Tringa Totanus Research Articles

Gas conductance and metabolism of shorebird eggs: variation within and between species

Fresh egg mass (M 0; g), water vapor conductance of the egg shell (G H 2O ; mg·[Torr·d] −1), and neonate mass (M n; g) were measured in the ruff ( Philomachus pugnax), common redshank ( Tringa totanus), northern lapwing ( Vanellus vanellus), black-tailed godwit ( Limosa limosa), and Eurasian curlew ( Numenius arquata). In addition, the development of embryonic O 2 consumption (Ṁ O 2 ; ml·d −1) and CO 2 production (Ṁ CO 2 ; ml·d −1) were measured in these species, except the ruff. In northern lapwing and black-tailed godwit eggs the coefficients of variation for G H 2O were 3.8 and 2.3 times higher, respectively, than those for M 0. In these two species only about 10% of the variation for G H 2O was attributable to M 0, and about 77% to differences between clutches, suggesting a strong maternal component. In the northern lapwing, embryonic Ṁ O 2 plateaued prior to internal pipping, but not in the common redshank and black-tailed godwit. The latter result is in contrast to embryonic patterns previously described for other precocial species. In shorebirds the occurrence of an embryonic Ṁ O 2 plateau is not related to the neonatal level of cold-induced thermogenesis.

Breeding dispersal and site‐fidelity in three monogamous wader species in the Western Isles, U.K.

Adult and post‐natal breeding‐dispersal movements of Redshank Tringa totanus, Dunlin Calidris alpina and Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula were quantified in west Scotland. Data from 373 returning birds marked as breeding adults and 142 returning birds marked as chicks are presented. Unlike most previous studies, this study measured dispersal movements up to 40 km and attempted to overcome distance‐related biases. For each species, adult males were significantly more nest site‐faithful between years than were adult females. Likewise, first‐time breeding males bred significantly closer to their natal site than did females. The settlement intensity per unit area of habitat showed marked differences between species, age classes and sex in the relative attractiveness of potential areas at different distances to settling birds. Adult dispersal was negatively and significantly related to breeding success in the previous year and positively related to capture on the nest in the previous year. Dispersal movements of adult Ringed Plover breeding on unstable cultivated habitats were significantly related to habitat quality (measured in terms of nest survival) and were always to habitat of better or equal quality.

The identity ofNirmus obtususand otherQuadracepsspecies (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) from Clipperton Island and the Galapagos Islands

The identity of Nirmus obtusus Kellogg & Kuwana, 1902 is clarified based on the examination of its holotype, relevant literature and other lice samples from several species of charadriiform birds. The host‐louse association between N. obtusus and its type host (Sterna fuscata crissalis (Lawrence, 1872)) is discussed and deduced to be erroneous. The birds Tringa incana (Gmelin, 1789) and Tringa totanus (Linnaeus, 1758) are regarded as regular hosts for N. obtusus, and evidence is presented supporting the opinion that T. incana was the original natural host for the holotype of N. obtusus. The present status of this louse species is Quadraceps obtusus (Kellogg & Kuwana, 1902); Degeeriella conformis Blagoveshtchensky, 1940 is regarded as a junior synonym (new synonymy). Specimens of five other species of Quadraceps included in Kellogg & Kuwana's material are compared with Q. obtusus and discussed in relation to their hosts and locality records.

Age-Dependent Choice of Redshank (Tringa totanus) Feeding Location: Profitability or Risk?

1. The effect of a varying risk of predation by sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus L.) on choice of overwinter feeding site was studied for redshank (Tringa totanus L.), on a small Scottish estuary at low tide. 2. Adult and juvenile redshank segregated into two areas, a mussel bed and a salt-marsh area, respectively. Juveniles were excluded from the mussel beds by the adults, but there were no aggressive interactions on the salt-marsh. Adults occasionally fed on the salt-marsh, particularly late in the winter. 3. A redshank on the salt-marsh was 4.8 times more likely to be killed on the salt-marsh than on the mussel beds. Redshank on the salt-marsh fed closer to cover, than those on the mussel beds: sparrowhawk attack success rate declined as redshank fed further from cover

The effects of raptor predation on wintering wader populations at the Tyningharne estuary, southeast Scotland

Raptor predation on waders was studied by direct observation of raptors hunting a known wader population and subsequent recovery of dead waders. In each of three winters, raptor predation was shown to be the most significant cause of mortality in most small wader species, Sparrowhawks Accipiter nisus, Merlins Falco columbarius and Peregrines F. pere‐grinus attacked waders with a success rate of 11.6%. 8.8% and 6.8%, respectively. Most waders attacked or found dead were Redshank Tringa totanus and Dunlin Calidris alpina; most were killed by Sparrowhawks. Kleptoparasitism of raptors carrying prey by Carrion Crows Corvus corone significantly increased the winter mortality of some waders. Redshank populations were most affected by raptor predation: over 50% of the total population (which was found to be closed during most of the winter) and over 90% of the juvenile population were taken in two winters: juvenites were more likely to be killed by raptors.

