Demography and Populations

No data available.

Oldest ringed bird at least five years, nine months.

No data available.

No data available.

Breeding territories tend to be clumped in ways that can not be explained by habitat alone; it is thought that females are attracted to these aggregations due to their visibility and the sight of multiple males displaying, often simultaneously (61 Flint, V.E. and Tomkovich, P.S. (1982). [Ecological and ethological isolation in the Pectoral Sandpiper and the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper]. Pp. 241–261 in: Gavrilov, V.M. & Potapov, R.L. eds. (1982). [Ornithological Studies of the USSR]. Vol. 2. Zoological Institute, USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow. In Russian. Close ). Nonetheless, during years of low density, territories tend to be larger. In 1971 and 1972, years with a relatively low numbers of breeding birds, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper territory size ranged from 1.8 to 7.1 hectares, but in 1973, a higher density year, territorial size varied from 0.9 to 3.9 hectares (61 Flint, V.E. and Tomkovich, P.S. (1982). [Ecological and ethological isolation in the Pectoral Sandpiper and the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper]. Pp. 241–261 in: Gavrilov, V.M. & Potapov, R.L. eds. (1982). [Ornithological Studies of the USSR]. Vol. 2. Zoological Institute, USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow. In Russian. Close ). The minimum distance between Sharp-tailed Sandpiper nests is 85 meters (61 Flint, V.E. and Tomkovich, P.S. (1982). [Ecological and ethological isolation in the Pectoral Sandpiper and the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper]. Pp. 241–261 in: Gavrilov, V.M. & Potapov, R.L. eds. (1982). [Ornithological Studies of the USSR]. Vol. 2. Zoological Institute, USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow. In Russian. Close ).

The world population of the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata) is uncertain. It was estimated at 160,000 birds by Bamford et al. in 2008 (8 Bamford, M., D. Watkins, W. Bancroft, G. Tischler, and J. Wahl (2008). Migratory shorebirds of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway: population estimates and internationally important sites. Wetlands International, Canberra, Australia. Close ), but only 85,000 (with 95% confidence limits of 83,842 and 173,717) by Hansen et al. in 2016 when using rather different analytic techniques (9 Hansen, B.D., R. A. Fuller, D. Watkins, D. I. Rogers, R. S. Clemens, M. Newman, E. J. Woehler, and D. R. Weller, D.R. (2016). Revision of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Population Estimates for 37 listed Migratory Shorebird Species. Unpublished report for the Department of the Environment. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne, Australia. Close ). Hansen et al. state that their estimates should not be used to infer population changes when compared with previous estimates, and their conclusion that the populations consists of 85,000 birds seems problematic given that the actual count of Sharp-tailed Sandpiper on their non-breeding grounds was 86,741 birds (with many non-breeding areas not censused), and that the estimated population – based on data from the breeding grounds – was 120,684 birds (9 Hansen, B.D., R. A. Fuller, D. Watkins, D. I. Rogers, R. S. Clemens, M. Newman, E. J. Woehler, and D. R. Weller, D.R. (2016). Revision of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Population Estimates for 37 listed Migratory Shorebird Species. Unpublished report for the Department of the Environment. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne, Australia. Close ).

Capture data, primarily from southeastern Australia, found that first-year birds constituted between 8% and 42% of the wintering population over a 9-year period, with a 26-year median of 11.1% (92 Minton, C., R. Jessop, and C. Hassell (2007). Breeding success of Arctic waders in 2006, based on juvenile ratios in Australia in the 2006/2007 austral summer. The Stilt 51-52:3–6. . Close ). The average annual recruitment rate was estimated at 10% to 20% (62 Handel, C. M., and R. E. Gill, Jr. (2010). Wayward Youth: Trans-Beringian Movement and Differential Southward Migration by Juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. Arctic 63:273-288. Close ).

No data available.