8 thoughts on “Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata): Revise global status?”
The statement ‘Moreover, juvenile birds staging in Alaska before the onset of the autumn migration are in decline…’ is unfounded and not supported by Warnock 2017 (declines noted in Warnock 2017 refer to the breeding population declines noted in Australia). There are no trend data for juvenile Sharp-taileds in Alaska. Handel and Gill 2010 (Wayward youth: trans-Beringian movement and differential southward migration by juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpipers: Arctic) provide the best (and only?) estimates of numbers of juveniles in Alaska. On pages 281-282 they state their assumptions that yield annual estimates of 16,000-32,000 juveniles in Alaska each fall…but there are no data from which to assess trends in these numbers, even anecdotal–the species is not monitored in Alaska. Also, given the huge importance of sites in western Alaska to the species, it would be valuable to include this region in the species’ range map.
I agree with the range extension for Alaska for this species. At the same time I propose a map change within the breeding area. The species is much more confined to Yakutia only and also on migration the green area is too large. The breeding range should not extent further east than Chaun Bay in Western Chukotka (see also Lappo et al 2012), but has recently spread more to the West up to Taimyr (Lappo et al. 2012). Unlike Pectoral and Long-billed Dowitcher Sharptailed Sandpiper have not shown more often on other flyways and might still largely migrate back to Australia only. hence the justification to VU is supported.
Not sure if this is the right place but related species from the same genus Calidris, which almost all exclusively breed in the Arctic are declining according to our observations. Most of them are still very common and changes or shifts difficult to detect. However Curlew Sandpiper has declined in Australia (Clements et al 2019), India (Balachandran 2005), etc. and in Bangladesh: Chowdhury in prep., in SE Asia: Myanmar: Gulf of Mottama: Decline of almost 50% in the past four years from 4,500 in 2000 to only 2,300 and 2,700 in 2021 and 2022 (Phyo Pyae Aung in prep). Compared to 2010 the decline is even more pronounced by 70% from 6,800 (Zöckler et al. 2014).
For the Broad-billed sandpiper the situation is even more dire: Decline by 60% from around 2000 in 2019 and 2020 to only 850 in 2021 and 2022 (Pyae Phyo Aung in prep. From 2010 the decline is more than 75% from 4000 individuals (Zöckler et al 2014). Not sure about detailed recent data from Europe and Africa but I think both species is declining here as well.
I suggest to uplist both species to VU and propose a discussion of both species in this list.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 21 February 2022. We will now analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’s Red List status on this page on 21 February 2022, when discussions will re-open.
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2022.1 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classifications outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline 27 February 2022, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2022.1 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in July 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Here are some additional unpublished data from my own PhD thesis and local observer (Mr Qingquan Bai), from the Yalu Estuary coastal wetlands (see this paper for more information about the site http://www.doi.org/10.1017/S0959270914000124). The highest counts for Sharp-tailed Sandpipers in the area were
2010 May – 1724
2011 May – 2400
2012 May – 1005
2013-2019 no higher than 116 individuals
We know that the main prey (a small mollusc species) for other shorebirds in the site collapsed from 2012 onwards but Sharp-tailed sandpipers don’t usually eat mollusc so it’s a bit surprising to see the disappearance of Sharp-tailed sandpiper
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a final decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 7 March 2022.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper is recommended to be listed as Vulnerable under Criteria A2bce+3bce+4bce.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2022.1 GTB Forum process. The final 2022.1 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in July 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
The statement ‘Moreover, juvenile birds staging in Alaska before the onset of the autumn migration are in decline…’ is unfounded and not supported by Warnock 2017 (declines noted in Warnock 2017 refer to the breeding population declines noted in Australia). There are no trend data for juvenile Sharp-taileds in Alaska. Handel and Gill 2010 (Wayward youth: trans-Beringian movement and differential southward migration by juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpipers: Arctic) provide the best (and only?) estimates of numbers of juveniles in Alaska. On pages 281-282 they state their assumptions that yield annual estimates of 16,000-32,000 juveniles in Alaska each fall…but there are no data from which to assess trends in these numbers, even anecdotal–the species is not monitored in Alaska. Also, given the huge importance of sites in western Alaska to the species, it would be valuable to include this region in the species’ range map.
I agree with the range extension for Alaska for this species. At the same time I propose a map change within the breeding area. The species is much more confined to Yakutia only and also on migration the green area is too large. The breeding range should not extent further east than Chaun Bay in Western Chukotka (see also Lappo et al 2012), but has recently spread more to the West up to Taimyr (Lappo et al. 2012). Unlike Pectoral and Long-billed Dowitcher Sharptailed Sandpiper have not shown more often on other flyways and might still largely migrate back to Australia only. hence the justification to VU is supported.
Not sure if this is the right place but related species from the same genus Calidris, which almost all exclusively breed in the Arctic are declining according to our observations. Most of them are still very common and changes or shifts difficult to detect. However Curlew Sandpiper has declined in Australia (Clements et al 2019), India (Balachandran 2005), etc. and in Bangladesh: Chowdhury in prep., in SE Asia: Myanmar: Gulf of Mottama: Decline of almost 50% in the past four years from 4,500 in 2000 to only 2,300 and 2,700 in 2021 and 2022 (Phyo Pyae Aung in prep). Compared to 2010 the decline is even more pronounced by 70% from 6,800 (Zöckler et al. 2014).
For the Broad-billed sandpiper the situation is even more dire: Decline by 60% from around 2000 in 2019 and 2020 to only 850 in 2021 and 2022 (Pyae Phyo Aung in prep. From 2010 the decline is more than 75% from 4000 individuals (Zöckler et al 2014). Not sure about detailed recent data from Europe and Africa but I think both species is declining here as well.
I suggest to uplist both species to VU and propose a discussion of both species in this list.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 21 February 2022. We will now analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’s Red List status on this page on 21 February 2022, when discussions will re-open.
Preliminary proposal
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2022.1 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classifications outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline 27 February 2022, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2022.1 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in July 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Here are some additional unpublished data from my own PhD thesis and local observer (Mr Qingquan Bai), from the Yalu Estuary coastal wetlands (see this paper for more information about the site http://www.doi.org/10.1017/S0959270914000124). The highest counts for Sharp-tailed Sandpipers in the area were
2010 May – 1724
2011 May – 2400
2012 May – 1005
2013-2019 no higher than 116 individuals
We know that the main prey (a small mollusc species) for other shorebirds in the site collapsed from 2012 onwards but Sharp-tailed sandpipers don’t usually eat mollusc so it’s a bit surprising to see the disappearance of Sharp-tailed sandpiper
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a final decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 7 March 2022.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper is recommended to be listed as Vulnerable under Criteria A2bce+3bce+4bce.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2022.1 GTB Forum process. The final 2022.1 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in July 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.