Common Redshank

Common Name	Common RedshankBirdlife International
Species name	Tringa totanusBirdlife International
Family	Scolopacidae
Genus
Local Name	Country Appearance Local name Brunei Darussalam     Cambodia     China     Indonesia     Japan Yes アカアシシギ Lao PDR     Malaysia     Mongolia     Myanmar     Philippines     Republic of Korea     Singapore     Thailand     Vietnam

 

Visual and Sound Image

Photos

 

Videos

 

Sounds

 

Identification

No descriptions

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Range Description

No descriptions

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Ecology

Ecology (Behaviour)

Most populations of this species are fully migratory and travel on a broad front over land and along coasts, some Icelandic and Western European populations remaining close to their breeding grounds1. It breeds from March to August2 in solitarily pairs or in loose colonies1, 2, departing the breeding grounds from June to October, and returning from the wintering grounds again between February and April2. Outside of the breeding season the species forages singly, in small groups1 or occasionally in larger flocks of up to c.1,000 individuals5 especially at roosting sites2 or when feeding on fish1.

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Habitat

<Breeding> The species breeds on coastal saltmarshes, inland wet grasslands with short swards1 (including cultivated meadows)3, grassy marshes, swampy heathlands1 and swampy moors3.
<Non-breeding> On passage the species may frequent inland flooded grasslands1 and the silty shores of rivers and lakes4, but during the winter it is largely coastal1, occupying rocky, muddy and sandy beaches, saltmarshes, tidal mudflats, saline and freshwater coastal lagoons1, tidal estuaries3, saltworks and sewage farms1.

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Diet

<Breeding> When breeding its diet consists of insects, spiders and annelid worms1.
<Non-breeding> During the non-breeding season the species takes insects, spiders and annelid worms1, as well as molluscs, crustaceans (especially amphipods e.g. Corophium spp.)1 and occasionally small fish and tadpoles1.

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Breeding Site

The nest s a shallow scrape or hollow5 on a hummock or at the base of a tuft4 of grass1, often well hidden by overhanging leaves1. The species usually nests solitarily inland (less than 10 pairs/km2) but in loosely colonial groups (up to 100-300 pairs/km2) on the coast1.

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References

1. del Hoyo et al. (1996). 2. Hayman et al. (1986). 3. Johnsgard (1981). 4. Flint et al. (1984). 5. Snow and Perrins (1998). 6. Melveille and Shortridge (2006). 7. Burton (2006). 8. Jackson (2001). 9. Ausden et al. (2002). 10. Baines (1988). 11. Burton et al. (2002a). 12. Burton et al. (2002b). 13. Olsen and Schmidt (2004). 14. Squires and Allcorn (2006). 15. Robson and Allcorn (2006). 16. Ausden et al. (2003). 17. Norris et al. (1998). 18. Evans (1986). 19. Norris et al. (1997). 20. Ausden et al. (2005).

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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 is not known, but the population is not believed to be decreasing sufficiently rapidly to approach the thresholds 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.
<Trend justification> The overall population trend is uncertain, as some populations are decreasing, while others are stable, increasing or have unknown trends (Wetlands International 2006). In Europe, trends since 1980 show that populations have undergone a moderate decline (p<0.01), based on provisional data for 21 countries from the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (EBCC/RSPB/BirdLife/Statistics Netherlands; P. Vorisek in litt. 2008).

 

National Status

Country	Category	Reference
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan	VU(as Tringa totanus ussuriensis)	http://www.biodic.go.jp/rdb/rdb_f.html
Korea	LC	Korean Red List of Threatened Species(NIBR, 2012)
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam

 

Management

Threat

The species is threatened by the loss of breeding and wintering habitats through agricultural intensification, wetland drainage, flood control, afforestation, land reclamation, industrial development1, encroachment of Spartina spp. on mudflats1, 18, improvement of marginal grasslands1 (e.g. by drainage, inorganic fertilising and re-seeding)10, coastal barrage construction7, and heavy grazing (e.g. of saltmarshes)17. The species is also threatened by disturbance on intertidal mudflats from construction work (UK)11 and foot-traffic on footpaths12. It is vulnerable to severe cold periods on its Western European wintering grounds1 and suffers from nest predation by introduced predators (e.g. European hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus) on some islands8. The species is also susceptible to avian influenza so may be threatened by future outbreaks of the viurs6.

