Species: Calidris alpina

Dunlin

Species

Birds

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Salish Sea-reliant birds

Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Scolopacidae

Genus

Calidris

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101733

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Playero de Lomo Rojo - bécasseau variable

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Shorebirds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Charadriiformes - Scolopacidae - Calidris - See Browning (1991) for taxonomic information on dunlins from northern Alaska and eastern Siberia. Wenink et al. (1996) examined mtDNA variation among 15 breeding populations throughout the circumpolar range and found five major phylogeographic groups, each corresponding to a morphometrically defined subspecies, but other recognized subspecies were not supported by monophyletic mtDNA lineages within their purported ranges.

Ecology and Life History

Migration

false - false - true - Migrates mainly along coasts, smaller numbers in interior North America. Begins migrating northward along Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America in March-April, arrives in northern Alaska in late May. After fledging, juveniles move to coastal habitat in late July and early August in northern Alaska; adults move to upland areas. Departs breeding grounds late August or September. Breeders banded at Point Barrow, Alaska, were recaptured in October at Cape Lazarev, Siberia, and Sakhalin Island (see Browning 1991). Postbreeders roost in large flocks and feed on expansive intertidal mudflats of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, from July until early October, then to southeastern Asia and California (Handel and Gill 1992). Southbound migrants reach central California coast by mid-October. Often migrates in large flocks.

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

During the breeding season feeds primarily on larvae of flies and mosquitoes. During the rest of the year feeds on crustaceans, marine worms, mollusks, and insects. Migrants in spring in south-central Alaska relied heavly on clams, MACOMA BALTHICA (Senner et al. 1989). Consumes large numbers of horseshoe crab eggs in spring at Delaware Bay (Castro and Myers 1993). Runs around feeding areas probing mud and sand with bill.

Reproduction Comments

Breeding begins late May to early June in the Western Hemisphere (clutches completed mainly mid-June in Beaufort Sea area). Both sexes, in turn, incubate 4 eggs for 21-22 days. Nestlings are precocial and downy. Young are independent in about 25 days (Harrison 1978). Often nests near other pairs of dunlins. In northern Alaska, up to 15 nests per sq km have been recorded in several areas of coastal tundra and sites a few miles inland.

Ecology Comments

Nonbreeding: often in large flocks, which in some roosting areas may include 10,000s (Handel and Gill 1992). Often seen in association with sanderlings and other shorebirds.

Length

Weight

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-11-26

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-26

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDS: northern Alaska, northern Mackenzie, northeastern Keewatin, and southern Somerset Island south to coastal western Alaska, Southampton Island, northeastern Manitoba, and northern Ontario; eastern Greenland, Iceland, Sptizbergen, Novaya Zemlya, arctic coast of Siberia, Kamchatka Peninsula, and Sakhalin Island south to British Isles, Baltic region, northern Russia, and northern China (AOU 1983, Browning 1991). WINTERS: along Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska south to Baja California and Sonora, on Atlantic-Gulf-Caribbean coast from Massachusetts south to Florida, west to Texas, south to Yucatan Peninsula; in Old World from southern Europe and southern Asia to Cape Verde Islands, northern Afria, Arabia, Indian coast, and Formosa (AOU 1983); occasionally in Hawaii. Nonbreeders often summer in winter range. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, is an important migration stop in western North America (Handel and Gill 1992). See Browning (1991) for information on the distribution of subspecies in northern Alaska and eastern Siberia.

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101733