Taxon name
Gelochelidon nilotica
(Gmelin, 1789)
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Gelochelidon nilotica
(Gmelin, 1789)
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Birds
Species authority
(Gmelin, 1789)
Taxonomic notes and synonyms listed
Gelochelidon nilotica and G. macrotarsa (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously placed in the genus Sterna and lumped as S. nilotica following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).
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)
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 Endangered. The population trend within the country is not known, but wetland habitats within the UAE are likely to be deteriorating due to land conversion. Therefore, the species is retained as Endangered 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 are likely to be of winter visitors and of migrant individuals on passage to and from the breeding grounds (Pedersen et al. 2017). The species is found at wetlands along the coast (Aspinall and Porter 2011).
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 sheltered coasts and is only rarely found at sea or far from land (Jennings 2010, Aspinall and Porter 2011). It inhabits a variety of habitats along the coast, including bays, mudflats, coastal creeks, brackish lagoons and mangroves, and further inland, including fish farms, sewage treatment plants, rubbish dumps and well-vegetated sites (Jennings 2010). It is largely insectivorous and takes terrestrial and aquatic insects or molluscs, which it catches from surface water, on the ground or during flight (Jennings 2010). The species is migratory, dispersing widely after breeding before travelling southwards to the wintering grounds (del Hoyo et al. 1996). The population migrating through or wintering in the UAE breeds from Europe to central Asia and winters in Africa, the Middle East and India (Jennings 2010).
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 and marine debris, but the severity of these threats towards this species is unknown.Outside of the UAE, this species has also been identified as particularly susceptible to abandonment of breeding sites due to human disturbance (Molina et al. 2014), although early dispersal from breeding sites appears to be a behavioural trait of the species that may mitigate the impact of disturbance.
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
