Roadless Areas
Home/Species/ Stilt Sandpiper

Calidris himantopus

(Bonaparte, 1826)

Stilt Sandpiper

G5Secure Found in 3 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Near threatenedIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100427
Element CodeABNNF11190
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNNear threatened
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderCharadriiformes
FamilyScolopacidae
GenusCalidris
Synonyms
Micropalama himantopus
Other Common Names
Bécasseau à échasses (FR) Maçarico-Pernilongo (PT) Playero Zancón, Chorlito Zancudo (ES)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
Often placed in the monotypic genus Micropalama (AOU 1983).
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-07
Change Date1996-11-26
Edition Date2014-09-04
Edition AuthorsJue, Dean K.
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences21 - 300
Rank Reasons
Better information is needed on its actual population number but assuming 800,000 is an accurate estimate of this species' numbers then G5 is an appropriate ranking.
Range Extent Comments
BREEDING: northeastern Alaska across northern Canada to northeastern Manitoba and northern Ontario, and probably locally south to borders of taiga; north to Victoria and Jenny Lind islands, Northwest Territories. NON-BREEDING: primarily in South America (mainly Bolivia and southern Brazil to northern Chile and northern Argentina), casually north to southeastern California, Gulf Coast and Florida (AOU 1983).
Occurrences Comments
This species is found only in North and South America and there is differences in opinion on the actual population numbers of this bird. Hence the large range limits for number of element occurrences. Depending on the source, the populatoin size of this bird ranges from 200,000 to 800,000 (Morrison, et. al. 2006).
Threat Impact Comments
The recovery of the Canada Goose and Snow Goose may be harming the Stilt Sandpiper on its breeding grounds by altering the tundra habitat (National Audubon Society, 2014). Wetlands destruction continue at a rapid place in many places along the migratoin route for this species. Climate change may impact this species northern latitude breeding grounds.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Nonbreeding: mudflats, flooded fields, shallow ponds and pools, and marshes (AOU 1983). Nests in sedge tundra near water, often near wooded borders of the taiga (AOU 1983), on the ground in a shallow scrape, often on a slightly raised site (e.g., atop small sedge hummock or on low well-drained gravel ridge crossing sedge meadow). Tends to return to same nesting site in successive years.

Ecology

During migration often seen in association with dowitchers and greater and lesser yellowlegs. Forage up to 8 kilometers from nest (Jehl 1973).

Reproduction

Egg laying peaked during the second week of June on Victoria Island. Both sexes (male by day, female by night) incubate 4 eggs for average of 20 days. Hatching peaks in early July. Nestlings are precocial, leave nest soon after hatching, independent in about 14 days (fledging period reported as at least 17 days). At Churchill, Manitoba, nesting density was 5-25 pairs per sq km (see Johnson and Herter 1989).
Terrestrial Habitats
Tundra
Palustrine Habitats
TEMPORARY POOLHERBACEOUS WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN5B,N5M
ProvinceRankNative
NunavutS4BYes
British ColumbiaS3MYes
SaskatchewanS5MYes
ManitobaS3B,S4MYes
Yukon TerritoryS3BYes
Island of NewfoundlandSNRMYes
Nova ScotiaSNAYes
AlbertaSUMYes
OntarioS3B,S4MYes
Northwest TerritoriesS5Yes
New BrunswickSUMYes
QuebecS3MYes
United StatesN3B,N4N
ProvinceRankNative
New YorkSNRNYes
South DakotaSNAYes
MissouriSNRMYes
North DakotaSNAYes
MontanaSNAYes
KentuckySNAYes
OregonSNAYes
MinnesotaSNRMYes
District of ColumbiaS1NYes
TexasS3Yes
New HampshireSNAYes
Navajo NationS2MYes
MarylandSNAYes
TennesseeS3NYes
OhioSNAYes
MaineSNAYes
New JerseyS4NYes
Rhode IslandS3NYes
VirginiaSNAYes
WisconsinSNAYes
ArkansasS3MYes
CaliforniaSNAYes
South CarolinaS3MYes
IowaS4NYes
UtahSNAYes
AlaskaS3BYes
FloridaS3MYes
NebraskaSNRNYes
KansasS4NYes
MississippiSNAYes
ColoradoS4NYes
North CarolinaSNAYes
IllinoisSNAYes
ArizonaS3MYes
WyomingS4NYes
GeorgiaSNRNYes
ConnecticutSNAYes
LouisianaS4NYes
IdahoSNAYes
MichiganSNRNYes
IndianaSNAYes
NevadaSNAYes
MassachusettsS3NYes
WashingtonSNAYes
AlabamaSNRNYes
DelawareSNAYes
OklahomaS3NYes
PennsylvaniaSNAYes
New MexicoS3NYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
11 - Climate change & severe weatherPervasive (71-100%)UnknownLow (long-term)
11.1 - Habitat shifting & alterationPervasive (71-100%)UnknownLow (long-term)