Condition indices for wader chicks derived from bodyweight and bill-length

Growth in nidifugeous wader chicks depends on food availability, and growth rates may be considerably reduced when food is in short supply. Bill-length and body-weight respond differently to reduced growth rates, and to recovery after a period of reduced growth. A condition index (CI) can therefore be derived from the relationship between bill-length and body-weight: CI = observed weight/ expected weight for the observed bill-length. Standardized weights for observed bill-lengths are presented for Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa, Redshank Tringa totanus, and Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus¸. Annual variations in condition indices were similar across species and in the case of Lapwing were correlated with total rainfall in May. Similar fluctuations in chick survival were also correlated with rainfall in May suggesting a relationship between condition index and fledging success.

Flocking is an effective anti-predation strategy in redshanks, Tringa totanus

Abstract. Anti-predator behaviour in overwintering redshanks on an estuary in south-east Scotland was studied in the context of a very high mortality rate due almost entirely to predation by raptors. Attacks on redshank flocks of different sizes and by different species of raptor were observed frequently. Flocking reduced an individual redshank's probability of being killed by sparrowhawks, Accipiter nisus, and peregrines, Falco peregrinus. Larger flocks were preferentially attacked, but an attack was significantly more likely to succeed on a smaller flock. Within a larger flock a redshank was less at risk through the 'dilution' effect, vigilance effects (which were a direct consequence of flock size) and probably also the 'confusion' effect. A large redshank flock was less likely to fly immediately than a small flock on appearance of a sparrowhawk. Redshanks did not gain any foraging benefits within larger flocks; the number of swallows per unit time remained approximately constant while the number of unsuccessful picks at the ground increased with flock size. Reduced individual risk of predation appeared to be the main reason for flocking.

Escape responses by redshanks, Tringa totanus, on attack by avian predators

Escape responses by redshanks, Tringa totanus, on attack by avian predators

The Searching Speeds of Foraging Shorebirds: Redshank (Tringa totanus) and Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

Foraging models predict terrestrial animals should maximize search speed whenever it is profitable to forage. Observations of foraging animals, however, suggest they seldom walk at their maximum speeds. Animals may walk slower than predicted because factors not accounted for in the models influence the relationship between net energy gain and search speed in a manner that makes it more profitable to forage at speeds below the maximum. Alternatively there may be a limit on the speed at which animals can search because they cannot accelerate instantaneously from a standing start to their maximum speed. A theoretical model is developed that predicts the expected searching speeds of terrestrial predators as a function of prey encounter density (number of prey encountered per unit distance searched), when they cannot accelerate instantaneously. This model predicts an inverse nonlinear relationship between speed and prey encounter density such that in most circumstances predators will search at less than their maximum possible searching speeds. Quantitative predictions were generated from the model for two charadriiform birds (redshank, Tringa totanus; and oystercatcher, Haematopus ostralegus). Observations of the walking speeds of free-living redshanks and oystercatchers had a form similar to those predicted by the model, but they deviated by being lower, particularly at low prey encounter densities. Redshank may be acceleration limited in their prey-searching behavior at high prey encounter densities, but at low prey encounter densities and for oystercatchers other factors also appear to be important.

