120 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Figure 4.58 Eurasian Oystercatcher – sites of international importance. Numbers refer to the re- spective site in Table 4.47. Data The Flyway estimate is higher than previous estimates (Rose and Scott 1997). This is based on additional surveys in South Korea and China during the non-breeding period. Important Sites Important sites were located in China, South Korea and Russia. There may be additional sites in North Korea. Shuangtaihekou National Nature Reserve and Yancheng National Nature Reserve are important breeding areas. Migration Hayman et al. (1987) indicate that breeding occurs around the Yellow Sea and on the Kam- Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus Population There are three subspecies of the Eurasian Oystercatcher: H. o. ostralegus that breeds in Europe and migrates to northern Africa; H. o. longipes that breeds in central Russia and mi- grates to southern and south-western Asia; and H. o. osculans of the EAA Flyway that breeds in eastern Russia and migrates to eastern China. Flyway Estimate: 10 000 1% threshold: 100 Staging threshold: 25 Global Delany and Scott (2002): 1 130 000 – 1 230 000
Transcript
120 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 121 120 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Figure 4.58 Eurasian Oystercatcher – sites of international importance. Numbers refer to the re-spective site in Table 4.47.
Data
The Flyway estimate is higher than previous estimates (Rose and Scott 1997). This is based on additional surveys in South Korea and China during the non-breeding period.
Important Sites
Important sites were located in China, South Korea and Russia. There may be additional sites in North Korea. Shuangtaihekou National Nature Reserve and Yancheng National Nature Reserve are important breeding areas.
Migration
Hayman et al. (1987) indicate that breeding occurs around the Yellow Sea and on the Kam-
Eurasian OystercatcherHaematopus ostralegus
Population
There are three subspecies of the Eurasian Oystercatcher: H. o. ostralegus that breeds in Europe and migrates to northern Africa; H. o. longipes that breeds in central Russia and mi-grates to southern and south-western Asia; and H. o. osculans of the EAA Flyway that breeds in eastern Russia and migrates to eastern China.
120 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 121 120 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
chatka Peninsula, with the non-breeding range in south-eastern China, but the distribution of important sites suggests that the non-breeding range overlaps with the breeding range around
the Yellow Sea. On this basis, only birds from the Kamchatka Peninsula may be strongly mi-gratory.
Table 4.47 Eurasian Oystercatcher - sites of international importance
Site Code Site Country Max
Count Date SM NB NM B Ref.
368 Kum Estuary SKO 5,700 26/01/2001 . 18,18,117
343 Moroshechnaya River Estuary RUS 1,000 7/09/1999 . . 63,63
181 Shuangtaizihekou N. N. Reserve CHI 500 7/09/1999 . . . 18
190 Yalu Jiang National Nature Reserve CHI 224 26/04/2004 . . . 184
612 Namyang Bay SKO 220 1/09/1998 . . . 180
781 Yancheng National Nature Reserve CHI 200 15/01/1988 . . 141
161 Huang He National Nature Reserve CHI 130 14/04/1992 . . . 167
830 Dongsha Islands CHI 120 1/09/1997 . . . 162
122 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 123 122 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Population
The Black-winged Stilt is widespread with populations in the Americas, Africa, Europe and parts of Asia. Five or six subspecies are recog-nised, of which some are sedentary.
Migratory Black-winged Stilts in the EAA Flyway are H. h. himantopus that breed in central and eastern Asia and spend the non-breeding period
in south-eastern Asia.
The Australian Stilt H. leucocephalus is consid-ered to be a race of the Black-winged Stilt by some authors (Christidis and Boles 1994) but is treated as a separate species in this review, con-sistent with Delany and Scott (2002). It under-goes only local movements within Australia and is a vagrant in south-eastern Asia, so has been excluded from this analysis.
Data
While poorly surveyed, the available count data have enabled the Flyway estimate to be in-creased, and the species is also reported to be expanding its range (Delany and Scott 2002). In
Figure 4.59 Black-winged Stilt – sites of international importance. (Site numbers are given in Table 4.48).
122 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 123 122 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
the non-breeding period, this population ap-pears to be spread across eastern China and south-eastern Asia, with the greatest numbers in China, Thailand and Indonesia. In some parts of the range, such as Taiwan (China), a propor-tion of the population is sedentary (Liu and Ueng 2002).
Important Sites
Important sites during the non-breeding period were located in Taiwan (China), the Philippines, Myanmar and Thailand. Only one important site was identified during southward migration (Yancheng National Nature Reserve, China). Important sites during northward migration were
identified in China (3), Russia (1) and Thailand (1).
Migration
The locations of important sites contribute little to an understanding of movement patterns of Black-winged Stilts in the EAA Flyway. With breeding grounds in central Asia, migration is presumably overland through China, Mongolia and parts of Russia. The records from the Daur-sky Nature Reserve (Russia) may either be birds on migration or birds in as yet undocumented breeding areas.
