Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus Scientific name definitions

22–25 cm; 50–126 g; wingspan 57–59 cm. Distinctive, rather small sand­piper with long upcurved bill and short orange to greenish-yellow legs  ; bobs rear body like Actitis hypoleucos and low flight, skimming over water with flicking downbeats to wings, also recalls latter. Grey-brown upperparts with almost black centres to feathers, particularly distinct on scapulars; streaked crown, hindneck, cheeks and sides of breast; broad white trailing edge  to wings , but no wingbar. Some have shorter bills, not very obviously upcurved. Female ­averages slightly larger. Non-breeding adult plainer; brownish grey above with pale fringes; paler head. Juvenile as breeding adult, but upperparts darker and browner with narrow buff fringes; black scapular lines less prominent.

S Finland; NW Russia and Ukraine E through C Siberia to Anadyrland, mainly in boreal taiga zone, extending N into subarctic tundra and S to steppe fringes. Winters from SW, S & E Africa through Middle East, S Asia and Indonesia to Australia.

Breeds in lowland valleys, especially on floodplains with alternation of tall grasses and scrub willows; most typical on northern taiga and forest tundra. There are, however, geographical differences in nesting habitats: in the eastern part of the breeding range 61% of nests are placed in forests or within bushes, while in the western part only 8% of them have such location; also, in the eastern part the species seems to avoid natural open habitats in spite of their availability, whereas in the western part nests are built mostly in open habitats (1 Meissner, W., M. Golovatin, and S. Paskhalny (2013). Geographical differences in nesting habitats of Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus). Wilson Journal of Ornithology 125(4):811–815. Close ). Outside breeding season, on tropical coasts , especially open intertidal mudflats and estuaries, also coral reefs, sandy beaches, sandbars or mudflats at mouths of rivers, and coastal swamps and saltpans; sometimes up to 10 km inland, around brackish pools and riverbeds. Often roosts communally on branches of mangroves. During migration, occasionally inland on freshwater wetlands and recorded up to 1530 m in Ethiopia (2 Ash, J. S., and J. Atkins (2009). Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea: An Atlas of Distribution. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), but much higher in Tibet (3 Vaurie, C. (1972). Tibet and its Birds. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ).

