Movements and Migration

Natal Philopatry and Dispersal

Information needed.

Adult Fidelity to Breeding Site and Dispersal

Generally, the species is site-faithful on the breeding grounds, with c. 66% of adults returning each year (31 Tomkovich, P. S. (1991). Three-year study of breeding Spoon-billed Sandpiper. Asian Wetland News 4:17. Close , 42 Tomkovich, P. S. (1995). Breeding biology and breeding success of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus. Russian Journal of Ornithology 4: 77–91. Close , 33 Zöckler, C., Syroechkovskiy, E.E. and Atkinson, P.W. (2010). Rapid and continued population decline in the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus indicates imminent extinction unless conservation action is taken. Bird Conservation International. 20(2): 95–111. Close , 49 Loktionov, E. Y., R. A. Digby, N. N. Yakushev, I. A. Shepelev, J. P. Clements, P. S. Tomkovich, N. S. Jarrett, N. A. Clark, R. E. Green, E. G. Lappo, and E. E. Syroechkovskiy. (2023). Evaluating the impact of headstarting on the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea. Diversity 15(4):584. Close ).

Fidelity to Overwintering Home Range

Site faithfulness has been observed at regular staging sites in China (16 Chang, Q., T. L. T. Ki, G. Q. A. Anderson, K. Brides, N. A. Clark, J. Ding, K. K. S. Leung, J. Li, D. S. Melville, J. Phillips, E. Weston, Z. Yang, and R. E. Green. (2021). Numbers of Spoon-billed Sandpipers in Jiangsu Province, China, during the post-breeding moult in relation to recent changes in the intertidal zone. Wader Study 128:125–136. Close , 1 Green, R. E., K. K. S. Leung, N. A. Clark, G. Q. A. Anderson, K. Brides, Q. Chang, S. U. Chowdhury, J. A. Clark, M. Foysal, C. Zöckler, Y. Gerasimov, G. A. Gale, N. Iakushev, J. Khamaye, E. Lappo, D. S. Melville, P. S. Tomkovich, E. Weston, J. Weston, and Z. Yang. (2024). New estimate of the trend in world population size of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper suggests continuing decline. Wader Study 131(2): 122–131. Close ) and at several key wintering sites (Ren Naung Sou, personal communication 2023, Bird Conservation Society Thailand 2024, 34 Chowdhury, S. U., M. Foysal, and R. E. Green. (2022). Accelerating decline of an important wintering population of the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea at Sonadia Island, Bangladesh. Journal of Ornithology 163(4):891–901. Close ).

After breeding in the remote tundra of northeastern Russia, the Spoon-billed Sandpiper embarks on a migration route south through coastal East Asia, stopping at critical sites in North Korea and China’s Yellow Sea coast, before continuing to its wintering grounds on the coasts of South and Southeast Asia. The migration cycle is completed when the birds return to their breeding grounds in late May or early June (50 Tomkovich, P. S. (1992). Migration of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus in the Far East of the Russian Federation. Stilt 21:29–33. Close , 30 Zöckler, C., A. E. Beresford, G. Bunting, S. U. Chowdhury, N. A. Clark, V. W. K. Fu, T. H. Hla, V. V. Morozov, E. E. Syroechkovskiy, M. Kashiwagi, E. G. Lappo, M. Tong, T. L. Long, Y.-T. Yu, F. Huettmann, H. K. Akasofu, H. Tomida, and G. M. Buchanan (2016). The winter distribution of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaeus. Bird Conservation International 26:476–489. Close ). The dependence on a small number of critical stopover sites makes the species highly vulnerable to habitat loss along its migratory route.

Post-breeding

By mid-August, nearly all individuals depart their breeding grounds and begin their southward migration along the coast of East Asia, covering distances up to 8,000 km, with stops at critical sites in North Korea and China (51 Menxiu, T., L. Zhang, J. Li, C. Zöckler, and N. A. Clark. (2012). The critical importance of the Rudong mudflats, Jiangsu Province, China, in the annual cycle of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea. Wader Study Group Bulletin 119(3):74. Close , 52 Peng, H. B., G. Q. A. Anderson, Q. Chang, C. Y. Choi, S. U. Chowdhury, N. A. Clark, X. Gan, R. D. Hearn, J. Li, E. G. Lappo, W. Liu, Z. Ma, D. S. Melville, J. F. Phillips, E. E. Syroechkovskiy, M. Tong, S. Wang, L. Zhang, and C. Zöckler (2017). The intertidal wetlands of southern Jiangsu Province, China: Globally important for Spoon-billed Sandpipers and other threatened waterbirds, but facing multiple serious threats. Bird Conservation International 27:305–322 Close , 32 Green, R., N. Clark, G. Anderson, E. Weston, and B. Hughes (2018). Satellite tagging of Spoon-billed Sandpipers reveals the importance of intertidal habitats in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for migration and post-breeding moult. Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force News Bulletin 19:31–33. Close ).

