Annual Conference of the International Wader Study Group, Séné ...

Annual Conference of the International Wader Study
Group, Séné, France, 21–24 September 2012
The 2012 Annual Conference of the IWSG was held in the
delightful village of Séné, beside the mudflats of the Golfe
du Morbihan, near Vannes, Bretagne, western France, during
21–24 September 2012. Our hosts were Bretagne Vivante-
SEPNB, Réserve Naturelle des marais de Séné and commune
de Séné, with help from Réserve Naturelle de France
and Université de Bretagne Sud. All who attended are very
grateful to the organising committee for everything they did
to make the Séné conference such a successful and enjoyable
occasion. The committee was led by Guillaume Gélinaud and
those involved were Marion Caille, Emmanuel Caillot, Jean
David, Laura Faisnel, Matthieu Fortin, Laure Harivel, Bernard
Horellou, Benjamin Jeanneau, Yann Kergoustin, Yves
Le Bail, Frédéric Robin, and Frédéric Touzalin.
Undoubtedly the most significant event of the conference
was the Friday evening launch of the new Atlas of Breeding
Waders in the Russian Arctic with all three authors, Elena
Lappo, Pavel Tomkovich and Evgeny Syroechkovskiy, taking
it in turns to present their account of how the project evolved
from something they had thought might take two years to
a decade’s labour of love. Covering 52 wader species, the
Atlas summarises breeding and abundance records from
2,859 locations collected over 150 years of research. Many
of the data are the authors’ own records gathered during their
extensive travels throughout this vast, little-known region that
is mostly difficult to access and hostile to humans. After the
talks, everyone gathered round to take a first look at a book
that is destined to be a key reference for wader researchers
and conservationists for years to come.
Séné proved to be an inspired location for an IWSG conference.
Regularly every day we were all “forced” to take a
walk by the mudflats and enjoy the waders, the Spoonbills
and the Sacred Ibises. Then at the end of every walk we found
ourselves either in the commodious youth hostel, where we
fed and socialised, or in the Grain de Sel, Séné’s brand new
cultural centre with its excellent theatre cum lecture hall,
where we met for presentations. After dinner on the Saturday
evening we all enjoyed a great social event with live band
and dancing; and on the Sunday afternoon we were spoilt for
choice with three excursions to various different parts of the
Golfe du Morbihan.
As IWSG Chair, Yvonne Verkuil closed the Conference,
Gregor Scheiffarth invited us to reconvene in Wilhelmshaven,
Germany, in September 2013. We can’t wait!
The conference was attended by 103
waderologists from 24 countries.
France 28 Argentina 1
United Kingdom 21 Australia 1
Netherlands 12 Bangladesh 1
Germany 6 China 1
United States 4 Czech Republic 1
Russia 4 Estonia 1
Spain 4 Korea 1
Ireland 3 Mauritania 1
Portugal 3 New Zealand 1
Belarus 2 Norway 1
Canada 2 Poland 1
Denmark 2 Sweden 1
212

f
Abstracts of Conference Talks
Demography
e
Spatio-temporal variation in the survival of
Red Knots Calidris canutus islandica
centred on the Wadden Sea
Eldar Rakhimberdiev 1,2,3 , Piet J. van den Hout 1 ,
Bernard Spaans 1 & Theunis Piersma 1,4
1
NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Texel,
The Netherlands; eldar.rakhimberdiev@nioz.nl
2
Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty,
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
3
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,
Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
4
Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary
Studies, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
The estimation of demographic parameters within a capture–
recapture framework has now become common practice. The
most important parameter obtained from capture–recapture
analysis, annual survival, is regarded as a good indicator of
the conservation status of a population. In the case of highly
mobile animals such as migrating birds, annual survival is
an important and interesting vital statistic to know, but it
lacks information on where in the annual cycle and where
in space the population suffers the greatest losses. Currently,
only a handful of studies have looked at seasonal and spatial
variation in the survival of migrants. Here we use mark–
resight data over a period of 15 years to estimate space- and
time-dependent variation in survival of Red Knots Calidris
canutus islandica breeding in Arctic Canada and Greenland
and wintering in Europe. Birds were ringed primarily in the
Wadden Sea (the Netherlands) but were resighted at all staging
and stopover areas except the breeding grounds. We estimated
adult survival in the following framework: (1) Annual
apparent survival for the whole population according to the
CJS model indicated a strong (and previously undetected)
decline in the islandica population. (2) Seasonal apparent
survival (CJS model) indicated that the autumn and winter
periods are the most critical (i.e. the seasons with the lowest
survival rate). (3) Season–site true survival estimates using
multi-strata modelling will show the places where autumn
and winter survival is worst. This approach will enable us
to quantify not only true survival, but also emigration rates,
which in turn will tell us whether knots have started to bypass
areas with low survival.
A chance for Kentish Plover populations in the
Wadden Sea? Habitat selection and population
dynamics of Kentish Plovers in N Germany
Hermann Hötker, Dominic Cimiotti,
Brigitte Klinner-Hötker & Rainer Schulz
Michael-Otto-Institut im NABU; Hermann.Hoetker@NABU.de
Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus is the most threatened
bird species that breeds in the German Wadden Sea.
Most of the remaining 180–250 pairs are found on recently
claimed polders on the coast of Schleswig-Holstein. Although
most nests are found in inland habitats, the birds forage on
intertidal mudflats and sandflats. An analysis of nest habitat
choice showed that distance to intertidal feeding grounds,
vegetation structure (a mosaic of bare ground and different
vegetation types) and the size of breeding sites significantly
affected the abundance of Kentish Plovers. In recent years,
breeding success has been high enough in most sites to
balance mortality, but in some sites Kentish Plovers have
suffered from high rates of nest predation and flooding. At
present, the population seems to be limited by the availability
of suitable breeding sites. Measures taken to enlarge the area
of suitable breeding habitat have shown some success.
Ecology and spatial patterns
Adult sex-ratio variation in Red Knots Calidris
canutus rufa at non-breeding and stopover sites
Patricia Gonzalez 1 , Allan Baker 2 , Larry Niles 3 ,
Amanda Dey 4 , Kevin Kalasz 5 , Yves Aubry 6 ,
Christoph Buidin 7 & Yann Rochepault 7
1
Fundacion Inalafquen and Global Flyway Network, San Antonio
Oeste, Rio Negro, Argentina; ccanutus@gmail.com
2
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto ON Canada
3
Conserve NJ Wildlife, NJ, USA
4
Division of Fish and Wildlife, NJ Dept. of Environmental
Protection, NJ, USA
5
Division of Fish and Wildlife, DE USA
6
Canadian Wildlife Service, Quebec Region,
Environment Canada, Quebec, QC, Canada
7
Riviere-St-Jean, Quebec, Canada
Adult sex ratios are commonly skewed from equality in
birds, and are thought to reflect sex-biased mortality rather
than skewed offspring sex-ratios. We investigated adult sexratios
using molecular sexing of migratory populations of Red
Knots Calidris canutus rufa sampled at the Delaware Bay,
USA, stopover site, and show that from 2004–2010 males predominated
in cannon net catches. The male skew in the Bay
could possibly arise from higher female than male mortality,
a skewed male primary sex-ratio, shorter stopover duration
of females than males, females skipping breeding seasons or
bypassing the Bay en route to the Arctic, or by differential
catchability of the sexes. In contrast, sex-ratios in catches
made at Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, a non-breeding site,
and at San Antonio Oeste, Argentina, a northward migration
stopover site, are balanced in most years or have a significant
male or female skew in other years. Following the good
2011 breeding season, a sample of 100 juveniles captured in
the Mingan Archipelago, Gulf of St Lawrence, Canada, on
southward migration showed a balanced sex-ratio, but both
female- and male-skewed samples of juveniles have been
obtained in Argentina and Chile in different years. Adult
213

214 Wader Study Group Bulletin 119(3) 2012
sex-ratios at other non-breeding sites in Maranhão, N Brazil,
and in Florida, USA, seem to be balanced. We conclude that
adult sex ratios are very difficult to quantify without large
samples, and are likely to be affected by multiple causes in
long distance migrants.
Genetic differentiation among the three
major wintering populations of the Red Knot
Calidris canutus rufa
Allan Baker 1 , Erika Tavares 1 , Patricia Gonzalez 2 ,
Oliver Haddrath 1 , Kristen Choffe 1 & Larry Niles 3
1
Dept. of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum,
Toronto, ON Canada; allanb@rom.on.ca
2
Fundacion Inalafquen, San Antonio Oeste, Rio Negro, Argentina
3
Conserve NJ Wildlife, 109 Market Lane, Greenwich, NJ 08323,
USA
To determine whether the populations of Red Knots wintering
in Tierra del Fuego, Maranhao and Florida were differentiated
genetically, we assayed variation in a MHC class II locus, 10
microsatellites, and 461 loci detected with amplified fragment
length polymorphisms (AFLP). Only the high resolution
AFLP which fingerprint individuals were able to clearly separate
the three populations. This finding implies that individuals
have high fidelity to wintering sites, and probably breed in
distinct areas in the Arctic. Most importantly, fragmentation
into three populations supports listing of the subspecies C. c.
rufa as endangered, primarily due to the higher demographic
risks associated with smaller population sizes.
