Geographic Range
Dunlins are migratory birds with ten recognized sub-species that all breed in the
circumpolar Arctic and Subarctic regions, but winter across a wide geographic range
based on their population origin. A study based on mtDNA revealed five distinct population
groups that demonstrated a highly structured preference for specific breeding grounds
in terms of geography. Some of the most common winter migration patterns show populations
from Iceland, the British Isles, the Baltic, and Southern Scandinavia tend to winter
in Morocco, Mauritania, and the Mediterranean Basin, which represents the southern
extreme for wintering grounds. Breeding populations from Central Siberia winter in
the Arabian Gulf. The eastern Arctic and northern Alaska populations winter in Southeast
Asia, while the western Alaska population migrates to the Pacific coast of the United
States. Likewise, the Arctic Canadian population heads to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts
of the United States.
- Other Geographic Terms
- holarctic
Habitat
Dunlins are primarily found in the Arctic tundra during their summer breeding season.
Dunlins prefer wet marshy areas with sedges and grasses interspersed with dry islands
of vegetation for nesting. Nearby lakes, shallow ponds, and river channels are also
desirable. After breeding in the tundra areas, dunlins move to coastal estuaries and
inter-tidal regions to take advantage of abundant food sources before migrating south.
Their winter habitat is primarily in the intertidal mud flats and estuaries on temperate
coast lines. During high tide, their roosting sites include high beaches, barrier
reefs, islands, cliffs, or other similar high areas. Dunlins have also been observed
simply flying in a large flock for the entire high-tide period.
- Terrestrial Biomes
- tundra
- Aquatic Biomes
- coastal
- Wetlands
- marsh
Physical Description
Dunlins are relatively small birds with a body length of 16 to 22 cm (6.5 to 8.5 in),
a wingspan of 32 to 44 cm (12.5 to 17.5 in), and a weight of 45 to 65 g (1.6 to 2.25
ounce). There is no sexual dimorphism in their plumage coloring, but females are distinctly
larger than males. In the non-breeding season, they have a dull, gray-brown head and
back with a whitish-gray underside. In preparation for the breeding season, dunlins
complete a pre-alternate molt that results in distinctive red plumage on their back
with a large black belly patch. Dunlins are sometimes referred to as red-backed sandpipers,
in reference to their alternate plumage. Juvenile dunlins are similar in coloration
to non-breeding adults, but have some black and cream striping on their back and prominent,
thin white wing bars. Their legs are shorter than other related shorebirds and their
feet are black with a short, elevated hind toe. Dunlins have a long, tapered bill
suitable for probing in the mud, which is black in color and points slightly downward.
- Other Physical Features
- endothermic
- bilateral symmetry
- Sexual Dimorphism
- female larger
Reproduction
Dunlins are primarily Arctic and Subarctic breeders, with a few groups breeding in
the British Isles and northern Europe. Dunlins arrive in their breeding grounds just
as the snow cover is melting, usually during the last week of May or the first week
of June. Male dunlins usually arrive first, choose a territory, and begin to establish
boundaries by patrolling borders with territorial flights. Females arrive shortly
after and pair bonding begins. Dunlins typically remain together for the duration
of the breeding season. Late arriving dunlins may already be in a bonded pair. The
transition from flocks to pair bonding and the establishment of territory is usually
completed by approximately June 15th.
After securing a territory, courtship and bond pairing begin with male dunlins performing
flight displays. They rise from the ground in a steep ascent up to an average of 50
feet, and then move in a slow, wide circle, alternating between a glide and a hovering
flight with rapid wing beats. This display is accompanied by vocalizations that consist
of a series of short trills, which ends in a more melodic song at landing. This aerial
display may be associated with the reverse sexual size dimorphism, in which females
are larger than males. There are some indications that the smaller male body size
increases their ability to perform the display for a longer period of time. Increased
display duration is important for vocal signaling and visual presence in defending
a territory and attracting a mate. Territorial displays continue until the eggs have
hatched. Other courtship behaviors include long aerial chases between males and females,
ground level chasing and posturing between males, and ritualized nest scraping.