Stopover sites along the migration route play a vital role in the species' survival. The mudflats of the Yellow Sea, particularly in Jiangsu Province, China act as critical bottlenecks, where large numbers of Spoon-billed Sandpiper refuel and molt during migration. Key locations include Tiaozini, Jiangkou, and Dongling, where an estimated 40% of the global population congregates during southbound migration (52 Peng, H. B., G. Q. A. Anderson, Q. Chang, C. Y. Choi, S. U. Chowdhury, N. A. Clark, X. Gan, R. D. Hearn, J. Li, E. G. Lappo, W. Liu, Z. Ma, D. S. Melville, J. F. Phillips, E. E. Syroechkovskiy, M. Tong, S. Wang, L. Zhang, and C. Zöckler (2017). The intertidal wetlands of southern Jiangsu Province, China: Globally important for Spoon-billed Sandpipers and other threatened waterbirds, but facing multiple serious threats. Bird Conservation International 27:305–322 Close , 16 Chang, Q., T. L. T. Ki, G. Q. A. Anderson, K. Brides, N. A. Clark, J. Ding, K. K. S. Leung, J. Li, D. S. Melville, J. Phillips, E. Weston, Z. Yang, and R. E. Green. (2021). Numbers of Spoon-billed Sandpipers in Jiangsu Province, China, during the post-breeding moult in relation to recent changes in the intertidal zone. Wader Study 128:125–136. Close ). The southern Jiangsu coast is particularly important for molting, with Spoon-billed Sandpiper staying for approximately 66 days between August and October to undergo body and primary feather molt (17 Yang, Z., B. J. Lagassé, H. Xiao, M. V. Jackson, C.-Y. Chiang, D. S. Melville, K. S. K. Leung, J. Li, L. Zhang, H.-B. Peng, X. Gan, W.-L. Liu, Z. Ma, and C.-Y. Choi (2020). The southern Jiangsu coast is a critical moulting site for Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea and Nordmann’s Greenshank Tringa guttifer. Bird Conservation International 30(4):649-660 Close ).

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper occurs on passage in North and South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and eastern China, chiefly in September.

Small numbers are recorded overwintering in Myanmar, South China, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam and occasionally Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, eastern India (record of an individual from Frazergunj, West Bengal in April 2018 [ML617552787 ]) (53 Chakraborty, A., S. Tripathi, and B. B. Bhattacharya. (2018). Rediscovery of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea on the coast of West Bengal, India. Indian Birds 14(3): 83–84. Close ) and Sri Lanka (just three records, one of them in summer [ML231986511 ]) (54 Collar, N. J., A. V. Andreev, S. Chan, M. J. Crosby, S. Subramanya, and J. A. Tobias, Editors (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: The BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Close , 55 Darshana, T. W. R. (2018). Rediscovery of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea in Sri Lanka after 496 years. Indian Birds 14(4):111–112. Close ), with one January 2014 record from Cambodia (56 Nielsen, P. H., P. Everingham, S. Suy, and S. P. Mahood (2014). Chinese Egret Egretta eulophotes, Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea and Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis: new for Cambodia. BirdingASIA 22:117–119. Close ), and one satellite tagged bird from Sumatra, Indonesia (ML625383413 ). Large numbers are observed in Bangladesh, where it is present mainly from October–April (up to 257 in 1989, generally many fewer since) (57 Thompson, P. M., W. G. Harvey, D. L. Johnson, D. J. Millin, S. M. A. Rashid, D. A. Scott, C. Stanfield, and J. D. Woolner (1993). Recent notable bird records from Bangladesh. Forktail 9:13–44. Close , 48 Bird, J. P., A. C. Lees, S. U. Chowdhury, R. Martin, and E. Ul Haque (2010). A survey of the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus in Bangladesh and key future research and conservation recommendations. Forktail 26:1–8. Close , 47 Chowdhury, S. U., M. Foysal, M. A. A. Diyan, and S. Ahmed (2018). Discovery of an important wintering site of the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea in the Meghna Estuary, Bangladesh. Bird Conservation International 28:251–262. Close ) and in Myanmar. Distribution models based on field surveys from 2005 and 2013 show key concentrations in Myanmar (main site was the upper part of the Gulf of Mottama, where the total population estimate in 2010 was 160–220), though more recent observations indicate substantial decline with only 40–80 birds wintering in the area (36 Aung, P. P., S. Moses, N. A. Clark, G. Q. A. Anderson, G. M. Hilton, G. M. Buchanan, C. Zöckler, and R. E. Green. (2020). Recent changes in the number of Spoon-billed Sandpipers Calidris pygmaea wintering on the Upper Gulf of Mottama in Myanmar. Oryx 54(1): 23–29. Close ).

Pre-breeding

Migrates north through coastal east Asia chiefly in late April to May, and eastern Russia from late May to early June.

Information needed.

Information needed.