As the scale of the decline in the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper has become apparent, the urgency to understand the size
and distribution of the remaining population in order to identify key threats and implement targeted conservation actions has intensified.
Bangladesh has been recognised as an important non-breeding range state since the largest single flock of 202 individuals ever recorded
was found at Moulevir Char in 1989. Annual winter totals have been considerably lower in recent years as survey attention has focused
on Myanmar. We conducted surveys in coastal Bangladesh between 6 March and 8 April 2010 to determine the continuing importance
of Bangladesh for wintering Spoon-billed Sandpiper, gather information about the species’s foraging ecology and habitat preference, and
assess potential threats. A minimum 49 Spoon-billed Sandpipers were seen at three locations. Foraging birds displayed a marked
preference for firm sandy intertidal mudflats with a thin layer of soft mud collecting in ripples, spending 98% of their time feeding within
small pools left by the receding tide, singly or in small groups. Shorebird hunting, recently identified as a significant threat to Spoon-billed
Sandpiper in Myanmar, was found in some areas. Our preliminary surveys yielded variable catch rates and overall prevalence, but suggest
that hunting may have decreased locally since advocacy work was conducted in 2009. We discuss other plausible threats to Spoon-billed
Sandpiper and their intertidal habitats, concentrating on large-scale infrastructure development and widespread small-scale habitat
conversion. Our surveys covered only a fraction of potentially suitable intertidal habitats and were largely confined to known sites. We
therefore list priority research actions designed to elucidate the true status of Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Bangladesh and allow priorities
to be set for conservation actions identified in the species’s action plan.
As the scale of the decline in the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper has become apparent, the urgency to understand the size
and distribution of the remaining population in order to identify key threats and implement targeted conservation actions has intensified.
Bangladesh has been recognised as an important non-breeding range state since the largest single flock of 202 individuals ever recorded
was found at Moulevir Char in 1989. Annual winter totals have been considerably lower in recent years as survey attention has focused
on Myanmar. We conducted surveys in coastal Bangladesh between 6 March and 8 April 2010 to determine the continuing importance
of Bangladesh for wintering Spoon-billed Sandpiper, gather information about the species’s foraging ecology and habitat preference, and
assess potential threats. A minimum 49 Spoon-billed Sandpipers were seen at three locations. Foraging birds displayed a marked
preference for firm sandy intertidal mudflats with a thin layer of soft mud collecting in ripples, spending 98% of their time feeding within
small pools left by the receding tide, singly or in small groups. Shorebird hunting, recently identified as a significant threat to Spoon-billed
Sandpiper in Myanmar, was found in some areas. Our preliminary surveys yielded variable catch rates and overall prevalence, but suggest
that hunting may have decreased locally since advocacy work was conducted in 2009. We discuss other plausible threats to Spoon-billed
Sandpiper and their intertidal habitats, concentrating on large-scale infrastructure development and widespread small-scale habitat
conversion. Our surveys covered only a fraction of potentially suitable intertidal habitats and were largely confined to known sites. We
therefore list priority research actions designed to elucidate the true status of Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Bangladesh and allow priorities
to be set for conservation actions identified in the species’s action plan.
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