Dunlin

Common Name	DunlinBirdlife International
Species name	Calidris alpinaBirdlife International
Family	Scolopacidae
Genus
Local Name	Country Appearance Local name Brunei Darussalam     Cambodia     China     Indonesia     Japan Yes ハマシギ Lao PDR     Malaysia     Mongolia     Myanmar     Philippines     Republic of Korea     Singapore     Thailand     Vietnam

 

Visual and Sound Image

Photos

 

Videos

 

Sounds

 

Identification

No descriptions

Birdlife International

 

Range Description

No descriptions

Birdlife International

 

Ecology

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 season1, 2. The species is active both diurnally and nocturnally1, 2, 3.

Birdlife International

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 moorland1, 2.
<Non-breeding> In the non-breeding season this species mainly prefer estuarine mudflats, but also frequent a wide variety of freshwater and brackish wetlands1, 2, both coastal and inland, including lagoons, muddy freshwater shores, tidal rivers, flooded fields, sewage farms, salt-works, sandy coasts1, 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.

Birdlife International

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 fish1, 2.

Birdlife International

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.

Birdlife International

References

1. del Hoyo et al. (1996). 2. Cramp and Simmons (1977). 3. Shepherd and Lank (2004). 4. Hockey et al. (2005). 5. Melville and Shortridge (2006). 6. Grishanov (2006). 7. Pearce-Higgins et al. (2007). 8. Lavers and Haines-Young (1997). 9. Jackson (2001). 10. Burton et al. (2002a). 11. Burton et al. (2002b).

Birdlife International

Status

International Status

IUCN Red List Category

LC

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.
<Trend justification> The overall population trend is decreasing, although some populations are stable or have unknown trends (Wetlands International 2006). This species has had stable population trends over the last 40 years in North America (data from Breeding Bird Survey and/or Christmas Bird Count: Butcher and Niven 2007).

 

National Status

Country	Category	Reference
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan	NT	http://www.biodic.go.jp/rdb/rdb_f.html
Korea
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam

 

Management

Threat

<Breeding> This species is significantly threatened by the loss of its breeding habitat though afforestation of moorland1, 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.

Birdlife International

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.

Birdlife International

Current Conservation

No descriptions

Birdlife International

Current Conservation

No descriptions

Birdlife International

Legal Protection

Country	Status	Reference
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan
Korea
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam

 

Related Links

 

Range

Geographical Information

Migration Route

 

Asian Waterbird Census

Descriptions

The Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) was initiated in 1987 and runs in parallel with other waterbird censuses carried out in Africa, Europe, Central and West Asia and Latin America under the umbrella of the International Waterbird Census (IWC), which is organised by Wetlands International.

The AWC takes place annually, during the second and third weeks of January, and is carried out by volunteers interested in collecting information on waterbirds and wetlands as a basis for contributing to their conservation.

Reference: Li, Z.W.D., Bloem, A., Delany S., Martakis G. and Quintero J. O. 2009. Status of Waterbirds in Asia - Results of the Asian Waterbird Census: 1987-2007. Wetlands International, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Census Data

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	2	3	3	2	4	4	0	4	4	4	4	5	5	0	0	0	9	0	0	1	0	9
CAMBODIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	11	0	0	12	12	11	5	1	6	9	6	6
CHINA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual			1207	1637	2899	1907	1434	1464	1241	2605	5700							52508	49700	42093	112720	179084
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)			3	3	7	3	2	3	1	1	1							15	28	26	27	34
The total number of count sites	0	1	34	12	50	60	67	29	6	14	6	15	21	20	14	10	22	45	80	81	59	72
INDONESIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual						18				96				10
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)						2				1				1
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	1	19	8	17	17	15	19	16	0	0	47	12	10	40	34	14	16	15	23
JAPAN	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual					1143			8520	12095	16147	14579	7343	12133	6591	36519	38320	28837	37845	26085	33186	29588	35301
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)					5			11	22	17	22	16	10	16	66	74	63	71	57	60	64	70
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	53	39	52	47	20	50	40	47	37	41	37	107	112	103	109	97	159	142	137
LAO PDR	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	2	4	5	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	14	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
MALAYSIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual						32														1
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)						1														1
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	59	68	93	85	17	10	7	10	0	0	20	25	25	25	43	43	82	82	40
MYANMAR	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	5	3	12	17	15	21	20	13	12	2	4	2	0	7	32	47	73	24	31	32	19
PHILIPPINES	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	19	21	34	39	46	47	39	28	29	32	43	38	50	47	56	54	65	108
SINGAPORE	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	4	12	17	15	13	14	10	10	6	11	10	10	8	9	9	8	8	7
REPUBLIC OF KOREA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual			278	403		2965	1783	70	343	2440	2585	2170	3490	6091	11964	6651	5619	15613	5847	10285	21959	15874
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)			1	1		4	2	1	2	4	4	6	6	15	20	18	20	21	20	20	19	21
The total number of count sites	0	0	10	12	22	20	20	15	10	22	25	22	14	68	99	112	118	116	117	123	127	127
THAILAND	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual				1
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)				1
The total number of count sites	10	8	3	20	26	12	23	16	17	5	9	3	1	1	7	3	9	26	20	82	99	33
VIETNAM	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual													2100	1190		305	130	20		200	100	240
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)													1	1		1	2	1		2	5	3
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	1	2	0	1	4	0	1	1	0	1	8	2	2	16	4	4	9	6	11

 

Population

Descriptions

 

Population Trend

 

Additional Information

BirdLife International

BirdLife International

Climate change species distributions

 

Other Information

• Detailed species account from Birds in Europe: population estimates, trends and conservation status (BirdLife International 2004)