Charadrius alexandrinus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	Charadriiformes	Charadriidae

Scientific Name:

Charadrius alexandrinus

Species Authority:

Linnaeus, 1758

Common Name/s:

English	–	Kentish Plover, Snowy Plover
French	–	Gravelot À Collier Interrompu

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2009

Assessor/s

BirdLife International

Evaluator/s:

Bird, J., Butchart, S.(BirdLife International)

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.

History:

2008	–	Least Concern
2004	–	Least Concern
2000	–	Lower Risk/least concern
1994	–	Lower Risk/least concern
1988	–	Lower Risk/least concern

Geographic Range [top]

Countries:	Native: Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Armenia; Aruba; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahamas; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belgium; Bhutan; Bosnia and Herzegovina; British Indian Ocean Territory; Brunei Darussalam; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Cambodia; Cameroon; Canada; Cape Verde; Cayman Islands; Chad; Chile; China; Colombia; Costa Rica; Côte d'Ivoire; Croatia; Cuba; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Eritrea; Estonia; Ethiopia; France; Gambia; Georgia; Germany; Ghana; Gibraltar; Greece; Guadeloupe; Guam; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Haiti; Honduras; Hong Kong; Hungary; India; Indonesia; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Japan; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Lebanon; Liberia; Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Malaysia; Mali; Malta; Martinique; Mauritania; Mexico; Micronesia, Federated States of; Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Montserrat; Morocco; Myanmar; Nepal; Netherlands; Netherlands Antilles; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Northern Mariana Islands; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Panama; Peru; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Puerto Rico; Qatar; Romania; Russian Federation; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Serbia; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Slovakia; Slovenia; Somalia; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Sweden; Switzerland; Syrian Arab Republic; Taiwan, Province of China; Tajikistan; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Togo; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Turks and Caicos Islands; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States; Uzbekistan; Venezuela; Viet Nam; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S.; Western Sahara; Yemen Vagrant: Australia; Belize; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Finland; Gabon; Ireland; Latvia; Luxembourg; Maldives; Niger; Norway; Seychelles; Uganda

Countries:

Native:

Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Armenia; Aruba; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahamas; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belgium; Bhutan; Bosnia and Herzegovina; British Indian Ocean Territory; Brunei Darussalam; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Cambodia; Cameroon; Canada; Cape Verde; Cayman Islands; Chad; Chile; China; Colombia; Costa Rica; Côte d'Ivoire; Croatia; Cuba; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Eritrea; Estonia; Ethiopia; France; Gambia; Georgia; Germany; Ghana; Gibraltar; Greece; Guadeloupe; Guam; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Haiti; Honduras; Hong Kong; Hungary; India; Indonesia; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Japan; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Lebanon; Liberia; Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Malaysia; Mali; Malta; Martinique; Mauritania; Mexico; Micronesia, Federated States of; Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Montserrat; Morocco; Myanmar; Nepal; Netherlands; Netherlands Antilles; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Northern Mariana Islands; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Panama; Peru; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Puerto Rico; Qatar; Romania; Russian Federation; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Serbia; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Slovakia; Slovenia; Somalia; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Sweden; Switzerland; Syrian Arab Republic; Taiwan, Province of China; Tajikistan; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Togo; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Turks and Caicos Islands; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States; Uzbekistan; Venezuela; Viet Nam; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S.; Western Sahara; Yemen

Vagrant:

Australia; Belize; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Finland; Gabon; Ireland; Latvia; Luxembourg; Maldives; Niger; Norway; Seychelles; Uganda

