Limits and structure of the breeding range of the Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea

Breeding distribution and breeding abundance of Curlew Sandpiper are described on the basis of analysis of over 110 literature sources and a number of sources of unpublished information as well as museum collections. The species breeding range spans about 5,000 km of Arctic Siberia from at least 71°40′ E on eastern Yamal Peninsula to 156°40’W near Barrow, Alaska, and from 67°05’N in the south in Chukotsky Peninsula to 77°23’N in the north at Taimyr. The range is most broad (>500 km) at Taimyr and in nearby areas as well as in the Lena River delta. Records farther west and east are distributed at seacoasts and on some islands. Curlew Sandpipers are most abundant at northern Taimyr and in several northern sites farther east in Yakutia. Both the species range limits and densities are the subjects of large annual fluctuations. Stretches of the arctic tundra subzone where Curlew Sandpipers breed on regular basis and at least sometimes in high numbers are suggested as the core areas of the species breeding range. No long-term changes of the range are documented.