ⓒ Global Wader

The Global Wader is an initiative by the International Wader Study Group in partnership with Movebank.

Owing to recent advancements in tracking technology, our understanding of shorebird migration and behaviour is expanding rapidly, but while much tracking data is shared within the scientific community after each study concludes, its potential impact goes far beyond individual research projects. A core mission of Global Wader is to maintain an up-to-date, accessible Registry of shorebird tracking data, as well as to promote best practices in data management and long-term storage. By cataloguing project metadata, Global Wader aims to help scientists, trackers, and conservationists to connect and collaborate on studies with shared goals. Currently, Global Wader includes over 100 studies, with more than 50 million data points, and has facilitated collaborations, which go from partnering with, promoting and supporting specific projects, to establishing links by providing the contacts of owners of potentially relevant data to the data requesters.

Please note that Global Wader does not store tracking data itself, which Global Wader advises that should be done on Movebank. Instead, Global Wader catalogues the associated metadata, providing a gateway for researchers to discover existing datasets and explore potential partnerships. Data ownership and control remains in all cases with data owners, as explicitly defined in Global Wader’s data agreement form.

If you have tracking data on shorebirds, we invite you to contribute to this initiative. For more information, visit www.globalwader.org, or reach out to us at [email protected]