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Semipalmated Sandpiper Status and Conservation Needs

For more than 25 years, NJ Audubon has been at the forefront in protecting and restoring the Delaware Bay as an important shorebird migration stopover.  Involvement began in 1982, with the first aerial surveys of the Delaware Bayshore (both NJ and Delaware) to document the numbers and species utilizing the area for rest, as well as taking advantage of the rich refueling food source provided by the breeding horseshoe crab eggs.  Data throughout the 1980s and 1990s began to document an obvious and significant decline in shorebird numbers.  This dramatic trend led to expanded research projects by NJ Audubon and partner organizations.  These projects sought to establish a positive correlation between shorebird population declines and the coinciding over-harvesting of horseshoe crabs for use as bait in the rapidly expanding conch industry. 
 
Current research at NJ Audubon focuses on the migration ecology of the Semipalmated  and Least Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla and Calidris minutilla, respectively).  However, to adequately address this subject, the project has expanded internationally to include not only the Delaware Bay migration stopover ecology, but also Arctic and Sub-Arctic breeding grounds used by birds passing through Delaware Bay during northbound passage, and wintering and migratory stopover sites along the northeastern coast of South America, including French Guiana, Suriname and northeastern Brazil.

This program has 4 major projects:
1. Delaware Bay Shorebird Conservation Project
2. Monitoring Semipalmated Sandpiper populations on wintering grounds in Suriname and French Guiana
3. International Conservation Plan for Semipalmated Sandpiper
4. Training South America Scientists for long-term Monitoring 
 

Delaware Bay Shorebird Conservation Project

The goal of the Delaware Bay Shorebird Conservation Project is to recover Delaware Bay shorebird populations to healthy levels using an integrated research, education and conservation approach.

Photo by Tony Geiger 

2011 Field Technicians in Delaware Bay

International team member Sophie Maille 
 

Monitoring Semipalmated Sandpiper Populations on their Wintering Grounds in Suriname and French Guiana

 

The study to follow and monitor the Semipalmated sandpiper  (Calidris pusilla) on their wintering grounds in Suriname and French Guiana launched in 2008 when Dr. David Mizrahi (NJA VP Research) met with Dr. Arie Spaans (Chairman of Friends of STINASU in Suriname) to form a  partnership, resulting in initial fieldwork in January of 2009.  Goals were to assess the abundance and distribution of SESA along historic wintering grounds as determined by aerial surveys in 1982.
 

International Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Semipalmated Sandpiper
 
Uniquely coded yellow flag
Photo by Eric Stiles

The overall goal of this project is to develop a comprehensive conservation strategy for the Semipalmated Sandpiper (SESA, Calidris pusilla) throughout its range.A comprehensive database of important sites throughout the Americas will produce a clear picture of habitat use both historically and at present.  Together, these data will provide an important tool to aid in the development of an international conservation plan for the species over the next decade.
 

Training South America Biologists for Long-term Monitoring


Each year, through our partnership with the NJ Coastal Heritage Trail Route, and the National Park Service Park Flight Project, we have hosted interns from Latin America to promote international opportunities for technical exchange and cooperation to protect shared migratory bird species and their habitats. We hosted international interns in 2010 from Columbia and French Guiana.