Molt of Bristle-Thighed Curlews in the Northwestern Hawailan Islands

-I studied molt of Bristle-thighed Curlews (Numenius tahitiensis) on Laysan Island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands from 1988-1991. Adult curlews underwent a complete prebasic molt between August and December. Duration of primary molt was about 92 days, which is rapid compared with other shorebirds that molt in tropical and southern latitudes. Adults replaced large numbers of primaries and secondaries simultaneously, and about 50% of the birds became flightless during molt. The prealternate molt began in winter and ended in early spring; it involved the body feathers and variable numbers of rectrices but no remiges. Juveniles molted body feathers and some rectrices during their first autumn and winter but did not replace their juvenal primaries until the spring and summer of their second calendar year. Second-year curlews began replacing their new first basic primaries in late summer, in some cases before the outer juvenal primaries had been dropped. The delayed first prebasic primary molt is probably an adaptation allowing inexperienced birds to devote energy expenditure in their first winter to obtaining food rather than to molting remiges. Because second-year birds remain on the wintering grounds throughout the year and do not prepare for migration, there is no selection against replacing new primaries. Unlike most shorebirds, adult Bristle-thighed Curlews gained mass steadily throughout the autumn and winter. Their rapid prebasic molt in autumn may be an adaptation to allow the birds ample time to build up fat reserves during winter. I suggest that the absence of rich intertidal feeding areas and the frequency of winter storms make it difficult for curlews to take on large fat stores in short time periods as do species that winter on continental coasts. The lack of predators and the small size of remote oceanic islands obviate the need for curlews to maintain peak flight efficiency, allowing birds to become flightless during molt in autumn and to carry increasingly large fat stores throughout the winter. Received 8 October 1992, accepted 15 December 1992. SEVERAL GENERAL PATTERNS in the timing and duration of the prebasic molt of shorebirds have been identified. For example, most shorebirds do not overlap molt of flight feathers with either breeding or migration, although molt of body feathers may begin on the breeding grounds (Ferns 1978, Johnson and Johnson 1983). Notable exceptions include some populations of Purple Sandpipers (Calidris maritima; Sutton and Parmelee 1955, Bengston 1975) and Dunlins (C. alpina; Holmes 1966) that replace their primaries while breeding, and Common Redshanks (Tringa totanus; Pienkowski et al. 1976) that molt while migrating. Also, shorebirds wintering in tropical and southern latitudes tend to initiate molt later, and to molt more slowly, than do species that winter farther north (Prater 1981). Despite substantial infor' Present address: Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812, USA. mation on the molt of shorebirds (e.g. Boere 1976, Morrison 1976, Pienkowski et al. 1976, Prater 1981), the ecological factors responsible for these general patterns have been difficult to elucidate. Consequently, there remains a need to document molt in additional species. Bristle-thighed Curlews (Numenius tahitiensis) are one of the rarest and least-studied shorebirds in the world. They breed in remote areas of western Alaska and winter on small islands in the tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean. The only published information on their molt comes from a small sample of subadults collected in the Marshall Islands during summer (Johnson 1977). Bristle-thighed Curlews exhibit several unusual traits that make a study of their molt particularly interesting: (1) they are the only migratory shorebird whose winter range is restricted to oceanic islands, which they reach after nonstop flights of at least 4,000 km (Marks et al. 1990); (2) they have high annual survivorship and extreme longevity (Marks 1992); (3) most subadults remain on the wintering

Adult survival and numbers in a coastal breeding population of Redshank Tringa totanus in northwest England

The results of a long‐term capture‐mark‐recapture ringing programme carried out on a coastal population of breeding Redshanks Tringa totanus between 1974 and 1988 are presented.Both sexes were equally likely to be recaptured in subsequent years, as were birds captured for the first time compared with those that had been captured previously. Older birds were more frequently recaptured than were young birds. There was no significant difference in male and female adult survival rates, with a mean of 72% of females and 75% of males surviving each year.The breeding population fluctuated annually with estimated breeding densities of 122–285 pairs per km2. Variation in breeding numbers (males), but not survival, was partially attributable to winter air temperature.

Mitigation of low stream pH and its effects on salmonids: G. L. Lacroix, Environmental Pollution, 78(1–5), 1992, pp 157–164

The winter grazing intensities of brent geese Branta bernicla, pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus, and white-fronted geese A. albifrons, and the breeding densities of lapwing Vanellus vanellus, redshank Tringa totanus and snipe Gallinago gallinago, were related to the environmental characteristics of 81 fields within an area of coastal grazing marshes on the north Norfolk coast. Those fields grazed most intensively by geese in the winter supported lower densities of breeding waders in the summer than fields that were rarely grazed by geese. Lapwing, redshank and snipe all tended to occur in higher breeding densities on the wettest fields (characterised by large areas of surface water and Juncus spp., high soil moisture content and high water levels in field drains and adjacent ditches) and where vegetation was short (6–14 cm) in late March. The highest grazing intensities of geese were recorded on fields close to the roost sites with brent and grey geese rarely using fields at distances of greater than 5 km and 8 km from their respective roosts. The two species of grey geese tended to use those fields that were drier and located at greater distances from sources of disturbance with slightly longer (though still relatively short) swards than those used by brent geese. In a subset of the fields close to the roost site, brent geese used fields more intensively if they had been heavily grazed by livestock, had a short sward in October and if the soil was relatively impenetrable. The results suggest that waders, brent geese and, to a lesser extent, grey geese select areas of grassland with short vegetation, but that the former favour areas where the water table is higher than in those areas favoured by geese. It is suggested that this potential conflict may be relatively easily resolved either by temporal differences in management regimes, whereby water levels are raised in spring and summer and lowered in winter, or spatial differences in which some fields are managed for geese, preferably those close to the roost, and others for waders.

