Population status

Stilt Sandpiper
(Calidris himantopus)

The Stilt Sandpiper breeds in the Low Arctic, where only site-specific estimates of trend in the breeding population are available. These studies suggest possible decreases in the east of the range and increases in the west. For example, the species declined by >70% at Churchill, Manitoba, between the 1960s and 1990s, but increased by 300-400% at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, between the 1980s and 1990s (Klima and Jehl, Jr. 2012). Surveys at migratory stopover locations provide the only large-scale and long-term survey data on the continental population, the majority of which breed in Canada. Results from these surveys suggest a 46% decrease in the abundance of Stilt Sandpipers range-wide. However, the reliability of this assessment is considered to be low because of regional variation in the available trends, and the paucity of data from throughout the species' range. Future assessments of status will be improved when results from the Arctic Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring (Arctic PRISM) become available. The Stilt Sandpiper is currently below the lowest acceptable level relative to its national population goal (see graph below).

 

Population goal and acceptable levels of variation

Species/groupGoalLower levelUpper level
Stilt SandpiperMean abundance (2008-2012)10th percentile of observed abundance (1970-2012)Not applicable

Analyses of Shorebird Migration Monitoring Data

Additional information on: Analyses of Shorebird Migration Monitoring Data

Table 1: Population trends by geographic area
Geographic areaTime PeriodAnnual Trend Table 1 - footnote 1 Limits
LowerUpper
North America Select to view graph of the geographic area: North America 1974-2016; Analyses of Shorebird Migration Monitoring Data1974-2016-1.5-52.8
 

References