Taxon name
Charadrius hiaticula
Linnaeus, 1758
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Charadrius hiaticula
Linnaeus, 1758
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Birds
Species authority
Linnaeus, 1758
Location and scope
Specific locality or subnational name or regional name
United Arab Emirates (the)
Scope (of the Assessment)
National
Countries included within the scope of the assessment
United Arab Emirates (the)
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Not_assigned
Conservation Status
Assessed as
Near Threatened
Qualifying criteria (if given)
D1
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
This species has a very small non-breeding population in the UAE, which qualifies it for listing as Vulnerable. On a global scale, the species is in slight decline however still Least Concern. Therefore, the species is downlisted by one category to Near Threatened (D1) at the national level.
Assessment details
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Criteria system used
IUCN
Reference for methods given
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
Further information
Endemism (according to assessment)
Endemic to region
Not assigned
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
The majority of occurrences of this species in the UAE are likely to be of wintering birds and migrant individuals on passage to and from the breeding grounds (Pedersen et al. 2017). The species is very common between mid-August and October along the coast (Richardson 1990, Pedersen et al. 2017). Some individuals stay in the country over summer, though they do not breed (Pedersen et al. 2017).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This species occurs along coastal creeks, in tidal mudflats and along sandy, muddy and stony shores (Richardson 1990, Aspinall and Porter 2011). During migration, is also found further inland in marshes and larger water bodies (Richardson 1990). There is no information available about its diet in the UAE; elsewhere, the diet consists of small crustaceans, molluscs, polycheate worms, isopods, amphipods, insects (e.g. ants, beetles, flies and fly larvae) and millipedes (del Hoyo et al. 1996). The species is gregarious and often roosts communally in flocks of several hundred individuals close to its feeding areas (Hayman et al. 1986, Urban et al. 1986, del Hoyo et al. 1996). The species is migratory. Individuals wintering in the UAE or further south breed between April and June in solitary pairs or loose colonies along the Arctic coast and in the tundra of northern Eurasia (del Hoyo et al. 1996).
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
The most relevant threats within UAE are changes in coastal land-use and the possibility of oil pollution, but the severity of these threats towards this species is unknown.Individuals of this species that visit UAE are also potentially threatened by a range of threats that operate outside of the country. Migratory stop-over habitats for this species may be threatened by petroleum pollution, wetland drainage for irrigation, land abandonment and changing land management practices leading to scrub overgrowth (Grishanov et al. 2006). The species is also susceptible to avian botulism, so may be impacted on by future outbreaks of the disease (Blaker 1967). Climate change is a potential future threat.
History
The population size in 1996 is thought to have been more or less the same as at present, with anthropogenic wetland habitats replacing those lost to development on the coast, so the species is also assessed as NT for 1996.
Publication
Burfield, I.J., Westrip, J., Sheldon, R.D., Hermes, C., Wheatley, H., Smith, D., Harding, K.A. Allen, D.J. and Alshamsi, O. 2021. UAE National Red List of Birds. Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
