Marsh ruff

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Marsh ruff
Marsh Sandpiper (Calidris falcinellus) of the eastern subspecies sibirica

Marsh Sandpiper ( Calidris falcinellus ) of the eastern subspecies sibirica

Systematics
Order : Plover-like (Charadriiformes)
Family : Snipe birds (Scolopacidae)
Genre : Sandpiper ( Calidris )
Type : Marsh ruff
Scientific name
Calidris falcinellus
( Pontoppidan , 1763)
Bog runner of the nominate form
Two marsh runners of the eastern subspecies foraging for food

The marsh creeper ( Calidris falcinellus , Syn . : Limicola falcinellus ) is a small wader from the monotypical genus Limicola . It inhabits swamp areas in Fennoscandia and Siberia and winters mainly on the subtropical and tropical coasts of the ancient world. In Central Europe it can be observed sporadically as a migrant .

description

The marsh sandpiper is generally similar to a sandpiper of the genus Calidris and, with a body length of 16 to 17 cm, is somewhat smaller than a dunlin . The beak length accounts for about three centimeters of this. The legs are shorter than the dunlin and set relatively far back. The wingspan of the marsh runner is 36 to 40 centimeters. The weight varies between 30 and 45 grams.

The most characteristic feature is the medium-long, dark brown beak, which is soft and pliable except for the tip of the beak and the tip of which is slightly bent downwards, sometimes kinked.

In the breeding and juvenile plumage, the swamp runner is plumage dark on top with white to cream-colored feather edges. Due to a double, V-shaped stripe on the back, which is formed by the light-colored edges of the shoulder feathers, it can be confused with the miniature snipe and the pygmy sandpiper. In flight, the bird looks very dark on top with a very indistinct, light-colored wing band. The tail is drawn like the dunlin, but the sides appear lighter.

The top of the head is also darkly colored, with a conspicuous stripe that bifurcates in front of the eye . The underside is whitish light with dark dotted lines, which can extend from the sides of the head downwards, over the chest becoming coarser to the flanks. In the youth dress this is lighter and usually only extends to the chest. Overall, the juvenile plumage appears lighter and cleaner than that of the adult birds, which become darker and darker as the light-colored feather edges wear down during the breeding season.

The rest dress is much more inconspicuous and gray to brown-gray on the top. A dark wing bend may be present, as in the Sanderling . On the back, the dark feathers of the brood dress can be faintly indicated. The forked superciliar stripe is mostly present, but more indistinctly, the V-shaped back stripe is missing.

voice

The voice feeling call is a quiet, lined-up "djip" . The flight call is a melodic, slightly rough and sloping “tjiup” , which can be heard in multi-syllable series of calls. The singing is also a melodic, whirring trill, in which a slightly creaky undertone resonates and which is performed in a multi-syllable series of calls within a phrase either at the same height or raised (audio sample). Rows of the two different phrases can alternate. The former is reminiscent of the call of the green body , but is faster and more like a lark, the latter is a bit similar to the call of the goat milker , but is much higher.

distribution

Brood distribution and wintering areas of the Marsh Sandpiper

The breeding area of ​​this Palearctic species is quite fragmented due to its habitat requirements, the distribution of the eastern subspecies sibirica is largely unclear. In northern Europe, the area extends from southern Norway - the southernmost breeding site is the Hardangervidda - through eastern central Sweden to northern Sweden and Finland, where the occurrence extends to about Oulu , but there are occasional occurrences even more southern. To the east, the breeding area extends to the Kola and Kanin peninsulas . The occurrence in the forest tundra of Western Siberia is largely unexplored, but is confirmed by migratory observations.

The occurrence of the eastern subspecies is confirmed at least in the tundra of the Taimyr peninsula and in the Anabar region , in the lowlands of the Allaicha and in the Kolyma delta.

hikes

On the autumn migration, which begins in July and is completed in the breeding areas by the end of August, the overwhelming number of the Fennoscandian marsh-wiper populations migrate in a broad south-east across the Black Sea area . The Sywasch on the Sea of ​​Azov is an important resting area here . It touches the Caspian Sea region to the east and the eastern Mediterranean region to the west. Presumably, the migration routes of the easternmost European populations overlap with those of the western Siberian in Kazakhstan. Occasionally, the species also migrates south or south-west across Europe. Regular observations are made from the western Baltic Sea area south to Italy, further west the swamp walker is one of the exceptional guests.

The main wintering areas are on the coasts of the Red Sea in Eritrea and Sudan, as well as on the Gulf of Aden , the Persian Gulf , India and Sri Lanka . There are also some smaller wintering areas in southern Africa, for example on the East African lakes south to Lake Rudolf and the Sabaki estuary in Kenya . In Namibia , Natal and the South African Cape Province there are also large numbers of winter observations. The approximately 16,000 birds of the East Siberian populations migrate to the Far East and winter in Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Australia.

The migration home probably begins hesitantly in April and reaches its peak in May, most Scandinavian birds arrive in the breeding areas from late May to early June.