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Information

Optimal breeding conditions for this species may be provided by creating a mosaic of unflooded grassland, winter-flooded grassland and shallow pools9. Winter flooding of grasslands is beneficial to the species as it helps to keep the sward height short and open and also creates pools which provide a source of aquatic invertebrates in the spring9, 13. Such shallow pools on coastal grazing marshes should be maintained until the end of June16. The number of breeding pairs on improved grassland was successfully increased on a reserve in Wales by the implementation of a two-year rotation of chisel ploughing, as well as a seasonal sheep and cattle grazing regime and a controlled increase in the water-level14. At Lower Lough Erne in Northern Ireland the breeding population of the species increased considerably as a result of cutting rush beds in mid-winter (although the species nested on uncut areas, chicks benefited from the presence of adjacent short, open areas for feeding)15. Low-level grazing of salt marshes (e.g. c.1 cow per hectare) does not appear to affect the species and may even be beneficial to breeding populations19, 20, although cattle should not be put onto the marsh until towards the end of the nesting season (e.g. late-May or early-June) to minimise the risk of nest trampling19. There is also evidence that too heavy grazing can be detrimental18. The species is known to show increased hatching success when ground predators have been excluded by erecting protective fences around nesting areas8, and in the UK there is evidence that the removal of Spartina anglica from tidal mudflats using a herbicide is beneficial for the species18.

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Current Conservation

No descriptions

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Current Conservation

No descriptions

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Legal Protection

Country	Status	Reference
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan
Korea
Lao PDR
Malaysia	Protected Wild Birds Part I: Game Birds	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	4	4	10	16	19	15		20	8	6	9	11	5				1					6
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)	1	1	2	2	2	1		2	1	2	2	2	2				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											596								17
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)											6								1
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			3032	293	1156	167	216	388	3	1	1300	10	20			750		119	988	15	107	114
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)			3	1	6	5	7	3	1	1	1	1	1			1		2	6	2	6	5
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				570	2109	786	43	844	658	97	877			114	1000	17	157	67		15		65
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)				1	7	3	2	5	8	3	4			5	1	2	3	4		3		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								9	4	9	23		2	2	87	95	104	67	59	69	65	41
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)								1	1	2	2		1	1	7	6	5	6	3	2	3	4
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						2
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)						1
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				4131	3618	5599	6327	1558	1442	235	40			1620	478	1227	1470	2630	2547	8755	7993	5503
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)				31	30	33	35	6	4	3	1			6	7	8	6	13	16	37	37	19
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					32	93	100	59	34		12						168	28	131	159	2929
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)					1	5	1	5	1		1						4	4	3	4	10
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					677	661	1441	1728	949	640	321	489	464	628	549	620	445	1456	1069	1395	1132	914
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)					10	15	20	19	19	18	17	10	15	18	25	13	23	28	22	25	22	33
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					468	712	267	459	530	668	1004	333	778	898	292	205	161	336	282	270	613	269
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)					3	7	6	8	9	9	7	6	5	6	4	6	5	4	4	3	4	4
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																					1
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)																					1
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	167				288	20	55	127	15	6		354		1211	81	132		35	996	739	973	350
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)	4				4	1	8	3	3	1		2		1	1	3		3	6	18	22	15
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				1			12	9			194		30	26	30	50	213	9	32	219	144	274
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)				1			1	1			1		1	2	1	1	4	1	2	2	4	4
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

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Climate change species distributions

 

Other Information

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