• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Calidris falcinellus (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) was previously placed in the genus Limicola.

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
Turbott, E.G. 1990. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand. Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Wellington.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	A2bc+4bc

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Vulnerable	A2bc+4bc
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	6,100,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	64,700,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	96000-136000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2023
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	2014-2026
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-49%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-49%	-	-	-
Generation length	4.36 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: Divided into two subspecies, with the nominate breeding in Fennoscandia and north-west Russia, and sibirica breeding in central and eastern Siberia. Almost all of the nominate subspecies breeds in Europe, where there are estimated to be be 30,000-44,000 pairs, most of which (25,000-35,000 pairs) are in Finland (Keller et al. 2020). A much smaller number (<1,200 pairs) breed in European Russia (Keller et al. 2020). When immatures and non-breeding birds are taken into account, these numbers are similar to the wintering population of 61,000-110,000 birds estimated (BirdLife International 2021, Wetlands International 2023). Taxon sibirica is estimated to number 30,000 birds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (Mundkur and Langendoen 2022, Hansen et al. 2023); assuming approximately 0.6-0.8 birds are mature, this equates to c.18,000-24,000 breeding pairs. Overall, the global population of this species is estimated a 48,000-68,000 breeding pairs, or 96,000-136,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: Few data are available from which to derive trends, but the sparse data that are indicate that this species is declining, potentially rapidly.

C. falcinellus is considered a difficult species to monitor because sample sizes observed in any given year are typically small. Based on analysis of breeding data from Finland, the species may have declined by 83% and 72% in the time periods 2006-2023 and 2009-2023 respectively; however these rates of reduction are thought to be too high, and to have overestimated the species' abundance in 2009-2011 (A. Lehikoinen in litt. 2024). An alternative analysis, using the same data, separating observations by decade and using a GLMM, suggested a more modest reduction of c.41% over 17 years (equivalent to fractionally more than 30% over three generations). While again based on small sample sizes, migration counts from Hanko Bird Observatory indicate both a long-term (1979-1999 to 2020-present) and short-term (2010-2019 to 2020-present) decline, although these are reportedly affected by weather conditions (A. Lehikoinen in litt. 2024). In Sweden, trends are also probably negative (a decrease of c.5% per year), but again sample sizes are small and the overall trend is statistically not significant (Svensk Fågeltaxering 2024). These declines mirror the breeding range contraction in Keller et al. (2020), particularly at the southern margin of the Finnish distribution, as well as in Sweden. Moreover, joint trend data from monitoring in Finland, Sweden and Norway also suggest a relatively rapid decline between 2006 and 2018 (Lindström et al. 2019), equivalent to 5.6% per year (or c.53% over three generations).

Trends in sibirica are broadly unknown. Data from Myanmar suggest declines of c.50% in recent years at one site that formerly hosted c.4,000 birds (but now reduced to a maximum of 2,100) (Aung et al. 2023) and numbers at other sites have reportedly also declined, but these host only small numbers (C. Zöckler in litt. 2024). No other data are known, but given C. f. falcinellus comprises c.2/3 of the global population, it is highly likely that the global population is declining at least a moderately rapid rate.