Variation in wader community structure along
environmental gradients
V. Mendez 1 , J.A. Gill 1 , N.H.K. Burton 2 & R.G. Davies 1
1
University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK; v.mendez@uea.ac.uk
2
British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, Norfolk, UK
Understanding the consequences of changes in biodiversity
under global climate change for ecosystem functions and
services is an issue of increasing concern. The ecological
functions provided by any community are thought to be
dependent on the diversity of functional traits, also known
as functional diversity, represented by the species present.
Studying patterns of community functional diversity can aid
in our understanding of the processes by which communities
assemble. Wader communities are under continuous
anthropogenic pressures (direct and indirect) during winter,
when they mostly depend on estuarine systems, one of the
most threatened ecosystems in the world. In order to maintain
natural communities and monitor their responses to environmental
change, it is important to understand the mechanisms
that regulate community assembly, species coexistence, and
whether their influence on community structure varies along
environmental gradients.
In this study, we use a long-term dataset on wader species
distributions to investigate spatial and temporal patterns
of community structure and functional diversity across UK
estuaries in relation to environmental gradients. From all the
environmental variables considered, tidal range and minimum
winter temperature were the factors that accounted for the
largest portions of variation in community structure across
estuaries, followed by longitude and fetch (a measure of turbidity).
Additionally, communities found in sandier estuaries
appear to be becoming more similar through time, suggesting
that the factors structuring communities are also changing. We
will discuss these findings in terms of the likely mechanisms
driving both spatial and temporal community patterns, and
their implications for understanding the functional response
of estuarine wader communities to environmental change.
Geographical patterns in primary moult and
body mass of Greenshanks Tringa nebularia
staying in southern Africa
Magdalena Remisiewicz 1,2 , Anthony J. Tree 3 &
Les G. Underhill 2,4
1
Avian Ecophysiology Unit, Department of Vertebrate Ecology
and Zoology, University of Gdansk, al. Legionow 9, 80-441
Gdansk, Poland; biomr@univ.gda.pl
2
Animal Demography Unit, Department of Zoology,
University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
3
PO Box 2793, Port Alfred, 6170, South Africa
4
Marine Research Institute, University of Cape Town,
Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
Greenshanks show varied patterns of primary moult during
their migration and stay in the northern hemisphere. Their
moult further south is known fragmentarily because of data
shortage. We aimed to identify geographical patterns in primary
moult and pre-migratory fattening of Greenshanks of
different age within their southernmost African non-breeding
grounds. We analysed primary moult and body mass of 356
Greenshanks caught at inland wetlands of Zimbabwe, and on
the east coast and west coast of South Africa from 1968 to
1998, using Underhill–Zucchini moult models (1988). About
20% of immatures replaced 1–5 outer primaries between
December and May, which is rare in the north. Sub-adults
moulted all primaries on average 40 days earlier but at the
same rate as adults. Most adults moulted continuously all
10 primaries. Their moult started on average 19 days earlier
(4 Sep) and took 17 days longer (122 days) on the east coast
than on the west coast (23 Sep, 105 days), in Zimbabwe moult
start date was close to the east coast (7 Sep, 115 days). Moult
starts probably following a broad front arrival by Greenshanks
in Zimbabwe and on the east coast, and later arrival
on the west coast. But the end of moult was synchronised to
within six days (31 Dec–6 Jan), and pre-migratory fattening
began about 13–19 Jan in all three regions. The mean
departure weights of adults were 238 g in Zimbabwe, 278 g
on the west coast, and 298 g on the east coast. This suggests
that coastal wetlands provide Greenshanks with richer food
resources than those of the interior. The heaviest adults from
all regions could reach the Nile Valley or Mediterranean coast
in one flight. We suggest that Greenshanks staying inland
benefit from abundant food during the entire austral summer
in some years, a shorter migration distance and lower
competition than at the coasts, with a backup of a potential
movement to the coast if conditions deteriorate.

IWSG Annual Conference
215
Hunting moratorium on Eurasian Curlew
Numenius arquata in France (2008–2012):
possible effects at different spatial levels
P. Delaporte 1 , F. Robin 1 , V. Lelong 1 , E. Caillot 2 ,
F. Corre 1 , N. Boileau & P. Bocher 3
1
Ligue Pour la Protection des Oiseaux, Les Fonderies Royales,
5 Rue Docteur Pujos, 17300 Rochefort Sur Mer,
France; vincent.lelong@lpo.fr
2
Réserve Naturelle de France. – 6,
bis rue de la Gouge – BP 100 – 21803 Quetigny cedex
3
Laboratory Littoral Environnement et Sociétés UMR LIENSs 7266
CNRS-University of La Rochelle, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges,
17000 La Rochelle, France
Since July 2008, the hunting of Eurasian Curlew Numenius
arquata has been banned in France. We investigate possible
effects of the moratorium on curlew numbers at staging and
wintering coastal areas by comparing numbers before and
after 2008. We used mid-winter counts at the national level
and for the regional level, we use monthly counts from all
staging and wintering sites from August to March (Observatoire
des Limicoles Côtiers). We also focus on the Nature
Reserve of Moëze-Oléron (Atlantic coast) where curlews
have been studied since 2001 using a colour ringing scheme.
The numbers of curlew wintering in France have shown an
increase since the moratorium was introduced with regional
variations between the Channel and Atlantic coasts. At a local
level, curlews have responded to less hunting disturbance by
changing their spatial distribution in the bay at Moëze-Oléron
at both low tide and high tide. We have also found that since
the moratorium the body condition of birds in January and
February has improved suggesting that feeding conditions
have improved. This might be a consequence of better access
to high quality feeding areas now that they are free of hunting
disturbance and/or the result of a reduction in stress and
wasted energy costs caused by flying to escape the hunters.
More studies are required on the spatial, ecological and functional
responses of curlews to the hunting moratorium in order
to assess the effectiveness of the measure. We recommend
another five years of moratorium to allow the development
of such studies.
Foraging ecology
Relationship between microphytobenthos and
feeding behaviour of Dunlin Calidris alpina, a
shorebird wintering in Bourgneuf Bay
Sigrid Drouet 1 , Priscilla Decottignies 1 , Vincent Turpin 1 ,
Gwenaëlle Quaintenne 1 , Pierrick Bocher 2 &
Richard Cosson 1
1
LUNAM université, Université de Nantes, MMS (EA2160), 44322
Nantes Cedex 03, France; sigrid.drouet@univ-nantes.fr
2
Laboratory Littoral Environnement et Sociétés UMR LIENSs 7266
CNRS-University of La Rochelle, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges,
17000 La Rochelle, France
Intertidal mudflats in bays and estuaries are among the
world’s most productive ecosystems. Characteristically they
have high biodiversity and many are areas of international
importance for waterbird conservation. Many species of
ducks and waders are dependent on them during all or a large
proportion of their life cycles because they provide abundant
and accessible food resources for winter survival and/or to
fulfil the energetic requirements of long-distance migration.
Recently, previously unrecorded feeding behaviour by a
group of wader species has highlighted the key role in estuarine
food webs of microphytobenthic biofilm. This organic
material develops at the mud surface and has proved to be a
key food resource for some waders. This throws into question
the trophic level at which waders feed because previously
they were always assumed to be secondary consumers.
In this study we investigated the relationship between
waders and microphytobenthic food resources in Bourgneuf
Bay on the Atlantic coast of France. This is an area in which
microphytobenthic biofilm achieves high biomass and has
been shown to be important as a food resource for oyster
farming. In our studies we used stable isotope techniques to
assess the importance of microphytobenthic biofilm grazing
in the diet of wintering Dunlin Calidris alpina.
Functional response curve of
Bar-tailed Godwits foraging on lugworms
Sjoerd Duijns 1 , Ineke Knot 1 , Jan A. van Gils 1 &
Theunis Piersma 1,2
1
Department of Marine Ecology, NIOZ Royal Netherlands
Institute for Sea Research, PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg,
Texel, The Netherlands; sjoerd.duijns@nioz.nl
2
Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and
Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, PO Box 11103,
9700 CC Groningen, The Netherlands
During the last decade the composition of the Wadden Sea’s
waterbird populations has changed drastically. Bivalve predators
such as Red Knot, Eurasian Oystercatcher and Common
Eider have declined in numbers, whereas polychaete predators
have increased (e.g. Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin and Grey
Plover), suggesting links with changes in the benthic fauna.
