Helcom : Calidris alpina schinzii

Calidris alpina schinzii (Linné 1758), Dunlin (Scolopacidae)

Compiled by: Christof Herrmann, Henrik Skov & Wlodzimierz Meissner

1. Description of the Habitat/Autecology of the species

Breeding habitat is coastal meadows and salt marshes; short-grassed meadows of the coastal hinterland and inland; alvars and peat bogs.

2. Distribution, past and presence

The breeding range encompasses Southern Greenland, Island, Faeroe Islands, South-West Norway, Great Britain and Ireland. In the southern North Sea; Belgium, Netherlands and Germany, the dunlin has been a rare breeding bird, in recent times (after 1980) with very few, irregular breeding records. In the Baltic Sea the dunlin has been a very common breeding bird in all Baltic states, but the population has sharply declined during the past decades.

3. Importance (Sub-regional, Baltic-wide, Global)

On a global scale, the subspecies C. alpine schinzii is not threatened, but the Baltic population is. The Baltic population has to be considered as genetically distinct. The population must be considered as “endangered” (IUCN Cat. 1).

4. Status of threat/decline

At the beginning of the 20^th century, the dunlin was relatively common along the Baltic coasts and also inland. Since then, the population has declined dramatically in all Baltic Sea States and is still declining, except perhaps in Denmark. Only a few pairs remain in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Russia and the species could well disappear entirely from these regions in the very near future. At the mid-1990^th, the total Baltic population was estimated at about 1,450-2,000 breeding pairs.

Country	Breeding population in the mid 1990th	Population trend	Remarks
Denmark	340-360	Decline	50,000-75,000 breeding pairs estimated for the beginning of the 20th century
Estonia	400-500	Decline
Finland	300-600	Decline	1960 about 150-200 breeding pairs, at the time increasing population
Germany	34-35	Rapid decline	At the middle of the 20th century still 200-250 pairs, in 2005 only 8
Latvia	1-5	Rapid decline	In the 1970th: about 20 breeding pairs
Lithuania	25-30	Decline
Poland	20-20	Rapid decline	In the 1970th: 80-100 breeding pairs
Russia, Kaliningrad Region	5-8	Decline	Only one of former five regular breeding sites left
Russia:			Data from the beginning of the 1990th
- St Petersburg Pskov districts	20-30 few	Decline
- Novgorod district
Sweden	300-320	Decline
Baltic Sea	1,450-2,000	Rapid decline

(Data from Stiefel & Scheufler, 1989; Grell, 1998; Wlodarczak, 1999; HELCOM, 2002; BirdLife International 2004)

5. Threat/decline factors

Habitat loss as a consequence of drainage; changes in agricultural land management (especially grazing management of coastal meadows); predators.

6. Options for improvements

Habitat restoration, improvement of habitat management and predator control.

Notes

It is recommended to include the Baltic population of Calidris alpina schinzii in Annex I of the EU Birds Directive Annex 1.

7. References

BirdLife International (2004): Birds in Europe. Population estimates, trends and conservation status. BirdLife Conservation series 12, Cambridge, UK. 374 pp.

Blomqvist, D., Johansson , O. 1991. Distribution, reproductive success, and population trend in the Dunlin Calidris alpine schinzii on the Swedish west coast. Ornis Svecica 1: 39-46.

Grell, M.B. (1998). Fuglenes Danmark. GAD, København.

HELCOM (2002). Environment of the Baltic Sea Area 1994-1998. Balt. Sea Environ. Proc. No. 82B.

Stiefel, A. & Scheufler, H. (1989): Der Alpenstrandläufer. Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei 592, A. Ziemsen Verlag Lutherstadt Wittenberg, 248 pp.

Wlodarczak, A. 1999. Distribution and numbers of the Polish population of the Dunlin Calidris alpine schinzii. Notatki Ornitologiczne 40: 45-49.