The Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Eurynorhynchus pygmeus, is one of the world's most endangered birds [2]. They are small, wading birds, individuals only averaging 14-16cm in length [5]. Breeding adults have a red-brown head, neck and breast with dark brown streaks, pale black-brown-grey wings and white underparts [3]. Non-breeding adults lack the reddish colouration.
The species has a very specialised breeding habitat; they use only lagoon spits with adjacent estuary or mudflat habitats for feeding during nesting [1, 3]. They feed by pecking and probing in the sand and water, and use their bill as a shovel [1, 3]; for this reason they have a bill that is unusually spatulate, or spoon-shaped [3, 5].
 |
| The Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Erynorhynchus pygmeus, showing the distinctive spatulate bill shape. |
Number left in existence:
The species has an already extremely low population size, and has been found to be undergoing a dramatic rate of decline; 2,00-2,800 breeding pairs were estimated in the 1970s, to fewer than 150-320 in 2008 [1, 2, 3]. The breeding population in 2009-2010 was optimistically estimated to be 120-200 pairs, equating to 240-400 mature individuals, and 360-600 individuals total (although is likely less than this) [1].
Geographical Range in the wild:
Spoon-billed Sandpipers have a naturally limited breeding range on the Chukotsk peninsula and up to the isthmus of the Kamchatka peninsula, in north-eastern Russia [1, 2, 3, 5]. The birds migrate down the western Pacific coast through Russia, Japan, North and South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam [1, 3]. They mainly overwinter in Bangladesh and Myanmar [1, 3].
Overwintering and breeding occur at specific sites year on year, and breeding takes place in extremely specialised habitats, almost always within 5km of the sea shore [1].
Why they are endangered:
- The tidal flats that form the migratory and wintering habitats are being reclaimed for industry, infrastructure and aquaculture. These areas are also becoming increasingly polluted by human activity [1, 3].
- The birds are regularly caught in nets set to catch other waders for food in the main wintering areas of Myanmar and Bangladesh [1, 5]. Immature birds are particularly exposed to capture as they spend more time in non-breeding areas, harming recruitment of the species [5].
- Nests in the vicinity of villages are sometimes destroyed by dogs [1]. Additionally, human disturbance (residents and researchers) may have caused increased levels of nest desertion [1, 3].
What can we do to help?
Some breeding and wintering areas are already protected, however lobbying is required to establish more protected zones. Researchers and local environmental groups have been educating villages in the geographical ranges, encouraging them to agree to a hunting ban on the species and to respect them [1, 2]. Additionally a captive-rearing and breeding programme started in 2011, taking place in the UK - this has seen some success, as fourteen Spoon-billed Sandpipers were hatched this year [see video; 4, 2, 5].
Some of the few Spoon-billed Sandpipers hatched in captivity,
at the Slimbridge wetland centre in Gloucestershire [4].
Research and monitoring of population numbers at known breeding sites is still very much a necessity, and searches for suitable habitat in North Kamchatka is also important [1]. However scientific research needs to be more strictly controlled, with no egg or bird collection or nest disturbance for any reason. The species would greatly benefit from a stopping of hunting in key sites in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Russia, and needs legal protection passed [1].
References:
1. http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/106003060/0
2. http://www.saving-spoon-billed-sandpiper.com/
3. http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=3060
4. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jul/13/spoon-billed-sandpiper-chicks-hatch
5. http://www.wwt.org.uk/conservation/saving-wildlife/science-and-action/globally-threatened-species/spoon-billed-sandpiper
No comments:
Post a Comment