14 thoughts on “Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea)”
In Lebanon, very few numbers visit during the summer and migrate over the Palm Islands Nature Reserve according to G. Ramadan-Jaradi and M. Ramadan-Jaradi (2001). Numbers are still very low with only 3 observations in 2023.
There has been substantial loss of saltern habitat around China’s Yellow Sea coast in recent decades, and changes in management may also have reduced habitat available to migrating Curlew Sandpipers.
We received the following contribution from Jeff Campbell:
Excerpt from:
2024 Summer Coastal Shorebird Counts.
Jeff Campbell. Friends of Shorebirds SE.
The 2024 summer Population Monitoring Counts (Shorebird Counts) were carried out on 14 February 2024 . These counts covered the coastline from Carpenter Rocks to Nene Valley East (Carpenter Rocks count area) and Port MacDonnell to Green Point (Port MacDonnell count area)(Figure 12). Each of these count areas consist of approximately 20 kilometres of coastline, comprised of sandy beaches, limestone bluffs, rock flats and pebble beaches. By far the majority of beaches are fronted by shallow limestone reefs and substrate or low sandy bars (Short 2006).
Since 2001 the same methodology has been used for the biannual Australasian Wader Studies Group/Shorebirds 2020 Population Monitoring Program (PMP) shorebird counts at two sites in the lower south east of South Australia. The sites are Port MacDonnell and Carpenter Rocks , and the same subsites in these two sites have been surveyed on each occasion.
Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea
Totals for summer counts, areas combined, continue the recent decrease in numbers (Figure 7) with no birds of this species found in this count. This trend is similar to that found by Gosbell & Clemens (2006) for SE Australia. When the areas are separated, the Port MacDonnell area numbers are steadily reducing, whereas the numbers for the Carpenter Rocks area have dramatically dropped. Numbers of national significance were present in seven of the count years but not since 2013. Listed as Critically Endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
This approximate magnitude of downward trend was already underway at the start of our time series in 1993, and appears to be continuing, supporting uplisting of this species.
The situation in Myanmar appears not as dramatic as shown from India and Australia as well as from other flyways. Yet, a decline from over 6000 in 2012 (Zöckler et al 2014) to 2,200-4,500 over the past six years in the Gulf of Mottama concurs with the findings at other sites.
Again as an Arctic breeding species we ought to look at issues maybe climate related in the breeding grounds and not only on the flyway.
The upgradation of this species is proposed mostly based on the decline observed in EAAF especially Yellow Sea. But the majority of the non-breeding population for this species occurs in the CAF region particularly in the Indian Sub-Continent. The long term monitoring in the coastal wetlands located along the south-east coast of India shows the fluctuating trends over the last two decades. The decline observed till 2015 at this major shorebirds site has been reversed since 2016 and the numbers observed during 2020-21 was around 100,000 on a single day during September 2021. It is difficult to estimate the numbers as they were spread to a larger area of over 100 sq.km and inaccessible sites. We have got a large congregation photographs and video clips to substantiate. The following two seasons also the numbers exceeded over 70,000. Moreover, this site is not monitored round the year to document the actual numbers occurring on both passage and winter. Monsoon play a crucial role in maintaining this numbers by keeping the mudflats alive till the end of Northward passage. During 2021 and 2022 due to the the good monsoon numbers for all the waders were high during 2021 and 2022. Due to low rainfall this migratory season (2023-2024) though the numbers are less around 40,000 mostly on southward passage during late August to end September,2023. But during winter (January February 2024) numbers were very less around 8,000.
But in some other sites like Chilika Lake the decline was conspicuous 40,000 (over 85%decline 40,000 to 5,500 from 2001 to2020), and Gulf of Mannar-Rameswaram Island 80% decline 1985 to 2021 (10,500 to 2,000).
Ringing Data:
At Chilika 1983-1985, and 2001-2020 , respectively 850 and 3050 birds were ringed.
During 1985-1988, Gulf of Mannar 2,100 Curlew Sandpipers were ringed, at present not even the total numbers of birds occurring never exceeded 2,000.
Altogether Point Calimere alone the ringing totals for this species is (1980-1992 and 1998-2023) 20,650. Even in Mumbai (Indian West coast) around 7,000 individuals were ringed from 2016-2024., and around 20,000 wintering individuals occur during winter.