However, further studies are needed to explain these changes.
These need to be based on the densities of the birds on their
feeding grounds and the densities of their food where they
feed and the function that links them, i.e. the functional
response. The type II functional response cannot be measured
with any accuracy in the field, as birds avoid feeding on very
low densities of food, moreover they seldom feed where
there are high food densities as such sites are rare. In this
study we determined the functional response of female Bartailed
Godwits in captivity. During spring migration, females
mainly feed on lugworms Arenicola marina and in order to
explain why intake rates in the field declined with increasing
densities of female Bar-tailed Godwits, we hypothesized
that probing would induce lugworms to bury deeper. In a
controlled experiment we found that this was indeed the case.
Simulated probing led to an increase in the burying depth of
the lugworms and the captive female Bar-tailed Godwits had
increased searching and handling times and consequently
decreased intake rates.

216 Wader Study Group Bulletin 119(3) 2012
Breeding ecology
Unequal division of incubation
in a High Arctic shorebird
Martin Bulla, Anne Rutten, Alexander Girg,
Mihai Valcu & Bart Kempenaers
Department of Behavioural Ecology & Evolutionary Genetics.
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology. Eberhard-Gwinner-Strasse
7.82319 Seewiesen, Germany; mbulla@orn.mpg.de
Breeding in the harsh conditions of the High Arctic is
extremely energetically demanding. Although there is continuous
daylight during the Arctic summer, weather conditions
and prey availability fluctuate during the day. This makes
some parts of the day more advantageous for foraging or incubation
than others. As a consequence, uniparental incubators
concentrate their off-nest (foraging) activity around the warmest
part of a day (noon). Regardless of fluctuating conditions,
biparentally incubating High Arctic shorebirds incubate the
eggs almost 100% of the time. As a result, only one parent
is off-nest during the period when foraging conditions are
most favourable. We have used Semipalmated Sandpiper
Calidris pusilla as a model to investigate the outcome of this
parental conflict and found great between-nest differences
in the way the sexes divide incubation duties. On average,
females tended to be off-nest a) during windier conditions
(usually during the day), and b) during warmer periods of the
day, that is when foraging is most efficient. This may allow
females to replenish their reserves after egg-laying, but is to
the disadvantage of males, who mostly care for the young
alone. Females may compensate by having longer incubation
bouts than males. This would allow males to forage for longer
periods. It remains to be tested whether female-biased incubation
is due to the female generosity or male exploitation.
Multiple breeding strategies in
Sanderling Calidris alba
Jeroen Reneerkens, Pieter van Veelen,
Marco van der Velde & Theunis Piersma
Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and
Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Netherlands;
J.W.H.Reneerkens@rug.nl
The breeding system of Sanderling was described for the
first time in the early 1970’s. Females were suspected to lay
two complete clutches in rapid succession, the first being
incubated by the male, the second by the female. This strategy
was also called “double-clutching” and should result in
uniparental clutches with an incubating male or female. Later
observations in different Arctic regions showed that the majority
of clutches were in fact incubated by two adults sharing
incubation duties. Despite these contradicting observations,
until recently the breeding strategy of Sanderling has usually
been described as “double-clutching”. During six breeding
seasons in NE Greenland, we observed the behaviour and
movements of individually colour-marked Sanderlings,
studied nest attendance with dataloggers and used microsatellite
markers to genetically study parentage. The majority
of clutches were incubated by both a male and a female, but
uniparental nests were also observed in varying numbers in
different years. A low percentage of clutches contained extrapair
young and we found evidence for both polygynous males
and polyandrous females. The polygamy in Sanderlings can
explain why clutches of uniparental males on average hatched
a few days earlier than those of uniparental females, a pattern
that has previously been interpreted as indicating doubleclutching.
After hatch, the male and female often divided the
chicks to be cared for separately (brood division); moreover
brood mixing (chicks ending up in unrelated broods) occurred
as well. In two cases, a female cared for unrelated chicks that
hatched in nests which they did not attend. We will discuss
possible ecological factors that may drive the evolution of
uniparental care.
Olfactory and visual nest defenses
of the Mountain Plover
Stephen J. Dinsmore & Paul D.B. Skrade
Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management,
339 Science II, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA;
cootjr@iastate.edu
The Mountain Plover Charadrius montanus is patchily distributed
across the North American Great Plains. Their nests
are located in open areas, are depredated by mammals, birds,
and snakes, and adults use distraction displays to deter predators
when eggs are close to hatching. We studied the roles
of olfactory and visual cues on the species’ nest survival in
Montana, USA from 1995 to 2010. To assess olfactory cues
we analyzed the contents of 450 nests during a 5-year study
(2004–2008) to correlate nest survival with aromatic nest
contents that deter nest predators that use scent cues. Nest
survival was positively correlated with the amount of dense
clubmoss Selaginella densa and dung (primarily black-tailed
prairie dog Cynomys ludovicianus and domestic cattle) in the
nest contents. The presence of asters Asteraceae, lichens,
rocks, and other nest material was not correlated with nest
survival. To address visual cues we photographed 374 nests
during a 5-year study (2006–2010) and correlated measures
of color at the nest and the color contrast between the nest
and surrounding substrate with nest survival. Both the overall
color contrast between the nest and surrounding substrate and
the homogeneity in the three color spectra (as measured by
variance) surrounding the nest were negatively correlated to
nest survival. So, nests with a close color match to the nest
substrate or low variability in color surrounding the nest
had the greatest survival. Collectively, this suggests that the
Mountain Plover lines its nest with items that may hide the
scent of eggs from predators, places eggs in a heterogeneous
substrate with respect to color, and selects nest sites where
the color of the eggs closely matches that of the substrate.
Studies such as this add an important level of understanding
to patterns of nest survival in birds.

IWSG Annual Conference
217
Nest success and habitat requirements of
saltmarsh-breeding birds
Elwyn Sharps
School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University. Working with the
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds and Wildlife Conservation Wales
Address for correspondence: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology,
Floor 1, Environment Centre Wales, Deiniol Road, Bangor,
Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, United Kingdom; e.sharps@bangor.ac.uk
Populations of Redshank Tringa totanus breeding on UK
saltmarshes are declining, yet the exact mechanisms behind
the declines are unknown. This study addressed nest survival
and habitat selection in a number of saltmarsh-breeding birds
focussing primarily on Redshank, but also including Eurasian
Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus, Northern Lapwing
Vanellus vanellus, Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis, Skylark
Alauda arvensis and Linnet Carduelis cannabina. We asked:
1) What are the drivers of nest failure in saltmarsh breeding
birds, and does this vary according to grazing intensity?
(2) Are the main predators birds or mammals, and is this
related to grazing intensity? (3) Does nest habitat selection
vary within different grazing treatments?
The number of eggs and their length, breadth and weight
were recorded to estimate a hatch date. Nests were revisited
regularly until the eggs had either hatched or failed. iButton
thermo-loggers were be placed in each wader nest. Following
a predation event, logger-data were used to look for changes
in temperature to determine if predation events were nocturnal
(mammals) or diurnal (birds). Vegetation height and %
cover was measured both in a 1 m × 1 m area around each
nest and within five 1-m quadrats within a 10 m × 10m area
of the nest site. A total of 45 Redshank nests were monitored
as well as 25 nests of Meadow Pipit, 11 of Northern Lapwing,
10 of Eurasian Oystercatcher, 8 of Skylark and 3 of Linnet.
Tidal flooding was the biggest overall cause for nest failure,
followed by predation and trampling by livestock. Nine of
the 45 Redshank nests hatched successfully. Results will be
presented in more detail and discussed in the context of grazing
management and conservation implications.
Staging ecology and migration
Connectivity of stop-over sites: the stepping
stones of range-wide carry-over effects
José A. Alves 1 , Tomas G. Gunnarsson 2 ,
Daniel B. Hayhow 1,6 , Graham, F. Appleton 3 ,
Peter M. Potts 4 , William J. Sutherland 5 &
Jennifer A. Gill 1
1
School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich
Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK; j.alves@uea.ac.uk
2
University of Iceland, South Iceland Research Centre,
Tryggvagata 36, IS-800 Selfoss, Iceland;
Gunnarsholt, IS-851 Hella, Iceland
3
British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery,
Thetford, IP24 2PU, UK
4
Farlington Ringing Group, Solent Court Cottage,
Chilling Lane, Warsash, Southampton SO31 9HF, UK
5
Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University
of Cambridge, Downing St., Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK
6
Present address: RSPB, The Lodge, Sandy,
Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL, UK
Many migratory species use stopover sites on spring and
autumn journeys to and from the breeding grounds, and different
migratory routes involve different stopover locations.
