This year, Rainforest
Trust and the Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST) purchased almost 20
acres of
shoreline along Thailand’s Inner Gulf. This property, Pak Thale, is an
important habitat for many migratory shorebird species, including the
Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper.
The Spoon-billed Sandpiper
is an incredible — and incredibly threatened — bird. The International Union
for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that only 240-456 mature sandpipers
are still alive, anywhere in the world. Yes, you read that right. The entire
species population is no more than 500 individual birds. For reference, that’s
fewer than the number of Mountain Gorillas, one of the world’s most iconic
threatened species, left in the wild.
But the species, like many
other shorebirds, is also a prolific migrator. They breed up in the high
Arctic, from the Russian Far East down through the Kamchatka Peninsula. From
there, each fall, they migrate to their wintering grounds in southeast Asia.
Along the way, they stop at shoreline habitat to rest and feed before
continuing on their thousands-of-miles-long journey. Each of the sandpipers are
essentially on their own for the whole journey. These little birds, just about
six inches long, fly out over the ocean, migrating in an all-or-nothing battle
for life against the elements.
And in the spring, they do
it all in reverse.
