Wild Curlew Sandpiper Welfare on Migration

Migratory waders including curlew sandpipers face welfare threats across their flyways from habitat loss, hunting, and climate disruption of stopover sites.

Key Facts

Curlew sandpipers breed in Arctic Siberia and winter in southern Africa, covering up to 30,000 km annually.
Key stopover sites including Yellow Sea mudflats are under severe pressure from land reclamation.
Weight gain at stopover sites is critical for the next leg of migration — habitat quality directly determines survival.
Hunting pressure along East Asian flyways has contributed to significant population declines.
Climate change is shifting the timing of Arctic breeding, creating mismatches with invertebrate emergence.

Welfare Considerations

Migratory waders experience periods of intense physiological stress during long-distance flights — hyperphagia before departure, organ restructuring during flight, and rapid fattening at stopovers. Stopover habitat that is degraded or absent forces birds to continue flying without adequate refuelling, causing starvation and mortality. Hunters taking birds at stopover sites cause direct welfare harm and population-level impacts. The welfare of individual migratory waders is bound up with the integrity of the entire flyway — all habitats from breeding grounds to wintering sites must be maintained. International flyway conservation partnerships provide the governance framework for this complex multi-national challenge.

What You Can Do

Support BirdLife International and flyway partnership conservation at key stopover sites.
Advocate for international agreements to protect and restore Yellow Sea mudflat habitats.
Oppose hunting of migratory waders through campaign support and consumer choices.
Reduce your carbon footprint — Arctic breeding habitat degradation from climate change directly harms these species.