Migratory Shorebirds in Decline at Sandy Hook Bay

For many years people have been enjoying the sight of migratory shorebirds on a late springtime beach. Wave after wave of beautiful varieties of plovers and sandpipers passing through New York Harbor to rest and feed before heading north to nest in the high Arctic for the summer. They come in all shapes and colors, some as small as your hand, a number with bright red hues of feathers or with bold patterns of black, white or ruddy feathers.

Often not solitary fliers, the birds will concentrate in great numbers at estuarine beaches, mudflats, and other coastal stopover sites. They need to rest and refuel. For these birds are unique, they are undertaking some of the longest migrations of any animals, travelling over 9,000 miles in some cases. Migrating between habitats located in different continents, to breed and begin to raise a family among the grasses, lowland lakes, and beaches of the Arctic tundra. Peter Matthiessen, the famous nature writer and world traveler who recently passed away in April 2014 called these interesting migrants “the wind birds” for their beautiful restlessness behavior to be always on the move and flying with the wind.

Mid to late May is typically when numbers of migratory shorebirds peak around New York Harbor, including Sandy Hook Bay and Raritan Bay. Yet this year was different. The birds were increasingly hard to find. Lots of local beaches were empty or nearly vacant of different species of sandpipers and plovers. This was the first time in 30 years of noticing that I have not seen scores of Dunlins, Least Sandpipers, yellowlegs, dowitchers, and other small shorebirds with whimsical names.
 
There is no doubt that our modern society’s relationship with these great flying birds has turned sour over time. More and more populations of shorebirds are declining. One of the great natural tragedies of our time is taking place with little notice.

In recent years the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife has listed the Red Knot as a threatened species in New Jersey and Sanderlings as a species in decline. The International Union for Conservation of Nature also paints a bleak picture. Quite a few global populations of migratory birds are in decline including Semipalmated Sandpipers, Black-bellied Plovers, Short-billed Dowitchers, and Dunlins.  

Most disturbing has become the downfall of the Red Knot, a quite colorful and bulky shorebird with a reddish breast. Bird watchers in North America used to see Red Knots every spring in great numbers. Today only a fraction exists. In the 1980s, experts counted more than 100,000, but over the last 20 years Red Knot numbers have fallen to an estimated 25,000. It’s even worse in New Jersey. In 1989, over 95,000 Red Knots were counted along Delaware Bay, but nearly twenty years later only 12,000 birds were counted.

Yet, this waning of iconic migratory shorebirds didn’t happen overnight. Years of overdevelopment and poorly planned development along the coast has left few good places for the birds to rest and feed. All along New York Harbor you can find degraded saltwater wetland habitat with polluted runoff and often surrounded by encroaching buildings and parking lots. Beaches have become badly eroded and often inundated with garbage and trash. Human disturbances, such as people walking pets, tend to cause stress and provide little time for tired birds to rest.

Another major threat to shorebird populations in New York Harbor has been the lack of food, especially from the declining abundance of Horseshoe Crab eggs, the primary food source for many migratory shorebirds. Since numerous migratory shorebirds have beaks that cannot dig into the sand to forage for food, they depend on an profusion of mating Horseshoe Crabs to lay hundreds of thousands of eggs.  Buried eggs will move to the surface through wave action and repeated “digging” by countless other Horseshoe Crabs to provide an easy, quick, and superrich fatty food  for the birds to gain weight and have the energy needed to continue their winged migration for another two thousand miles or more to the Arctic.

Northward migration is a critical time for migratory shorebirds. They have a very tight schedule and need to arrive at their breeding grounds on time and in good health in order  to nest and raise a family during a short breeding season of only about two to three months. Quick and easy feeding conditions and safe roosting sites on the way are essential for successful populations of migratory shorebirds.

Don’t be fooled into thinking the birds will always be here. They can easily disappear within a matter of years. Take the plight of the Eskimo Curlew, a beautiful migratory shorebird that has now become almost certainly extinct within my lifetime. Despite a once vast population, the Eskimo Curlew began to decline due to over-hunting in just a 20-year period. The bird was rarely seen after 1890, and the last official reported sighting of the Eskimo Curlew was in 1962. This unique bird is now gone forever due to poor planning and protection with little publicity or media attention.

Let’s hope that our existing migratory shorebirds will not be sorely missed like the Eskimo Curlew. If you wish to help, please start by protecting beaches and habitat for spawning Horseshoe Crabs. You can find more information here: http://www.horseshoecrab.org/act/act.html

To get more involved with protecting local bird populations, join New York City Audubon or New Jersey Audubon. To help clean up the harbor and increase open spaces, consider joining the New York-New Jersey Baykeeper.

Hopefully, with greater awareness and public support, coupled with increased conservation efforts, the beautiful wind birds of New York Harbor will continue to fill the beaches and skies for many spring season to come.

For more information, pictures and year-round sightings of wildlife in or near Sandy Hook Bay, Raritan Bay, and Lower New York Bay, please check out my blog entitled, Nature on the Edge of New York City at http://natureontheedgenyc.blogspot.com/