Table 4.48 Black-winged Stilt - sites of international importance
412 Zhalong National Nature Reserve CHI 905 1/04/2003 . . . 186
306 Inle Lake MYA 611 17/02/1991 . . . 169
154 Dongsha Islands CHI 562 1/09/1997 . . 162,18
191 Yancheng National Nature Reserve CHI 482 NA . . 18,18
380 Huai Chorakhe Mak Non-Hunting Area
THA 450 25/02/1989 . . . 169
393 Manila Bay PHI 450 16/01/1990 . . . 169
388 Thale Noi Non-Hunting Area THA 378 20/01/1991 . . . 169
142 Anping CHI 340 12/01/1991 . . . 169
173 North Bo Hai Wan CHI 334 2/05/2002 . . . 20
387 Pattani Bay THA 300 23/01/1993 . . . 169
308 Kyetmauktaung Dam MYA 265 25/02/1994 . . . 169
181 Shuangtaizihekou N. N. Reserve CHI 200 21/04/1991 . . . 35
124 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 125 124 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Figure 4.60 Pied Avocet – sites of international importance. Numbers refer to the respective site in Table 4.49.
Population
The Pied Avocet breeds from western Europe to central Asia, migrating for the non-breeding pe-riod to Africa, the Middle East and parts of south-eastern Asia. The non-breeding distribution in south-eastern Asia is widely separated from the rest of the species’ non-breeding range, and the population that utilises this area is considered to be more migratory than others. Despite this, no
subspecies are recognised.
Data
As with other species that occur mainly at inland wetlands, the Pied Avocet is poorly surveyed. The estimate is greater than the population range of 10 000 – 25 000 (Rose and Scott 1997) because new data suggest that large numbers are present in parts of Asia, particularly inland China.
Important Sites
Important sites identified in the non-breeding period were located in China. During southward migration, there were two important sites in coastal eastern China. During northward migra-
124 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 125 124 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
tion, there were important sites in both coastal and inland eastern China, and in inland Russia. These areas are within the breeding range of the species and small numbers breed in the north-ern part of the Yellow Sea (Barter 2002).
Migration
With the exception of Daursky Nature Reserve, important sites during migration were on the coast of China. The numbers seen on the Chi-nese coast account for only a small proportion of the population (Barter 2002), suggesting most migration through inland sites in China.
Table 4.49 Pied Avocet - sites of international importance
179 Shi Jiu Tuo/Daqing He CHI 300 1/09/1986 . . . 171
126 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 127 126 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Pacific Golden PloverPluvialis fulva
Migration
On southward migration, the Pacific Golden Plover is reported to travel on a broad front over both land and water and to “proceed slowly, with prolonged stays at staging areas” (Dement’ev and Gladkov 1951, in Marchant and Higgins 1993). A broad, slow and rather dispersed pat-tern of migration would explain the scattered distribution of important sites, but the plover is also reported to undertake long flights over water (Marchant and Higgins 1993).
Northward migration would appear to differ from southward migration, with some concentration of movement through Japan and the interior of south-eastern Russia. It is not known how us-age of these areas relates to the breeding distri-bution of the species, but it has been suggested that birds occurring in south-eastern Australia breed in Alaska (Barter 1988, 1989).
Population
Until recently considered to be a subspecies of the American Golden Plover Pluvialis dominica, the Pacific Golden Plover is now recognised as a monotypic species. The breeding range is from Siberia to Alaska. The non-breeding range is from eastern Africa to the Pacific islands.
The Pacific Golden Plover occurs widely across the EAA and Central Pacific Flyways. There may be considerable overlap in the usage of sites by birds of these two flyways.
Data
Counts of Pacific Golden Plover during the non-breeding period are limited and country esti-mates could not be calculated. However, during migration it has been estimated that 56 000 birds migrate through Daursky Nature Reserve (Russia).
The available count data indicate that during the non-breeding period the population is dispersed, with largest numbers in the Philippines, Austral-ia, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia (Table 3.2).
The non-breeding period population of the Pacific Golden Plover in Australia is believed to have declined during the late 1980s and early 1990s (Harris 1994).
Important Sites
During the non-breeding period single sites were identified in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, China and Japan. There was no concentration of sites in any country or group of countries.
There were 21 important sites identified during northward migration and 5 during southward migration. The majority of these sites were in Japan: 18 on northward migration and four on southward migration.
Flyway Estimate: 100 000 1% threshold: 1 000 Staging threshold: 250Global Delany and Scott (2002): 166 000 – 216 000
Figure 4.61b (enlargement) Pacific Golden Plover – sites of international importance in central Honsu, Japan.
126 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 127 126 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Figure 4.61a Pacific Golden Plover – sites of international importance. Numbers refer to the respective site in table 4.50.
128 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 129 128 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Table 4.50 Pacific Golden Plover - sites of international importance
269 Shimofusa-machi Taka JAP 311 1/05/1998 . . . 94
340 Lake Evoron RUS 264 15/10/1988 . . . 129
228 Kakinoki-cho JAP 256 1/05/1998 . . . 94
238 Komuke-ko JAP 250 2/09/1998 . . . 92
128 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 129 128 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Grey PloverPluvialis squatarola
Population
The Grey Plover is one of the most widespread of all shorebirds, breeding across Arctic Asia and North America, and spending the non-breeding period along the coastlines of North and South America, Europe, Africa, southern and south-eastern Asia, and Australasia. It is a monotypic species despite this wide distribution, although Hayman et al. (1986) note that there is a cline in size, with birds from around the Pacific Ocean being larger than those from around the Atlantic.