Links between conditions on breeding and winter sites of
migratory species can be strong drivers of individual fitness
but the influence of the migratory routes used by individuals
on these links is unknown. In Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits,
individuals tend to occupy either good or poor breeding and
wintering sites, resulting in substantial fitness differences between
individuals. Large differences in the energetic costs and
benefits of wintering at different locations have been linked
to the timing of arrival of individuals in Iceland, and early
arriving birds tend to occupy better quality breeding areas.
However, the majority of individuals also use stopover sites
on spring migration, and these sites may also be contributing
to the seasonal links in connectivity and individual fitness. By
population-wide tracking of marked individuals throughout
the annual migration, we show that the two major spring
stopover areas: the Netherlands and E England are used in
different proportions by birds from different winter regions.
Additionally, irrespective of winter location, individuals
using the Netherlands stopover arrive significantly earlier
in Iceland and are more likely to breed in traditionally occupied
breeding grounds, where good quality breeding habitat
is more abundant. As the majority of individuals using the
Netherlands come from wintering locations in the south of
the range, the conditions on these stopover sites are likely to
facilitate a longer migration and an early migratory schedule.
A strategic stopover for Red Knot
and other shorebirds:
Mingan Archipelago, Quebec, Canada
Yves Aubry 1 , Allan Baker 2 , Christophe Buidin 3 ,
Yann Rochepault 3 & Patricia Gonzalez 4
1
Canadian Wildlife Service-Quebec Region, Environment Canada,
801-1550 avenue D’Estimauville, Quebec, Qc, G1J 0C3,
Canada; yves.aubry@ec.gc.ca
2
Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum,
100 Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON. M5S 2C6, Canada
3
1, Chemin du Ruisseau, Rivière St-Jean,
Québec, QC, G0G 2N0, Canada
4
Fundacion Inalafquen, Roca 135, 8520 San Antonio Oeste,
Rio Negro, Argentina
The Mingan Archipelago is likely the first important stopover
for Red Knots and many other species of shorebirds as they
exit their Canadian Arctic breeding grounds on their journey
to eastern South America. These unique and scenic islands
are located on the north side of the Gulf of St Lawrence
and their limestone flats are rich in marine invertebrates.
Annual monitoring of shorebirds which started in 2006 has
revealed the importance of the Mingan Archipelago during
autumn migration (Jul–Nov) as a site for the refuelling of
Red Knots. Regular counts and resightings of flagged birds
have been used as indices of breeding success. We estimate
that over 5,000 adult Red Knots stop to refuel in the Mingan
Archipelago each autumn.

218 Wader Study Group Bulletin 119(3) 2012
Development of the project The Ruff
Philomachus pugnax studies in CIS countries
Natalia Karlionova 1 , Pavel Pinchuk 1 , Ivan Bogdanovich 1 ,
Julia Karagicheva 2 Maksim Korolkov 3 ,
Alexander Matsyna 4 , Ekaterina Matsyna 4 ,
Pavel Panchenko 5 , Oleg Formanuk 5 ,
Josef Chernichko 6 & Eldar Rakhimberdiev 2,7,8
1
Institute of Zoology NAS Belarus,
Minsk, Belarus; Karlionova@tut.by
2
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
3
Regional Youth Ecological Centre, Ulyanovsk, Russia
4
Ecological Centre ”Dront”, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
5
Odessa, Ukraine
6
Azov-Black Sea Ornithological Station, Melitopol, Ukraine
7
Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
(NIOZ), Den Burg, Netherlands
8
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
In 2012, we continued the Ruff colour-ringing project, initiated
in Russia and E Europe in 2010. With this project we aim
to obtain information on migration routes and major stopover
sites of the Ruff in this area (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Hungary).
From 2011, we developed and registered at EURING
a new colour-ringing scheme for Ruff captured in different
locations in Russia, Belarus, Hungary and Ukraine. This
scheme allows the identification of individual birds by a
unique code inscribed on the flag. In case the code cannot be
read, the pattern of colour-rings and the colour of the flag indicate
the location, year and season that the bird was marked.
In 2011, we ringed migrating Ruffs at 5 stopover sites (3 in
Russia, 1 in Belarus and 1 in Hungary). In total, 638 birds
f
were colour-marked during the spring and autumn migration
seasons of 2011. In spring 2012, we ringed migrating Ruffs
at 2 places in Russia (3 marked birds), 2 places in Ukraine
(172 marked birds) and 1 place in Belarus (600 marked birds).
The increase in the number of colour-marked Ruffs and
observers has led to an increase in the number of resightings
and recoveries. In 2012, we had the first resightings of colourringed
Ruffs from the previous year. Three Ruffs marked in
spring 2011 at the Turov Station (Belarus) were seen in the
same place the next year. At the beginning of June 2012, 3
Ruffs ringed in the Netherlands were seen on Kolguev Island
(Barents Sea). Also 8 birds ringed in Belarus in spring 2012
have been seen in other countries (4 Ukraine, 2 Netherlands,
1 Estonia and 1 Sweden).
We have launched a website called “The Ruff Project”
(www. philomachus.ru) with 103 users now registered. We
have published more than 60 articles, telling about our Ruff
ringing project, as well as other projects related to wader
studies, expeditions, scientific papers, conferences and other
events in ornithology. In the web forum (322 posts) our visitors
discuss news and events in the ornithological world. A
separate branch of the forum is devoted to modern techniques
of statistical analysis.
As we are interested in discovering the main staging
areas used by Ruff, we have studied information published
on wader counts in post-Soviet countries over the last 20
years and have discovered that there are no reliable data.
We therefore decided to create our own database that can be
potentially synchronized with any of the main international
information repositories. Currently our database holds details
of 207 counts of 225 species. Distributions are presented
using Google maps.
Workshop:
East Asian–Australasian Flyway in crisis
e
High densities of small prey explain fast fuelling
in a long-distance migrating molluscivore,
Red Knots, in the Yellow Sea:
the classical diet model as a special case
Hong-Yan Yang 1, 2 * , Bing Chen 3 , Jan van Gils 4 ,
Zheng-Wang Zhang 1 & Theunis Piersma 2, 4
1
Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological
Engineering, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
2
Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary
Studies, University of Groningen, PO Box 14,
9750 AA Haren, The Netherlands
3
Room 2511, Building 1, 2 Nan-Fang-Zhuang,
Fengtai District, Beijing 100079, China
4
Department of Marine Ecology and Evolution,
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ),
PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands
* boganick@mail.bnu.edu.cn
Northern Bohai Bay, the Yellow Sea, is a crucial staging area
for two subspecies of Red Knots (Calidris canutus rogersi
and C. c. piersmai) during northward migration. As famous
molluscivores which ingest their prey whole, Red Knots can
only harvest 4.5
kJ/g DMshell) according to the “digestive constraint model”,
the measured shell processing rate of 3.93 mg/s, based on field
observations of dropping rates and digestion experiments, is
much higher than predicted for Red Knots eating as fast as
they can with the measured gizzard size (2.58 mg/s). It suggests
that Potamocorbula has characteristics that make them
easy to ingest or digest, e.g. the shells may be more crushable
than prey studied elsewhere. The distinctive characteristics
of Potamocorbula as prey (small size, low quality, high
density and high processing rate) mean that the net energy
intake rate of Red Knots in Bohai Bay (5.13 J/s) is as high as
that of Red Knots feeding on apparently better quality food
elsewhere. Further work is needed to explore the changing
food resource and the carrying capacity of Red Knots at this
important stopover.

IWSG Annual Conference
219
Extreme migration and the annual cycle:
individual strategies in New Zealand
Bar-tailed Godwits
Jesse R. Conklin & Phil F. Battley
Ecology Group, Massey University, Palmerston North,
New Zealand; conklin.jesse@gmail.com
Alaska-breeding Bar-tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica
baueri perform the two longest non-stop migratory flights
of any bird, including a direct trans-Pacific flight of 11,000–
12,000 km to New Zealand. Amid their challenging annual
routines, godwits maintain highly individualised moult and
migration schedules and are strongly sexually dimorphic. At
a single non-breeding site in New Zealand, we used detailed
direct observations of colour-marked individuals, coupled
with year-round geolocator tracking, to examine the roots
and consequences of persistent and ephemeral individual
differences, and to identify potential constraints and bottlenecks
in the annual cycle. Inter-individual variation in size,
plumage, and migration timing were linked to the location
of the godwits’ breeding sites in Alaska. Despite remarkable
annual consistency in moult and migration schedules,
godwits showed surprising flexibility to respond to shortterm
weather patterns, annual variation in breeding success,
and substantial delays in southbound migration. Overall,
this research confirms that an individual-based, entire-year
perspective is required to understand population patterns in
any particular season, and challenges the view that extreme
long-distance migrants are operating at the limits of their
capabilities.