A technique which may allow accurate determination of the age of adult birds

Although many age determination techniques have been developed for four of the five vertebrate classes, none has been developed to determine ages of adult birds. Here we report a technique, involving counting endosteal layers in the tibia, that has allowed us accurately to determine the age (in years) of 12 dead birds of species in four different families, Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis, Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis, Redshank Tringa totanus and Great Skua Catharacta skua, all of which had been ringed as chicks and so were of known ages up to 16 years old, but provided inaccurate results for one species, the Common Guillemot Uria aalge. Since other bird species have been found to possess endosteal layers and no species has yet been found to lack such layers, this would appear to be a technique of general applicability which could permit invaluable new work in both pure and applied fields of ornithology.

Towards Predicting Wading Bird Densities from Predicted Prey Densities in a Post-Barrage Severn Estuary

(1) A winter survey of seven species of wading birds (Charadrii) at forty intertidal sites in six estuaries in south-west England was made to identify the variables that determined the variation in bird densities between the sites and to develop a method for predicting bird densities should a tidal power barrage be built on the Severn estuary. (2) The densities of the two smallest waders, the dunlin (Calidris alpina) and redshank (Tringa totanus), were comparable on the twelve sites in the Severn to those in the other estuaries. In contrast, the densities of the larger species, the grey plover (Pluvialis squatarola), bar-tailed and black-tailed godwits (Limosa lapponica and L. limosa), curlew (Numenius arquata) and oystercatcher (Haematopus ostragleus), were comparatively low on sites in the Severn. (3) Within most estuaries, bird densities correlated with the densities of one to three widely taken prey species. When data from all estuaries were combined, bird densities correlated with the densities of one or two prey species, the polychaete worm Nereis diversicolor providing the best correlation in five cases. The densities of the larger birds were correlated with the densities of their larger-sized prey. Allowing for the effects of prey density, sediment parameters correlated additionally with the density of bar-tailed godwit and redshank and exposure-time correlated with the density of oystercatcher. (4) When the effects of these variables were taken into account, bird densities on sites on the Severn were only significantly different from those on other estuaries for one or two species. Therefore, the low densities of larger wader species on the Severn can be explained by the low densities there of the larger-sized polychaete worms and bivalve molluscs upon which they feed: there was no reason to invoke a special unidentified factor in the Severn to account for the low densities of these species. It was concluded that other estuaries provide an analogue with which to predict post-barrage bird densities on the Severn from predicted densities of their prey. (5) By holding back the ebbing tide, a barrage would substantially reduce the area of intertidal flats available at low water for the birds to feed. On the other hand, the productivity of the estuary, and thus the invertebrate density, could increase in the generally more benign post-barrage environmental conditions. Wader densities would have to increase approximately twofold to allow the same overall numbers of birds to remain post-barrage as occur on the Severn at present. Provisional estimates are given of the increases in prey density required to allow bird densities to increase by this amount. With the -exception of the prey of dunlin, the required values fall well within the ranges of densities found in other estuaries, and so could in principle be attained in the post-barrage Severn. (6) An attempt was made to derive equations with which to predict post-barrage densities of invertebrates from easily measured, static environmental variables whose post-barrage values could themselves be predicted. Although the densities of six of the ten most important prey categories correlated with static environmental variables, such as the particle-size and organic content of the sediment, the fact that a site was in the Severn had a significant additional effect on invertebrate density in seven cases. This suggests that there is a special feature of the Severn, probably one associated with its highly dynamic nature, whose effect was not captured by measuring static variables. This factor must be identified, and the effect of a barrage upon it evaluated, if the post-barrage densities of invertebrates, and thus of the birds, are to be successfully predicted.

A comparison between high water and low water counts of shorebirds on the Wash, east England

Comparisons are made between counts of shorebirds at high water roosts and low water feeding grounds on the Wash, east England. During autumn and winter 1985–87, Shelduck, Tadorna tadorna, Oystercatcher, Haematopus ostralegus, Ringed Plover, Charadrius hiaticula, Grey Plover, Pluvialis squatarola, Knot, Calidris canutus, Dunlin, Calidris alpina, Bar-tailed Godwit, Limosa lapponica, Curlew, Numenius arquata Redshank, Tringa totanus and Turnstone, Arenaria interpres were counted at roost as part of the Birds of Estuaries Enquiry. These were compared with counts made by us at low water on the adjacent inshore mud- and sandflats. Of 45 comparisons made, 13 differed by less than 25%, 20 by 26–50% and 12 by more than 50%. The high water count exceeded the low water count in 25 comparisons. Counts of Shelduck, Oystercatcher and Knot were the most consistent. Most discrepancies appeared to be due to either an inability to count all areas at low water or by birds, and sometimes roosts, being missed. The correspond...

