostly adult and larval insects (dipteran flies, beetles, caddisflies, wasps, sawflies and mayflies), and also spiders, mites, earthworms, snails, slugs and plant matter (usually seeds)^{1, 2}. Non-breeding It is also omnivorous during the non-breeding season, consuming mostly polychaete worms and small gastropods, as well as insects (dipteran flies and beetles), crustaceans, bivalves, plant matter and occasionally small fish^{1, 2}. Breeding site Its nest is a scrape or shallow depression in the ground, concealed in vegetation and sometimes in a tuft or tussock (and thus raised slightly off the ground)^{1, 2}. Management information The provision of well-surfaced paths in breeding areas that recieve > 30 visitors a day has been shown to reduce the impact of human disturbance on this species' reproductive performance⁷. It is also known to show increased hatching successes when ground predators have been excluded by erecting protective fences around nesting areas⁹.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine

Habitat and Ecology:

Behaviour This species is a fully migratory circumpolar breeder with several sub-populations that employ a number of migration strategies, from short coastal flights to long, non-stop flights overland on a broad front¹. The sub-population that breeds in north-east Greenland migrates through Iceland, Britain and western France to arrive in its West African wintering grounds (specifically Banc d'Arguin in Mauritania) from late-July, returning again between March and early-April¹. European birds may gather in large congregations from the beginning of July in areas such as the Wadden Sea or the Wash to moult¹, and some juveniles may remain in the non-breeding range all year¹. The species breeds dispersed or aggregated in loose colonies, and travels in group sizes of up to 1,500 on passage, remaining in large groups (up to hundreds of thousands of birds) throughout the non-breeding season^{1, 2}. The species is active both diurnally and nocturnally^{1, 2, 3}. Habitat Breeding In the breeding season this species frequents moist boggy ground interspersed with surface water, such as tussock tundra and peat-hummock tundra in the arctic, as well as wet coastal grasslands, salt marshes and wet upland moorland^{1, 2}. Non-breeding In the non-breeding season this species mainly prefer estuarine mudflats, but also frequent a wide variety of freshwater and brackish wetlands^{1, 2}, both coastal and inland, including lagoons, muddy freshwater shores, tidal rivers, flooded fields, sewage farms, salt-works, sandy coasts^{1, 2}, lakes and dams⁴. For roosting during high tides and at night this species prefers large fields of naturally fertilised short pasture or soil-based crops with few vertical structures that could be used by predators³. Diet Breeding This species is omnivorous during the breeding season, consuming mostly adult and larval insects (dipteran flies, beetles, caddisflies, wasps, sawflies and mayflies), and also spiders, mites, earthworms, snails, slugs and plant matter (usually seeds)^{1, 2}. Non-breeding It is also omnivorous during the non-breeding season, consuming mostly polychaete worms and small gastropods, as well as insects (dipteran flies and beetles), crustaceans, bivalves, plant matter and occasionally small fish^{1, 2}. Breeding site Its nest is a scrape or shallow depression in the ground, concealed in vegetation and sometimes in a tuft or tussock (and thus raised slightly off the ground)^{1, 2}. Management information The provision of well-surfaced paths in breeding areas that recieve > 30 visitors a day has been shown to reduce the impact of human disturbance on this species' reproductive performance⁷. It is also known to show increased hatching successes when ground predators have been excluded by erecting protective fences around nesting areas⁹.

Systems:

Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Breeding This species is significantly threatened by the loss of its breeding habitat though afforestation of moorland^{1, 8}. It may also suffer from nest predation by introduced mammals (e.g. European hedgehog Erinaceus europeaus) on some islands⁹. Non-breeding In the winter this species is restricted to a small number of estuaries, so it is vulnerable to any changes in this habitat for example through land reclamation (drainage)¹, and the invasion of alien plant species (such as the grass Spartina anglica which has spread on British mudflats, resulting in the reduction in size of feeding areas available)¹. The species is also threatened by disturbance on intertidal mudflats from construction work (UK)¹⁰ and foot-traffic on footpaths¹¹. Important migratory stop-over habitats on the Baltic Sea coastline adjacent to the Kaliningrad region of Russia are threatened by petroleum pollution, wetland drainage for irrigation, peat-extraction, reedbed mowing and burning, and abandonment and changing land management practices leading to scrub and reed overgrowth⁶. The species is also susceptible to avian influenza (strain H5N1 in particular) and is therefore threatened by outbreaks of the virus⁵.

