Aron Tanti

Curlew Sandpiper breeds in open tundra habitats with marshy depressions and pools in high Arctic lowlands, along coasts and on Arctic Ocean islands. Outside the breeding season it occurs on variety of inland and coastal wetland types. Its breeding range falls within Arctic Siberia, from the Yamal Peninsula to N Chukotka (Van Gils et al. 2020). It is a long-distance migrant, moving on a broad front. The populations passing through Europe winter mostly in Africa.

Season of assessment

W

Population trendIncreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		100-1100,420
Red List categoryVU
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Curlew Sandpiper

General movement pattern is NE-SW. At least some populations perform loop migrations - there are ringing encounters of the same birds along routes in both W and SE Europe during autumn and spring migration (Ilichev 1985, Diadicheva & Khomenko 2006). Birds migrating through S Scandinavia & C Europe winter in Africa as far S as the Gulf of Guinea (Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria). The birds wintering in W Africa (mostly coastal zones from Mauritania to Guinea-Bissau, but also inland – Mali) are from W, N, C & SE Europe, as well as the Middle East. Some birds ringed on passage in SE, C & N Europe, as well as birds wintering in S Africa (Underhill et al. 1999), are subsequently encountered during breeding season in N Siberia. Wintering in S Europe is rare.

Recoveries by Condition for Curlew Sandpiper

Most recoveries are during autumn migration (85% Jul-Sep): mostly adults in Jul-early Aug, primarily juveniles in late Aug-Sep. Most recoveries (77%) are in C, N & SW Europe (33, 27 and 17% respectively). The percentage of recoveries of dead birds has decreased considerably from 80% pre-1961 to 4% after 1991, while recoveries of live birds has increased from 9% before 1961 to 95% after 1991 (mostly recaptures by ringers). Shooting was an important factor in the past (71% of all pre-1961 recoveries) but currently raccounts for just over 1% of all cases. The majority of distant (>=50 km) recoveries are less than 3,000 km away (some are more than 8,000 km). Most recoveries are generated by ringing sites in W Norway, SE Sweden, N Poland, SW Spain and Ukraine.

Annual Movements for Curlew Sandpiper

Post-breeding dispersal and autumn migration start as early as late Jun, adults being ahead of juveniles and males preceding females. The timing of migration is largely dependent on the Arctic breeding conditions (Barshep et al. 2012). In Europe, autumn migration is concentrated in Aug-Sep. Encounters in NW Africa are mostly Oct-Dec. Birds reach the S African wintering grounds as early as Aug (Underhill et al. 1999), but the earliest ringing encounters from W Africa are in late Sep. Some immature birds remain in the non-breeding areas during their second calendar year (Elliott et al. 1976, Van Gils et al. 2020). Return migration starts late Apr-May, birds are in the Mediterranean region (S Europe, N Africa) in May, reaching breeding sites from early Jun and make shorter stopovers at fewer sites on their northward migration (Delany et al. 2009).

Connectivity by Month by Region for Curlew Sandpiper

There are three major routes in the W Palearctic: to the White Sea, then W European coasts to W Africa; across E Europe via the Black Sea and N African coast to W Africa; and via the Black and Caspian Seas, across the Middle East to E & S Africa. Some birds perform a loop migration and the W European route is little used in spring, when birds migrate via N Africa and S Ukraine, as well as via Caspian Sea (Wilson et al. 1980, Khomenko 2006, Van Gils et al. 2020). An 'opposite direction' loop has also been suggested as birds marked in the Azov-Black Sea region in autumn are subsequently encountered in spring along the coasts of W Europe (Diadicheva & Khomenko 2006). Autumn migration is evident from early- to mid-summer, the birds stay in their African wintering sites mostly between early autumn and mid- to late spring. Spring migration lasts until early summer.

Boris Nikolov

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
1985 . Migrations of birds of Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Gruiformes – Charadriiformes. (in Russian). Nauka, MoscowEditor(s): Ilichev, V.
2009 . An Atlas of Wader Populations in Africa and Western Eurasia. Wetlands International, Wageningen, The NetherlandsEditor(s): Delany, S., Scott, D., Dodman, T. & Stroud, D.
Barshep, Y., Meissner, W., Underhill, L.G. 2012 . Timing of migration of the Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea) through Poland in relation to Arctic breeding conditions. Ornis Fennica 89: 120–129
Diadicheva, E. & Khomenko, S. 2006 . Migration of Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea through the Azov-Black Sea region, Ukraine. International Wader Studies 19: 82–95
Elliott, C.C.H., Waltner, M., Underhill, L.G., Pringle, J.S., Dick, W.J.A. 1976 . The migration system of the Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea in Africa. Ostrich 47: 191–213
Khomenko, S.V. 2006 . The Sivash Bay as a migratory stopover site for Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea. In: Waterbirds around the world. The Stationery Office, Edinburgh, UKEditor(s): Boere, G.C., Galbraith, C.A., Stroud, D.A. : 564–567
Underhill, L.G., Tree, AJ., Oschadleus, H.D. & Parker, V. 1999 . Review of Ring Recoveries of Waterbirds in Southern Africa. Avian Demography Unit, University of Cape Town, Cape Town
Van Gils, J., P. Wiersma, G. M. Kirwan, and C. J. Sharpe 2020 . Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea), version 1.0. In Birds of the World Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.cursan.01) Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA
Wilson, J.R., Czajkowski, M.A., Pienkowski, M.W.1980 . The migration through Europe and wintering in West Africa of Curlew Sandpipers. Wildfowl 31: 107–122

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