Using demographic estimates to keep track of
population dynamics and viability
Jutta Leyrer & Marcel Klaassen
Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds
Campus, Geelong Victoria 3220, Australia;
jutta.leyrer@deakin.edu.au
In recent years, shorebird populations all around the globe
have shown rapid declines. The most prominent declines are
observed within the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. This
has raised much concern among scientists and conservationists
alike, and demands immediate conservation actions
for the protection of shorebird species and their migratory
flyways. The development of conservation strategies greatly
benefits from knowledge about demographic parameters as
it is extremely important to be able to distinguish whether
changes in survival or recruitment are the main drivers of
population declines. Mark–recapture (or resighting) studies
are often conducted to determine these essential parameters.
Freely available software such as MARK or ESURGE
facilitates analyses of adult survival, and survival of juveniles/
immatures (recruitment). Yet, such mark–recapture models
are extremely data hungry. Hence, we analysed simulated
capture–recapture histories using MARK to detect optimal
sampling duration and capture effort with different underlying
demographical parameters. Confirming previous studies we
could show that study designs should allow for high capture
and recapture rates to obtain reliable estimates, even if differences
between groups (e.g. populations) are high. Setting
up an individually marked population allows the calculation
of further important parameters such as site-fidelity to nonbreeding,
staging or breeding areas, and stopover duration
and provides an additional tool for monitor population sizes.
Spoon-billed Sandpiper: current population
estimates and conservation activities by the
International Task Force
Evgeny Syroechkovskiy – BirdsRussia &
the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force of the East
Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership
All-Russian Research Institute for Nature Conservation,
Moscow, Russia; ees_jr@yahoo.co.uk
The critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper has
declined over 90% in about 30 years and is now one of the
most threatened waders in the world as well as the flagship
species for conservation on the East Asian – Australasian
Flyway. The project focusing on the conservation of the species
was started in the year 2000 in Russia and now after 12
years of continuous work has become an international effort
coordinated by an International Task Force (ITF) under the
East Asian – Australasian Flyway Partnership with BirdLife
International as leading partner and BirdsRussia as key
implementing organization. The main priority directions of
work are: (1) hunting in the SE Asian wintering grounds,
(2) reclamation of inter-tidal areas in the staging grounds and
(3) the very low breeding productivity in Chukotka. The ITF
has successfully initiated conservation work in both breeding
and wintering areas in Russia and SE Asia but at the moment
faces serious challenges at the staging sites, particularly in
China. Recent population estimates are based on evaluations
in the intensively studied breeding grounds. Of the 42 main
known breeding locations, 28 have been revisited in the past
twelve years: 18 breeding populations were extinct and ten
populations showed extreme declines in numbers – no stable
or increasing populations were discovered. In 2012, the
breeding population was estimated to be hardly more than one
hundred pairs. In the past five years one key breeding population
has gone extinct, and another is considered near extinct.
Only one breeding population seems to be stable, although at
very low levels with only about 30–40 breeding pairs.
Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Bangladesh
Sayam U. Chowdhury
Bangladesh Spoon-billed Sandpiper Conservation Project &
Focal Point of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force in
Bangladesh; sayam_uc@yahoo.com
The Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus is a
migrant shorebird that breeds in the Russian Arctic and winters
primarily in Bangladesh and Myanmar. To determine the
current status of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Bangladesh,
all locations at which the species had previously been recorded
were surveyed over three consecutive winters. GIS analysis
was carried out using Google Earth to identify potential sites.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with local people
to determine the degree of hunting pressure on Spoon-billed
Sandpipers. After thorough surveys, we identified Sonadia
Island and Domar Char as the most important intertidal
mudflats for Spoon-billed Sandpipers in Bangladesh. The
findings of these studies add to our knowledge of the current
distribution, wintering population and ecology of this
highly threatened wader. The sites identified are subject to
extreme pressure from human activities, especially shorebird
hunting. A total of 25 active bird-trappers were identified at
Sonadia Island and eight of them claimed to have captured
an aggregate of 22 Spoon-billed Sandpipers in the
last two winter seasons. All 25 hunters have now

220 Wader Study Group Bulletin 119(3) 2012
signed agreements that in return for alternative livelihood
support they will stop shorebird hunting and protect them
instead. Village Conservation Groups (VCG) will be in charge
of monitoring and hunters will repay a small percentage of the
income generated by the alternative livelihood to their VCG
over the next 24 months. The VCGs will then use this money
for further hunting mitigation.
What role does captive breeding and
“headstarting” have in the recovery of the
Spoon-billed Sandpiper?
Nigel Clark 1 , Rhys Green 2 & Baz Hughes 3 on behalf of
the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force
1
British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk
IP22 1HT, UK; nigel.clark@bto.org
2
Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology,
Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
3
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), Slimbridge,
Glos GL2 7BT, UK
The Spoon-billed Sandpiper is now critically endangered and
is predicted to become extinct within the next decade without
conservation action. Since 2000, it has been declining at 25%
per annum probably due to a number of factors. The two most
important are likely to be subsistence hunting and habitat loss
through land claim.
Considerable progress has been made on the reduction of
hunting, but it will be a number of years until it will be possible
to tell if this is sufficient to halt or reverse the decline. If
the population continues to decline over the next few years it
will become increasingly difficult to set up a viable breeding
population in captivity, so the decision was taken in 2011 to
collect 40 eggs over two years and set up a founder population
at Slimbridge, UK. The 20 eggs taken in 2011 were
raised on the breeding grounds and near the regional capital
Anadyr and the success of this project lead to the development
of ‘headstarting’; a plan to take eggs and raise chicks
in a predator-free environment before releasing fledglings
on the tundra at about 20 days old. In 2012, a further 20
eggs were collected for captive breeding and as a result of
favourable weather conditions were transported to Slimbridge
before they hatched. The development of these plans and the
modelling of the likely impact on the wild population will
be discussed.
Urgency of flyway conservation: overview of
rates of habitat loss and
the status of shorebird populations
in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway
Yvonne I. Verkuil
Marine Evolution and Conservation, Centre for Ecological and
Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, The Netherlands;
yvonne_verkuil@hotmail.com
A situation analysis commissioned by IUCN, and executed in
collaboration with Queensland University in Australia, shows
that intertidal habitats along the East Asian–Australasian
Flyway (EAAF) face an unprecedented ecological crisis.
Intertidal migratory waterbirds along the EAAF show fast
declines: at least 24 species are threatened with extinction,
many more than in other flyways. Shorebirds in the EAAF
are the world’s most threatened migratory birds, and many
face exceptionally rapid losses of 5–9% per year. With
a 26% annual decline, the Spoon-billed Sandpiper
could be extinct soon. Of the 16 identified EAAF key areas,
six are in the Yellow Sea. Here the most pressing threat is the
fast pace of land reclamation: since 2000 at least 35% of the
tidal flat area has been reclaimed. Overall, some countries
have lost >50% of their coastal wetlands to land reclamation
since 1980. These rates of habitat loss are comparable to
those of tropical rainforests and mangroves. Losses of such
magnitude are likely the key drivers of the waterbird declines
and related environmental problems. Breeding success in the
Arctic and survival in the Australasian sites, where the birds
spend the northern winter, appear to be adequate; the main
problems seem to be in the East Asian staging areas. The declines
of waterbirds are signals of wider deteriorations of tidal
ecosystems. The effects of reclamation act cumulatively with
pollution, invasion of non-native species, silt-flow reduction
resulting from damming of rivers, over-fishing, hunting of
waterbirds, and conversion of mudflats for agri-aquaculture.
There has been a significant increase in floods, salination,
outbreaks of algal blooms, and death of fish and aquaculture
stocks, exposing densely populated areas to devastating damage.
Alternatively, healthy tidal flats would provide many
services of direct economic benefit to local communities and
beyond (e.g. fisheries worth billions of US$ per year). Currently
coastal zone planning does not adequately acclaim the
existing and future values of the intertidal wetlands.
IUCN report: MacKinnon, J., Verkuil, Y.I. & Murray,
N. (compilers) (2012) IUCN situation analysis on East and
Southeast Asian intertidal habitats, with particular reference
to the Yellow Sea (including the Bohai Sea). Occasional Paper
of the IUCN Species Survival Commission No. 47. Gland,
Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. 72 pp. www.iucn.
org/Asiancoastalwetlands
Successes and challenges in
Spoon-billed Sandpiper conservation in the
EAAFP flyway context
C. Zöckler 1 , E. Syroechkovskiy 2 & N.A. Clark 3
1
ArcCona Consulting, 30 Eachard Road, CB3 0HY Cambridge, UK;
Christoph.Zockler@consultants.unep-wcmc.org
2
All-Russian Research Institute for
Nature Conservation, Moscow, Russia
3
British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, Norfolk, UK
The Spoon-billed Sandpiper is one of the few critically endangered
waders with a rapidly declining population, estimated
to be below 100 pairs. The species breeds along a narrow
strip of coastal wetlands in Chukotka and N Kamchatka in
the Russian Arctic and migrates along the East Asian Flyway
passing through 14 countries, wintering in Myanmar,
Thailand, China, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Hunting and
trapping has been identified as a major threat but mitigation
measures over the past two years have been very successful
in the most important wintering sites in Myanmar and
Bangladesh. Whilst work is continuing to foster initiatives
with local communities, threats along the flyway, especially
at very important stopover and moulting sites in China and
Korea are more challenging. In fact the rate of habitat loss
and coastal development is accelerating and the entire global
conservation community is powerlessly watching the decline.