Data
Considerable knowledge has been generated in the past decade on the numbers of Grey Plover occurring in eastern and south-eastern Asia. In particular, surveys in the Yellow Sea have enabled northward migration estimates of up to 110 000 Grey Plover (M. Barter pers. comm.). This estimate provides the basis for the Flyway estimate.
The lack of this knowledge explains the earlier underestimation of the population size of Grey Plover in the Flyway (Watkins 1993, Marchant and Higgins 1993).
It is not known if birds that spend the non-breed-ing period in Bangladesh and India pass through the EAA Flyway.
Flyway Estimate: 125 000 1% threshold: 1 250 Staging threshold: 312Global Delany and Scott (2002): 692 000
Figure 4.62a Grey Plover – sites of international importance. Numbers refer to the respective site in Table 4.51.
130 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 131 130 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Figure 4.62b (enlargement) Grey Plover – sites of international importance around the Yellow Sea.
Important Sites
Only three important sites, all in Australia, were identified in the non-breeding period.
The number of important sites identified during the migration periods differed, with 13 during southward migration compared with 23 dur-ing northward migration. In China, there were 10 sites important during northward migration compared with 1 during southward migration, whereas in South Korea counts show most sites were important in both periods (9 during north-ward and 7 during southward migration). Three Japanese sites were used during both northward and southward migration.
Migration
During migration, important sites are clustered in the Yellow Sea, with more sites identified dur-ing northward than southward migration. Barter (2002) estimated that c. 80% of the EAA Flyway population passes through the Yellow Sea on northward migration.
No important sites were identified between east-ern China and Australia.
On southward migration, movement to the non-breeding area of south-eastern Asia to Australia may occur from the Russian Far East, with many birds bypassing the Yellow Sea.
Birds caught in north-western Australia in March-April are estimated to have sufficient fat reserves to fly to the Yellow Sea (Lane and Jes-sop 1985).
130 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 131 130 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Table 4.51 Grey Plover - sites of international importance
Site Code Site Country Max
Count Date SM NB NM B Ref.
161 Huang He National Nature Reserve CHI 14,899 21/04/1997 . . . 181
107 SE Gulf of Carpentaria AUS 1,279 1/03/1999 . . . 51
356 Aphae Island SKO 1,184 1/05/1998 . . . 116
366 Kanghwa Island SKO 1,145 1/05/1998 . . 180,116
225 Isahaya Higata JAP 1,130 11/09/1996 . . 54,54
205 Arao Kaigan JAP 804 29/04/1998 . . 178,178
132 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 133 132 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Little Ringed PloverCharadrius dubius
Population
Up to four subspecies of the Little Ringed Plover are recognised, with authors differing in opinion as to where these occur. Two of these subspe-cies are sedentary: C. d. papuanus occurs in New Guinea and nearby islands, while C. d. jer-doni occurs in southern and south-eastern Asia. The remaining subspecies, C. d. curonicus, is migratory and breeds from the far north of Africa through Europe and Asia, and is a non-breeding migrant to Africa, southern and south-eastern Asia. It is difficult to distinguish from the sed-entary races in the field. Therefore where their ranges overlap, such as in Myanmar (where C. d. jerdoni may occur) and New Guinea (where C. d. papuanus occurs), counts are likely to con-tain migrant and resident birds.
Data
There is no previous estimate for C. d. curonicus in the EAA Flyway. The Flyway estimate derived from Table 3.2 will include a small proportion of the two sedentary sub-species.
During the non-breeding period, approximately half the Flyway population occurs in Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines.
Important Sites
Important sites in the non-breeding period were located in Thailand (5), the Philippines (3), China (6, including 5 in Taiwan) and Myanmar (1). Nine sites were identified as important during both migration periods, with sites concentrated in Japan. Other sites important during migration periods were in Thailand (1), Russia (1), and eastern China (4). The Little Ringed Plover may be under-surveyed because it regularly uses non-tidal wetlands, so there may be other impor-tant migration sites, particularly in inland China but also generally in habitats such as rice fields.
The figure for Daursky Nature Reserve (Rus-sia) is an estimate of the number birds migrating through the site.
Migration
Both southward and northward migration appear to be concentrated through Japan, although the number of important sites in Japan is also a reflection of survey intensity and there may be more sites in inland China.
Table 4.52 Distribution of the Little Ringed Plover in the non-breeding period
Country EstimateMyanmar 5 000 Thailand 5 000 Philippines 4 000 China 4 000 Indonesia 2 000 Malaysia 2 000 Japan 500 Papua New Guinea 500 Vietnam 500 Laos 300 other countries 400TOTALS: 24 200
Flyway Estimate: 25 000 1% threshold: 250 Staging threshold: 62Global Delany and Scott (2002): 230 000 – 490 000
Figure 4.63 Little Ringed Plover – non-breeding distri-bution
132 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 133 132 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Figure 4.64 Little Ringed Plover – sites of international importance. Numbers refer to the respective site in Table 4.53.