Migratory. Moves S from late Jul to Oct (adults first, juveniles up to one month later), N in late Mar–May. In E Asia migrates along coasts of Ussuriland, Japan, Korea, NE China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines and W Micronesia. Birds wintering in N Australia and E Indonesia probably breed farther N than those wintering in SE Asia and W Indonesia. On E coast of Australia two southbound waves of migration occur, one in Sept, the other in Nov. Return passage probably non-stop from NW Australia to Philippines or Taiwan. In W Asia birds pass S through Caspian region and Middle East to Africa , with important migration route between Ural and Volga R (4 Snow, D. W., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ) and comparatively large numbers also moving through Kazakhstan (5 Schielzeth, H., J. Kamp, G. Eichhorn, T. Heinicke, M. A. Koshkin, L. Lachmann, R. D. Sheldon, and A. V. Koshin (2010). Wader, gull and tern population estimates for a key breeding and stopover site in Central Kazakhstan. Bird Conservation International 20(2):186–199. Close ); Finnish birds fly across E Europe, probably crossing Mediterranean and Sahara non-stop. Strong site tenacity. Many non-breeders spend N summer on wintering grounds. Exceptional vagrant to, among others, New World—Argentina (Dec 1987–Jan 1988, Dec 1990) (6 Mazar Barnett, J., and M. Pearman (2001). Lista Comentada de las Aves Argentinas. Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Argentina. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ), Barbados (May 2000) (7 Buckley, P.A., Massiah, E.B., Hutt, M.B., Buckley, F.G. and Hutt, H.F. (2009). The Birds of Barbados: An Annotated Checklist. BOU Checklist No. 24. British Ornithologists’ Union & British Ornithologists’ Club, Peterborough. Close ), Brazil (Mar 1997, Nov 2005) (8 Mazar Barnett, J. (1997). First report of Xenus cinereus (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae) for Brazil. Ararajuba 5(2):236–237. Close , 9 White, R.W., Lehnhausen, B. and Kirwan, G.M. (2006). The first documented record of Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus for Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 14(4):460–462. Close ), Canada (British Columbia, Jul–Aug 1987, Manitoba, Jul 1972) (10 Howell, S. N. G., I. Lewington, and W. Russell (2014). Rare Birds of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ), French Guiana (Feb 2005) (11 Mazar Barnett, J., Kirwan, G.M. and Minns, J. (2005). Neotropical notebook: French Guiana. Cotinga 24:119. Close ), Mexico (Baja California, Apr–May 2002 and presumably same individual Aug 2002–Feb 2003) (12 Galindo, D., Mlodinow, S.G., Carmona, R. and Sauma, L. (2004). Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus): a first for Mexico. North American Birds 58(2):454–455. Close ), Trinidad & Tobago (Jun 1999) (13 Taylor, M. (2001). The first Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus in Trinidad and Tobago. Cotinga 16:66. Close ) and the USA (where mainly recorded in Alaska, especially in spring, more rarely in autumn, occasionally in small groups, with single records in California, Massachusetts and Virginia) (10 Howell, S. N. G., I. Lewington, and W. Russell (2014). Rare Birds of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close )—as well as on Azores (Aug–Sept 2012) (14 van den Berg, A. B., and M. Haas (2012). WP reports. Dutch Birding 34(5):320–335. Close , 15 Demey, R. (2013). Recent reports. Bulletin of the African Bird Club 20(1):92–108. Close ), Prince Edward Is (most recently, Nov 2003) (16 Oosthuizen, W.C., Dyer, B.M. and de Bruyn, P.J.N. (2009). Vagrant birds ashore at the Prince Edward Islands, southern Indian Ocean, from 1987 to 2009. Afr. Journal Mar. Sci. 31(3): 445–450. Close ), Crozets (Dec 1996) (17 Gauthier-Clerc, M., Jiguet, F. and Lambert, N. (2002). Vagrant birds at Possession Island, Crozet Islands and Kerguelen Island from December 1995 to December 1997. Marine Orn.. 30(1): 38–39. Close ) Palau (18 VanderWerf, E.A., Wiles, G.J., Marshall, A.P. and Knecht, M. (2006). Observations of migrants and other birds in Palau, April-May 2005, including the first Micronesian record of a Richard’s Pipit. Micronesica 39(1):11–29. Close ) and New Caledonia (first in Nov 2001) (19 Barré, N. and Bachy, P. (2003). Complément à la liste commentée des oiseaux de Nouvelle-Calédonie [Complement to the list of the birds of New Caledonia]. Alauda. 71(1): 31–39. Close ).

On breeding grounds, diet consists mainly of adult and larval midges, as well as seeds. Elsewhere, variety of insects, small molluscs, crustaceans including crabs , spiders and annelid worms. Rapid feeding action, with abrupt changes of direction; often teeters; pecks at sand or water surface; chases mobile prey on surface, also uses avocet-like sideways sweeping action; frequently probes; often washes prey in water’s edge. Usually feeds during low tide, but may also feed during high tide around embedded seaweed high on beach. Scattered when feeding, in groups of 5–25 birds.

Considered to be very vocal at all times of year. Song is a rich melodious series of variable trisyllabic whistles, rendered “per-rrrr-EEEEE per-rrrrr-EEEEE”; in contact and in flight utters a rippling and also melodious “hühühühü”, described as being softer and more fluting than similar call of Numenius phaeopus, while in alarm gives a fluty “to-li” or “wee-we” with falling inflection, or more rapid and lengthened “wit-wit-wit-wit”, presumably reflecting greater alarm.