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Behaviour Although some populations of this species are sedentary or only disperse short distances¹, most inland and northern coastal populations³ are fully migratory and have distinct separate breeding and wintering ranges¹. The species occupies its breeding grounds chiefly from March to October³, dispersing from late-June immediately after the young fledge, with the southward migration peaking in September¹. The species nests solitarily or in loose semicolonial groups^{1, 2, 4}, usually in densities of 0.5 to 20 pairs per hectare (exceptionally up to 100 pairs per hectare)², and sometimes in association with other species (e.g. Least Tern Sterna antillarum)¹². Outside of the breeding season⁵ the species feeds singly⁷ or in small flocks of 20-30 individuals^{1, 5}, and occasionally in larger flocks of up to 260 individuals⁴, often roosting in large mixed-species flocks⁴. Habitat During all seasons the species is predominantly coastal^{1, 2, 3} and is usually found on sand, silt or dry mud surfaces¹, generally avoiding very exposed oceanic coastlines⁵ and rocky or broken ground¹. It also shows a preference for sparsely vegetated and sandy areas when breeding². Typical habitats include sandy, pebbly or muddy shores^{2, 3, 6}, dunes², coastal lagoons¹, coastal marshes (China)⁷, tropical shores of coral limestone², estuaries and tidal mudflats (Africa)⁴. It is uncommon on freshwater, even when migrating³, but frequently occurs on inland habitats not far from the coast such as seasonal watercourses¹, open flats near brackish or saline lakes^{1, 3}, salt-pans^{1, 6}, salty steppes with scattered grasses², sandy deserts², pebbly or muddy plains², gravel pits¹, and less frequently sandy riverbanks (Africa)^{2, 4, 6}, sandy pond margins⁶ and barren reservoir shores^{1, 2}. Diet Its diet consists mainly of insects and their larvae^{1, 2} (e.g. beetles and flies)¹, gammarids², crabs⁴, other crustaceans¹ and brine shrimps², bivalve and univalve molluscs^{1, 2}, polychaete worms^{1, 2}, spiders¹ and small pieces of seaweed⁴. Breeding site The nest is a shallow scrape¹ positioned near water on bare earth or in sparse vegetation¹, often on slightly raised ground⁵ and partly sheltered by plants⁵ or near conspicuous objects such as grass clumps or shrubs². The species nests in semicolonial groups, with nests spaced between 2 and 5 m (western Paleartic)⁵ or more than 20 m apart (up to 80 m)¹. Management information Shallowly flooding a previously dry habitat at Owens Lake, California, was found to attract more breeding pairs to the area and had the effect of extending the nesting season by c.1 month¹¹. At Batiquitos Lagoon, California, creating new nesting areas from dredging spoils (e.g. coarse-grained sand and shell fragments) attracted more breeding pairs and non-breeding individuals, possibly because the new areas were covered with less debris and a smaller amount of tall vegetation than older sites¹². In the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma, there is evidence that nests adjacent to herbaceous and shrub vegetation suffer significantly lower losses to flooding but significantly higher losses to mammalian predation than those 500 or 1,000 m away^{1, 4}. In the same area artificial nest ridges (made by ploughing) and nest mounds constructed from existing materials (gravel, sand and clay) were found not to reduce nest flooding¹³. Predator exclusion experiments from nesting areas using electric fences in the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma¹³ and in Monterey Bay, California were unsuccessful in increasing the number of chicks fledged per male¹⁶ or significantly reducing annual egg predation (this was probably still limited by avian predation)¹³, although in Monterey Bay the hatching success of nests within the exclosure did increase¹⁶ and the overall nesting success was higher for breeding pairs within the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge exclosures¹³. At Monterey Bay the predator exclosures were also not successful in increasing adult breeding numbers, and the mortality of incubating adults was actually higher within the enclosures than outside them¹⁶. On beaches in Santa Barbara, California, erecting protective barriers to direct tourist foot-traffic away from sections of upper beach was found to decrease disturbance of the species by more than half and attracted increased numbers of breeding pairs, although the distribution of the species on the beach contracted to within the protected area¹⁵.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Habitat and Ecology:

Behaviour Although some populations of this species are sedentary or only disperse short distances¹, most inland and northern coastal populations³ are fully migratory and have distinct separate breeding and wintering ranges¹. The species occupies its breeding grounds chiefly from March to October³, dispersing from late-June immediately after the young fledge, with the southward migration peaking in September¹. The species nests solitarily or in loose semicolonial groups^{1, 2, 4}, usually in densities of 0.5 to 20 pairs per hectare (exceptionally up to 100 pairs per hectare)², and sometimes in association with other species (e.g. Least Tern Sterna antillarum)¹². Outside of the breeding season⁵ the species feeds singly⁷ or in small flocks of 20-30 individuals^{1, 5}, and occasionally in larger flocks of up to 260 individuals⁴, often roosting in large mixed-species flocks⁴. Habitat During all seasons the species is predominantly coastal^{1, 2, 3} and is usually found on sand, silt or dry mud surfaces¹, generally avoiding very exposed oceanic coastlines⁵ and rocky or broken ground¹. It also shows a preference for sparsely vegetated and sandy areas when breeding². Typical habitats include sandy, pebbly or muddy shores^{2, 3, 6}, dunes², coastal lagoons¹, coastal marshes (China)⁷, tropical shores of coral limestone², estuaries and tidal mudflats (Africa)⁴. It is uncommon on freshwater, even when migrating³, but frequently occurs on inland habitats not far from the coast such as seasonal watercourses¹, open flats near brackish or saline lakes^{1, 3}, salt-pans^{1, 6}, salty steppes with scattered grasses², sandy deserts², pebbly or muddy plains², gravel pits¹, and less frequently sandy riverbanks (Africa)^{2, 4, 6}, sandy pond margins⁶ and barren reservoir shores^{1, 2}. Diet Its diet consists mainly of insects and their larvae^{1, 2} (e.g. beetles and flies)¹, gammarids², crabs⁴, other crustaceans¹ and brine shrimps², bivalve and univalve molluscs^{1, 2}, polychaete worms^{1, 2}, spiders¹ and small pieces of seaweed⁴. Breeding site The nest is a shallow scrape¹ positioned near water on bare earth or in sparse vegetation¹, often on slightly raised ground⁵ and partly sheltered by plants⁵ or near conspicuous objects such as grass clumps or shrubs². The species nests in semicolonial groups, with nests spaced between 2 and 5 m (western Paleartic)⁵ or more than 20 m apart (up to 80 m)¹. Management information Shallowly flooding a previously dry habitat at Owens Lake, California, was found to attract more breeding pairs to the area and had the effect of extending the nesting season by c.1 month¹¹. At Batiquitos Lagoon, California, creating new nesting areas from dredging spoils (e.g. coarse-grained sand and shell fragments) attracted more breeding pairs and non-breeding individuals, possibly because the new areas were covered with less debris and a smaller amount of tall vegetation than older sites¹². In the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma, there is evidence that nests adjacent to herbaceous and shrub vegetation suffer significantly lower losses to flooding but significantly higher losses to mammalian predation than those 500 or 1,000 m away^{1, 4}. In the same area artificial nest ridges (made by ploughing) and nest mounds constructed from existing materials (gravel, sand and clay) were found not to reduce nest flooding¹³. Predator exclusion experiments from nesting areas using electric fences in the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma¹³ and in Monterey Bay, California were unsuccessful in increasing the number of chicks fledged per male¹⁶ or significantly reducing annual egg predation (this was probably still limited by avian predation)¹³, although in Monterey Bay the hatching success of nests within the exclosure did increase¹⁶ and the overall nesting success was higher for breeding pairs within the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge exclosures¹³. At Monterey Bay the predator exclosures were also not successful in increasing adult breeding numbers, and the mortality of incubating adults was actually higher within the enclosures than outside them¹⁶. On beaches in Santa Barbara, California, erecting protective barriers to direct tourist foot-traffic away from sections of upper beach was found to decrease disturbance of the species by more than half and attracted increased numbers of breeding pairs, although the distribution of the species on the beach contracted to within the protected area¹⁵.

Systems:

Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	The species is threatened by the disturbance of coastal habitats (e.g. tourists trampling nests and disturbing roosts on beaches)¹⁵. It is also threatened by the degradation and loss of wetland habitat through environmental pollution^{9, 10}, land reclamation^{1, 10}, declining river flows^{9, 10} (from water abstraction), unsustainable harvesting of benthic fauna^{9, 10}, urbanisation¹ and a reduction in the amount of sediment being carried into coastal areas by rivers¹⁰. The species is susceptible to avian botulism, so may be threatened by future outbreaks of the disease⁸.

Major Threat(s):

The species is threatened by the disturbance of coastal habitats (e.g. tourists trampling nests and disturbing roosts on beaches)¹⁵. It is also threatened by the degradation and loss of wetland habitat through environmental pollution^{9, 10}, land reclamation^{1, 10}, declining river flows^{9, 10} (from water abstraction), unsustainable harvesting of benthic fauna^{9, 10}, urbanisation¹ and a reduction in the amount of sediment being carried into coastal areas by rivers¹⁰. The species is susceptible to avian botulism, so may be threatened by future outbreaks of the disease⁸.

Citation:	BirdLife International 2009. Charadrius alexandrinus. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 21 March 2010.
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