Nombre en español: Playero Buchinegro

Nombre en ingles: Dunlin

Nombre científico: Calidris alpina

Familia: Scolopacidae

Foto: Nick Athanas

Canto: Peter Boesman

El correlimos común o playero común (Calidris alpina) es una especie de ave Charadriiforme de la familiaScolopacidae común en las zonas húmedas de Europa. Cría en las regiones del Ártico. Las aves que crían en el norte de Europa y Asia son migradores de larga distancia, invernando en las costas de la península ibérica, África, Sudeste asiáticoy Oriente Medio. Las aves que anidan en Alaska y el ártico canadiense realizan migraciones cortas a las costas del Pacífico y Atlántico de Norteamérica, aunque las aves que crían en el norte de Alaska invernan en Asia.

El Correlimos común es un ave muy gregaria en invierno, que en ocasiones forma grandes bandadas en marismas o playas de arena. Es una de las limícolas más comunes en sus zonas de cría e invernada. Tiene una longitud típica de 17–21 cm y 32–36 cm de envergadura de ala. El adulto en plumaje de cría tiene una distintiva barriga negra. En invierno el plumaje es básicamente gris por encima y blanco por debajo. Las patas son negras así como el pico que está ligeramente curvado hacia abajo. Poseen un reclamo muy distintivo, y los adultos, listados en primavera, son de fácil identificación.

El nido, en el suelo, es en forma de taza, revestido de hierba, poseyendo 4 huevos en una única nidada, de mayoa julio. Se alimenta picoteando en el fango, buscando gusanos, insectos y moluscos.

Su distribución es muy amplia: en verano, desde humedales e islas del norte de Europa y la tundra, hasta el sur europeo, en zonas de marismas, playas y desembocaduras.

Subespecies

Se conocen diez subespecies de Calidris alpina que se distinguen principalmente por el grado de rojez en el plumaje nupcial y la longitud del pico:

Calidris alpina actites Nechaev & Tomkovich, 1988: anida en el norte de Sajalín e inverna en el Este de Asia.
Calidris alpina alpina (Linnaeus, 1758): anida en el norte de Europa y el noroeste de Siberia hasta el río Yenisei, invernando en el oeste de Europa, las costas del Mediterráneo, África y el sudoeste de Africa hasta la India.
Calidris alpina arctica (Schioler, 1922): Anida en el noreste de Groenlandia e inverna en el noroeste de África.
Calidris alpina arcticola (Todd, 1953): anida en el norte y noroeste de Alaska y en el noroeste de Canadá e inverna en China, Corea y Japón.
Calidris alpina centralis (Buturlin, 1932)
Calidris alpina hudsonia (Todd, 1953): anida en el centro y norte de Canadá (bahía de Hudson e inverna en el sudeste de los Estados Unidos.
Calidris alpina kistchinski Tomkovich, 1986: Anida al norte del Mar de Ojotsk y al sur de Koriakia, al norte de las Islas Kuriles y en Península de Kamtchatka e inverna en el este de Asia.
Calidris alpina pacifica (Coues, 1861): anida en el oeste y el sur de Canadá e inverna en el oeste de Estados Unidos y México.
Calidris alpina sakhalina (Vieillot, 1816) : anida en el extremo noreste de Asia e inverna en el este de China, Corea, Japón y Taiwan.
Calidris alpina schinzii (Brehm, C.L. & Schilling, 1822) : anida en el sudeste de Groenlandia, Islandia, las Islas británicas, el sur de Escandinavia y el Mar Báltico, e inverna en el sudoeste de Europa y el noroeste de África.

La población reproductora europea se estima a principios del Siglo XXI en unas 350.000 a 570.000 parejas reproductoras. La mayoría de ellas, de 200.000 a 300.000 parejas en Islandia, que pertenecen a la subespecie Calidris alpina schinzii.

