Shorebirds and Migration
 
 

Shorebirds - the sandpipers and plovers - have something in common: long slender wings perfectly adapted for flights of incredible distance.  Some shorebirds fly over a hundred thousand miles in their lifetime!

Why Migrate? Their ability to fly great distances allows them to take advantage of two different habitats for two different purposes – bug-filled Arctic summers for nesting and raising chicks, and warm southern beaches on which to feed during the winter.

Migration Staging Areas While migrating between their nesting and wintering grounds, they must rest and fatten up at wetland sites, called ‘staging areas’, that are sometimes hundreds of miles apart.  The shorebirds remember, year-to-year, where these wetland areas are and migrate along pathways, or ‘flyways’ that lead them right where they need to go.

Disappearing Wetlands Unfortunately, many of these wetland staging areas are changed by human activity and disappearing.  The loss of these key staging areas may affect how well the birds are able to breed, and even their survival.

Using Science to Help Birds Scientists have known for a long time that these sites are crucial to birds during migration, but they need more information on which staging areas are important to shorebirds and why are these areas important.  This information will help land managers and other decision makers to protect wetland staging areas into the future.

 

Shorebird Speak (vocabulary on shorebird migration)
 

Flyway	a path that shorebirds, and many other birds, use when migrating back and forth between their nesting grounds and their wintering grounds.
Migration	the movement of birds (and other creatures) from one place to another.
Mist net	a lightweight net, practically invisible to birds, that’s used by biologists to capture birds safely.
Nesting ground	a place where birds build nests, lay eggs and raise their young.
Radio tag	a lightweight electronic radio that scientists attach onto creatures in order to study a creature’s movements over time.
Staging area	a place where birds stop to feed and rest along their migration.
Wetland	an important habitat for animals that is home to many types of water-loving plants, such as rushes and willows (wetland examples: lagoons or marshes).
Wintering ground	a place away where birds feed and rest during the winter months.