Curlew sandpiper

    Calidris ferruginea

Castilian: Correlimos zarapitín

Catalan: Territ becllarg

Gallego: Pilro ferruxento

Euskera: Txirri kurlinta

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Charadriiformes

Family: Scolopacidae

Migratory status: Passage migrant

CONSERVATION STATUS:

On the National List of Threatened Species, it appears in the “Of Special Interest” category. In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Not Evaluated”.

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THREATS

The destruction of its wintering habitat due to the drying up of wetlands and urban development, illegal hunting, pollution and disturbances caused by humans in its breeding areas.

Length / size: 18-19 cm / 42-46 cm

Identification: Somewhat large wader with a characteristic black and downward-curved bill. During mating season, the adult's face and lower body are reddish, its crown streaked, and the feathers on its back dark with reddish and grey markings. It is greyish during the rest of the year, and its white forehead contrasts with its black eye-ring and lighter lower body. In flight its most visible feature is its white rump.

Song: It makes a "churrupup" call in flight.

Diet: It feeds on invertebrates.

Reproduction: The nest is built in a small depression in the ground, in low scrubland areas with pools, such as herbaceous prairies and coastal salt marshes, and the nest is formed by grasses and leaves. The chicks are able to move about and feed themselves shortly after being born.

HABITAT

It occupies wet areas, with a preference for silty or sandy banks.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: It is distributed along the Mediterranean coasts, and more rarely along the Cantabrian-Atlantic coast.

In Castile and León: It can appear in all the provinces, but Villafáfila (Zamora) and La Nava Lake (Palencia) are the two main locations of this species.

Movements and migrations: It is a migratory species that crosses western Europe to reach our latitudes, appearing rarely in passage and when wintering; the autumn passage takes place along the Mediterranean coasts and western Andalusia in August, while the spring one occurs between April and May.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population that fluctuates between 0 and 1800 wintering specimens, and there are no clear tendencies.

In Castile and León: