| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANIMALIA | CHORDATA | AVES | CHARADRIIFORMES | CHARADRIIDAE |
| Scientific Name: | Pluvialis apricaria | ||||||
| Species Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1758) | ||||||
Common Name/s:
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| Red List Category & Criteria: | Least Concern ver 3.1 | ||||||
| Year Assessed: | 2009 | ||||||
| Assessor/s: | BirdLife International | ||||||
| Reviewer/s: | Bird, J., Butchart, S. | ||||||
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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. |
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| History: |
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| Countries: |
Native:
Albania; Algeria; Armenia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Egypt; Estonia; Faroe Islands; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Greenland; Hungary; Iceland; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Kazakhstan; Latvia; Lebanon; Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Malta; Montenegro; Morocco; Netherlands; Norway; Oman; Palestinian Territory, Occupied; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Sao Tomé and Principe; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Svalbard and Jan Mayen; Sweden; Switzerland; Syrian Arab Republic; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom
Vagrant:
Bahrain; Canada; Gambia; Ghana; India; Iraq; Jordan; Liechtenstein; Mauritania; Pakistan; Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Sierra Leone; United States; Western Sahara
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| Range Map: | Click here to open the map viewer and explore range. |
| Habitat and Ecology: | Behaviour This species is fully migratory but may only move short distances in some regions1. It breeds from May to August2 in solitary pairs1, 2, adults leaving the breeding grounds before the juveniles between July and August2. The return migration in the spring peaks between April and early-May2. 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 occur1, 2, 4. Habitat Breeding The species breeds on humid moss, lichen and hummock tundra1, low-lying marshes in moss tundra3, shrub tundra, open bogs in forest, peatlands, alpine tundra1, highland bogs , moors3, and swampy highland heaths with high abundances of sphagnum moss and heather1, 3. It shows a preference for nesting on short vegetation less than 15 cm tall5. Non-breeding When on passage and in its winter quarters1 the species frequents freshwater wetlands4, moist grasslands4, pastures1, agricultural land (e.g. stubble, ploughed or fallow fields)1, 4 and highland steppe4, also foraging on tidal shores, coastal rocky outcrops3, intertidal flats1 and saltmarshes1, 4 in shallow bays and estuaries1. Diet Its diet consists predominantly of insects (especially the adults, pupae and larvae of beetles1, larval Lepidoptera, locusts and grasshoppers4), as well as earthworms, spiders, millipedes, snails, polycheate worms1, crustaceans3 and some plant material (e.g. berries, seeds and grass)1. Breeding site The nest is a shallow scrape on bare ground in flat, sparse areas with short vegetation (less than 15 cm)1. The species is a solitary nester, although in optimal habitats neighbouring pairs may nest only a few hundred metres apart1. 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 Hungary6, 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 heathers3, 5. |
| Systems: | Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine |
| Major Threat(s): | The species has suffered minor range contractions due to the cultivation and afforestation of heathlands1, 5, and is susceptible to very cold winter temperatures and severe weather conditions5. Utilisation The species is frequently taken by hunters on its wintering grounds (e.g. France)1. |
| Citation: | BirdLife International 2009. Pluvialis apricaria. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 February 2012. |
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