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

Taxonomic source(s)
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
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
-	C2a(ii)	C2a(i,ii); D1

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Endangered	C2a(ii)
2016	Endangered	C2a(i)
2012	Endangered	C2a(i)
2008	Endangered	C2a(i)
2006	Endangered
2004	Endangered
2000	Endangered
1996	Endangered
1994	Endangered
1988	Threatened

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type	continent shelf island	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	749,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	8,120,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	900-1600 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2023
Population trend	decreasing	poor	inferred	-
Generation length	4.92 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: Global population size of this species was previously estimated to number less than 1,000 birds (e.g. BirdLife International 2001) but more recent count data from its southbound migration has found this evidently to be an underestimate. Cao et al. (2023) revised this estimate to 1,500-2,000 birds, based on counts of at least 1,194 individuals at Tiaozini alone in September 2021, with additional birds counted at neighbouring Xiaoyangkou and Dongling taking the minimum number to c.1,300. They concluded that the latter total was unlikely to represent the total number of birds due to survey effort, but concluded it probably represents the majority of the global population. The estimate of 1,500-2,000 (Cao et al. 2023) is therefore accepted here. Because these counts are made post-breeding, it is unlikely that they all refer to mature individuals, although the percentage that are is not well known. To account for uncertainty in this calculation, 60-80% are suspected to be mature individuals, leaving a total population size of 900-1,600 mature individuals.

Trend justification: Current trend effectively unknown but precautionarily inferred to be declining following previous evidence for declines on breeding grounds. The recent increase in estimated population size (e.g. BirdLife International [2001] vs current assessment) is highly unlikely to reflect a genuine increase in abundance, with an increase in monitoring and coordination of counts, particularly on staging grounds in eastern China, allowing for a refinement in population size (see Cao et al. 2023).

Against historical descriptions of abundance, there can be little double that this species has declined. For example, the population has declined in Bangladesh from c.300 to c.40-50 (Maleko et al . 2021), while the vast scale of land-reclamation in South Korea effectively extirpated the species from Saemangeum after 2006 (Moores et al. 2016). While land reclamation has slowed in recent years, invasive Spartina cordgrass continues to heavily degrade large areas of suitable habitat (IUCN 2023), although counts of the species at key staging and wintering sites have scarcely changed in the last five years. Accordingly the current trend is difficult to determine, although it is precautionarily inferred to be declining due to the continuation of threats which have been proven to drive population declines in the past. The congregation of large percentages of this species' population render it particularly vulnerable, and large areas of coastal wetlands across the East Asian-Australasian Flyway lack formal protection (Xia et al. 2017, Li et al. 2019), including important wintering grounds in the Inner Gulf of Thailand (Zöckler et al. 2018), while hunting and trapping also remains an acute threat (Maleko et al. 2021). In the absence of robust monitoring data, rates of decline are not, however, estimated.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bangladesh	extant	native			yes
Brunei	extant	native			yes
Cambodia	extant	native			yes
China (mainland)	extant	native			yes	yes
Hong Kong (China)	extant	native			yes
India	extant	native			yes
Indonesia	extant	native			yes
Japan	extant	native			yes	yes
Malaysia	extant	native			yes
Myanmar	extant	native			yes
North Korea	extant	native			yes	yes
Philippines	extant	native			yes
Russia	extant	native		yes
Russia (Asian)	extant	native		yes
Singapore	extant	vagrant
South Korea	extant	native			yes	yes
Sri Lanka	extant	vagrant
Taiwan, China	extant	native			yes
Thailand	extant	native			yes
Vietnam	extant	native			yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Bangladesh	Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta
Bangladesh	Hakaluki Haor
Bangladesh	Patenga Beach
Bangladesh	Sonadia Island
Brunei	Brunei Bay
Cambodia	Koh Kapik
China (mainland)	Beidaihe
China (mainland)	Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve
China (mainland)	Dongting Hu wetlands
China (mainland)	Jiuduansha Nature Reserve
China (mainland)	Rong Jiang Estuary
China (mainland)	Yalu Jiang Estuary
China (mainland)	Yancheng Nature Reserve
China (mainland)	Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve
Hong Kong (China)	Inner Deep Bay and Shenzhen River catchment area
India	Dibru - Saikhowa Complex
India	Kaziranga National Park
India	Laokhowa and Burhachapori Sanctuaries
India	Mahul - Sewree Creek
India	Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Rajaji National Park
Indonesia	Berbak
Indonesia	Pesisir Pantai Jambi
Indonesia	Sembilang
Malaysia	Bako-Buntal Bay
Malaysia	Matang coast
Malaysia	North-central Selangor coast
Malaysia	Sadong-Saribas coast
Malaysia	Teluk Air Tawar-Kuala Muda coast
Myanmar	Gulf of Mottama
Myanmar	Nantha Island
North Korea	Chongchon River estuary (including Mundok Nature Reserve)
North Korea	Chongdan field
North Korea	Daedong Bay
North Korea	Unryul Kumsanpo
Philippines	Manila Bay
Philippines	Puerto Princesa Subterranean River Natural Park / Cleopatra's Needle
Russia (Asian)	Amur river mouth
Russia (Asian)	Aniva bay
Russia (Asian)	Lower Tumen river
Russia (Asian)	Malkachan bay
Russia (Asian)	Moroshechnaya River
Russia (Asian)	Nevskoye Lake
Russia (Asian)	Nikolaya bay
Russia (Asian)	North-east Sakhalin lagoons
Russia (Asian)	Schast'ya Gulf
Russia (Asian)	Shantarskiye Islands
Russia (Asian)	Talan Island
Russia (Asian)	Tyk and Viakhtu bays
Russia (Asian)	Tyuleniy Island
Russia (Asian)	Ul'banskiy bay
South Korea	Asan Bay (including Asan-ho lake and Sapgyo-ho lake)
South Korea	Cheonsu Bay
South Korea	Dongjin estuary
South Korea	Geum-gang river and estuary
South Korea	Mangyeong estuary
South Korea	Nakdong-gang estuary
South Korea	Namyang Bay
South Korea	Suncheon Bay
South Korea	Tidal flat area of southern Ganghwa-do island
Thailand	Inner Gulf of Thailand
Thailand	Ko Li Bong
Thailand	Na Muang Krabi
Vietnam	Binh Dai
Vietnam	Can Gio
Vietnam	Nghia Hung
Vietnam	Xuan Thuy

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Boreal	major	breeding
Grassland	Temperate	major	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Mud Flats and Salt Flats	major	non-breeding
Marine Intertidal	Salt Marshes (Emergent Grasses)	major	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Agriculture & aquaculture	Marine & freshwater aquaculture - Industrial aquaculture	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Marine & freshwater aquaculture - Subsistence/artisinal aquaculture	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Agriculture & aquaculture	Wood & pulp plantations - Agro-industry plantations	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem conversion, Reduced reproductive success
Energy production & mining	Oil & gas drilling	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Energy production & mining	Renewable energy	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Spartina alterniflora	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Viral/prion-induced diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Natural system modifications	Dams & water management/use - Dams (size unknown)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Increase in fire frequency/intensity	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Soil erosion, sedimentation	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Pollution	Domestic & urban waste water - Sewage	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Pollution	Garbage & solid waste	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality
Pollution	Industrial & military effluents - Oil spills	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality
Residential & commercial development	Commercial & industrial areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem conversion
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Spotted Greenshank Tringa guttifer. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/spotted-greenshank-tringa-guttifer on 23/11/2024.
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 23/11/2024.