The importance of artificial roosts for migratory shorebirds

Project 5.1.1 Australia has 37 species of migratory shorebirds. They breed in boreal and arctic areas of Russia, Mongolia, northern China and Alaska before migrating 12,000-14,000km to spend their non-breeding season in Australia during our summer. Australia’s shorebirds are part of a migration route called the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Millions of shorebirds journey through this flyway annually. Many make their first southward migration to Australia when only a few months old. A recent analysis of data spanning 1973-2014 showed population decreases in 12 migratory shorebirds species in Australia. Since 2015 eight species or subspecies have been listed or have had their conservation status uplisted under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.