Calidris alpina -- (Linnaeus, 1758)ANIMALIA -- CHORDATA -- AVES -- CHARADRIIFORMES -- SCOLOPACIDAECommon names: Dunlin; Bécasseau variable

European Red List AssessmentEuropean Red List Status

LC -- Least Concern, (IUCN version 3.1)

Assessment InformationYear published: 2015Date assessed: 2015-03-31Assessor(s): BirdLife InternationalReviewer(s): Symes, A.Compiler(s): Ashpole, J., Burfield, I., Ieronymidou, C., Pople, R., Van den Bossche, W., Wheatley, H. &

Wright, L.Assessment RationaleEuropean regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)EU27 regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)

In Europe this species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence 10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). 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). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern in Europe.

Within the EU27 this species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence 10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (30% decline over ten years or three generations). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern in the EU27.

OccurrenceCountries/Territories of OccurrenceNative:Albania; Armenia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Belgium; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Faroe Islands (to DK); Greenland (to DK); Estonia; Finland; France; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Iceland; Ireland, Rep. of; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Malta; Moldova; Montenegro; Netherlands; Norway; Svalbard and Jan Mayen (to NO); Poland; Portugal; Romania; Russian Federation; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Turkey; Ukraine; United KingdomVagrant:Bosnia and Herzegovina; Liechtenstein; Gibraltar (to UK)

PopulationThe European population is estimated at 426,000-562,000 pairs, which equates to 853,000-1,120,000 mature individuals. The population in the EU27 is estimated at 24,200-41,300 pairs, which equates to 48,400-82,600 mature individuals. For details of national estimates, see Supplementary PDF.

TrendIn Europe the population size trend is unknown. In the EU27 the population size is estimated to be stable. For details of national estimates, see Supplementary PDF.

Habitats and EcologyThis 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 front. 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-April (Van Gils and Wiersma 1996). 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 moorland (Cramp and Simmons 1977, Van Gils and Wiersma 1996). In the non-breeding season this species mainly prefer estuarine mudflats, but also frequent a wide variety of freshwater and brackish wetlands (Cramp and Simmons 1977, Van Gils and Wiersma 1996), both coastal and inland, including lagoons, muddy freshwater shores, tidal rivers, flooded fields, sewage farms, salt-works, sandy coasts (Cramp and Simmons 1977, Van Gils and Wiersma 1996), lakes and dams (Hockey et al. 2005). 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 predators (Shepherd and Lank 2004). 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) (Cramp and Simmons 1977, Van Gils and Wiersma 1996). 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 fish (Cramp and Simmons 1977, Van Gils and Wiersma 1996). 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) (Cramp and Simmons 1977, Van Gils and Wiersma 1996).Habitats & Altitude

Habitat (level 1 - level 2) Importance OccurrenceArtificial/Aquatic - Salt Exploitation Sites suitable non-breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Wastewater Treatment Areas suitable non-breedingArtificial/Terrestrial - Arable Land suitable non-breedingArtificial/Terrestrial - Pastureland suitable non-breedingMarine Coastal/Supratidal - Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes suitable non-breedingMarine Coastal/Supratidal - Coastal Freshwater Lakes suitable non-breedingMarine Intertidal - Mud Flats and Salt Flats suitable non-breedingMarine Intertidal - Salt Marshes (Emergent Grasses) suitable breedingMarine Neritic - Estuaries suitable non-breedingWetlands (inland) - Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands suitable breedingWetlands (inland) - Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under ha) suitable breedingWetlands (inland) - Tundra Wetlands (incl. pools and temporary waters from snowmelt)

suitable breeding

Altitude Occasional altitudinal limits

ThreatsThis species is significantly threatened by the loss of its breeding habitat though afforestation of moorland (Van Gils and Wiersma 1996, Lavers and Haines-Young 1997). It may also suffer from nest predation by introduced mammals (e.g. European hedgehog Erinaceus europeaus) on some islands (Jackson 2001). 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) (Van Gils and Wiersma 1996), 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) (Van Gils and Wiersma 1996). The species is also threatened by disturbance on intertidal mudflats from construction work (UK) (Burton et al. 2002a) and foot-traffic on footpaths (Burton et al. 2002b). 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 overgrowth (Grishanov 2006). The species is also susceptible to avian influenza (strain H5N1 in particular) and is therefore threatened by outbreaks of the virus (Melville and Shortridge 2006).Threats & Impacts

Threat (level 1) Threat (level 2) Impact and StressesAgriculture & aquaculture

Wood & pulp plantations (scale unknown/unrecorded)

Timing Scope Severity ImpactFuture Minority (<50%) Slow, Significant

DeclinesLow Impact

StressesEcosystem conversion; Ecosystem degradation; Species disturbance; Other

Threats & ImpactsThreat (level 1) Threat (level 2) Impact and Stresses

Biological resource use

Gathering terrestrial plants (unintentional effects - species is not the target)