Dunlin

The dunlin (Calidris alpina) is a small wader, sometimes separated with the other «stints» in Erolia. The English name is a dialect form of «dunling», first recorded in 1531–2. It derives from dun, «dull brown», with the suffix -ling, meaning a person or thing with the given quality. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific alpina is from Latin and means «of high mountains», in this case referring to the Alps.

It is a circumpolar breeder in Arctic or subarctic regions. Birds that breed in northern Europe and Asia are long-distance migrants, wintering south to Africa, southeast Asia and the Middle East. Birds that breed in Alaska and the CanadianArctic migrate short distances to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America, although those nesting in northern Alaska overwinter in Asia. Many dunlins winter along the Iberian south coast.

Description

An adult dunlin in breeding plumage shows the distinctive black belly which no other similar-sized wader possesses. The winter dunlin is basically grey above and white below. Juveniles are brown above with two whitish «V» shapes on the back. They usually have black marks on the flanks or belly and show a strong white wingbar in flight.

The legs and slightly decurved bill are black. There are a number of subspecies differing mainly in the extent of rufous colouration in the breeding plumage and the bill length. Bill length varies between sexes, the females having longer bills than the males.

Subspecies

C. a. arctica, (Schiøler, 1922), breeds in northeast Greenland.
C. a. schinzii, (Brehm & Schilling, 1822), breeds in southeast Greenland, Iceland, the British Isles, Scandinavia & the Baltic.
C. a. alpina, (Linnaeus, 1758), breeds in northern Europe and northwest Siberia.
C. a. centralis, (Buturlin, 1932), breeds in north-central and northeast Siberia.
C. a. sakhalina, (Vieillot, 1816), breeds in eastern Russia to the Chukchi Peninsula.
C. a. kistchinski, Tomkovich, 1986, breeds around the Sea of Okhotsk to Kuril Islands and Kamchatka.
C. a. actites, Nechaev & Tomkovich, 1988, breeds on Sakhalin.
C. a. arcticola, (Todd, 1953), breeds from northwest Alaska to northwest Canada.
C. a. pacifica, (Coues, 1861), breeds in western and southern Alaska.
C. a. hudsonia, (Todd, 1953), breeds in central Canada.

Nesting

Eggs, Collection Museum Wiesbaden, Germany

The nest is a shallow scrape on the ground lined with vegetation, into which typically four eggs are laid and incubated by the male and female parents. Chicks are precocial, however are brooded during early development. They start to fly at approximately three weeks of age. The majority of brood care is provided by the male, as the female deserts the brood and often leaves the breeding area.

The call is a typical sandpiper «peep», and the display song a harsh trill.

The dunlin is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds(AEWA) applies.

Apparent hybrids between this species and the white-rumped sandpiper as well as with the purple sandpiper have been reported from the Atlantic coasts of North America and Europe, respectively.

Behaviour

The dunlin is highly gregarious in winter, sometimes forming large flocks on coastal mudflats or sandy beaches. Large numbers can often be seen swirling in synchronized flight on stop-overs during migration or on their winter habitat.

This bird is one of the most common waders throughout its breeding and wintering ranges, and it is the species with which other waders tend to be compared. At 17–21 cm (6.7–8.3 in) length and with a 32–36 cm (13–14 in) wingspan, it is similar in size to a common starling, but stouter, with a thicker bill.

The dunlin moves along the coastal mudflat beaches it prefers with a characteristic «sewing machine» feeding action, methodically picking small food items. Insects form the main part of the dunlin’s diet on the nesting grounds; it eats molluscs, worms and crustaceans in coastal areas.

Dunlin are small migratory waders, however they show strong philopatry with individuals of the Southern Dunlin (Calidris alpina schinzii) in Sweden and Finland returning to, or very close to, their natal patches. Habitat fragmentation has reduced the availability of habitat patches to these birds through reducing patch size and increasing patch isolation. This reduced connectivity between patches has reduced the movements of Dunlin leaving them more susceptible to inbreeding in these locations. Future management for the conservation of Southern Dunlin should include increasing the connectivity between habitat patches.