134 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 135 134 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Table 4.53 Little Ringed Plover - sites of international importance
134 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 135 134 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Kentish PloverCharadrius alexandrinus
Population
The Kentish Plover breeds in temperate regions of North America, Europe and Asia, and six sub-species are recognised: C. a. alexandrinus, C. a. dealbatus, C. a. javanicus, C. a. nivosus, C. a. occidentalis and C. a. seebohmi. Of these, C. a. alexandrinus and C. a. dealbatus are migrants in the EAA Flyway, while C. a. javanicus is sed-entary and endemic to Java (Indonesia). It is recognised as a separate species by Delany and Scott (2002).
C. a. dealbatus is confined to the EAA Flyway, where it breeds in Japan, eastern China and as far south as Taiwan (China), with large numbers remaining in this general region through the non-breeding period, but also spreading south to the Philippines and the Indo-Chinese peninsula. C. a. alexandrinus has a broad breeding distribution from Europe to north-eastern China, with a non-breeding range from western Africa and possibly as far east as Thailand.
Data
During the non-breeding period, almost half the known population occurs in Taiwan (China). It is anticipated that the population estimate will in-crease with more information on the numbers in mainland China during the non-breeding period.
Flyway Estimate: 100 000 1% threshold: 1 000 Staging threshold: 250Global Delany and Scott (2002): 266 400 – 457 000
Figure 4.65a Kentish Plover – sites of international importance. Numbers refer to the respective site in Table 4.54.
136 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 137 136 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Figure 4.65b Kentish Plover – enlargements. Numbers refer to the respective site in Table 4.54.
Important Sites
Most important sites in the non-breeding period were in China (20, including 10 in Taiwan), with smaller numbers in the Philippines (2), Myanmar (1), Vietnam (1) and Japan (1).
On southward migration, important sites were identified in China (6), South Korea (17) and Japan (2). On northward migration there were important sites in China (10), South Korea (5) and Russia (1). China appeared to be more important on northward migration, South Korea and possibly Japan on southward migration.
The Kentish Plover breeds widely around the Yellow Sea, and Shuangtaizihekou NNR and Yancheng National Nature Reserve (China) sup-port internationally important numbers of breed-ing birds (Barter 2002).
Migration
The distribution of important sites indicates that southward migration occurs through the Yellow Sea and Japan, and that the main non-breeding population is located from south-eastern China to the Philippines. Northward migration may be broadly similar to southward migration, but with less reliance on South Korean sites. This was noted by Barter (2002), who concluded that during northward migration, 90% of the Flyway population passes through the Yellow Sea.
There is insufficient information to compare the migratory pathways of C. a. alexandrinus and C. a. dealbatus. It is also not known to what extent overland movement across China takes place, possibly linking the EAA Flyway with the Central Asian Flyway.
Table 4.54 Kentish Plover - sites of international importanceSite Max Site Country Date SM NB NM B Ref.Code Count161 Huang He National Nature Reserve CHI 24,313 6/04/1999 . . 181,18
148 Chongming Dongtan N. N. Reserve CHI 7,880 14/03/2001 . . 110,18
179 Shi Jiu Tuo/Daqing He CHI 5,500 30/08/1994 . 47,169,18
191 Yancheng National Nature Reserve CHI 4,890 15/10/1991 . 164,18,18
373 Namyang Bay SKO 4,600 1/05/1998 . . 180,103
356 Aphae Island SKO 4,332 31/08/1998 . . . 116
187 Tseng-Wen-Hsi CHI 4,275 17/01/1996 . . . 169
136 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 137 136 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Table 4.54 (cont.) Kentish Plover - sites of international importanceSite
184 South-west Bo Hai Wan CHI 934 2/05/2002 . . . 20
167 Linghekou CHI 635 29/04/1999 . . . 21
362 Haenam Hwangsan SKO 332 30/08/1998 . . . 116
376 Song Do Tidal Flat SKO 324 18/08/1998 . . . 116
358 Cheonsu Bay SKO 318 12/05/1996 . . . 103
171 Miao Gang CHI 310 8/10/1989 . . . 165
360 Daebu Island SKO 300 1/09/1998 . . . 180
138 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 139 138 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Population
The Double-banded Plover occurs primarily in New Zealand and Australia, with vagrants reach-ing some Pacific Islands. C. b. bicinctus breeds in the North and South Islands of New Zealand. Coastal breeding birds remain in New Zealand while those that breed in the inland of the South Island migrate to Australia.
The Double-banded Plover is the only migratory shorebird in the Flyway that breeds from Sep-tember to December.
The second sub-species, C. b. exilis, is seden-tary or undergoes only local movements in the vicinity of Auckland Island (New Zealand).
Data
The Flyway estimate of 50 000 (Heather and Robertson 1996) is based on banding studies of breeding populations rather than count data. It
is considered that 30 000 migrate to Australia during the non-breeding period (Watkins 1993, Sagar et al. 1999).
The population of C. b. exilis was estimated at 700 (Delany and Scott 2002) and therefore it has little impact on the estimate for the species.
Important Sites
All important sites identified were in the non-breeding period. Important sites in Australia were recorded throughout the non-breeding pe-riod (January to September), while all important sites in New Zealand were recorded in the late non-breeding period (June/July).
Migration
The nominate subspecies of the Double-banded Plover is unusual within the Flyway in that over half the population migrates in an east-west direction. Patterns of movement within New Zealand and between New Zealand and Aus-tralia are reasonably well understood and are summarised by Marchant and Higgins (1993). More information is needed on the use of inland sites in New Zealand during the non-breeding period.
Double-banded PloverCharadrius bicinctus
Flyway Estimate: 50 000 1% threshold: 500 Staging threshold: 125Global Delany and Scott (2002): 50 700
Table 4.55 Double-banded Plover - sites of international importance
138 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 139 138 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Figure 4.66 Double-banded Plover – sites of international importance. Numbers refer to the respective site in Table 4.55.
140 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 141 140 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Lesser Sand PloverCharadrius mongolus
Population and Data
There are five subspecies of the Lesser Sand Plover and all are migratory. With the exception of C. m. pamirensis, that breeds in central Sibe-ria and migrates to southern Asia and eastern Africa, all occur in the EAA Flyway. Breeding and non-breeding distributions (from Marchant and Higgins 1993, Lane 1987 and Hayman et al. 1986) and Flyway population estimates of these four subspecies are as follows:
C. m. atrifrons. Breeds in the Himalayas. Non-breeding distribution around the Bay of Bengal, Malaysia, Thailand and western Indonesia. Flyway Estimate = 40 000.
C. m. schaeferi. Breeds in western China and southern Mongolia. Non-breeding distribution in Malaysia, Thailand and western Indonesia. Flyway Estimate = 30 000.
C. m. mongolus. Breeds in north-eastern Si-beria. Non-breeding distribution in China, Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia. This is the most common race observed in Australia. Flyway Estimate = 40 000.
C. m. stegmanni. Breeds in north-eastern Sibe-ria. Non-breeding distribution tending more northerly than that of C. m. mongolus in China, Japan, the Philippines, eastern Indonesia and Melanesia. Flyway Estimate = 20 000.
The population estimates for each subspecies were derived by apportioning country estimates on the basis of distribution patterns.
Important Sites
Important sites for this species could not be con-sistently distinguished according to subspecies. Important sites in the non-breeding period (Fig 4.67, Table 4.59) were located in Bangladesh (9), Australia (7), Indonesia (2), Malaysia (2), Thailand (1), Myanmar (1) and the Philippines (1). Sites in Bangladesh have been included on the assumption that the C. m. atrifrons in this area have travelled via the EAA Flyway rather than the Central Asian Flyway.
On southward migration, 14 sites were identified and were located in South Korea (10), China
(1) and Russia (3). On northward migration, 24 sites were identified and were located in South Korea (10), Japan (4), China (6), Russia (3) and Thailand (1). The distribution of important sites in the two migration periods was therefore simi-lar except for there being more sites in China and Japan during northward migration. There may be additional important sites in North Korea.
Migration
The distribution of important sites during mi-gration periods is broadly consistent with the patterns of migration described by Marchant and Higgins (1993). Northward and southward migration are reported to follow similar routes through eastern Russia, the Yellow Sea, along the east coast and overland through China, and through Japan (northward migration only) and the Philippines. Theoretical flight ranges of 2 600 – 4 400 km have been proposed (Barter 1991), making it possible for birds moving to and from Australia (C. m. mongolus) to overfly much of south-eastern Asia. High counts in Malaysia and Thailand during both migration periods may be C. m. schaeferi.
Marchant and Higgins (1993) present some information on differences in migration between the subspecies. For example, on northward migration C. m. schaeferi and C. m. atrifrons (western breeding range) are reported in Thai-land, whereas C. m. mongolus (northern breed-ing range) are reported from Hong Kong (China) and C. m. stegmanni (north-eastern breeding range) from the Korean Peninsula.
Figure 4.67 Lesser Sand Plover – non-breeding distribution
Flyway Estimate: 130 000 1% threshold: 1 300 Staging threshold: 325Global Delany and Scott (2002): 130 000 – 150 000
140 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 141 140 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Figure 4.68 Lesser Sand Plover – sites of interna-tional importance. Numbers refer to the respective site in Table 4.56. Breeding range according to Hirschfeld et al. (2000).
142 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 143 142 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Table 4.56 Lesser Sand Plover - sites of international importance
181 Shuangtaizihekou N. N. Reserve CHI 682 12/05/1998 . . . 24
190 Yalu Jiang National Nature Reserve CHI 647 20/05/2000 . . . 23
341 Lososei Bay RUS 600 22/05/1976 . . . 123
333 Chaivo Bay RUS 500 13/07/1975 . . . 123
331 Baikal Bay RUS 500 11/08/1979 . . . 123
368 Kum Estuary SKO 488 6/05/1998 . . . 116
360 Daebu Island SKO 466 19/08/1998 . . . 116
282 Tyuuou-bouhatei Uchi-Sotogawa Umetatechi
JAP 445 1/05/1997 . . . 91
371 Nakdong Estuary SKO 443 1/09/1984 . . . 128
142 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 143 142 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Table 4.57 Distribution of the Lesser Sand Plover in the non-breeding period
Country EstimateIndonesia 45 000 Australia 24 000 Bangladesh 20 000 Thailand 10 000 China 8 000 Malaysia 7 000 Philippines 7 000 Vietnam 5 000 Cambodia 1 500 Japan 1 000 other countries 2 060TOTALS: 130 560
Site Code Site Country Max
Count Date SM NB NM B Ref.
363 Hampyong Bay SKO 410 29/08/1998 . . . 116
357 Asan Bay SKO 400 1/05/1998 . . . 180
247 Morigasakinohana JAP 397 1/05/1997 . . . 91
289 Yatsu Higata JAP 372 29/04/1992 . . . 54
175 North-west Bo Hai Wan CHI 357 12/04/2000 . . . 20
Table 4.56 (cont.) Lesser Sand Plover - sites of international importance
144 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 145 144 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Population
There are three subspecies of the Greater Sand Plover: C. l. columbinus; C. l. crassirostris; and C. l. leschenaultii. Only the latter, which breeds from western China through Mongolia to south-ern Russia, occurs in the EAA Flyway. C. l. leschenaultii also occurs in the Central Asian Flyway.
Data
The Flyway population estimate has been increased by 10% since Watkins (1993), on the basis of greater count coverage during the non-breeding period. Nearly three quarters of the Flyway population is in Australia during the non-breeding period (Table 4.60).
Important Sites
Most important sites were located in northern Australia or south-eastern Asia (14 of 16). The only important sites identified in other parts of the Flyway were Mai Po Marshes and Chong-ming Dongtan National Nature Reserve (China)during northward migration.
Migration
Marchant and Higgins (1993) suggest that Greater Sand Plovers may be capable of non-stop flight between breeding and non-breeding grounds, which would explain the scarcity of im-portant sites in east Asia. Sites in south-eastern Asia where large counts have been made during southward migration may be the arrival points for birds from the breeding grounds.
On northward migration, a substantial proportion of birds departing from Australia have sufficient weight to overfly south-eastern Asia and reach mainland China (Barter and Barter 1988).
Greater Sand PloverCharadrius leschenaultii
Figure 4.69 Greater Sand Plover – non-breeding distribution
Flyway Estimate: 110 000 1% threshold: 1 100 Staging threshold: 275Global Delany and Scott (2002): 175 000 – 360 000
Table 4.58 Distribution of the Greater Sand Plover in the non-breeding period
Country EstimateAustralia 73 000 Malaysia 6 000 Indonesia 5 000 Papua New Guinea 5 000 Philippines 5 000 Myanmar 3 000 China 3 000 Cambodia 1 000 Thailand 1 000 Vietnam 1 000 other countries 420TOTALS: 103 420
144 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 145 144 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Table 4.59 Greater Sand Plover - sites of international importance
Site Code Site Country Max
Count Date SM NB NM B Ref.
38 Eighty Mile Beach AUS 63,482 17/10/1998 . . 10,11
102 Roebuck Bay AUS 26,900 NA . . 102,49,100
303 Pulau Tengah (Klang Islands) MAL 4,000 10/02/1990 . . . 169
302 Pulau Bruit MAL 3,137 1/09/1985 . 120,82,56
407 Hoa Trinh VIE 3,000 20/12/2000 . . . 118
107 SE Gulf of Carpentaria AUS 2,504 1/03/1999 . . . 51
393 Manila Bay PHI 2,464 16/01/1990 . . . 169
394 Olango Island PHI 2,000 5/05/1987 . . . 120
197 Banyuasin Delta INO 2,000 1/10/1988 . . . 158
42 Fog Bay and adjacent islands AUS 1,800 15/07/1998 . . . 40
328 Kikori Delta PNG 1,700 20/03/2000 . . . 168
312 Moyingyi MYA 1,500 14/01/1996 . . . 169
6 Ashmore Reef AUS 1,295 2/02/2003 . . . 154
148 Chongming Dongtan N. N. Reserve CHI 481 2/05/1990 . . . 155
170 Mai Po Marshes CHI 400 1/05/2001 . . . 120
Figure 4.70 Greater Sand Plover – sites of international importance. Numbers refer to the respective site in Table 4.59.
146 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 147 146 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Figure 4.71 Long-billed Plover – sites of international importance. Numbers refer to the respective site in Table 4.60.
Population
The monotypic Long-billed Plover is confined to the EAA Flyway. It breeds in north-eastern China, adjacent areas of Russia and Japan. Most of the population migrates west and south to areas between Nepal and the Philippines. There may be sedentary populations in southern China and Japan.
