Spoon-billed sandpiper

Taxonomy

Platalea pygmea was the scientific name proposed by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. It was moved to Eurynorhynchus by Sven Nilsson in 1821. It is now classified under the calidrid sandpipers.

Description

The most distinctive feature of this species is its spatulate bill. The breeding adult bird has a red-brown head, neck and breast with dark brown streaks, blackish upperparts with buff and pale rufous fringing. Non-breeding adults lack the reddish colouration, but have pale brownish-grey upperparts with whitish fringing to the wing-coverts. The underparts are white and the legs are black. It is 14–16 cm long.

The measurements are; wing 98–106 mm, bill 19–24 mm, bill tip breadth 10–12 mm, tarsus 19–22 mm and tail 37–39 mm.

The contact calls of the spoon-billed sandpiper include a quiet preep or a shrill wheer. The song, given during display, is an intermittent buzzing and descending trill preer-prr-prr. The display flight of the male includes brief hovers, circling and rapid diving while singing.

Distribution and habitat

The spoon-billed sandpiper's breeding habitat is sea coasts and adjacent hinterland on the Chukchi Peninsula and southwards along the isthmus of the Kamchatka Peninsula. It migrates down the Pacific coast through Japan, Korea and China, to its main wintering grounds in south and southeast Asia, where it has been recorded from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.

Through phylogenetic analyses for the complete mitogenome sequence, South Korean and Chinese C. pygmaea groups were indicated to be closely related to Arenaria interpres because of the similarity in the series of protein-coding genes.

In March 2024, a spoon-billed sandpiper was sighted in the Philippines at Balanga, Bataan mudflat.

Behaviour and ecology

Its feeding style consists of a side-to-side movement of the bill as the bird walks forward with its head down. This species nests in June–July on coastal areas in the tundra, choosing locations with grass close to freshwater pools.

Conservation

This bird is critically endangered, with a current population of fewer than 2500 – probably fewer than 1000 – mature individuals. The main threats to its survival are habitat loss on its breeding grounds and loss of tidal flats through its migratory and wintering range. A 2010 study suggests that hunting in Burma by traditional bird trappers is a primary cause of the decline.

Protected areas in its staging and wintering areas include Yancheng in China, Mai Po Marshes in Hong Kong and Point Calimere and Chilka lake in India. As of 2016, the global spoon-billed sandpiper population was estimated at 240–456 mature individuals or at maximum 228 pairs.

Formerly classified as an Endangered species by the IUCN, The population was estimated at only 120–200 pairs in 2009–2010, perhaps indicating an 88% decline since 2002 equating to an annual rate of decline of 26%. Land reclamation of the Saemangeum estuary in South Korea removed an important migration staging point, and hunting on the important wintering grounds in Burma has emerged as a serious threat. This species may become extinct in 10–20 years.

In November 2011, thirteen spoon-billed sandpipers arrived at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) reserve in Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom to start a breeding programme. The birds hatched from eggs collected in remote northeastern Russian tundra earlier and spent 60 days in Moscow Zoo in quarantine in preparation for the 8,000 km journey. Artificial incubation and captive rearing, termed headstarting, were expected to increase survival rates from less than 25% to over 75%, and the removal of eggs was expected to lead to a second clutch reared by the parents. In 2019, almost a decade since the rescue mission, the two birds were first to be born in a UK spoon-billed sandpiper ark. In 2013, conservationists hatched twenty chicks in Chukotka.

An education kit for teaching about the bird and about environmental conservation (in English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese and Burmese) is being used to help wetland conservation in the countries it inhabits.

On 15 September 2025, the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau of Nantong City released a draft plan entitled Detailed Planning for the Tongzhou Bay Demonstration Zone for public consultation.https://www.nantong.gov.cn/ntsrmzf/gtkjgh/content/d724aa95-b502-4ea9-a35b-155a5074bdb0.html The plan designates plots TZW-10 and TZW-11—identified by conservationists as important stopover sites for migratory shorebirds including the spoon-billed sandpiper—as areas for a port logistics base and industrial use. Environmental groups and members of the public expressed concern that such development could adversely affect local wildlife and habitats, as the document does not specify corresponding protection or mitigation measures. According to Jianghai Evening News, coastal wetlands along Nantong, including Xiaoyangkou, Fengli, Dongling, Tongzhou Bay, Li’a Mountain and the northern branch of the Yangtze estuary, lie on the East Asian–Australasian Flyway and provide stopover sites for nearly 80 species and hundreds of thousands of migratory waterbirds each year. Among them, thirteen species of shorebirds—including the spoon-billed sandpiper, little stint and bar-tailed godwit—exceed 1% of their global populations as estimated in the fifth edition of Waterbird Population Estimates (WPE5), meeting the criteria of the Ramsar Convention for wetlands of international importance.

References

References

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18. (2019). "Extinction: A million species at risk, so what is saved?".
19. (2021-08-11). "Spoon-billed Sandpiper Teaching Kit for school teachers and education leaders".
20. https://weibo.com/1323527941/5222434183319861