There are though hopes in emerging young bird-watching
groups formulating new approaches in conservation. It is now
the time to find partners, supporters and donors to step up
the next level of coordination. As we cannot be sure that our
conservation work will be successful, we have ventured into
an ambitious captive breeding programme as a ‘back up’. This
is now in its second year and has so far been very successful.

IWSG Annual Conference
221
Population trends in shorebirds of the
East Asian–Australasian Flyway from a
Siberian perspective
Pavel S. Tomkovich
Zoological Museum, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
Typically, shorebirds are spread over vast areas on their
Arctic breeding grounds which, with few exceptions, means
that monitoring their populations is virtually impossible or
at least very difficult. In Russia, there are only two longterm
studies: since the mid-1990s the densities of breeding
shorebirds have been monitored on SE Taimyr, and since the
early 2000s a special monitoring project for the Spoon-billed
Sandpiper has been conducted in Chukotka. Therefore, we
cannot supply data about the population trends of the great
majority of species across their extensive breeding ranges.
There is also a large faunistic literature with data on species
distribution and abundance, collected mostly during the 20th
century, which represents another source of information about
f
The Coast, Shorebird and Benthic Macrofauna Survey Group,
led by Réserves Naturelles de France in partnership with the
Agence des Aires Marines Protégées is an ongoing coastal
surveillance effort. Since 2000, at the initiative of the managers
of Marine Protected Areas (MPA), a monthly shorebird
census has been carried out. Following preliminary investigations
that revealed distinct wintering shorebird assemblages,
this study aims to identify the main factors involved in the
distribution of these shorebird communities. A long-term
census of shorebird communities will also assist MPA managers
in building an indicator of the state of the “environmental
health” of the French coast.
Analyses were conducted using two datasets: (i) biological
data from censuses of the main taxa carried out in mid-Jan
2005–2010 and (ii) environmental data collected by a quespopulation
trends. This has been used in the Atlas of Breeding
Waders in the Russian Arctic (Lappo et al. 2012). The results
derived from these data are skewed in favour of positive
trends in breeding ranges and populations because most came
from records of range expansion or contraction and only in
a few cases from records of changes in abundance. Although
information is still lacking for most shorebirds, positive trends
were found in 12 species breeding in northern East Siberia
but only four of these follow the East Asian – Australasian
Flyway (EAAF: Tringa glareola, Xenus cinereus, Calidris
subminuta, C. acuminata); six species had negative trends
with most of them (five) following the EAAF (Haematopus
ostralegus osculans, Eurynorhinchus pygmeus and some
populations of Pluvialis squatarola, Charadrius mongolus
and Calidris alpina). In addition it is known from the Russian
literature that outside of the Arctic breeding populations of
Tringa guttifer, and locally Numenius madagascariensis, also
declined, while only the population of Gallinago hardwickii
increased.
Abstracts of Conference Posters
During the conference, the Conference Coordinator, Jutta Leyrer, organised the usual poster competition
and delegates voted for the one they preferred. The results were:
First prize: The role of snow after a lemming peak year in Lapland by Paula Machin & Juan Fernandez-
Elipe
Second prize: Status of migrating Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Eurynorhynchus pygmeus) at stopover sites in
South Korea by Han-kyu Kim & Ok-sik Chung
Third prize: Spatial distribution of waders and benthic resources as a management tool by Alain Ponsero,
Anthony Sturbois, Alicia Simonin & Clara Morey-Rubio
e
Use of shorebird communities as indicators of
the state of the “environmental health”
of French coasts: first results
Marion Caille 1,2 , Eric Thiébaut 3 & Emmanuel Caillot 1,4
1
Observatory “Coast, Shorebird and Benthic Macrofauna”,
Réserves Naturelles de France 21803 Quétigny, France;
emmanuel_caillot@yahoo.fr
2
University of La Rochelle 17000 La Rochelle, France
3
Station Biologique de Roscoff, University of Pierre
et Marie Curie 29680 Roscoff, France
4
Réserve Naturelle Nationale du Domaine de Beauguillot
50480 Sainte-Marie du Mont, France
tionnaire answered by MPA managers. Distance-based redundancy
analysis was used to assess the main factors that affect
the distribution and abundance of shorebird assemblages;
these are the surface area of intertidal flats, the surface area
of functional units and the type of sediment in the feeding
areas. The first results of this analysis, already reported by
other authors, show that the methods and datasets need to be
improved because the models are not sufficiently reliable. The
shorebird dataset must be extended and made more representative
and the environmental data need to be refined. With
these improvements, the indicative value of shorebird data as
measures of environmental health can be tested. Finally we
consider new perspectives for the development of the Coastal,
Shorebird and Benthic Macrofauna Survey Group.
Why is the Eurasian Curlew’s bill curved
throughout its entire length?
Kyrill B. Gerasimov
Moscow Lomonosov State University, Faculty of Biology,
Vertebrate Zoology Department.119234 Russia Moscow Leninsky
Gory 1-12; gerasimov.kyrill@gmail.com
We will show why the Eurasian Curlew’s Numenius arquata
bill is curved throughout its entire length. Let us consider two
conventional variants of the shape of a beak comparable with
the curlew’s bill: 1) a straight bill, like the base of the curlew’s
bill, 2) a straight bill sloping downward from the base at
the same angle as the chord of the Curlew’s bill. Con-

222 Wader Study Group Bulletin 119(3) 2012
traction of dorsal adductors produces the force A that resolves
into two components: the force F, the pressure applied to the
object by the lower jaw, and the force K passing through
the point q1. At this point, the force K resolves, in its turn,
into the force R transferred by the musculus pterygoideus to
the upper jaw and the force M applied to the skull through
the body and the processus oticus of the quadrate bone. The
force R can be decomposed into forces F' and N. The former
represents a pressure on the object from the upper jaw and its
value is equal to that of the force F (the condition of equilibrium
compression). The latter is applied to the point where
the upper jaw rests upon the skull through a flexible zone. It
suffices to evaluate the force F for different variants of the
bill when the muscular force A is the same. The first and the
second variants increase the length of the arm of the force F
and reduce the force itself. Thus, the Eurasian Curlew’s bill
is curved along its entire length in order to compress the prey
with greater force.
One reason for having a long bill is obvious: it allows
the bird to catch prey that is hidden in tangled grass. But
let us now address the question whether the bill is adapted
to feeding by probing. The answer to this question from the
standpoint of the biomechanics of the jaw apparatus can be
only negative. Firstly, it is much more difficult to plunge a
curved bill into the substrate than a straight one. Secondly, the
curlew has to open its bill to seize the prey, but the bony bars
of its upper jaw are “glued” together by the dense connective
tissue. It allows the bird only to strain the upper jaw against
the receding inferior deformation during compression rather
than to lift its top before catching the prey; instead, the bird
has to drop the whole lower jaw. As it is retrieved from the
substrate, an object exhibits resistance, and an extra retraction
force is required from the upper mandible. Although
the curlew’s curved bill is stronger than the straight bill of a
godwit Limosa, the curlew (unlike the probing shorebirds) has
an external jugomandibular ligament. This ligament prevents
it from generating this additional force, and therefore the
curlew cannot effectively pull the prey out of the substrate.
Everything mentioned above suggests that curlews are not
adapted for probing, but this is partly offset by their large
body size and the greater strength.
The effects of intertidal oyster Crassostrea gigas
culture on the spatial distribution of waterbirds
Tom Gittings & Paul O’Donoghue
Atkins, Unit 2B, 2200 Cork Airport Business Park, Cork;
tgittings@googlemail.com
The potential impact of aquaculture activities on Special
Protection Areas for birds (SPAs) is subject to Appropriate
Assessment under Article 6(3) of the EU Habitats Directive.
The culture of the Pacific Oyster Crassostrea gigas takes
place within 16 SPAs. This study aimed to identify whether
there are consistent patterns of positive or negative association
between waterbird species and oyster trestles, in order to
contribute to an assessment of whether the spatial distribution
of waterbirds is affected by the presence of oyster trestles. The
study included an extensive survey across six sites (Poulnasherry,
Co. Clare; Castlemaine, Co. Kerry; Ballymacoda, Co.