Data
The Long-billed Plover is a poorly counted spe-cies. It occurs on inland sites and rarely con-gregates into flocks. While these habitats are under-surveyed the existing data suggest a low population.
In the non-breeding period, the bulk of the popu-lation would appear to be in China and Japan, but there may also be significant numbers as far afield as Bangladesh and the Philippines.
Important Sites
No important sites were identified.
Long-billed PloverCharadrius placidus
Flyway Estimate: < 10 000 1% threshold: 100 Staging threshold: 25Global Delany and Scott (2002): < 10 000
146 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 147 146 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Figure 4.72 Oriental Plover – sites of international importance. Numbers refer to the respective site in Table 4.61.
Population
No subspecies of the Oriental Plover are rec-ognised and the species is confined to the EAA Flyway. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the Caspian Plover Charadrius asiaticus of western Asia and Africa. The Oriental Plover breeds in northern China and Mongolia and the
bulk of the population spends the non-breeding period in northern Australia (Lane 1987).
Data
The proposed Flyway estimate of 70 000 is based on counts in Australia, including a single count of nearly 58 000 birds.
Important Sites
All important sites in the non-breeding period were in northern Australia. The only important site outside Australia was Yancheng National Nature Reserve during northward migration.
Oriental PloverCharadrius veredus
Flyway Estimate: 70 000 1% threshold: 700 Staging threshold: 175Global Delany and Scott (2002): 70 000
148 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 149 148 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Migration
Marchant and Higgins (1993) suggest that Oriental Plovers generally fly non-stop between north-eastern China and north-western Australia on both southward and northward migration. This is supported by the absence of important sites in south-eastern Asia.
There is no evidence of concentrations of the species in Indonesia, as suggested by Hayman et al. (1987), either on migration or during the non-breeding period.
Figure 4.73 Oriental Plover – non-breeding distribution
Table 4.61 Oriental Plover - sites of international importance
191 Yancheng National Nature Reserve CHI 1,717 15/04/1990 . . . 164
75 Lake Sylvester AUS 1,022 NA . . . 87
148 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 149 148 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Population
No subspecies of the Grey-headed Lapwing are recognised and the species is confined to the EAA Flyway. Breeding occurs in north-eastern China and northern Honshu (Japan). The birds breeding in China migrate to eastern India, southern China and south-eastern Asia. The birds breeding in Japan appear to be less migra-tory with many birds remaining within southern Honshu during the non-breeding period. The extent of mixing of birds from these two breeding areas is not known.
Data
This is an under-surveyed species and count data were insufficient to modify the population estimate of Delany and Scott (2002). No at-tempt was made to calculate country population estimates, but count data suggest that most birds were in China and Bangladesh during the non-breeding period (Table 3.2).
Important sites were identified using only the 1% criterion as the current understanding of movements is insufficient to apply the staging criterion. Sites within or adjacent to the breeding areas were in China (2) and Japan (3). Sites in the south of the species’ range were in Bangla-desh (1), China (1) and Vietnam (1).
Migration
All important sites identified during the migration periods (4) are immediately south of the known breeding areas in northern China and Japan. This implies that birds are congregating before and following breeding.
150 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 151 150 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Figure 4.74 Grey-headed Lapwing – sites of international importance. Numbers refer to the respective site in Table 4.62. Breeding range according to del Hoyo et al. (1996).
150 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 151 150 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Figure 4.75 Northern Lapwing – sites of international importance. Numbers refer to the respective site in Table 4.63. Breeding range according to del Hoyo et al. (1996).
Population
The Northern Lapwing is a widespread and abundant species, with a breeding range from western Europe to eastern Asia, and a non-breeding range from western Europe and northern Africa to south-eastern Asia. The bulk of the population occurs in the west of the spe-cies range. No subspecies are recognised. In the EAA Flyway, breeding occurs in Mongolia,
where the species is considered to be numerous but widely dispersed (Mauersberger et al. 1982), south-eastern Russia and north-eastern China, and the non-breeding range is in south-eastern China.
Data
A population range has been proposed for this species as it makes extensive use of inland sites and is therefore under-surveyed. The Flyway estimate proposed is greater than the range proposed by Delany and Scott (2002). The count data suggest that very large numbers are present in parts of Asia, especially China (Table 4.66).
152 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 153 152 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Important Sites
All important sites in the non-breeding period are in eastern China. Most important sites during migration periods are also in eastern China, but with a large migration estimate from Daursky Nature Reserve (Russia). One of the north-ward migration sites in China, Dalai Hu National
Nature Reserve, is also important during the breeding period.
Migration
Important sites during migration periods are clustered in northern China/adjacent Russia (Daursky, Dalai Hu, Zhalong) and around Bohai Wan (China).
