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Wintering Grounds and Migration Patterns of the Upland Sandpiper

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Wintering Grounds and Migration Patterns of the Upland Sandpiper MIGRATION AND DISTRIBUTION Winteringgrounds andmigration patternsof the UplandSandpiper Robin P. White Just now back from the Argentine. Aldo Leopold, A Sand CountyAlmanac (1949) Photograph/Steveniiolt/ VIREO (h21/ttnacc) grounds,requested records of specimens teers are an aid to finding some of the rnia Iongicauda)is a shorebirdthat collectedon the winteringgrounds from localities, but some observations have HEfrequentsUPLAND clumpsSANDPIPER of tall and(BARTRA- short museumsin North and South America, had to be omitted because of an uncer- grassin upland grasslands,prairies, and requested unpublished records of Bar- tainty in the date or location of the pastures of the Americas. While the tramia on the wintering groundsfrom sighting.I haveomitted some 87 records conditionof the breedinggrounds is a ornithologists and birders who have of Upland Sandpipersin Latin America critical componentof the reproduction traveled in South America, requested from the wintering distributionand mi- ecologyof Upland Sandpipers(Mitchell sightingsof Upland Sandpipersfrom gration mapsbecause of incompletein- 1967; White 1983), the wintering South American ornithologists and formation. groundsare equally important to a spe- birdersthrough notices in ornithological Second, some reports are detailed, cies'survival (Keast and Morton 1979). newsletters (A. O.U. Ornithological but others give only a general area or This article presentsrecent findings on Newsletter, El Volante Migratorio, time for a sightingwhich makes it dif- thewintering distribution and migration NuestrasAves), met with Argentine or- ficultto placeon a map;e.g.. "abundant patterns of the Upland Sandpiper--a nithologists and birders, and, visited in autumn";"pass through rainy nights speciesof declining numbers and en- potential wintering areas of Bartramia in February and March." I omitted dangeredstatus in some states(Kirsch in Argentina. some 15 records in Latin America from and Higgins 1976; Tate 1981). These methods present severalprob- the wintering distribution and migra- lems. First, published records and un- tion maps becauseof too generala de- publishedobservations may be incom- scription for area and time. Methods plete; records may not have a date or Third, historical changesin range may include1ocational information that must be taken into account. If the dis- To describemore accuratelyand map is not specificas to longitude and lati- tribution of Upland Sandpiperson the the winteringrange and migrationpat- tude. Names given to pinpoint a bird wintering groundshas changed,it may terns of the Upland Sandpiper,I have sighting,for example, may be of minor be inappropriateto map recentsightings searched the literature for published rivers or small villages not found on with records from the late 1800s. After recordsof Bartramia on the wintering many maps. The ornithologicalgazet- organizingthe available records,I des- Volume 42, Number 5 1247 xgnatedhxstoncal sxghtxngs as thoseprior Phelps1978), "mxgrates to Rio Negro; to the modernizationof farms,drmmng, to 1930, and then marked Mstoncal and accxdentallyto the Malwnas and South and drought.Several shorebird species recentsightings with differentsymbols. ShetlandIslands" (Olrog 1968; and Ol- appearedto be as abundant as in the A fourth problem in preparinga dis- rog 1984). The A.O.U. (1983) describes 1920s but the Upland Sandpiper, de- tribution map is also temporal but on the wintering distribution as "from Su- scribed as one of the most characteristic a shorter time scale. There are records rinam and northern Brazil south to birds of this regionin 1920, was scarce for Upland Sandpipers in thirteen central Argentina and Uruguay." The and "in dangerof becomingvery rare." countries in South America, scattered most detailed descriptionremains that Recent observations from ornithol- throughout most months except June of Bent (1929), although population ogistscontinue, in general, to support and July. Which recordsshould be con- declinesof the bird may render his ac- Olrog's concern. M. Rumboll •ers. sideredto representwintering birds?I count inaccuratetoday. comm.) reports only three sightingsof have plotted sightingsfrom November, Accounts of the abundance of Up- the speciesin Argentina in 14 years December, January, and February, land Sandpipersin SouthAmerica, even (1968-1982); J.P. Myers (pers.comm ), treating thesemonths as the wintering thoseof 60 yearsago, are contradictory. in his 18 months of field work in south- period. Dabbene (1920) and Hudson (1920) easternBuenos Aires province (1973- A final problem is accounting for describedthe bird aswidely and evenly 1974), did not see a single Upland blank spaceson the