A model for avian primary moult‐data types based on migration strategies and an example using the Redshank Tringa totanus

IbisVolume 132, Issue 1 p. 118-123 A model for avian primary moult-data types based on migration strategies and an example using the Redshank Tringa totanus L. G. UNDERHILL, L. G. UNDERHILL *Department of Mathematical Statistics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South AfricaSearch for more papers by this authorW. ZUCCHINI, W. ZUCCHINI *Department of Mathematical Statistics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South AfricaSearch for more papers by this authorR. W. SUMMERS, R. W. SUMMERS †Leenane, Gong Lane, Burnham Overy Staithe, Burnham Market, NorfolkSearch for more papers by this author L. G. UNDERHILL, L. G. UNDERHILL *Department of Mathematical Statistics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South AfricaSearch for more papers by this authorW. ZUCCHINI, W. ZUCCHINI *Department of Mathematical Statistics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South AfricaSearch for more papers by this authorR. W. SUMMERS, R. W. SUMMERS †Leenane, Gong Lane, Burnham Overy Staithe, Burnham Market, NorfolkSearch for more papers by this author First published: January 1990 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1990.tb01024.xCitations: 43AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume132, Issue1January 1990Pages 118-123 RelatedInformation

Methods for estimating the proportions of Icelandic and British RedshanksTringa totanusin mixed populations wintering on British coasts

Both British and Icelandic Redshanks may be found in Britain in the nonbreeding season. They are indistinguishable, though their average measurements differ. Samples of breeding Redshanks were caught in Iceland and Britain to collect biometric information to he used to estimate the proportions of Icelandic and British Redshanks in mixed winter populations. Wing, bill and foot were the only structures whose lengths were significantly different between the 2 populations and which could be measured with reasonable precision. Two methods were used to estimate the proportions in mixed samples: discriminant analysis and a maximum likelihood analysis of Mixtures of Normal distributions. A simple graphical method based on the discriminant analysis was devised. The methods resulted in similar estimates of the proportions of Icelandic Redshanks when used on mixed samples. Estimates from captured samples in eastern Scotland indicated that there is an equal mix of Icelandic and British Redshanks in autumn, but that a...

Interference between foraging redshank Tringa totanus

Le fait de chercher leur nourriture en groupe provoque des reponses antipredateur chez les proies et diminue le taux d'aliment ingere chez les chevaliers gambettes

A model for avian primary moult

The regression methods frequently used to estimate the parameters associated with primary moult in birds are unsatisfactory. Results obtained using least squares regression, and various ad hoc adaptations, are so obviously incorrect that many authors have fitted lines ‘by eye’ (Newton 1968, Thomas & Dartnall 1971, Elliott et al. 1976, Morrison 1976, Appleton & Minton 1978). In a comparison of seven regression methods, estimates of the average starting date varied between 29 June and 31 July, completion date between 2 and 24 October, and duration of moult between 72 and 109 days for the Redshank Tringa totanus, in spite of the very large sample of 1482 observations (Summers et al. 1983). In this paper we present a new approach to the analysis of primary moult and develop a mathematical model specifically designed for moult data.

The effects of improvement of upland, marginal grasslands on the distribution and density of breeding wading birds (Charadriiformes) in northern England

Agricultural improvement of grasslands, at the upper altitudinal limit of agricultural practice, subsequently referred to as the uplands, has progressed rapidly in recent years. The impact on breeding wading birds (Charadriiformes) was assessed in the years 1985–1987 by comparing the densities and species of waders using improved and unimproved grasslands in northern England. Improvement (drainage, inorganic fertilizing and, in some cases, reseeding) resulted in the virtual disappearance of snipe Gallinago gallinago and marked reductions in the density of, and in the proportion of fields used by, redshank Tringa totanus, curlew Numenius arquata and lapwing Vanellus vanellus. In contrast, oystercatchers Haematopus ostralegus have started to nest on improved grasslands in areas where they have not previously bred. Thus the species composition on unimproved grasslands have changed following improvement. It is evident that within large areas containing many fields, the overall density of waders has declined as the percentage of fields that have been improved in the post-war period increased. This suggests waders have not simply redistributed themselves between improved and unimproved fields but rather that there has been a marked, overall decline in the numbers of waders in areas where improvement has taken place.