Last week we mentioned that April is shorebird season in California, and no bird more fully typifies this than the Western Sandpiper. Imagine that little gray little bird on the beach in Half Moon Bay or on the playa in Owens Lake coming all the way from Peru, and still having thousands of miles to go. In many ways, the Western Sandpiper is the ultimate Pacific Flyway species, as it ranges far south to Central and South America, but nonetheless returns to very restricted areas in Alaska to breed. It’s also a key bird for Audubon – an Audubon Watchlist species – and we have programs to support it throughout its range. When a bird covers this much air, you can probably imagine that it results in a massive movement of birds in the spring. And that’s happening right now.

Here's some video of Western Sandpiper at Bolsa Chica in Southern California:

The Western Sandpiper winters throughout the hemisphere, enjoying coastal habitat along both the western, eastern, and Gulf coasts of the United States– as well as Mexico, and points further south. In California, not only do we see them along our coasts, but also inland at places such as the Salton Sea, Owens Lake and the Central Valley. These places are also major staging locations for birds coming north from further south – and that is why we see more Western Sandpipers in April in California than any other time of the year. Despite this amazing distribution of birds scattered throughout North and South America in the winter, all of them return to northwestern Alaska to breed.

It is thought that 30 percent of the world’s population of Western Sandpipers winters in Panama Bay– and Audubon is working at that location to ensure that this vital habitat remains protected from numerous threats, including development and pollution.

Here in California, Audubon California is working in several locations to help the Western Sandpiper, using several different strategies. At the Salton Sea, we’re working closely at the legislative level to ensure that the water levels remain high enough to support the massive number of migratory birds that rely on this habitat area. Northward at Owens Lake, we’re working closely with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and local chapters to work out a long-term conservation plan for the lake that ensures sufficient water to support the massive flocks of migratory shorebirds that rely on the lake.

In the Central Valley, where so many shorebirds – including Western Sandpipers – use agriculture lands for wintering and staging during migration, we’re working with private landowners to maximize these lands’ habitat value. Along the coast, Audubon is working with local chapters to protect vital habitat areas, and also engaged in the statewide effort to protect key marine areas from overfishing and impacts from recreation and other use.

In Alaska, Audubon Alaska is monitoring the key breeding spots for Western Sandpiper in the north, including the globally significant Copper River Delta Important Bird Area, where perhaps 80 percent of the world’s Western Sandpipers stop in the spring.

(photo of Western Sandpiper by Glen Tepke)