- Mating System
- monogamous
Choice nesting sites are located in well-drained upland tundra interspersed with wet
marshy ponds, lakes, and tidal influenced river channels. Only rarely will a nesting
site be located in the marsh itself, and this is most often due to high population
densities, in which all prime sites are occupied. Competition for nesting sites is
influenced by snow-free access to sites, arrival date, and availability of food resources.
Nest densities range from 19 nests per km² to 7 nests per 100 acres. Nest construction
begins with the nest scraping behavior of courtship. A male will scrape a hollow depression
in the ground with his feet, rotate his breast against the bottom, and throw some
token pieces of grass and sedge into the nest. Several of these depressions will be
created. The female will eventually start participating by stepping in and out of
the depressions and possibly tossing in a few more pieces of grass. At some point,
a depression will be chosen and the female will finish the lining to complete a nest
for egg laying and incubation. Female dunlins normally lay a 4 egg clutch, approximately
one egg per day, with peak egg laying from June 12 to 18, with a range as early as
June 6 or as late as July 6. Both parents participate in the 21 to 22-day incubation
period, with the female slightly more involved. The peak hatching period is from July
4 to 10. The chicks are precocial and will leave the nest along with both parents
within hours of hatching to move to wetland marshy areas for feeding, although they
may stay in the nest an extra night if the weather is poor. Female dunlins are capable
of a double brooding and can leave the first nest and produce a second, although this
is unusual due to the very small window of suitable breeding time in the Arctic environment.
Re-nesting is normally attributed to losing the first brood due to predation. Replacement
clutches are highly dependent on when the loss takes place. Clutches lost within the
first 5 days have an 82% to 95% replacement rate, versus a late loss at 13 days, with
only a 35% to 50% replacement rate. Due to the high energy cost of producing eggs,
a more important measure of potential re-nesting is the femaleās body mass, where
larger females are more likely to re-nest. Generally, only three eggs will be laid
in a second nest and the overall egg size will be smaller. As the breeding season
ends, dunlins begin to sever their pair bonds and start to re-flock. By the beginning
of July, males and females that have lost either their nest or their broods begin
to gather in small groups. From July 15 to 30, females begin to congregate and juveniles
separate from adults shortly thereafter. Newly hatched juveniles flock together and
head toward coastal areas to feed before winter migration begins in August and September.
Adults tend to head to inland tundra areas to feed and migrate south independently
of juveniles.
- Key Reproductive Features
- iteroparous
- seasonal breeding
- gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
- sexual
- oviparous
Females usually leave the family group when the chicks are approximately five days
old. Male dunlins take over the parenting and stay with the chicks until they fledge
at about 19 days old. Dunlins do not bring food directly to the chicks, but instead
lead them to areas that contain food. Chicks are precocial and know how to feed themselves.
- Parental Investment
- precocial
- male parental care
- female parental care
-
pre-hatching/birth
-
provisioning
- female
-
protecting
- female
-
provisioning
-
pre-weaning/fledging
-
provisioning
- male
-
protecting
- male
-
provisioning
Lifespan/Longevity
Among wild individuals in the
Calidris alpina schinzii
subspecies, adult dunlins have an average lifespan of about 5.4 years. This varies
between genders, where males have an average lifespan of 8.6 years and females average
3.9 years. However, maximum wild lifespan can be much greater, the oldest known individual
survived at least 24 years.
Behavior
Dunlins are terrestrial birds that predominately walk but will occasionally run. They
are noted for their tight, cohesive flying. These birds also turn as a flock using
two distinct maneuvers. The first is when the entire flock changes course or direction
seemingly in synchronization. The second is a rotation, in which each bird shifts
along the axis from head to tail. This produces a flash of color change from light
to dark. The mechanisms governing flock level flight control are not apparent. There
does not seem to be a leader, nor is there any structured formation. Flight speed
has been documented at 72 to 88 km per hour. Dunlins are highly social birds that
live in large flocks. Aggression is almost always related to breeding behavior.
