The descriptive text, below the map, is from the Cornish Red Data Book (2009). The map on this web page depicts the organisms distribution and shows the records made pre-2000 and those made since.
Range & Status
Lapland and Siberia; in Britain and Ireland 540 on passage; 138 winter.
Regional Distribution
Cornwall: small numbers of one-five occur on passage at most major estuaries, but the important small winter population arrives in October. Numbers have declined considerably over the last decade, with the Lynher having lost its regular numbers, but one-five still winter at Kingsmill Lake and at Tresillian. Isles of Scilly: scarce on passage.
Habitat & Ecology
Winter birds favour middle reaches of the tidal rivers, feeding belly-deep in large channels in groups in manner of Avocets Recurvirostra avosetta , with which they overlap on the Tamar and Lynher.
Threats
Estuary developments.
Conservation
The main estuary sites are SSSI, Kingsmill Lake is within the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Tamar Estuary reserve, the latter and the Lynher are within a proposed SPA. Listed (long list) as a globally threatened/declining species (BSGR, 1995).
I.J. Bennallick, S. Board, C.N. French, P.A. Gainey, C. Neil, R. Parslow, A. Spalding and P.E. Tompsett. eds. 2009. Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 2nd Edition.Croceago Press.
The Cornish Red Data Book Project was led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders (CISFBR). The full text and species accounts (minus the maps) are available on the CISFBR website.