Md. Foysal & Sayam U. Chowdhury
Along with monthly monitoring of shorebirds on Sonadia Island, Bangladesh Spoon-billed Sandpiper Conservation Project (BSCP) conducts surveys in previously unsurveyed areas such as the Sundarbans (2012). As part of the new area search BSCP carried out a detailed survey around Sandwip, Chittagong between 3 and 11 February 2015. A total of 35,000 shorebirds of 24 species were counted including 21 Spoon-billed Sandpipers including two color-flagged (Black-Yellow; Lime-Green).
The most abundant species were Lesser Sand Plover (14,000), Greater Sand Plover (5,000) and Curlew Sandpiper (3,500). Among globally Near Threatened species Eurasian Curlew (320), Black-tailed Godwit (200) and Black-headed Ibis (25) were seen.
No major threat to the important sites was observed during the survey apart from small-scale fishing. As the area is as important as Sonadia Island, a detailed assessment on the status of each of sites will be carried out in November 2015 and February 2016 by BSCP.
Photo: Sonadia Island, Cox’s Bazar | BSCP/Sayam U. Chowdhury
Several sites were found important for shorebirds within the yellow circle.
Black-Yellow SBS
Spoon-billed Sandpipers
Large number of shorebirds
BSCP/Nazim Uddin Prince
BSCP/M. Abdullah Abu Diyan (all six photos above)
To find out more about Spoon-billed Sandpiper, please visit our SBS Task Force page.