Timing Scope Severity ImpactOngoing Minority (<50%) Slow, Significant

DeclinesLow Impact

StressesEcosystem degradation

Climate change & severe weather

Habitat shifting & alteration

Timing Scope Severity ImpactFuture Whole (>90%) Unknown Unknown

StressesEcosystem degradation; Indirect ecosystem effects

Human intrusions & disturbance

Recreational activities

Timing Scope Severity ImpactOngoing Majority (50-90%) Negligible declines Low Impact

StressesSpecies disturbance

Human intrusions & disturbance

War, civil unrest & military exercises

Timing Scope Severity ImpactOngoing Minority (<50%) Negligible declines Low Impact

StressesEcosystem degradation; Species disturbance; Other

Human intrusions & disturbance

Work & other activities

Timing Scope Severity ImpactOngoing Minority (<50%) Negligible declines Low Impact

StressesEcosystem degradation

Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases

Avian Influenza Virus (H subtype)

Timing Scope Severity ImpactPast, Likely to Return

Majority (50-90%) Slow, Significant Declines

Past Impact

StressesSpecies mortality

Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases

Unspecified species Timing Scope Severity ImpactOngoing Minority (<50%) Slow, Significant

DeclinesLow Impact

StressesEcosystem degradation; Other

Natural system modifications

Abstraction of ground water (agricultural use)

Timing Scope Severity ImpactFuture Minority (<50%) Slow, Significant

DeclinesLow Impact

StressesEcosystem conversion; Ecosystem degradation; Species disturbance; Other

Natural system modifications

Other ecosystem modifications

Timing Scope Severity ImpactOngoing Minority (<50%) Negligible declines Low Impact

StressesEcosystem conversion; Ecosystem degradation; Species disturbance

Pollution Oil spills Timing Scope Severity ImpactPast, Likely to Return

Minority (<50%) Slow, Significant Declines

Past Impact

StressesEcosystem degradation; Species mortality

ConservationConservation Actions UnderwayThe species is listed on Annex I of the EU Birds Directive and Annex II of the Bern Convention.

Conservation Actions ProposedThe provision of well-surfaced paths in breeding areas that receive > 30 visitors a day has been shown to reduce the impact of human disturbance on this species's reproductive performance (Pearce-Higgins et al. 2007). It is also known to show increased hatching success when ground predators have been excluded by erecting protective fences around nesting areas (Jackson 2001). Recreation, pollution of wetland habitats, drainage and afforestation of wetland areas at key breeding and staging areas should be controlled.

BibliographyBurton, N.H.K., Armitage, M J.S., Musgrove, A.J. and Rehfisch, M.M. 2002. Impacts of Man-Made landscape Features on Numbers of Estuarine Waterbirds at Low Tide. Environmental Management 30(6): 857-864.Burton, N.H.K., Rehfisch, M.M. and Clark, N.A. 2002. Impacts of Disturbance from Construction Work on the Densities and Feeding Behavior of Waterbirds using the Intertidal Mudflats of Cardiff Bay, UK. Environmental Management 30(6): 865-871.Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. 1977. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic, vol. I: ostriches to ducks. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Grishanov, D. 2006. Conservation problems of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds and their habitats in the Kaliningrad region of Russia. In: Boere, G., Galbraith, C. and Stroud, D. (ed.), Waterbirds around the world, pp. 356. The Stationary Office, Edinburgh, U.K.Hockey, P.A.R., Dean, W.R.J. and Ryan, P.G. 2005. Roberts birds of southern Africa. Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town, South Africa.Jackson, D.B. 2001. Experimental Removal of Introduced Hedgehogs Improves Wader Nest Success in the Western Isles, Scotland. Journal of Applied Ecology 38(4): 802-812.Lavers, C.P. and Haines-Young, R.H. 1997. Displacement of dunlin Calidris alpina schinzii by forestry in the flow country and an estimate of the value of moorland adjacent to plantations. Biological Conservation 79(1): 87-90.Melville, D.S. and Shortridge, K.F. 2006. Migratory waterbirds and avian influenza in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway with particular reference to the 2003-2004 H5N1 outbreak. In: Boere, G., Galbraith, C. and Stroud, D. (ed.), Waterbirds around the world, pp. 432-438. The Stationary Office, Edinburgh, U.K.Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Finney, S.K., Yalden, D.W. and Langston, R.H.W. 2007. Testing the effects of recreational disturbance on two upland breeding waders. Ibis 149: 45-55.Shepherd, P.C.F. and Lank, T.B. 2004. Marine and agricultural habitat preferences of Dunlin wintering in British Columbia. Journal of Wildlife Management 68(1): 61-73.Van Gils, J. and Wiersma, P. 1996. Dunlin (Calidris alpina). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. and de Juana, E. (eds.) 2014. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/53938 on 15 April 2015).

Map (see overleaf)