Curlew Sandpiper

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

 

Visual and Sound Image

Photos

Curlew Sandpiper

Videos

 

Sounds

 

Identification

No descriptions

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Range Description

No descriptions

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Ecology

Ecology (Behaviour)

This species is a full migrant, moving long distances by well-travelled routes1, 2. During the autumn migration adults precede the juveniles, with males leaving 3-4 weeks before the females in early-July, and juveniles following 4-6 weeks later1. On this southern migration, the species crosses Europe in July, reaching Africa from mid-July to September1. The return migration to the breeding grounds begins late-April to May, with arrival in the Arctic beginning in early-June, and breeding stretching from June to July1. Many 1st-year birds remain on the wintering grounds, and non-breeding adults remain just south of the breeding grounds in Central Siberia during the summer1. Nest density on the breeding grounds in commonly 1-2 pairs/ha4, but pairs will sometimes nest as close as 200-300 m1. The species is gregarious outside of the breeding season, occurring in small parties or larger flocks of up to several hundreds on the coast, but usually in smaller numbers inland (although gatherings of hundreds can occur locally on passage)3. It forages both diurnally and nocturnally1.

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Habitat

<Breeding> This species breeds on slightly elevated areas in the lowlands of the high Arctic1, 4 especially on southward-facing slopes4, as well as along the coast and islands of the Arctic Ocean1. It shows a preference for open tundra with marshy, boggy depressions and pools1, 2 from melting permafrost and snow2.
<Non-breeding> In the winter the species chiefly occurs on coastal brackish lagoons, tidal mud- and sandflats, estuaries, saltmarshes1, 2, exposed coral, rocky shores and tidewrack on sandy beaches3, and also inland on the muddy edges of marshes, large rivers and lakes (both saline and freshwater), irrigated land, flooded areas1, dams3 and saltpans10.

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Diet

<Breeding> On the breeding grounds the diet of this species consists mainly of insects, such as the adults, pupae and larva of Diptera (e.g. midges, craneflies4) and beetles, as well as bugs and leeches1.
<Non-breeding> In the winter its diet consists of polycheate worms, molluscs, crustaceans (such as amphipods, brine shrimps and copepods), and occasionally insects and seeds1.

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Breeding Site

The nest is a cup positioned on the margins of marshes or pools, on the slopes of hummock tundra, or on dry patches in Polygonum tundra1.

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References

1. del Hoyo et al. (1996). 2. Snow and Perrins (1998). 3. Urban et al. (1986). 4. Johnsgard (1981). 5. Barter (2002). 6. Balachandran (2006). 7. Kelin and Qiang (2006). 8. Melville and Shortridge (2006). 9. Barter (2006). 10. Khomenko (2006). 11. Gaidet et al. (2007). 12. Wearne and Underhill (2005). 13. Blaker (1967). 14. van Heerden (1974).

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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). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not 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 increasing, although some populations are decreasing, stable or have unknown trends (Wetlands International 2006).

 

National Status

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

 

Management

Threat

In China and South Korea important migrational staging areas of this species around the coast of the Yellow Sea are being lost through land reclamation, and degraded as a result of declining river flows (from water abstraction), increased environmental pollution, unsustainable harvesting of benthic fauna and a reduction in the amount of sediment being carried into the area by the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers5, 7, 9. The species is threatened on the south-east coast of India (Point Calimere) by illegal hunting (bird trapping), reservoir and marshland habitat alteration by salt-industries, and habitat degradation by diminishing rainfall (changing the salt regime)6. It is also threatened at Walvis Bay in Namibia, a key wetland site in southern Africa, by habitat degradation (e.g. changes in the flood regime due to road building, and wetland reclamation for suburb and port development), and disturbance from tourism12. This species is susceptible to avian influenza8, 11 and avian botulism13, 14 so may be threatened by future outbreaks of these diseases.

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Information

No descriptions

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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	Protected Wild Birds Part I: Game Birds(as alidris ferrugineus)	Law of Malaysia Act 76, Protection of Wild Life Act 1972 (Amend. 2006)
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		1	1
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)		1	1
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											192
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)											2
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			7									250							5		40
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)			1									1							1		1
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				50	2955		65	766	88	212	100			1			35			42		35
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)				1	3		3	3	3	2	1			1			1			4		2
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																37
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)																1
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				6748	5863	4022	5356	1938	471	35				200	223	135	540	1179	619	1340	2405	1304
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)				16	12	22	20	10	3	1				1	4	3	5	7	8	13	13	6
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			4				1										1	83	31		144
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)			1				1										1	3	2		5
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					3000	19	361	470	474	129	75	51	145	32	83	65	10	293	289	499	90	218
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)					4	3	11	8	11	7	11	5	4	4	7	3	6	4	7	8	6	7
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					470	82	781	429	411	28	5	3	180	207	50	25	2
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)					2	2	6	4	3	2	2	1	2	3	1	2	1
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
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
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	1738				50	1	222	9	50			1		478	717			32	505	877	1381	615
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)	3				1	1	4	2	1			1		1	1			2	4	9	12	9
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								24			3									3
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)								1			1									1
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

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Climate change species distributions

BirdLife Internatinal

Other Information

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