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NRLD - 330522 | Vanellus gregarius

Assessment ID
330522
Taxon name
Vanellus gregarius
(Pallas, 1771)
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Vanellus gregarius
(Pallas, 1771)
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Birds
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
chordata
Class
aves
Order
charadriiformes
Family
charadriidae
Genus
Vanellus
Species
gregarius
Species authority
(Pallas, 1771)
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)
Country ISO code(s)
ARE
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Not_assigned
Conservation Status
Assessed as
Critically Endangered
Abbreviated status
CR
Qualifying criteria (if given)
D
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 Critically Endangered. While the population trend in the UAE is not known, the species is in rapid decline on a global scale. Consequently, breeding populations outside of the country may not have a large rescue effect. Therefore, the species is retained as Critically Endangered at the national level.
Assessment details
Year assessed
2019
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
This species occurs during winter and passage in the UAE, when it is very uncommon (Pedersen et al. 2017). Between 1984 and 2017, it has been recorded locally in all emirates: Dubai (Dubai City, Ras al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary, Lahbab), Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi City, Umm al Nar, Al Wathba, Ghantoot, Al Ain, Al Quo'a, Das Island), Ras al-Khaimah (Al Hamraniyah, Digdaga), Fujairah (Wamm Farms), Umm al-Quwain (Khor Al Beidah), Sharjah (Sharjah City, Khor Kalba) and Ajman (Al Zorah) (Pedersen et al. 2017). One summer visitor was recorded in June 1991 on Das Island (Pedersen et al. 2017).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Terrestrial
Not_assigned
Freshwater
Not_assigned
Marine
Not_assigned
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This species occurs mostly in the desert near the coast (del Hoyo et al. 1996), but also in steppe and on bare or cultivated fields (Aspinall and Porter 2011). There is no information available about its diet in the UAE; elsewhere it feeds chiefly on insects, arachnids and small amounts of plant matter (del Hoyo et al. 1996). Small stones are often found in the stomach, occasionally along with the remains of small vertebrate bones and mollusc shells (del Hoyo et al. 1996). The species is migratory (del Hoyo et al. 1996). It breeds semi-colonially in small groups of 3-20 pairs from mid-April until July in southern Siberia and Kazakhstan (del Hoyo et al. 1996).
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
In the UAE, the removal of irrigated pivot fields impacts this species.This species is of global significance given its global listing as Critically Endangered. It is likely that the main drivers of the global decline come from outside of UAE, and so these external threats are likely also the main threats to the population that visits the country. Care should be given though to make sure that any relevant threats are not present in the country, or do not spread into the UAE.Globally, it now appears that illegal hunting during migration and on the wintering grounds may be the primary threat (M. A. Koshkin, J. Kamp and R. D. Sheldon in litt. 2007 et al. 2008, Fisher unpublished 2016). Data from 2005-2012 suggest that low adult survival, perhaps resulting from known hunting pressure along the migration routes, appears to be the most critical demographic rate (Sheldon et al. 2013).Other key factors explaining the magnitude of declines remain poorly understood, despite much recent research. On the breeding grounds, it was probably formerly threatened by the conversion of steppe to arable cultivation, plus, perhaps less likely, the reduction in grazing by large herds of native ungulates and, latterly, by the loss of the enormous herds of domestic grazing animals from state-sponsored collective farms (Eichhorn and Khrokov 2002, Watson et al. 2006). However, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, large areas of arable cultivation have been abandoned and are reverting to natural steppe habitat, herds of domestic livestock have become concentrated around villages (where their permanent presence leads to shorter swards than were created by the vast herds that grazed semi-nomadically under the Soviet system), while an increase in fires (owing to reduced control of fires) may also have contributed to an increase in suitable habitat. These factors may be behind the possible increase in numbers (at least in parts of Kazakhstan) in recent years (Watson et al. 2006, M. A. Koshkin, J. Kamp and R. D. Sheldon in litt. 2007). Concentration of nests in heavily grazed areas in the vicinity of villages may have increased threats from human disturbance and trampling by sheep, goats and possibly other livestock (Watson et al. 2006, M. A. Koshkin, J. Kamp and R. D. Sheldon in litt. 2007). Low egg survival due to nesting in areas of high grazer density has been suggested as one of the causes for the species' decline (Watson et al. 2006). The species may be affected by the increasingly dry climate in its breeding and wintering range, but it is not clear if this benefits or threatens this semi-desert species (Watson et al. 2006). Agricultural expansion and intensification, overgrazing and loss of steppe habitats all pose threats to stopover sites used by the species (Ashoori et al. 2013, Sheldon 2013, Asswad 2014). An irrigation project distributing water from the;Atatürk dam to fields around Ceylanpinar may have a negative impact on the species as the habitats change (Fisher unpublished 2016).
History
The species is retained as CR for 1996. The species has always been rare in the UAE and with a declining global population it is unlikely that there would have been any rescue effect in 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