map. An accurate distributedover the pampasof Argen- Sandpiper;R. Ridsely(pers. comm.) has map of the wintering distribution of tina. In contrast, Wetmore (1927) severalscattered sightings of the b•rd Upland Sandpipersdepends on an in- warned that the bird, "formerly very from his study area in southernBrazil tensivecensus network in the potential abundant," was present in reduced in 1980 and 1981, one sightingfrom range, and because such a data base numbers, and claimed that, due to Paraguayin 1982, severalfrom Bolivia, •s not available, blank spaces on the hunting "Those that remain must seek and only one from northeasternArgen- map representuncertainty--how many the pastures of remote estancias tina in 1982. He calls the winterms blank spacesrepresent birds present but [ranches]in order to survive." groundsof this species"a mystery."In unobserved? Since 1927, only one brief note (O1- contrast,O. S. Pettingill (pers. comm), rog 1967),has been published regarding observedup to 20 birds in one of two population fluctuationsof the Upland different sightingsin northeasternAr- Wintering grounds Sandpiper on its wintering grounds. gentina in 1969 and believesthat "the Publications on the Upland Sand- From 1958 to 1962, Olrog surveyed Upland Sandpiperis among severalof our other North American shoreb•rds piper in South America present a migrant birds in the Buenos Aires sketchypicture of the distribution and Provinceof Argentina. He attributed a that winter in Argentina very com- abundanceof this specieson its winter- declinein the numbersof mostmigrants monly." ing grounds.A descriptionof the win- tering rangewas given by Bent (1929) Figure 1. Winteringrange of the UplandSandpiper as describedby Bent (1929). (Fig. 1): B 0 L I V I ,:. The main winter range of the speciesis confined to the southern part of South America, north to northern Argentina (Tucaman); and southernBrazil (Irisangaand probably Mattodentro). East to SALTA .• southernBrazil (probablyMatto- dentro); Uruguay (Concepcion, Sta. Elena, and Colonia); and east- ern Argentina (Buenos Aires and Rio Negro). South to Argentina (Rio Negro). West to Argentina (Rio Negro, Mendoza, and Tu- cuman). ATLAN T I C Somefield guidesfor SouthAmerica provide slightly more recent but less detailed range descriptions--"winters OCEAN •nland chiefly in southernBrazil from S•o Paulo south to Uruguay and on pampas of Paraguay and Argentina CHUBUT south to Rio Negro; a few winter in northern South America" (Meyer de Schauensee1970); "winters principally ß SANTA •n Paraguayand Argentina.Recently found to winter in small numbers in Surinam" (Meyer de Schauenseeand FALKLAND 1248 "Cape Horn present in this area. The only other countries in South America with at least three recordsof Upland Sandpipersin November, December, January, or February are Brazil, Paraguay, and Venezuela. These birds may be over- wintering in these countries,but they may also representlate migrants. Discussion The map in Figure 2 portrays two features that deserve discussion: the small number of sightingsand the ap- parentchange in winteringdistribution. Several factors likely contribute to keeping the population low and the rangerestricted. The Upland Sandpiper is protected by law in Argentina, but hunting laws are not strictly enforced either on the national level or among provincesand landowners(Figs. 3 and 4). This lack of protectionled Olrog, as late as 1967, to keep secretthe location of severalUpland Sandpipersto protect them from hunters. Landholdingsare large in some parts of the Argentine Historical: 1 recordo ; pampas and regulation may be based Recent:5 recordsO 1 record ß; Figure2.Wintering on the discretion of landowners, or of 5 recordsß distributionof the OSouth Shetland Islands local managersfor absenteelandowners. Upland Sandpiper. Some may not care what is hunted on A new map provides the best avail- Sandpipers--in the provinces of Entre their land; others may hunt themselves. able picture of the Upland Sandpiper's Rios, Corrientes and C6rdoba. A total All Argentine ornithologists,however, wintering range(Fig. 2). Out of 318 rec- of 80 birds was counted for the three when questioned,were quick to disre- ords of Upland Sandpipers in Latin locations. gard hunting of this speciesas a possi- America, I used 105 sightingsfrom No- Outside of Argentina and Uruguay, bility; they stated that other problems vember, December, January, and Feb- wintering birds seem rare. Hayer- on the winteringand breedinggrounds ruary to constructthis map. In addition schmidt(1966) describesUpland Sand- (pesticidesand habitat loss)were more to authorscited in the text, other sources pipers wintering in Surinam as "regu- critical factors in Upland Sandpiper for published records include the fol- larly presentin small flocks."Specimens survival. lowing: Ridgway 1919; Beatty 1938; were collectedperiodically from
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