The Importance of Important Bird Areas

On Sunday 24th July I photographed this Pectoral Sandpiper in a mixed species flock at Delta Marsh Important Bird Area (four photos below).  It turns out this bird, an adult male, was fitted with a satellite transmitter by the Max Planck Institutes (https://mpg.de/institutes) on 28th May 2016 in Barrow, Alaska. On his fall migration, this male Pectoral Sandpiper went from Barrow to the southwestern area of Hudson Bay, where there are no less than nine Important Bird Areas, and from there flew to Delta Marsh IBA (MB001).  He arrived at Delta Marsh on the 23rd July or possibly the 22nd (the satellite tags have a 48-hour on and off schedule so it could have arrived one day before transmitting a signal from Delta) and stayed until the 26th July. He took flight in the early morning of 26th July and went to the Whitewater Lake Important Bird Area (MB015).

As we discover more and more about the incredible journeys of shorebirds, what I find most amazing about this particular story is the way this bird has used a series of Important Bird Areas during his southbound migration. The Important Bird Area program is designed to identify and work towards securing a network of key sites along migratory flyways (as well as other important habitats). This network recognises the importance of hemispheric connections and international collaboration for the conservation of migratory species. This movement of this Pectoral Sandpiper demonstrates nicely how this network of sites works for an individual. From the Hudson Bay IBAs to Delta Marsh and onto Whitewater Lake, this individual is connecting the dots in a very real way!(see http://ibacanada.org/ to find details and a map of these IBAs)


As this bird moves south to South America, perhaps even as far south as Argentina, it is quite likely that other IBAs along the way will provide important stopover and refueling places. Without all of those, we would be unable to enjoy their magnificence up here in the north. You can read about some recent findings on this amazing species here: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature20813.epdf?referrer_access_token=wp9yadTPPo1--TbIkmdHr9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0MNwzKCl3iiqhEiO_VlpLQT9Hc-9evJWnZQLEY4etso-WcGQjyn9LLpI1vyYM3LZil9e4G4cM_2NeyXEuz7xF6YfsWLOiHQ0Z0_s0jk40wBouWquZEV-0CCYhxhaP41ptfYavqfgQkItSBwSi5rC0D6xMYhO3bNj2N-V18tGGvWOw%3D%3D&tracking_referrer=www.popsci.com