Table 4.63 Northern Lapwing - sites of international importance
179 Shi Jiu Tuo/Daqing He CHI 10,000 31/10/1987 . . . 169
176 Poyang Hu National Nature Reserve CHI 8,000 NA . . . 141
157 Gaoyou Hu/Shabo Hu CHI 5,600 16/01/1990 . . . 169
180 Shijiu Hu CHI 2,850 20/02/1992 . . . 169
151 Dalai Hu National Nature Reserve CHI 2,500 15/04/1996 . . 161,161
175 North-west Bo Hai Wan CHI 2,000 NA . . 18,18
147 Chen Hu CHI 1,880 1/02/2004 . . . 19
412 Zhalong National Nature Reserve CHI 1.737 1/04/2004 . . . 186
159 Hannan Lake CHI 1,300 20/01/1990 . . . 169
191 Yancheng National Nature Reserve CHI 1,202 8/01/1990 . . . 169
155 East Dongting Hu National Nature Reserve
CHI 1,179 1/02/2004 . . . 19
152 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 153 152 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Population
Formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Common Pratincole Glareola pratincola, the Oriental Pratincole is now recognised as a monotypic species occurring in the Indian sub-continent and the EAA Flyway. The Indian population is sedentary or weakly migratory. In the EAA Flyway birds breeding in north-eastern Asia are migratory while those of south-eastern Asia are considered to be sedentary. Most migratory birds spend the non-breeding period in northern Australia (Lane 1987), with sedentary birds remaining from Indo-China to the Philip-pines during this period.
Data
The Flyway estimate is much higher than the previous estimate of 75 000 (Watkins 1993) in light of a count of 2.88 million birds in north-western Australia in February 2004 (Sitters et al. 2004). It has been suggested that this extraordi-nary count was the result of weather conditions forcing the birds to concentrate in one area. The birds are usually dispersed across coastal grasslands and seasonal wetlands in the north of Western Australia, and inland grasslands and seasonal wetlands in the Northern Territory.
Important Sites
The Ramsar Convention uses the figure of 20 000 to identify site of international importance for waterbirds. As such the thresholds adopted for this species are 20 000 and 5 000.
Only two sites are now identified as internation-ally important: Eighty Mile Beach and Roebuck Plains (Australia).
Migration
Some northward and southward movement oc-curs through sites on the east coast of China, and possibly greater movement occurs through inland China. Large flocks are occasionally reported from sites in south-eastern Asia during the southward migration period. Hayman et al. (1987) suggest that Indonesia may be important during the non-breeding period, and there are accounts of migrating Oriental Pratincole being
taken in large numbers by hunters in Indonesia (Milton and Marhadi 1989).
Figure 4.76 Oriental Pratincole – non-breeding distribution
154 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 155 154 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Figure 4.77 Oriental Pratincole – sites of international importance. Numbers refer to the respective site in Table 4.64.
Table 4.64 Oriental Pratincole - sites of international importance
Site Code Site Country Max Count Date SM NB NM B Ref.
154 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway | 155 154 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Australian PratincoleStiltia isabella
Flyway Estimate: 60 000 1% threshold: 600 Staging threshold: 150Global Delany and Scott (2002): 60 000
Population
The monotypic Australian Pratincole occurs in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Timor and Indo-nesia.
Almost all breeding occurs in Australia (Higgins and Davies 1996) during October to Decem-ber. Following breeding, part of the population migrates north to Papua New Guinea, Timor and Indonesia. The breeding and non-breeding ranges of the species overlap in northern Aus-tralia.
Data
Pooled maximum counts for the species do not account for the high numbers (c. 50 000) of birds reported in Timor Leste during migration (Lane 1987).
Country population estimates are for the non-breeding period as defined for the EAA Flyway (December to February), but this overlaps the breeding period of the Australian Pratincole. In this period, virtually all of the population is in Australia, and only part of the population moves to south-eastern Asia for the species’ non-breed-ing period (the northern hemisphere summer).
The proportion of the population to remain in Australia during the species’ non-breeding period is unknown, but counts in Australia that ex-ceeded the 1% threshold have been made in this period. Furthermore, surveys tend to under-rep-resent the inland habitats normally frequented by this species. Therefore, it is likely that the popu-lation estimate based largely on migration counts made in Indonesia underestimates the species’
population size.
Important Sites
Important sites were identified in Australia (9), Indonesia (1), Timor Leste (1) and Papua New Guinea (1). There are likely to be more im-portant sites in Indonesia. Although made in the breeding period, the very high count from Kakadu National Park was of birds moving through the site.
Migration
Patterns of movements are summarised by Higgins and Davies (1996). Movements may be unpredictable from year to year at specific localities and vary in response to rainfall, but northward and southward movements are well defined, with the species present in the south of its range only during the breeding period. In northern Australia, the species may be present all year round. Movements through Papua New Guinea and south-eastern Asia are poorly understood with a lack of data on important sites in this region.
156 | Migratory Shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
Table 4.65 Australian Pratincole - sites of international importanceSite
Code Site Country Max Count Date SM NB NM B Ref.
397 Timor TIM 50,000 NA . . . 99
52 Kakadu National Park AUS 30,000 NA . . . 119
329 Tonda Wildlife Management Area PNG 20,000 1/07/1995 . 34,112