Hence, without understanding the unexplored wintering sites, it is not proper to upgraded this species from Near-threatened to endangered. Probably it can be upgraded to vulnerable at present, Can be waited till next revision to obtain more trends from the non-breeding grounds of the Central Asian Flyway Region. The recent increase at Point Calimere may be due to the probable shifting of stopover sites from Yellow Sea to Indian coastal sites. Moreover, movement between these sites and Yellow Sea have been proved through ringing recoveries and color flag sightings,
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 3 May 2024. We will now analyse and interpret all information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 3 May 2024, when discussions will re-open.
Thanks to all for the helpful comments received. In particular, data from the CAF region which suggest fluctuations rather than sustained declines. Accordingly, a less pessimistic rates of decline of 30-49% is suspected. Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2024 Red List would be to list Curlew Sandpiper as Vulnerable under Criteria A2bcd+4bcd.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 13 May 2024, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2024 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2024, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Curlew Sand Pipers is normally recorded in the coastal Gambia, and the middle parts of the Gambia in some of the Key National parks and wetlands but beyond that limited or few records still with all the records the numbers are not more than 300 species
In Lebanon, very few numbers visit during the summer and migrate over the Palm Islands Nature Reserve according to G. Ramadan-Jaradi and M. Ramadan-Jaradi (2001). Numbers are still very low with only 3 observations in 2023.
Disappeared on breeding on the Ayon Island, Chukotka, Russia (Solovyeva 2016). Declined elsewhere in Chukotka (see summary in Tomkovich 2022)
Ref:
Solovyeva, D.V. 2016. Birds of Ayon Island, Chukotskiy AO. Far Eastern Ornit. J. 5: 19-31
There has been substantial loss of saltern habitat around China’s Yellow Sea coast in recent decades, and changes in management may also have reduced habitat available to migrating Curlew Sandpipers.
We received the following contribution from Jeff Campbell:
Excerpt from:
2024 Summer Coastal Shorebird Counts.
Jeff Campbell. Friends of Shorebirds SE.
The 2024 summer Population Monitoring Counts (Shorebird Counts) were carried out on 14 February 2024 . These counts covered the coastline from Carpenter Rocks to Nene Valley East (Carpenter Rocks count area) and Port MacDonnell to Green Point (Port MacDonnell count area)(Figure 12). Each of these count areas consist of approximately 20 kilometres of coastline, comprised of sandy beaches, limestone bluffs, rock flats and pebble beaches. By far the majority of beaches are fronted by shallow limestone reefs and substrate or low sandy bars (Short 2006).
Since 2001 the same methodology has been used for the biannual Australasian Wader Studies Group/Shorebirds 2020 Population Monitoring Program (PMP) shorebird counts at two sites in the lower south east of South Australia. The sites are Port MacDonnell and Carpenter Rocks , and the same subsites in these two sites have been surveyed on each occasion.
Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea
Totals for summer counts, areas combined, continue the recent decrease in numbers (Figure 7) with no birds of this species found in this count. This trend is similar to that found by Gosbell & Clemens (2006) for SE Australia. When the areas are separated, the Port MacDonnell area numbers are steadily reducing, whereas the numbers for the Carpenter Rocks area have dramatically dropped. Numbers of national significance were present in seven of the count years but not since 2013. Listed as Critically Endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Monitoring of migratory birds in Finland (East Atlantic flyway).
Annual standardized monitoring counts from the Hanko Bird Observatory show short-term decline (-27%; 2010-2019 -> 2020-2022) or long-term decline (-41%; 1979-1999 -> 2020-2022):
https://haahka.laji.fi/?_inputs_&language=%22en%22&tabs=%22species%22&species=%22Calidris%20ferruginea%22
Similarly trends in the casual observations through the national online portal of Birdlife Finland (Tiira.fi) suggest clear signs of declines. The data has been analysed using only one observation per 100 km2 square per day: observation with the highest number of individuals during the spring / autumn migration season. The national annual sum was the additive sum of the squares from a given year. The method has been explained in
https://lintulehti.birdlife.fi:8443/pdf/artikkelit/2576/tiedosto/Linnut_VK2017_080-091_Uhanalaiset_ja_harvalukuiset_ARK_artikkelit_2576.pdf#view=FitH
Annual cumulative means:
Spring 2007-2011 105 -> 2019-2023 72 = -31 %
Autumn 2007-2011 3 321 -> 2019-2023 1 974 = -41 %
Slight correction to the assessment text: In the Rogers et al report, we estimated the national trend for Australia over three generations at -52.99 (95%CI: -72.34, -18.76). See https://www.nespmarinecoastal.edu.au/publication/australias-migratory-shorebirds-trends-and-prospects/
This approximate magnitude of downward trend was already underway at the start of our time series in 1993, and appears to be continuing, supporting uplisting of this species.