To account for various uncertainties in the data collected, C. falcinellus is estimated to have declined by 30-49% over the past three generations (13 years: 2011-2024), and this reduction is also likely to be true for the window 2014-2026, thus qualifying this species for Vulnerable under Criterion A4, as well as A2. Future rates of decline, however, are highly uncertain, and plausible rates of reduction are not estimated for over the next three generations.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Afghanistan	extant	native				yes
Albania	extant	native				yes
Algeria	extant	native				yes
Andorra	extant	native				yes
Armenia	extant	native				yes
Australia	extant	native			yes	yes
Austria	extant	native				yes
Azerbaijan	extant	native				yes
Bahrain	extant	native			yes	yes
Bangladesh	extant	native			yes	yes
Belarus	extant	native				yes
Belgium	extant	native				yes
Bhutan	extant	native				yes
Bosnia and Herzegovina	extant	native				yes
British Indian Ocean Territory	extant	native				yes
Brunei	extant	native			yes
Bulgaria	extant	native				yes
Cambodia	extant	native			yes	yes
Cameroon	extant	native				yes
Central African Republic	extant	native				yes
Chad	extant	native				yes
Chile	extant	native				yes
China (mainland)	extant	native			yes	yes
Christmas Island (to Australia)	extant	native				yes
Cocos (Keeling) Islands (to Australia)	extant	native				yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native				yes
Croatia	extant	native				yes
Cyprus	extant	native				yes
Czechia	extant	native				yes
Denmark	extant	native				yes
Djibouti	extant	native			yes	yes
Egypt	extant	native			yes	yes
Eritrea	extant	native			yes	yes
Estonia	extant	native				yes
Ethiopia	extant	native				yes
Faroe Islands (to Denmark)	extant	vagrant
Finland	extant	native		yes		yes
France	extant	native				yes
Georgia	extant	native				yes
Germany	extant	native				yes
Greece	extant	native				yes
Hong Kong (China)	extant	native			yes	yes
Hungary	extant	native				yes
Iceland	extant	vagrant
India	extant	native			yes	yes
Indonesia	extant	native			yes	yes
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native			yes	yes
Iraq	extant	native			yes	yes
Ireland	extant	native				yes
Israel	extant	native				yes
Italy	extant	native				yes
Japan	extant	native				yes
Jordan	extant	native				yes
Kazakhstan	extant	native				yes
Kenya	extant	native			yes	yes
Kuwait	extant	native			yes	yes
Kyrgyzstan	extant	native				yes
Laos	extant	native				yes
Latvia	extant	native				yes
Lebanon	extant	native				yes
Libya	extant	native				yes
Liechtenstein	extant	native				yes
Lithuania	extant	native				yes
Luxembourg	extant	native				yes
Macao (China)	extant	native			yes
Malaysia	extant	native			yes	yes
Maldives	extant	native				yes
Mali	extant	native				yes
Malta	extant	native				yes
Mauritania	extant	vagrant
Moldova	extant	native				yes
Monaco	extant	native				yes
Mongolia	extant	native				yes
Montenegro	extant	native				yes
Morocco	extant	native				yes
Mozambique	extant	vagrant
Myanmar	extant	native			yes	yes
Nepal	extant	native				yes
Netherlands	extant	native				yes
New Zealand	extant	vagrant
Niger	extant	native				yes
Nigeria	extant	native				yes
North Korea	extant	native				yes
North Macedonia	extant	native				yes
Norway	extant	native		yes		yes
Oman	extant	native			yes	yes
Pakistan	extant	native			yes	yes
Palau	extant	native				yes
Palestine	extant	native				yes
Papua New Guinea	extant	native			yes	yes
Philippines	extant	native			yes	yes
Poland	extant	native				yes
Portugal	extant	native				yes
Qatar	extant	native			yes	yes
Romania	extant	native				yes
Russia	extant	native		yes		yes
Russia (Asian)	extant	native		yes		yes
Russia (Central Asian)	extant	native		yes		yes
Russia (European)	extant	native		yes		yes
Rwanda	extant	vagrant
San Marino	extant	native				yes
Saudi Arabia	extant	native			yes	yes
Serbia	extant	native				yes
Seychelles	extant	native				yes
Singapore	extant	native			yes	yes
Slovakia	extant	native				yes
Slovenia	extant	native				yes
Solomon Islands	extant	vagrant
Somalia	extant	native				yes
South Africa	extant	vagrant
South Korea	extant	native				yes
South Sudan	extant	native				yes
Spain	extant	native				yes
Sri Lanka	extant	native			yes	yes
Sudan	extant	native			yes	yes
Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (to Norway)	extant	vagrant
Sweden	extant	native		yes		yes
Switzerland	extant	native				yes
Syria	extant	vagrant				yes
Taiwan, China	extant	native			yes	yes
Tajikistan	extant	native				yes
Tanzania	extant	native				yes
Thailand	extant	native			yes	yes
Timor-Leste	extant	native			yes	yes
Tunisia	extant	native				yes
Türkiye	extant	native				yes
Turkmenistan	extant	native				yes
Uganda	extant	native				yes
Ukraine	extant	native				yes
United Arab Emirates	extant	native			yes	yes
United Kingdom	extant	native				yes
USA	extant	vagrant
Uzbekistan	extant	native				yes
Vatican City	extant	native				yes
Vietnam	extant	native			yes	yes
Yemen	extant	native			yes	yes
Zambia	extant	vagrant

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Gulf Plains
Bahrain	Tubli Bay
China (mainland)	Yalu Jiang Estuary
Finland	Kemihaara (Vuotos) mires and forests
Finland	Kilsiaapa-Ristivuoma
Finland	Lätäseno and Jietajoki mires
Finland	Lemmenjoki-Hammastunturi-Pulju
Finland	Litokaira
Finland	Martimoaapa-Lumiaapa-Penikat
Finland	Oulu region wetlands
Finland	Pomokaira-Koitelaiskaira
Finland	Pöyrisjärvi wilderness
Finland	Saariselkä and Koilliskaira
Finland	South-eastern Kittilä mires
Finland	Veittiaapa-Ristiaapa
Malaysia	Pulau Bruit National Park
Myanmar	Gulf of Mottama
Norway	Øvre Anárjohka
Norway	Øvre Pasvik
Norway	Reisa
Oman	Barr al Hikman
Romania	Danube Delta
Russia (European)	Lapland Biosphere Reserve
Russia (European)	Surroundings of Kiyesh'yaur lake
Saudi Arabia	Sabkhat al-Fasl lagoons
Saudi Arabia	Tarut Bay
South Korea	Dongjin estuary
South Korea	Mangyeong estuary
Sweden	Lake Ånn – Storlien
Sweden	Muddus
Sweden	River Ume Delta and Plains
Sweden	Vindel Mountains (including Lake Tärna)
Ukraine	Syvash Bay
Yemen	Midi - Al-Luhayyah

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Irrigated Land (includes irrigation channels)	suitable	passage
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Salt Exploitation Sites	major	non-breeding
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Seasonally Flooded Agricultural Land	suitable	passage
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Wastewater Treatment Areas	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes	major	non-breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Freshwater Lakes	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Intertidal	Mud Flats and Salt Flats	major	non-breeding
Marine Intertidal	Salt Marshes (Emergent Grasses)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	suitable	passage
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	major	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Tundra Wetlands (incl. pools and temporary waters from snowmelt)	major	breeding
Altitude	0 - 2000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Marine & freshwater aquaculture - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Wood & pulp plantations - Agro-industry plantations	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality
Biological resource use	Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Unintentional effects (species is not the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Energy production & mining	Oil & gas drilling	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Energy production & mining	Renewable energy	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species disturbance
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Spartina alterniflora	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Type Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality
Residential & commercial development	Commercial & industrial areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Broad-billed Sandpiper Calidris falcinellus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/broad-billed-sandpiper-calidris-falcinellus on 24/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 24/11/2024.