Taxon name
Motacilla citreola
Pallas, 1776
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Motacilla citreola
Pallas, 1776
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Birds
Species authority
Pallas, 1776
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
Qualifying criteria (if given)
D1
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
This species has a non-breeding population size that is small enough to qualify as Endangered under Criterion D. However, the species is considered likely to receive a rescue effect from breeding populations outside of the country and so the species's category has undergone a regional adjustment. It is therefore listed as Vulnerable under Criterion D1.
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. Numbers are highest between mid-August and April, when the species is common at wetlands throughout the country (Aspinall and Porter 2011, Pedersen et al. 2017). In other months, the species is rare (Pedersen et al. 2017). Individuals wintering in, or migrating through, the UAE breed throughout central Eurasia.
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This species occurs near waterbodies or wet areas, including swampy and damp meadows or fields, marshes, exposed pond edges, river and lake margins, public parks, golf courses, lagoons, sewage ponds and water treatment plants (Richardson 1990, Aspinall and Porter 2011). There is no information available about its diet in the UAE; elsewhere the diet includes a wide variety of invertebrates, often aquatic, and their larvae. The species is migratory and breeds from April to June in central Eurasian grasslands.
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
There are currently no known significant threats to this species, however, artificial habitats that favour this species may be transient, so monitoring of such habitats will be important.
History
It is assessed that in 1996, the national Red List status of this species would have been the same as in this assessment.
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
