Conservationists will attempt to give dozens of Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpipers a head start this summer, by hand-rearing them for the first weeks of their lives in Russia. The new strategy is part of an ongoing international conservation effort that stretches from the coast of Bangladesh and Burma to the Russian Far East, and even has an outpost at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire.

Spoon-billed Sandpipers are estimated to number as few as 100 pairs.

Surveys from the last few years show that just 0.6 birds fledge from each nest of four eggs on average. Experience from last summer has shown that experts can successfully raise at least three per nest over the same period by hand-rearing. Added to this, it is hoped some pairs will lay a second clutch that they will raise themselves.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper - Eurynorhynchus pygmeus - is a small wader which breeds in north eastern Russia and winters in South East Asia. They migrate to the wintering grounds at the end of August.  During winter it prefers mixed sandy tidal mudflats with uneven surface and very shallow water, mainly in the outermost parts of river deltas and outer islands.

Description

A small stint with a most distinctive spatulate bill. The breeding adult bird has a red-brown head, neck and breast with dark brown streaks. It has blackish upperparts with buff and pale rufous fringing. Non-breeding adults lack the reddish colouration, but have pale brownish-grey upperparts with whitish fringing to the wing-coverts. The underparts are white and the legs are black.

Call

The contact calls of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper include a quiet preep or a shrill wheer.

Food

The species feeds by plover-style pecking and probing, also appearing to use its bill as a shovel. It uses its unusual bill to probe for small invertebrates. It will also forage by pushing its bill into the muddy sand of coastal areas. Chicks eat mainly small insects and seeds.

Breeding

They nest between June and July on coastal areas in the tundra, always within six kilometres of the sea, choosing locations with grass close to freshwater pools. These birds will return year after year to breed at the same nest site. The first males to arrive at the breeding grounds occupy the largest territories. Pairs meet and mate, laying eggs that are incubated for 19 to 23 days and hatch between early July and early August. Both parents tend to their young.

Conservation Status – Critically Endangered

Recent research suggests that the breeding population of Spoon-billed Sandpiper was between 120-200 pairs in 2009, with the species believed to be declining at approximately 26% per year, due to extremely low survival of juvenile birds. The current estimate is as few as 100 pairs.

Threats - With very particular habitat requirements, high nest site fidelity and a small population, habitat loss has had a large impact on this species. As with many coastal regions, tidal mudflats are being reclaimed for industry or aquaculture. Pollution, climate change and human disturbance have also altered the habitat of this species, and hunting of shorebirds contributes to the decline of the spoon-billed sandpiper.

Birdwatching

Ask Aves Birding Tours/Safaris/Adventures to create a tour for you to see these Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpipers.