Taxon name
Sterna hirundo
Linnaeus, 1758
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Sterna hirundo
Linnaeus, 1758
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Birds
Species authority
Linnaeus, 1758
Taxonomic notes and synonyms listed
The BirdLife Taxonomic Working Group is aware that phylogenetic analyses have been published which have proposed generic rearrangements which may affect this species, but prefers to wait until work by other taxonomists reveals how these changes affect the entire groups involved.
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
Least Concern
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
This species has a small non-breeding population in the UAE, which might qualify it for listing as Near Threatened. However, the population is increasing rapidly within the country. Moreover, in the wider Arabian Peninsula, the species is stable. Therefore, breeding populations outside of the country may have a large rescue effect. Therefore, the species has undergone a regional adjustment and is listed as Least Concern 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 wintering birds and of migrant individuals on passage to and from the breeding grounds (Pedersen et al. 2017). Numbers are highest during passage between August and September and between February and May, when it is very common at coastal and inland waters (Richardson 1990, Aspinall and Porter 2011, Pedersen et al. 2017). The species is common in winter, but has been recorded during all months (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 is found along the coast and in inland wetlands (Aspinall and Porter 2011). It winters on sheltered coastal waters, estuaries and along large rivers, occupying harbours, jetties, piers, beaches and coastal wetlands including lagoons, rivers, lakes, swamps and saltworks, mangroves and saltmarshes (del Hoyo et al. 1996, Higgins and Davies 1996). During this season, it roosts on unvegetated sandy beaches, shores of estuaries or lagoons, sandbars and rocky shores (Higgins and Davies 1996). There is no information available about its diet in the UAE; elsewhere the species is opportunistic, its diet consisting predominantly of small fish and occasionally planktonic crustaceans and insects (del Hoyo et al. 1996). It forages in flocks over freshwater as well as marine habitats, and often follows predatory fish, waiting for panicking baitfish to surface. It is gregarious throughout the year (Snow and Perrins 1998). The species is strongly migratory (del Hoyo et al. 1996, Snow and Perrins 1998). It breeds between April and June in solitary pairs or colonially in groups (of up to several thousand pairs in central Asia) (del Hoyo et al. 1996). Individuals migrate south after breeding between August and October, returning to the breeding grounds in March or April (del Hoyo et al. 1996).
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
Globally, during the breeding season, the species is vulnerable to human disturbance at nesting colonies (Buckley and Buckley 1984, Blokpoel and Scharf 1991), with sources of disturbance including off-road vehicles, recreation, motor-boats, personal watercraft and dogs (van Halewyn and Norton 1984, Hyde 1997, Burger 1998, Gochfeld et al. 2018). The flooding of nest sites as a result of naturally fluctuating water levels can also result in complete breeding failure of the affected colony (Buckley and Buckley 1984, Hyde 1997, Gochfeld et al. 2018). Previously, this species has experienced significant declines due to egg collecting, hunting and the millinery trade (Gochfeld et al. 2018). Although in most places populations have recovered, hunting remains a significant problem in some areas (Gochfeld et al. 2018). However, the extent to which all of these threats impact individuals that visit the UAE is uncertain. Within the UAE, an additional threat to the species comes from oil pollution.
History
Although there are few records from the 1996 period, it is considered likely to have been LC 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
