Ecology Summary - Calidris alba

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Ecology of Calidris alba

Main Ref.	Brooke, M. de L., I. Hepburn and R.J. Travelyan, 2004
Remarks	Found on the beach (Ref. 87921), shoreline, bay and nearshore (Ref. 116102). In small groups at the water's edge during nonbreeding season, following the wave front whilst feeding on small invertebrates. Abundance of wintering populations attributed to major coastal upwellings, correlated to increase in food supply along beaches where they feed. Shorebirds from the North Atlantic typically fly >2000 km, mostly over water, from North America, Greenland, and Iceland, to Britain and continental Europe. Vulnerable to oil spill as a piscivore; saw 50% decline in population from 1989 in Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez oil spill (Ref. 87784).

Main Ref.

Brooke, M. de L., I. Hepburn and R.J. Travelyan, 2004

Remarks

Found on the beach (Ref. 87921), shoreline, bay and nearshore (Ref. 116102). In small groups at the water's edge during nonbreeding season, following the wave front whilst feeding on small invertebrates. Abundance of wintering populations attributed to major coastal upwellings, correlated to increase in food supply along beaches where they feed. Shorebirds from the North Atlantic typically fly >2000 km, mostly over water, from North America, Greenland, and Iceland, to Britain and continental Europe. Vulnerable to oil spill as a piscivore; saw 50% decline in population from 1989 in Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez oil spill (Ref. 87784).

Aquatic zones / Water bodies

	Marine - Neritic	Marine - Oceanic	Brackishwater	Freshwater
Marine zones / Brackish and freshwater bodies	supra-littoral zone littoral zone sublittoral zone	epipelagic mesopelagic epipelagic abyssopelagic hadopelagic	estuaries/lagoons/brackish seas mangroves marshes/swamps	rivers/streams lakes/ponds caves exclusively in caves

Highighted items on the list are where Calidris alba may be found.

Habitat

Substrate
Substrate Ref.
Special habitats
Special habitats Ref.

Associations

Ref.
Associations
Associated with
Association remarks
Parasitism

feeding

Feeding type	mainly animals (troph. 2.8 and up)
Feeding type Ref.	Schreiber, E.A. and J. Burger, 2001
Feeding habit	hunting macrofauna (predator)
Feeding habit Ref.	Schreiber, E.A. and J. Burger, 2001

Trophic Level(s)

Estimation method	original sample		unfished population		Remark
Estimation method	Troph	s.e.	Troph	s.e.	Remark
From diet composition
From individual food items	3.54	0.39			Trophic level estimated from a number of food items using a randomized resampling routine.
Ref.

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