Migratory Shorebirds and Intertidal Habitat Loss

Migratory shorebirds depend on a small number of critical intertidal stopover sites, loss of which can collapse entire flyway populations.

Key Facts

Red knots traveling from Patagonia to the Arctic rely on Delaware Bay horseshoe crab eggs for refueling
Delaware Bay horseshoe crab harvesting for biomedical use and bait reduced available eggs by 90% in the 1990s
Red knot populations declined 75% between 1980 and 2000 following Delaware Bay stopover site degradation
Yellow Sea intertidal habitat loss threatens East Asian-Australasian Flyway shorebird populations
Bar-tailed godwits fly 11,000 km non-stop from Alaska to New Zealand, requiring adequate pre-departure fat reserves

Welfare Considerations

Shorebirds that cannot refuel adequately at stopover sites face starvation during the remaining migration journey. The welfare harm is distributed across entire flyway populations when key stopover sites are degraded. Loss of a single critical stopover can affect millions of birds across an entire hemispheric migration system.

What You Can Do

Support protection of Delaware Bay and Yellow Sea intertidal stopover sites for migratory shorebirds
Advocate for horseshoe crab harvest restrictions during shorebird migration refueling periods
Donate to conservation organizations working on East Asian-Australasian Flyway intertidal habitat protection