Please listing assessment published by the Australian Government.
https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/pubs/856-conservation-advice-18122023.pdf
More than 1000 in Singapore in the 1990s, only individuals seen in the recent years.
The situation in Myanmar appears not as dramatic as shown from India and Australia as well as from other flyways. Yet, a decline from over 6000 in 2012 (Zöckler et al 2014) to 2,200-4,500 over the past six years in the Gulf of Mottama concurs with the findings at other sites.
Again as an Arctic breeding species we ought to look at issues maybe climate related in the breeding grounds and not only on the flyway.
Curlew Sandpiper is one of the birds that is often picked as an example of a coastal species declining in India.
As per the State of India’s Birds, it has declined in the longer term https://stateofindiasbirds.in/species/cursan/
Page 36 of the report features a graph that includes this species.
https://stateofindiasbirds.in/wp-content/uploads/SoIB-2023_report.pdf
An annual trend from 2015 till 2022 of
-4.44 (-6.12, -2.76) – with 95% CI in brackets
The upgradation of this species is proposed mostly based on the decline observed in EAAF especially Yellow Sea. But the majority of the non-breeding population for this species occurs in the CAF region particularly in the Indian Sub-Continent. The long term monitoring in the coastal wetlands located along the south-east coast of India shows the fluctuating trends over the last two decades. The decline observed till 2015 at this major shorebirds site has been reversed since 2016 and the numbers observed during 2020-21 was around 100,000 on a single day during September 2021. It is difficult to estimate the numbers as they were spread to a larger area of over 100 sq.km and inaccessible sites. We have got a large congregation photographs and video clips to substantiate. The following two seasons also the numbers exceeded over 70,000. Moreover, this site is not monitored round the year to document the actual numbers occurring on both passage and winter. Monsoon play a crucial role in maintaining this numbers by keeping the mudflats alive till the end of Northward passage. During 2021 and 2022 due to the the good monsoon numbers for all the waders were high during 2021 and 2022. Due to low rainfall this migratory season (2023-2024) though the numbers are less around 40,000 mostly on southward passage during late August to end September,2023. But during winter (January February 2024) numbers were very less around 8,000.
But in some other sites like Chilika Lake the decline was conspicuous 40,000 (over 85%decline 40,000 to 5,500 from 2001 to2020), and Gulf of Mannar-Rameswaram Island 80% decline 1985 to 2021 (10,500 to 2,000).
Ringing Data:
At Chilika 1983-1985, and 2001-2020 , respectively 850 and 3050 birds were ringed.
During 1985-1988, Gulf of Mannar 2,100 Curlew Sandpipers were ringed, at present not even the total numbers of birds occurring never exceeded 2,000.
Altogether Point Calimere alone the ringing totals for this species is (1980-1992 and 1998-2023) 20,650. Even in Mumbai (Indian West coast) around 7,000 individuals were ringed from 2016-2024., and around 20,000 wintering individuals occur during winter.
Hence, without understanding the unexplored wintering sites, it is not proper to upgraded this species from Near-threatened to endangered. Probably it can be upgraded to vulnerable at present, Can be waited till next revision to obtain more trends from the non-breeding grounds of the Central Asian Flyway Region. The recent increase at Point Calimere may be due to the probable shifting of stopover sites from Yellow Sea to Indian coastal sites. Moreover, movement between these sites and Yellow Sea have been proved through ringing recoveries and color flag sightings,
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 3 May 2024. We will now analyse and interpret all information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 3 May 2024, when discussions will re-open.
Preliminary proposal
Thanks to all for the helpful comments received. In particular, data from the CAF region which suggest fluctuations rather than sustained declines. Accordingly, a less pessimistic rates of decline of 30-49% is suspected. Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2024 Red List would be to list Curlew Sandpiper as Vulnerable under Criteria A2bcd+4bcd.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 13 May 2024, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2024 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2024, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Curlew Sand Pipers is normally recorded in the coastal Gambia, and the middle parts of the Gambia in some of the Key National parks and wetlands but beyond that limited or few records still with all the records the numbers are not more than 300 species