Five New WHSRN Species Conservation Plans Available

In response to the conservation priorities established in the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan, the WHSRN Executive Office is working with shorebird experts in partner organizations to develop action-oriented Species Conservation Plans. This fall, we completed plans for five more high-priority shorebird species, thanks to the dedicated efforts of our expert authors in North and South America and to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for its ongoing support of this important work. We also want to thank the many shorebird biologists and conservation partners who contributed their data and/or comments during the development of the plans.

These peer-reviewed plans summarize what is known to date about the species’s ecology, global status and population, habitat needs, threats, and important sites throughout the hemisphere. They also identify and prioritize conservation actions needed in the short term to stop or reverse the species’s population decline for the long term.

American Oystercatcher:  The 54-page “Conservation Plan for the American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) throughout the Western Hemisphere” was completed in September 2009.This range-wide plan builds on the regionally focused action plan that was published by WHSRN in 2007 for the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coast populations of this species. Many thanks to co-authors Rob Clay (BirdLife International), Arne Lesterhuis (BirdLife International), Shiloh Schulte (Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, USA), Stephen Brown (also Manomet), Debra Reynolds (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), and Theodore R. Simons (North Carolina State University/USGS)!

American Golden-Plover:  The 59-page “Conservation Plan for the American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica)” also was completed in September 2009. This species is one of the longest-distant migrants in the Western Hemisphere and uses an array of habitats along the way, from interior grassland to coastal beaches. Our sincere thanks to co-authors Rob Clay (BirdLife International), Arne Lesterhuis (BirdLife International), and Oscar Johnson (Montana State University, USA) for developing a comprehensive plan that accommodates such widespread needs.

Sanderling: The 106-page “Conservation Plan for the Sanderling (Calidris alba)” was completed in October 2009. The Sanderling is nearly ubiquitous along the coasts of the Americas, presenting a challenge for WHSRN’s site-based conservation approach. Our thanks and admiration go to author Laura X. Payne (University of Washington, USA) for meeting this challenge and producing the first WHSRN conservation plan to address the needs of such a highly dispersed species.

Whimbrel:  The 74-page “Conservation Plan for the Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)” was completed in November 2009. It is an exciting time to be a Whimbrel biologist, as satellite-tracking efforts are revealing more about this amazing migrant every season. Our sincere thanks to co-authors Alexandra Wilke (The Nature Conservancy-Virginia Coast Reserve, USA) and Richard Johnston-González (Asociación Calidris, Colombia) for producing this timely conservation plan and baseline as new conservation possibilities and needs unfold.

Wilson’s Phalarope:  The 57-page “Conservation Plan for Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)” was completed in November 2009. This species is the most terrestrial of the phalaropes and is also a very long-distance migrant. Many thanks to co-authors Arne Lesterhuis (BirdLife International) and Rob Clay (BirdLife International), particularly for their alternative consideration of “barriers to recovery” (in addition to threats leading to possible declines) for this species whose range has expanded but whose population still seems to be significantly below 1970s levels.

Please visit the WHSRN Species Conservation Plan Webpage to view or download these and other plans. 

For more information, contact Meredith Gutowski (mgutowski@manomet.org).