Gelochelidon nilotica | UAE National Red List of Birds

Taxa
Gelochelidon nilotica | (Gmelin, 1789)
Publication
UAE National Red List of Birds
Location
Countries in Assessment
United Arab Emirates
Country ISO code(s)
ARE
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Off
Scope (Assessment)
National
Taxon
Taxonomic Group
Vertebrates
Taxonomic Group Level 2
Birds
Assessed taxon level
Species
Taxonomic Notes
Gelochelidon nilotica and G. macrotarsa (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously placed in the genus Sterna and lumped as S. nilotica following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
The majority of occurrences of this species are likely to be of winter visitors and of migrant individuals on passage to and from the breeding grounds (Pedersen et al. 2017). The species is found at wetlands along the coast (Aspinall and Porter 2011).
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Terrestrial system
No
Freshwater system
No
Marine system
No
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This species occurs along sheltered coasts and is only rarely found at sea or far from land (Jennings 2010, Aspinall and Porter 2011). It inhabits a variety of habitats along the coast, including bays, mudflats, coastal creeks, brackish lagoons and mangroves, and further inland, including fish farms, sewage treatment plants, rubbish dumps and well-vegetated sites (Jennings 2010). It is largely insectivorous and takes terrestrial and aquatic insects or molluscs, which it catches from surface water, on the ground or during flight (Jennings 2010). The species is migratory, dispersing widely after breeding before travelling southwards to the wintering grounds (del Hoyo et al. 1996). The population migrating through or wintering in the UAE breeds from Europe to central Asia and winters in Africa, the Middle East and India (Jennings 2010).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Endangered
Assessment status abreviation
EN
Assessment status criteria
D
Assessment rationale/justification
This species has a very small non-breeding population in the UAE, which qualifies it for listing as Endangered. The population trend within the country is not known, but wetland habitats within the UAE are likely to be deteriorating due to land conversion. Therefore, the species is retained as Endangered at the national level.
About the assessment
Assessment year
2019
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Affliation of assessor(s)/contributors/reviewers listed on assessment
Government
IGO
Assessor affiliation specific
Government|IGO
Criteria system
Criteria system specifics
IUCN v3.1 + Regional Guidelines v4.0
Criteria system used
IUCN
Criteria Citation
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
Endemism
Endemic to region
Not_assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Conservation
Threats listed in assessment
The most relevant threats within UAE are changes in coastal land-use and the possibility of oil pollution and marine debris, but the severity of these threats towards this species is unknown.Outside of the UAE, this species has also been identified as particularly susceptible to abandonment of breeding sites due to human disturbance (Molina et al. 2014), although early dispersal from breeding sites appears to be a behavioural trait of the species that may mitigate the impact of disturbance.
Conservation Measures

Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:

Further information
History
It is assessed that in 1996, the national Red List status of this species would have been the same as in this assessment.
Scientific Name Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Gelochelidon nilotica Animalia Chordata Aves Charadriiformes Laridae Gelochelidon