Buff-breasted Sandpiper in South America

Buff-breasted Sandpiper in South America

Buff-breasted Sandpiper in South America
Scientific name: Tryngites subruficollis
Family: Scolopacidae
Spanish name: Playerito canela
Migration: Nearctic migrant
Population estimate: 15,000-25,000
Trend: Decreasing
Ramsar Criterion 6 (1% level): 200
IUCN Conservation status: Near threatened
Distribution and abundances
Main non-breeding quarters are located in the Pampas of
Argentina (especially within the eastern portion of the
Flooding Pampa, along Bahía Samborombón) and in the
grasslands around the lagoons within the coastal plain of
Uruguay and Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil. Considerable
numbers have also been observed in Paraguay (during
southward migration) and in Suriname. Smaller numbers
were also recorded in saline lagoons of the Puna of
Argentina and Bolivia and the Central of Rio Grande do
Sul in Brazil. Observed casually (o accidentally) in the
Andes of Colombia and Ecuador (see Abundances map).
Sites reaching the 1% threshold (Ramsar Convention
Criterion No. 6) are: Estancia Medaland in Argentina;
Ilha da Torotama and Lagoa do Peixe in Brazil; Laguna
de Rocha, Laguna de Castillos, Camino del Indio and
Bañados de las Maravillas in Uruguay, Bahía de Asunción
in Paraguay and Hacienda la Corocora in Colombia.
Migration and seasonality
Arrival to the main non-breeding grounds from mid September to mid October. Migration
occurs east of the Andes, mainly through the Western Amazonia and Central
Amazonia/Pantanal Flyways, crossing through the countries of Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil,
Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Suriname. Uses traditional stop-over sites. Habitat
conditions might result in a direct flight over the Amazonia in some years, especially
during the northward migration when water levels tend to be high. Northward migration
appears to occur along a similar route, starting by late January and early February (see
Seasonality map).
Habitat
Typical grassland shorebird. Main non-breeding habitat are short grasslands and
pastures (halophytic steppes and humid prairies; < 9 cm height), under cattle or sheep
grazing. Also found in small groups in other habitats like ploughed fields and rice fields
during the first stages of the rice cycle. During migration uses sand bars along rivers in
the interior of South America.
Habits and interactions with human activities
In small to medium size groups in rural areas where cattle or sheep raising on natural
pastures is the main activity; in open grasslands associated with the American Golden
Plover (Pluvialis dominica). Uncommon in agricultural fields.
Bibliography
Antas, P.T.Z. 1983. Migration of nearctic shorebirds (Charadriidae and Scolopacidae) in Brasil flyways and their different seasonal use. Wader Study Group Bull. 39: 52-56.
Bent, A.C. 1962. Life Histories of North American Shore Birds. Part I. Dover Publications INC. New
York.
Blanco, D.E., R.B. Lanctot, J.P. Isacch & V.A. Gill. 2004. Pastizales templados del sur de América
del Sur como hábitat de aves playeras migratorias. Ornitología Neotropical 15 (Suppl.): 159-167.
Blanco, D.E., B. López-Lanús, R.A. Dias, A. Azpiroz & F. Rilla. 2006. Uso de arroceras por chorlos y
playeros migratorios en el sur de América del Sur. Implicancias de conservación y manejo.
Wetlands International. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Canevari, M., P. Canevari, G.R. Carrizo, G. Harris, J. Rodríguez Mata & R. Straneck. 1991. Nueva
Guía de las Aves Argentinas. Fundación Acindar. Santiago de Chile. Tome I: 200 pp. and Tome II:
182 pp.
Canevari, P., G. Castro, M. Sallaberry & L.G. Naranjo. 2001. Guía de los chorlos y playeros de la
Región Neotropical. ABC, WWF-US, WA, MBO & Asociación Calidris, Cali, Colombia.
del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott & J. Sargatal (eds). 1996. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 3.
Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Ed., Barcelona.
Fjeldsa, J. & N. Krabbe. 1990. Birds of the High Andes. Zoological Museum, Univ. of Copenhagen,
Denmark.
Lanctot, R.B & C.D. Laredo. 1994. Buff-breasted sandpiper (Tryngites subruficollis). In Poole A. & F.
Gill (Eds): The birds of North America, No. 91. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, The
American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, D.C.
Lanctot, R.B., D.E. Blanco, R.A. Dias, J.P. Isacch, V.A. Gill, J.B. Almeida, K. Delhey, P.F. Petracci,
G.A. Bencke & R. Balbueno. 2002. Conservation status of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper: Historic
and contemporary distribution and abundance in South America. Wilson Bulletin 114(1): 44-72.
Wetlands International. 2006. Waterbird Population Estimates – Fourth Edition. Wetlands
International, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Authors: Daniel E. Blanco, Román Baigún & Bernabé López-Lanús
Data compiler: Eugenio Coconier
Photographer: Roberto Guller
Recommended citation: Blanco D.E., R. Baigún & B. López-Lanús. 2008. Buff-breasted
Sandpiper in South America factsheet. Wetlands International for the Global Avian Influenza
Network for Surveillance / WCS / USAID.
This factsheet and maps were made possible through support provided by the Office of
Health, Infectious Disease and Nutrition, Bureau for Global Health, U.S. Agency for
International Development and Wildlife Conservation Society, under the terms of
Leader Award No.LAG-A-00-99-00047-00, Cooperative Agreement: GHS-A-00-0600005. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development or
Wildlife Conservation Society.