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

Taxonomic note
Charadrius obscurus and C. aquilonius (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously lumped as C. obscurus following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
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.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Least Concern
2016	Near Threatened	D1
2014	Near Threatened	D1
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	170,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	1900 mature individuals	good	estimated	2020
Population trend	increasing	medium	estimated	-
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	28-32%	-	-	-
Generation length	4.25 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population was estimated at 2,130 individuals in the 2011 census (Dowding 2020), roughly equating to c.1,600 mature individuals (J.E. Dowding in litt. 2016). Numbers continue to increase, and assuming the same rate of increase as that between 2004 and 2011, the population was estimated to number 2,600 birds in 2020 (Dowding 2020), equating to c.1,900 mature individuals. In 2011, the east coast of the North Island held about 85% of the population, including nearly all managed subpopulations.

Trend justification: Overall the population is increasing, and this is predicted to continue (Robertson et al. 2021). Based on the results of four censuses across the period 1989-2011, the population increased by roughly 50% (from c.1,320 to 2,130 birds), and the overall rate of increase in the population between 2004 and 2011 was at least 16.7% (Dowding 2020), equivalent to c.30% over three generations. The eastern North Island population south of East Cape has more than doubled since 2011 (Robertson et al. 2021), and numbers recorded on the national water count have continued to increase (Riegen and Sagar 2020).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
New Zealand	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
New Zealand	Kaipara Harbour
New Zealand	Maketu
New Zealand	Mangawhai
New Zealand	Manukau Harbour
New Zealand	Papakanui Spit

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Temperate	major	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Sand Dunes	suitable	resident
Marine Intertidal	Mud Flats and Salt Flats	suitable	resident
Marine Intertidal	Rocky Shoreline	suitable	resident
Marine Intertidal	Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars, Spits, Etc	suitable	resident
Marine Intertidal	Shingle and/or Pebble Shoreline and/or Beaches	suitable	resident
Marine Intertidal	Tidepools	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 1000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Ammophila arenaria	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Canis familiaris	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Erinaceus europaeus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Negligible declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Mustela erminea	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Residential & commercial development	Commercial & industrial areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Northern Red-breasted Plover Charadrius aquilonius. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/northern-red-breasted-plover-charadrius-aquilonius 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.