Dunlins engage in preening, head-scratching, and bathing. In one study, there was
a notable increase in the amount of time spent bathing and grooming feathers during
the prebasic molt. Dunlins complete a prebasic molt in their summer breeding grounds
just after breeding, but before migrating to wintering grounds. In the more northern
latitudes, 61ā°N or more, breeding and molting will overlap as an adaptive response
to the short summer season. This overlap takes place near the end of the breeding
effort, when nutritional demands of breeding are declining. In addition, molting tends
to coincide with their movement from the tundra habitat to the coast, where more abundant
food resources are available. The pre-alternate molt is an incomplete molt that begins
in mid-February to early March and is completed by mid-April to early May, just before
the spring migration north to the breeding grounds.
Home Range
Dunlins only defend a territory during the nesting season. Territory sizes vary by
subspecies and population density, but they can be as small as 0.25 ha and as large
as 7.5 ha. Dunlins maintain these areas through territorial songs and flights.
Communication and Perception
Dunlins appear to signal extensively with loud, low-frequency sounds during aerial
mating displays and when defending nesting territories in the Arctic tundra breeding
grounds. These vocalizations may be especially suited for distance signaling in their
open habitat. Vocalizations between parents and chicks have also been documented.
Parent dunlins may emit a low-intensity purring sound as they lead their chicks to
food sources. Although their chicks are precocial, they rely on their parents to lead
them to food sources for the first few days of their life. Dunlins also call to their
chicks during this same critical period to gather them for brooding. Dunlins are also
known for tight flying flock formations in which the entire flock will turn in a coordinated
motion. Two distinct types of course changes are used, one in which the flight course
is altered and the other in which a body rotation is performed creating a flash of
light and dark. This behavior seems to indicate some type of communication, but the
exact mechanisms are not known. Dunlins appear to have good eyesight and hearing,
comparable to most mammals. Unlike many other avian species, dunlins appear to have
a well-developed sense of taste, with the ability to differentiate between sand that
contained worms and sand that did not. Similar to other wading shore birds, dunlins
use tactile foraging techniques that utilize the herbst corpuscles, a highly sensitive
group of nerves located in the tip of their beaks. By probing into soft, wet sediment
on the shore, they are able to detect subtle pressure differences in the water that
indicate a solid object in the sand. However, they are not able to differentiate between
stones and food, and accordingly do not forage on rocky beaches.
Food Habits
Dunlins primarily consume freshwater, marine, or terrestrial invertebrates such as
bivalves, worms, insect larvae, crustaceans, snails, slugs, and occasionally small
fish. Dunlins sometimes feed in agricultural areas that are adjacent to estuaries.
Adult females and juveniles have been documented eating the teeth and bones of lemmings.
This may be a source of calcium, as female consumption coincides with egg laying.
In their secondary habitat choices, such as marshes and estuaries that have become
agricultural land, dunlins will subsidize their diets with agricultural products.
The foraging habitats of dunlins vary based on whether they are at the summer breeding
grounds in the Arctic or the wintering grounds along more southern coastlines. In
addition to the coastal estuaries and mudflats, the Arctic tundra also has hummocks,
wet marshes, and lake edges that are suitable for foraging. Their primary winter foraging
habitats are intertidal mud flats. Dunlins are particular about the substrate in which
they feed, preferring to forage in well to moderately sorted sand and in wetter areas
with several centimeters of water cover. Dunlins do not appear to feed on rocky beaches,
even if prey is available. They are both diurnal and nocturnal foragers, using different
techniques for day versus night feeding. During daylight hours, dunlins find their
prey largely through visual cues and taste buds, being able to distinguish the difference
between sand that contains worms and sand that does not. Daytime feeding utilizes
a stitch feeding, or pecking motion. Stitch feeding is described as a series of rapid
probes into the mud in which the bill remains in contact with the substrate and little
locomotion takes place. During the night, they rely more on tactile feeding, using
a deep probing motion that detects changes in water surface tension, indicating the
presence of prey. The probe-feeding technique involves a single rapid probe into the
mud separated by several steps, during which the bill is withdrawn. Several reasons
for nocturnal feeding have been proposed. It may compensate for insufficient energy
intake during the day, there may be increased availability of prey, or it may reduce
the risk of predation. Behavioral differences between day and night feeding in non-breeding
grounds have been observed and may support predator avoidance. During the day, predators
are avoided by the entire flock, taking to the air and fleeing. Nocturnally feeding
dunlins are more silent, with reduced vocalizations. In the presence of a predator,
only about 60% took flight. Those that remained would freeze and lower their body
to the ground. This seems to indicate that for some birds, there was a greater benefit
to feeding than avoiding predators.
