Threatened spoon-billed sandpipers discovered in Myanmar

This is a spoon-billed sandpiper video.

From BirdLife:

Wintering Spoon-billed Sandpipers found in Myanmar

14-02-2008

Sightings of 84 Spoon-billed Sandpipers Eurynorhynchus pygmeus at two coastal wetland sites in Myanmar have cast new light on the winter distribution of this Endangered species, and confirmed that these wetlands are of international importance for their biodiversity.

The known global population of Spoon-billed Sandpiper has plunged alarmingly in the last few years to only 200-300 pairs.

“The number of breeding pairs in Chukotka, Siberia, fell by 50 percent between 2006 and 2007, and no birds have been seen this year at their traditional wintering sites in Bangladesh”, says Evgeny Syroechkovskiy, Vice President of the Russian Bird Conservation Union (BirdLife in Russia).

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper Recovery Team which found the birds included staff from Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA), BirdLife International’s Partners in Russia and Thailand, and members of ArcCona Consulting (Cambridge, UK and Kiel, Germany) and the Japan Wetlands Action Network (JAWAN). …

The Arakan team also recorded Indian Skimmers, several pairs of Sarus Crane and a huge number of wintering Bar-headed Geese. At Martaban, an estimated 50,000 waders are believed to include globally significant numbers of Broad-billed sandpiper, Lesser Sand-plover and Pallas’ Gull.

Simba Chan added: “The coast of Myanmar is still relatively intact, but most of the tidal area along the eastern asia flyway is under very heavy development pressure. This work provides further illustration of the global importance of Myanmar for biodiversity conservation.”

See also here.