Every July, the western sandpiper, a dun-colored, long-beaked bird, leaves the shores of Alaska and migrates south. It may fly as far as the coast of Peru, where it spends several months before making the return trip. Western sandpipers travel along the Pacific Flyway, a strip of land that stretches along the Western coast of the Americas, from the Arctic down to Patagonia.
The wetlands of California’s Central Valley offer sandpipers and hundreds of other species a crucial place to rest and feed along the way. In September, at the peak of the southward migration season, tens of millions of birds stop there.
But intensive farming and development have destroyed 95% of the Central Valley’s wetlands, and as the wetlands have disappeared, the number of migrating birds has plummeted. Shorebirds like the western sandpiper, which dwell in seashores and estuaries, are particularly imperiled, declining by more than 33% since 1970.
Read more in High Country News.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.
