A new, non-organisational, shorebird monitoring program has been launched for the Eurasian region. The Eurasian Shorebirds Survey (ESS) aims to establish a long-term program for monitoring population changes of migratory shorebirds and to identify their most important stopover and wintering sites. The survey will start in January 2021 in Europe, North Africa (North of the Sahara), the Middle East, Asia and Indonesia. Surveyors are requested to conduct shorebird counts of each of their registered sites on the set weekend dates. Data can be shared with us either via eBird, or a conventional Excel spreadsheet online form.
Objectives
• Supporting shorebird conservation with regular and structured shorebird counts on as many coastal and inland locations as possible in the Eurasian and North African region;
• Identifying key coastal and non-coastal shorebird sites;
• Supporting relevant schemes with up-to-date data;
• Helping to improve counting methods and techniques;
• Increasing the number of citizen-scientists.
Please join us by registering your wetland or any habitat suitable for shorebirds, using the link below. More details at
https://www.worldshorebirdsday.org/eurasian-shorebird-survey
If you need further information, please don’t hesitate to contact us at shorebirdsday@gmail.com.
Note: Breeding Shorebirds
The ESS not only focuses on migratory shorebirds. Monitoring the distribution and size of breeding shorebird populations is equally important. It is welcomed and highly recommended to use the breeding codes of eBird during the breeding season.
Header Photo: Terek Sandpiper © Aravind Venkatraman
Additional Photos: Peter Jones
Note: The views expressed in articles are those of the authors, and are not necessarily those of the Society.