—

Roadless Areas (3)
Arizona (1)
AreaForestAcres
Lower Dragoon RoadlessCoronado National Forest1,165
California (1)
AreaForestAcres
WildhorseCleveland National Forest1,483
Utah (1)
AreaForestAcres
WellsvilleWasatch-Cache National Forest1,717
References (34)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  4. Braun, M. J., D. W. Finch, M. B. Robbins, and B. K. Schmidt. 2000. A field checklist of the birds of Guyana. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
  5. Carter, M., C. Hunter, D. Pashley, and D. Petit. 1998. The Watch List. Bird Conservation, Summer 1998:10.
  6. Castro, I. and A. Phillips. 1996. A guide to the birds of the Galapagos Islands. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
  7. Godfrey, W.E. 1966. The birds of Canada. National Museums of Canada. Ottawa. 428 pp.
  8. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  9. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  10. Jehl, J. R., Jr. 1973. Breeding biology and systematic relationships of the stilt sandpiper. Wilson Bulletin 85:115-147.
  11. Johnson, S. R. and D. R. Herter. 1989. The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. 372 pp.
  12. Klima, J., and J.R. Jehl, Jr. 2012. Stilt Sandpiper (<i>Calidris himantopus</i>). The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, ed.). Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca. Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/341/doi:10.2173/bna.341.
  13. Knopf, F.L. 1996. Mountain Plover (<i>Charadrius montanus</i>). In A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The Birds of North America, No. 211. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC. 16 pp.
  14. Knopf, F.L., and J.R. Rupert. 1996. Productivity and movements of mountain plovers breeding in Colorado. Wilson Bulletin 108:28-35.
  15. Morrison, R.I.G. 1993/1994. Shorebird population status and trends in Canada. Bird Trends (3):3-5. Canadian Wildlife Service.
  16. Morrison, R.I.G., McCaffery, B.J., Gill, R.E., Skagen, S.K., Jones, S.K., Page, G.W., Gratto-Trevor, C.L., and Andres, B.A. 2006. Population estimates of North American shorebirds, 2006. Waders Study Group Bulletin 111: 67-85.
  17. Morrison, R. I. G., R. E. Gill, Jr., B. A. Harrington, S. Skagen, G. W. Page, C. L. Gratto-Trevor, and S. M. Haig. 2001. Estimates of shorebird populations in North America. Occasional Paper Number 104, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, Ottawa, ON. 64 pages.
  18. National Audubon Society. 2014. View all Species. Website accessible at http://birds.audubon.org/species. Accessed on various dates in 2014.
  19. Nol, E., and M. S. Blanken. 1999. Semipalmated Plover (<i>Charadrius semipalmatus</i>). No. 444 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, eds. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 24pp.
  20. Oberholser, H.C. 1974. The bird life of Texas. 2 vols. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.
  21. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  22. Peterson, R.T. 1980b. A field guide to the birds of eastern and central North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
  23. Peterson, R.T. 1990b. A field guide to western birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
  24. Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 511 pp.
  25. Rappole, J.H., Morton, E.S., Lovejoy, T.E. and Ruos, J.L. 1983. Nearctic avian migrants in the Neotropics. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service and World Wildlife Fund, Washington D.C.
  26. Ridgely, R. S. 2002. Distribution maps of South American birds. Unpublished.
  27. Ridgely, R. S. and J. A. Gwynne, Jr. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Panama. 2nd edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA.
  28. Robbins, M. B., M. J. Braun, and D. W. Finch. 2004. Avifauna of the Guyana southern Rupinuni, with comparisons to other savannas of northern South America. Ornitologia Neotropical 15:173-200.
  29. Robert, M., R. McNeil, and A. Leduc. 1989. Conditions and significance of night feeding in shorebirds and other water birds in a tropical lagoon. Auk 106:94-101.
  30. Rubega, M. A., D. Schamel, and D. M. Tracy. 2000. Red-necked Phalarope (<i>Phalaropus lobatus</i>). No. 538 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors, The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 28pp.
  31. Sibley, D. A. 2000a. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  32. Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
  33. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  34. Zook, J. L. 2002. Distribution maps of the birds of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Unpublished.