Cork; Dungarvan & Woodstown, Co. Waterford and Bannow,
Co. Wexford) and an intensive study at one site (Dungarvan).
Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus, Redshank
Tringa totanus and Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres, and
probably also Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata and
Greenshank Tringa nebularia all showed a neutral
or positive response to the presence of oyster
trestles. Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola, Red Knot Calidris
canutus, Dunlin C. alpina and Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica,
and probably also Shelduck Tadorna tadorna, Ringed
Plover Charadrius hiaticula, Northern Lapwing Vanellus
vanellus, Sanderling C. alba, Black-tailed Godwit L. limosa
and Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus showed negative
responses. The species that showed a neutral/positive
response included waders that tend to feed in small flocks
or as widely dispersed individuals/loose flocks. The species
that showed a negative response are mainly species that tend
to feed in large flocks of tightly packed individuals. These
species also generally favour open mudflats or sandflats and
usually do not occur in large numbers on mixed sediment
or rocky shores. Therefore, selection of mixed sediment or
rocky shore sites for intertidal oyster culture would be likely
to reduce the potential impact on waterbirds.
Monitoring of the breeding population of
Spoon-billed Sandpipers near Meinypilgyno,
Chukotka, Russia
Evgeny E. Syroechkovskiy 1 , Pavel S. Tomkovich 2 ,
Nikolay Yakushev, Christoph Zöckler & Elena Lappo 1
1
All-Russian Research Institute for
Nature Conservation, Moscow, Russia
2
Zoological Museum, Moscow State University,
Moscow, Russia; pst52@mail.ru
The local population of the critically endangered Spoon-billed
Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus near Meinypilgyno village,
southern Chukotka, northern Far Eastern Russia was
discovered in 2001 when it was estimated at 70–80 breeding
pairs. This was and still is the largest known local breeding
population of the species. Since then, the population has been
monitored on an almost annual basis with varying intensity
and coverage. By 2012 it had declined by an order of magnitude.
If this trend continues it will bring this population to
extinction in about 10 years.
Status of migrating Spoon-billed Sandpipers
Eurynorhynchus pygmeus at stopover sites
in South Korea
Han-kyu Kim 1 & Ok-sik Chung 2
1
Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu,
Seoul 151–742, Korea; cyaneus@gmail.com
2
Chungnam Development Institute, 73–26 Younsuwon-gil,
Gongju-si, Chungcheongnam-do, 314–140, Korea
It is well known that South Korean coastal mudflats and
estuaries are used as staging-sites by Spoon-billed Sand pipers
during southward and northward migration. However, no
comprehensive analysis has been carried out of South Korean
Spoon-billed Sandpiper records. Therefore we conducted a
study to provide basic information about the numbers and
important staging sites of the species in South Korea. For
this, we collected various survey reports and personal records
covering published and unpublished materials (including
online material) and assessed the maximum number of birds
recorded during each northward and southward migration
season.
The results showed firstly that there were different trends
between northward migration and southward migration.
Southward migration records showed a significant decline
since 1998, but northward migration records appear to have
been relatively constant though numbers have been low.
Second, Spoon-billed Sandpiper records from South Korea’s

IWSG Annual Conference
223
major coastal mudflats and estuaries confirm that, as found by
other researchers, the Man-Kyung and Dong-Jin River estuaries
(the Saemangeum area that has since been reclaimed) and
the Geum River estuary including Yuboo Island have been
the most important refuelling sites for Spoon-billed Sandpipers
in Korea. However, they also show that the relatively
undervalued Nak-dong River estuary is another important
stopover site for Spoon-billed Sandpipers. These results
provide additional confirmation of the decline of the Spoonbilled
Sandpiper population, and also highlight the need for
the conservation and restoration of these important staging
habitats in South Korea.
Decrease in captures of Redshank coming
from the Baltic and the UK on the
French Atlantic coast
Vincent Lelong 1 * , Pierrick Bocher 2 , Frédéric Robin 1 ,
Pierre Rousseau 1 & Philippe Delaporte 1
1
Réserve Naturelle Nationale de Moëze-Oléron,
Ferme de Plaisance, 17 780 Saint-Froult, France
2
Laboratory Littoral Environnement et Sociétés UMR LIENSs
7266 CNRS-University of La Rochelle, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges,
17000 La Rochelle, France, * vincent.lelong@lpo.fr
In the middle of the French Atlantic coast, the Pertuis Charentais
is known to be important for migrating and wintering
waders. Redshanks Tringa totanus mainly use the area during
migration (peak count 4,400 in Aug 2010). The present study
explores the history of the use of French Atlantic coast by
Redshank. Our analysis is based on the regional database of
metal ring recoveries (1956–2000) and on the colour-ring
programme based in the Nature Reserve of Moëze-Oléron
(2001–2011). Our analysis shows that from 1956 to 2000,
there was a decline in the number of Redshanks in catch
samples coming from the UK and the Baltic Sea region (–2%
and –10 % per decade respectively), while those from the
Netherlands and Germany have increased by 6%. This appears
to be confirmed by the results of colour-ringing over the
past decade which show that most of the birds ringed during
2000–2010 in Moëze were resighted in the Netherlands and
Germany (92 and 7 individuals respectively) while very few
were resighted in the UK (3) or Baltic (2). These results raise
the question: Has there been less resighting and ringing effort
in the Baltic region and the UK, or does this reflect a decline
in the population in those areas?
The role of snow after a
lemming peak year in Lapland
Paula Machín 1,2 & Juan Fernández-Elipe 1
1
Department of Biodiversity and Conservation, Lund University,
Sweden; machinpaula@gmail.com
2
Department of Animal Ecology, Universidad Complutense de
Madrid, Spain
After five years of studies in the Swedish tundra, this year
we witnessed the oddest and most dramatic breeding season
in all of our experience. A crash in the lemming population
combined with very late snow-melt resulted in the least successful
breeding season for waders in our study site. With
only around 10% of wader nests hatching and in some species
not even 5% we were astonished at how lemmings and snow
cover modulated and controlled the fate of the ground nesting
birds. Hopefully our observations of these strong influences
will help us to understand the mechanisms and patterns of the
tundra ecosystem. In this poster we show the effects of both
factors in each year of our study.
Seasonal variation and infection status of
potential vectors of avian malaria and
West Nile virus in the Tejo and Sado estuaries
Luísa Mendes 1 * , Sara Pardal 1 , Hugo Osório 2 ,
Líbia Zézé 2 , Maria João Alves 2 , Javier Pérez-Tris 3 &
Jaime Ramos 1
1
Imar – Institute of Marine Research (IMAR/CMA),
Departement of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra,
Apartado 3046, 3001-401 Coimbra, Portugal
2
Center for Vectors and Infectious Diseases Research Doutor
Francisco Cambournac, National Institute of Health
Dr. Ricardo Jorge, I.P., Av. Liberdade n°5,
Apartado 2965-575 Águas de Moura, Portugal
3
Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física,
Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense,
28040 Madrid, Spain, University of Badajoz
* lcgmendes@hotmail.com
To assess the risk of vector-borne pathogens in two important
Portuguese wetlands, we looked at the following factors: 1)
vector environmental availability and 2) vector infection
rate. During two consecutive years, we sampled seeking
mosquitoes in habitats used by shorebirds, the rice fields and
the saltpans of the Tagus and Sado estuaries, and determined
if these potential vectors were infected either with West Nile
virus or avian malaria. Our samples were dominated by three
species of mosquitoes, Culex theileri, Ochlerotatus caspius
and Cx. pipiens, all potential vectors of West Nile virus and
two (the Culex mosquitoes) already described as vectors of
avian malaria. Vector abundance was only high between
May and October, with peak numbers in July and August,
suggesting this to be the period when transmission could be
higher. However, when analyzed for infectious status through
polimerase chain reaction (PCR), none of the mosquito pools
were positive for either West Nile virus or avian malaria,
suggesting that even at high mosquito abundance, the risk
of transmission of these pathogens is low in the mild south-
European wetlands.