Major Threat(s):

Breeding This species is significantly threatened by the loss of its breeding habitat though afforestation of moorland^{1, 8}. It may also suffer from nest predation by introduced mammals (e.g. European hedgehog Erinaceus europeaus) on some islands⁹. Non-breeding In the winter this species is restricted to a small number of estuaries, so it is vulnerable to any changes in this habitat for example through land reclamation (drainage)¹, and the invasion of alien plant species (such as the grass Spartina anglica which has spread on British mudflats, resulting in the reduction in size of feeding areas available)¹. The species is also threatened by disturbance on intertidal mudflats from construction work (UK)¹⁰ and foot-traffic on footpaths¹¹. Important migratory stop-over habitats on the Baltic Sea coastline adjacent to the Kaliningrad region of Russia are threatened by petroleum pollution, wetland drainage for irrigation, peat-extraction, reedbed mowing and burning, and abandonment and changing land management practices leading to scrub and reed overgrowth⁶. The species is also susceptible to avian influenza (strain H5N1 in particular) and is therefore threatened by outbreaks of the virus⁵.

Bibliography [top]

	Burton, N. H. K.; Armitage, M. J. S.; Musgrove, A. J.; Rehfisch, M. M. 2002. Impacts of Man-Made landscape Features on Numbers of Estuarine Waterbirds at Low Tide. Environmental Management 30(6): 857-864. Burton, N. H. K.; Rehfisch, M. M.; Clark, N. A. 2002. Impacts of Disturbance from Construction Work on the Densities and Feeding Behavior of Waterbirds using the Intertidal Mudflats of Cardiff Bay, UK. Environmental Management 30(6): 865-871. Cramp, S.; Simmons, K. E. L. 1977. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic, vol. I: ostriches to ducks. Oxford University Press, Oxford. del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. 1996. Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 3: Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Grishanov, D. 2006. Conservation problems of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds and their habitats in the Kaliningrad region of Russia. In: Boere, G.; Galbraith, C., Stroud, D. (ed.), Waterbirds around the world, pp. 356. The Stationary Office, Edinburgh, UK. Hockey, P. A. R.; Dean, W. R. J.; Ryan, P. G. 2005. Roberts birds of southern Africa. Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town, South Africa. Jackson, D. B. 2001. Experimental Removal of Introduced Hedgehogs Improves Wader Nest Success in the Western Isles, Scotland. Journal of Applied Ecology 38(4): 802-812. Lavers, C. P.; Haines-Young, R. H. 1997. Displacement of dunlin Calidris alpina schinzii by forestry in the flow country and an estimate of the value of moorland adjacent to plantations. Biological Conservation 79(1): 87-90. 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. Pearce-Higgins, J. W.; Finney, S. K.; Yalden, D. W.; Langston, R. H. W. 2007. Testing the effects of recreational disturbance on two upland breeding waders. Ibis 149: 45-55. Shepherd, P. C. F.; Lank, T. B. 2004. Marine and agricultural habitat preferences of Dunlin wintering in British Columbia. Journal of Wildlife Management 68(1): 61-73.

Burton, N. H. K.; Armitage, M. J. S.; Musgrove, A. J.; Rehfisch, M. M. 2002. Impacts of Man-Made landscape Features on Numbers of Estuarine Waterbirds at Low Tide. Environmental Management 30(6): 857-864.

Burton, N. H. K.; Rehfisch, M. M.; Clark, N. A. 2002. Impacts of Disturbance from Construction Work on the Densities and Feeding Behavior of Waterbirds using the Intertidal Mudflats of Cardiff Bay, UK. Environmental Management 30(6): 865-871.

Cramp, S.; Simmons, K. E. L. 1977. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic, vol. I: ostriches to ducks. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. 1996. Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 3: Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.

Grishanov, D. 2006. Conservation problems of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds and their habitats in the Kaliningrad region of Russia. In: Boere, G.; Galbraith, C., Stroud, D. (ed.), Waterbirds around the world, pp. 356. The Stationary Office, Edinburgh, UK.

Hockey, P. A. R.; Dean, W. R. J.; Ryan, P. G. 2005. Roberts birds of southern Africa. Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town, South Africa.

Jackson, D. B. 2001. Experimental Removal of Introduced Hedgehogs Improves Wader Nest Success in the Western Isles, Scotland. Journal of Applied Ecology 38(4): 802-812.

Lavers, C. P.; Haines-Young, R. H. 1997. Displacement of dunlin Calidris alpina schinzii by forestry in the flow country and an estimate of the value of moorland adjacent to plantations. Biological Conservation 79(1): 87-90.

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.

Pearce-Higgins, J. W.; Finney, S. K.; Yalden, D. W.; Langston, R. H. W. 2007. Testing the effects of recreational disturbance on two upland breeding waders. Ibis 149: 45-55.

Shepherd, P. C. F.; Lank, T. B. 2004. Marine and agricultural habitat preferences of Dunlin wintering in British Columbia. Journal of Wildlife Management 68(1): 61-73.

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