- Primary Diet
-
carnivore
- insectivore
- eats non-insect arthropods
- molluscivore
- vermivore
- herbivore
- Animal Foods
- insects
- mollusks
- aquatic or marine worms
- aquatic crustaceans
- Plant Foods
- seeds, grains, and nuts
Predation
Predation during the summer breeding season is largely centered on nest predation
and destruction of clutches. Predators vary based on specific locations, but generally
include
short-tailed weasels
,
least weasels
,
Arctic foxes
,
polar bears
, and avian species such as
parasitic jaegers
,
long-tailed jaegers
,
pomarine jaegers
,
glaucous gulls
, and
common ravens
. Predation in southern wintering grounds is related to their exposure on the mud
flats while they forage. The most common predators in this area are
marsh harriers
,
hen harriers
,
Montagu's harriers
,
peregrine falcons
,
merlins
,
kestrels
,
eagle owls
,
long-eared owls
, and
short-eared owls
.
Ecosystem Roles
Dunlins are a predator and a prey species. They are one of many species that contribute to the overall diversity of life that is essential to the habitats of the tundra, coastal mudflats, and estuaries.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
During the 1800ās, dunlins were commonly hunted and some populations may still be
hunted in parts of China. They have no other commercial value to humans. They are
listed as an indicator species for Holarctic ecosystems by the Conservation of Arctic
Flora and Fauna. They are also an indicator of a healthy wetland or estuary ecosystem.
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
There are no known negative effects of dunlins to human populations.
Conservation Status
The IUCN Red List indicates a āLeast Concernā status for dunlins. They do have an
overall declining population trend, but because of their large geographic range, large
population counts, and no immediate habitat threats they are not considered threatened.
Some potential conservation concerns do exist but have not been extensively studied.
Dunlins have been losing their wintering habitat due to the disappearance of estuaries,
especially in the British Isles and Baltic Sea areas. DDE, selenium, and mercury have
been found in various levels in their habitat in the sediments and in their food sources.
The effects of these chemicals are currently unknown.
Additional Links
Contributors
Laurie Karpinen (author), Northern Michigan University, Alec Lindsay (editor), Northern Michigan University, Leila Siciliano Martina (editor), Texas State University.
- Nearctic
-
living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- Palearctic
-
living in the northern part of the Old World. In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- oriental
-
found in the oriental region of the world. In other words, India and southeast Asia.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- holarctic
-
a distribution that more or less circles the Arctic, so occurring in both the Nearctic and Palearctic biogeographic regions.
Found in northern North America and northern Europe or Asia.
- temperate
-
that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).
- polar
-
the regions of the earth that surround the north and south poles, from the north pole to 60 degrees north and from the south pole to 60 degrees south.
- tundra
-
A terrestrial biome with low, shrubby or mat-like vegetation found at extremely high latitudes or elevations, near the limit of plant growth. Soils usually subject to permafrost. Plant diversity is typically low and the growing season is short.
- coastal
-
the nearshore aquatic habitats near a coast, or shoreline.
- marsh
-
marshes are wetland areas often dominated by grasses and reeds.
- monogamous
-
Having one mate at a time.
- iteroparous
-
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
- seasonal breeding
-
breeding is confined to a particular season
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- oviparous
-
reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.
- young precocial
-
young are relatively well-developed when born
- male parental care
-
parental care is carried out by males
- female parental care
-
parental care is carried out by females
- motile
-
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
- migratory
-
makes seasonal movements between breeding and wintering grounds
- social
-
associates with others of its species; forms social groups.
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- carnivore
-
an animal that mainly eats meat
- insectivore
-
An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.
- molluscivore
-
eats mollusks, members of Phylum Mollusca
- herbivore
-
An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.
- granivore
-
an animal that mainly eats seeds
- endothermic
-
animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.
- bilateral symmetry
-
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
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