Dynamic relationships in wader nest site
selection in a high Arctic environment
Loïc Pellisier 1 , Antoine Guisan 1 , Mary S. Wisz 2,3 , Niels
Martin Schmidt 2 , Jannik Hansen 2 & Hans Meltofte 2
1
University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
2
Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark;
jannikh@jannikh.dk
3
Greenland Climate Research Centre, Greenland Institute of
Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland
Species distribution models (SDMs) relate field occurrences
to environmental parameters to produce so-called suitability
maps. By definition, to be suitable the environment for a species
should sustain stable populations over time. Yet the relationship
between suitability scores and demography has rarely
been tested thoroughly. Using 13 years of data (1997–2010)
on three wader species (Dunlin Calidris alpina, Sanderling
C. alba and Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres) collected
in the Zackenberg valley in NE Greenland, we tested the
relationships between modelled suitability and fitness parameters
at nesting locations, and how these relationships
vary with snow cover each year. Among the three

224 Wader Study Group Bulletin 119(3) 2012
species examined, only Ruddy Turnstone exhibited significant
relationships between suitability and year-to-year variability
in nest success and nest initiation date. During years with
extensive snow cover in the landscape, the nesting sites of
Ruddy Turnstone were in habitats with a lower suitability
compared to the average estimated across all years. During
those years Ruddy Turnstones initiated their nests later and
suffered higher egg predation. Our results suggest that SDMs
derived from species occurrences that include years of low
reproductive success may overestimate potentially suitable
habitat, and this may limit their utility in predicting the likely
response of species to environmental change.
Long-term trends of wader populations
in the Gulf of Morbihan:
are the protected areas relevant?
Lionel Picard 1 , Guillaume Gélinaud 2 & Roger Mahéo 3
1
ONCFS, Réserve Nationale de Chasse et de Faune Sauvage du
Golfe du Morbihan, 8 rue du Commerce, 56000 Vannes France
2
Bretagne Vivante-SEPNB, Réserve Naturelle des marais de Séné,
route de Brouel, 56860 Séné, France
3
Comité scientifique Ramsar Golfe du Morbihan,
34 rue de Brocéliande, 56000 Vannes, France
In a context of increasing human activities along the coast,
migratory waders could be affected by disturbance or degradation
of their foraging and roosting areas. A network of
protected areas has been established along the Atlantic coast
of France in the main sites for migrating or wintering waterbirds
during the last 40 years. Nevertheless, the question of
the relevance to these protected sites needs to be asked: are
they protecting efficiently the wader populations? In Gulf of
Morbihan, a site of international importance for wintering
Pied Avocet, Dunlin and Black-tailed Godwit, supporting
>30,000 waders in mid-winter, different kinds of protected
areas have been established since the 1960s. These protected
areas share a ban on hunting and currently represent 58%
of the 13,000 ha of shallow water, intertidal mudflats, saltmarshes
and lagoons. Waders have been monitored monthly
for the past 30 years. The study compares long-term trends
in wintering numbers of 6 species, and their use of protected
areas as foraging and roosting habitats. The results show
that numbers of Pied Avocets, Black-tailed Godwits and
Eurasian Curlews that use mainly protected areas at both low
and high tide are increasing. Populations of Ringed Plover,
Grey Plover and Dunlin are declining. These species forage
mainly in protected areas, but most of their high-tide roosts
are not protected.
Duration of stay and body-mass increase of
Dunlin Calidris alpina during
northward migration in S Belarus
Pavel Pinchuk & Natalia Karlionova
Institute of Zoology NAS Belarus, Minsk, Belarus;
ppinchuk@mail.ru
We present data about the migratory strategy of Dunlin
Calidris alpina on the Pripyat River floodplain in S Belarus
based on trapping studies.
Spring passage lasted for more than a month, starting
in the last ten days of April and continuing until the end of
May. Stopover duration was calculated from retrap data (i.e.
from birds that were caught more than once in a season).
Altogether 87 Dunlin were caught two or more times in a
season; the mean period between captures was 7 days, the
maximum was 36 days.
Over the ten spring seasons of Apr–May 2002–2012
we took the body mass of 632 Dunlins. Mean body mass
varied significantly between years (K-W test 9, 729
= 134.5,
p < 0.0001). When Dunlins arrived in the Pripyat Valley they
had relatively low body mass (about 44 g). Mean body mass
increased and reached >70 g at the end of May. We calculated
growth of body mass by two methods (data from retrapped
birds and from all birds caught); these gave very similar results
(means of 0.65 g day –1 and 0.62 g day –1 respectively).
On the basis of body-mass and stopover-duration data we
consider that, for at least a substantial proportion of Dunlin,
the middle Pripyat Valley is probably the last stopover site
before they fly to their breeding grounds.
Spatial distribution of waders and benthic
resources as a management tool
Alain Ponsero, Anthony Sturbois,
Alicia Simonin & Clara Morey-Rubio
National Nature Reserve of Saint-Brieuc Bay;
anthony.sturbois@espaces-naturels.fr
The National Nature Reserve of Saint-Brieuc Bay, located
in the north of Brittany, is a site of international importance
for wintering birds. The nature reserve (1,140 ha) borders a
sandy foreshore of 2,900 ha. The diversity and abundance
of birds present in intertidal coastal ecosystems are closely
related to the type, density and the accessibility of prey, and
the sediment characteristics. The macrofauna and sediment
characteristics were studied in Oct 2010 and Mar 2011, using
a regular sampling network of 131 stations 500m apart and
covering the whole of the 2,900 ha intertidal area. A study of
the distribution and activity of six wader species took place
during the winters of 2010/11 and 2011/12. For each flock of
birds, we determined the proportion of roosting and feeding
birds. The position of the flocks was determined with laser
range-finder binoculars which measure distance and viewing
angle. The position of the observer was obtained with a
GPS unit, and the position of the birds was calculated using
trigonometry. It was then possible to map the usage of the
foreshore by birds in time and space. In order to further understand
the predator–prey system, we mapped both the main
feeding areas of the birds and their benthic food resources.
For example, we showed a very close relationship between
the distribution of Eurasian Oystercatchers Haematopus ostralegus
at low tide and Cockles Cerastoderma edule whose
size exceeds 20 mm, and between Red Knots and Thin Tellin
Tellina tenuis. This study allows managers to determine those
areas that are important to major bird conservation issues. It
also evaluates the impact of disturbances on the birds’ use of
the areas that are identified as being important to them. The
next step will focus on potential feeding habitat compared
with the habitat that is currently exploited by the birds. We
will also study the compatibility of the complex benthic
resources/birds/human activities system.

IWSG Annual Conference
225
Effect of incubating parents on nest predation
risk in Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus
Katerina Rezacova, Vaclav Zamecnik & Miroslav E. Salek
Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences,
Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamycka, 129,
CZ–165 21 Prague 6, Czech Republic; salek@fzp.czu.cz
Northern Lapwings breed in open places where incubating
parents are easily detectable by avian predators which use
elevated points as perches when searching for prey. There
is no evidence, however, that avian predators directly attack
incubating lapwings to steal their eggs; rather, the lapwings
actively defend their nests and expel intruders from the territories.
Therefore, egg predators might aim to take the eggs
at a time when the parents are absent from the nests as that
strategy might increase the predator’s hunting success.
Using plastic dummies of Northern Lapwings and artificial
nests baited with quail eggs, we tested this predation tactic
on 11 lapwing breeding grounds in the Czech Republic. We
arranged 84 trials of simultaneously installed nest pairs; two
e f
artificial nests were placed 40 m apart in the same habitat and
at the same distance from the nearest perch. In the early morning,
the nests were supplied with clutches of four quail eggs
and on one nest we fixed a dummy lapwing. After 10–12 h
the dummies were removed. We then checked nest fates after
48 h. Seven clutches (3.6%) were lost to predation before
removal of the dummy. The effects of dummy, habitat and
perch distance on nest-fate (robbed or survived) were tested
using a mixed-effect model where the breeding grounds and
trials were stated as random effects. Previous presence of the
dummy was the most significant predictor of nest predation
risk (17.2% predation events at nests that had previously had
a dummy versus 6.9% at nests that had never had a dummy).
In addition, habitat significantly influenced predation risk, as
predation was higher in habitats with uniform vegetation. The
effect of perch distance was not significant. We concluded
that visually oriented predators can use memory for timing a
delayed first visit to a nest where incubating adults had been
observed previously and probably use this tactic to avoid
conflicts with incubating parents.
Welcome to Wilhelmshaven!
The IWSG Conference 2013 will be held at Wilhelmshaven, Germany, over 27–30
September 2013. The conference will be organised by a team led by IWSG General
Secretary, Gregor Scheiffarth. The organising institutions will be the National Park
Administration of the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea, the Institute for Avian Research
and the Landscape Ecology Group, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences,
University of Oldenburg. The conference will be organised back-to-back with the
annual meeting of the Waterbird Society which will take place over 24–29 September.
Therefore, the schedule will be different from the usual schedule of IWSG conferences.
The excursions on Friday 27 September and the talks on Saturday 28 September will
be organised jointly with the Waterbird Society. The IWSG AGM will take place on
Sunday 29 September. Monday 30 September will be a day for IWSG workshops.
News of the 2013 conference will be posted on the conference pages of the IWSG
website (www.waderstudygroup.org). Enquiries about the conference should be sent
to conf2013@waderstudygroup.org.