Some of them also spend the summer in or north of the wintering areas. Presumably, these are immature animals.

habitat

In the European breeding area, the common marsh sandpiper colonizes particularly wet, muddy places in strand bogs , sedge bogs and mountain bogs . He particularly prefers inaccessible gullies with areas made of fine peat mud, which are delimited by open water areas and have a light vegetation of sedges , cotton grass or rosemary heather. The habitats can be very small (1–2 ha), and on the Kanin peninsula it has been observed that couples brood on peat moss-covered islets within small rivers. In Sweden and Finland, the swamp creeper breeds mainly in the lowlands, but can also be found in suitable habitats above the tree line (up to 1000 meters above sea level), for example in Norway.

On the train, the species is less picky, it rests inland on swampy banks, mud flats or sewage ponds. In the winter quarters it can usually be found on the coast, here it prefers estuaries, lagoons, shallow bays and muddy rinsing areas. She largely avoids sandy or stony habitats.

Food and subsistence

Little is known about the food of the Marsh Bumpers, but it mainly consists of animal food, less often of plant seeds. Investigations into the stomach contents of marsh runners revealed to a large extent aquatic snails , water beetles , two-winged birds and especially their larvae, but also other insects , small crustaceans and mussels. During observations in the wintering areas, polychaetes were also captured. Even less is known about the food in the breeding areas; only beetles and various larvae are mentioned here.

The food intake is similar to that of the pygmy sandpiper. At a certain distance from other individuals, the bird wades up to its stomach in shallow water or thin silt, short stretches are swum like a water strider. The prey is collected from the surface or picked from shallow water. Dipteras are also caught from the air. More deep probing with the beak takes place only in particularly thin mud.

Due to the morphological peculiarities - the shape of the beak, the reinforced upper jawbone and the particularly pronounced jaw and tongue muscles - a. assumes that the marsh runner is capable of using a lot of strength to acquire food. However, this is not supported by more detailed studies.

Reproduction

Eggs, Museum Wiesbaden Collection

Marsh runners probably do not become sexually mature until the end of the second year, at least in part. This is suggested by observations of oversummer in winter quarters.

Little is known about courtship and pairing. The male flies singing flights over the area at the beginning of the breeding season. However, since the species hardly shows any territorial behavior and often breeds in small clusters with a small nest spacing (80–100 m, in individual cases 9 m), the singing flight only seems to serve for courtship. Occasionally the singing male perches on trees.

Due to the late arrival in the breeding area, the eggs are laid about a week later. The nest is in inaccessible, wet places, sometimes on an elevation, sometimes almost in the water, mostly hidden by the vegetation. The male creates 2-3 nesting hollows, of which the female chooses one. The nesting trough is lined a little with leaves (from dwarf birch , swamp porch , willow, etc.) or thin stalks. The clutch consists of four, less often three eggs. These are on average 32 × 23 mm in size, short to long spinning top, always sharply pointed and finely speckled on a pale brownish yellow background. The mottling can look like a fine, reddish coating, otherwise the color of the stains varies between gray, dark and reddish brown, sometimes two to three colors are represented on an egg. Some spots are larger and usually cluster at the blunt end. The shell can sometimes be shiny. The earliest clutches are found from June 8th, the main laying time is in the second half of June. Further details on the breeding behavior are not known.

Duration

The European breeding population at the beginning of the 21st century is between 9,200 and 22,000 breeding pairs. The European breeding area is limited to Finland (5,000 to 15,000 breeding pairs), Sweden (3,000 to 4,500 breeding pairs), Norway (1,000 to 15,000 breeding pairs) and the European part of Russia with 200 to 1,200 breeding pairs.

The main causes of endangerment for this species are habitat losses in the breeding areas. These arise mainly from the drainage of wetlands or, especially in Finland, from the creation of artificial lakes. In addition, resting and wintering habitats in Eastern Europe, Arabia and Africa are increasingly being destroyed by droughts or targeted drainage.

Internal system

The species is divided into two subspecies, whereby the European nominate form is characterized by a darker upper side in the breeding plumage and by a stronger color in the dormant plumage.

  • Calidris falcinellus falcinellus ( Pontoppidan , 1763) - Northern Europe to the Kanin Peninsula
  • Calidris falcinellus sibirica Dresser , 1876 - Northern Siberia, east of the Yenisei

Others

The German magazine "Limicola - Zeitschrift für Feldornithologie" has a drawing of the swamp runner in its title in addition to the synonym.

supporting documents

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Broad-billed Sandpiper ( Calidris falcinellus ) at HBW Alive
  2. ↑ a b Sale, p. 198.
  3. ↑ Glutz v. Blotzheim, p. 748, p. literature
  4. ↑ XC58592 Marsh runner (Calidris falcinellus) audio sample. Retrieved October 23, 2019 .
  5. ↑ described after Jean C. Roché : Die Vogelstimmen Europa on 4 CDs - calls and songs of 396 bird species , Kosmos-Verlag, ISBN 3-440-07030-1
  6. ↑ Glutz v. Blotzheim, p. 749 and Svensson / Tomkovich (see literature)
  7. ↑ Svensson / Tomkovich, s. literature
  8. ↑ Glutz v. Blotzheim, table p. 759, (see literature)
  9. ↑ Glutz v. Blotzheim, p. 760, (see literature)
  10. ^ Burton (1971), in Glutz v. Blotzheim, p. 760, p. literature
  11. ↑ a b Bauer et al., P. 521.

Web links

Commons : Marsh runner  - album with pictures, videos and audio files