Breeds mid/late May–Jul. Semi-colonial, but often nests solitarily in Europe (20 Harrison, C. J. O., and P. Castell (2002). Bird Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of Britain and Europe with North Africa and the Middle East. Second revised edition. HarperCollins, London, UK. Close ). Monogamous. Nest a shallow depression (100–120 mm by 30–40 mm) (4 Snow, D. W., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ) sparsely lined with grass and debris, in open or short vegetation, close to water. Single-brooded. Clutch four eggs (2–5), laid at intervals of 1–2 days, colour pale buff to cream with blackish-brown markings, mean size 38·6 mm × 26·6 mm (20 Harrison, C. J. O., and P. Castell (2002). Bird Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of Britain and Europe with North Africa and the Middle East. Second revised edition. HarperCollins, London, UK. Close ); single brood; incubation 23–24 days, starting with third egg; role of sexes unclear, but both possibly incubate (20 Harrison, C. J. O., and P. Castell (2002). Bird Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of Britain and Europe with North Africa and the Middle East. Second revised edition. HarperCollins, London, UK. Close ); chick greyish brown or rusty grey above finely stippled and mottled dusky, with black mid-line across crown and back and white chin, throat and underparts; fledging c. 15 days, tended by both adults (20 Harrison, C. J. O., and P. Castell (2002). Bird Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of Britain and Europe with North Africa and the Middle East. Second revised edition. HarperCollins, London, UK. Close ). Oldest ringed bird at least 14 years, 11 months.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). In Africa and SW Asia minimum 44,000 wintering birds (1991); in SC Asia probably c. 25,000 birds; in E & SE Asia in order of 100,000 birds, with largest concentrations on W coast of Peninsular Malaysia and in Banyuasin Delta of SE Sumatra and up to 27,700 individuals staging around Yellow Sea (c. 50% in South Korea) (21 Barter, M. A. (2002). Shorebirds of the Yellow Sea: importance, threats and conservation status. Wetlands International Global Series 9, International Wader Studies 12, Canberra, Australia. Close ). Australian non-breeding population previously estimated at 18,000 of c. 12,000 in N Western Australia (22 Minton, C. D. T., and R. J. Chandler (1996). Palearctic waders in Western Australia. British Birds 89(4):177–184. Close ), with most important sites at Eighty Mile Beach with 6100 birds, SE Gulf of Carpenteria with 2800, and Great Sandy Strait with 2494, but numbers have been declining in recent decades and species might be uplisted to Vulnerable on Australian Red Data list (23 Fuller, R. and Gallo, E. (2015). From commonplace to Critically Endangered: our disappearing migratory shorebirds. Austr. Birdlife 4(2): 30–35. Close ). Breeding range has expanded W: Finnish breeding population comprises just c. 20 pairs (late 1980s), but first bred there in 1880s/1890s and has only been a regular breeder since 1950s, with a breeding record from N Norway in 1967, while Latvia (5–10 pairs) was colonized in 1980s and Kiev (Ukraine) in 1966 (up to 40 pairs) (4 Snow, D. W., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). On Russian nesting grounds, common to abundant, with an estimated 10,000–100,000 pairs (1975–1990) (4 Snow, D. W., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Common to abundant in Pakistan. Increasingly sighted in W Europe (mostly observed in spring, especially May–Jun, but has overwintered, for example, in Britain), W Africa (from NW Mauritania to Gabon, mainly Aug–May but has oversummered) (24 Sørensen, U. G., J. Bech, and E. Krabbe (1996). New and unusual records of birds in Cameroon. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 116(3):145–155. Close , 25 Borrow, N., and R. Demey (2001). Birds of Western Africa. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close , 26 Lachenaud, O., Oosterhuis, H.-J., Boedts, B. and Gunningham, J. (2008). Nouvelles observations ornithologiques en Côte d’Ivoire. Malimbus. 30(1): 19–29. Close , 27 van der Winden, J., Siaka, A., Gbengba, K., Dirksen, S. and Poot, M. (2008). First records for Sierra Leone of Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia, Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata and Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus. Bull. African Bird Club. 15(1): 108–109. Close , 28 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2014). The Birds of Ghana: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press, Liège, Belgium. Close ) and New Zealand (in 1980s, but sightings have declined since)External link . In tropical Australia no immediate threats to habitat.