Taxon name
Plegadis falcinellus
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Plegadis falcinellus
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Birds
Species authority
(Linnaeus, 1766)
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 Endangered. However, the species is increasing throughout the Arabian Peninsula; therefore, any breeding population outside of the region will likely have a large rescue effect.; Therefore, the species is retained as Near Threatened 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 within the UAE are likely to be of wintering birds and migrant individuals on passage to and from the breeding grounds (Pedersen et al. 2017). Numbers are highest between August and early May, when the species is locally common at wetlands throughout the country (Richardson 1990, Pedersen et al. 2017). Non-breeding individuals regularly stay in the country over summer (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 in wetlands like freshwater and brackish marshes, sewage treatment plants and irrigated grassland (Richardson 1990, Aspinall and Porter 2011). There is no information available about the species's diet in the UAE; elsewhere the diet varies seasonally depending on availability, and the species takes insects, worms, leeches, molluscs, crustaceans and occasionally fish, frogs, tadpoles, lizards, small snakes and nestling birds (del Hoyo et al. 1992, Hancock et al. 1992). It feeds in very shallow water in small flocks of up to 30 individuals (Brown et al. 1982, del Hoyo et al. 1992, Hancock et al. 1992). The species is migratory and breeds in mixed-species colonies throughout southern-central Eurasia (del Hoyo et al. 1992).
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 threatened by a range of threats that operate outside of the country. For instance the species is threatened by wetland habitat degradation and loss (del Hoyo et al. 1992, Snow and Perrins 1998) through drainage (Marchant and Higgins 1990, Hancock et al. 1992) for irrigation and hydroelectric power production (Balian et al. 2002), clearing, grazing, burning, increased salinity, groundwater extraction and invasion by exotic plants (Marchant and Higgins 1990). It is also threatened locally by hunting (del Hoyo et al. 1992, Snow and Perrins 1998), disturbance and pesticides (del Hoyo et al. 1992), and is susceptible to avian influenza so may be threatened by future outbreaks of the virus (Melville and Shortridge 2006). Climate change may affect the species in the future.
History
The population size was very much smaller in 1996, qualifying as CR, however the rate of increase was small, so only decreased by one step through the regional adjustment, to EN. The growth in population is likely linked to increased availability of suitable artificial habitats.
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
