Migratory shorebirds are one of the fastest declining groups of North American avifauna, suffering an estimated population decline of 40% since 1970. As an obligate grassland shorebird and long-distance migrant, the Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis) is a species of global conservation concern that uses the Texas Gulf Coastal Plain during southbound and northbound migrations.

Buff-breasted Sandpipers migrate from their breeding grounds on the Arctic tundra through Canada and United States to a narrow region near the Atlantic Ocean in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, where they spend the winter. They complete their annual migration by returning to the Arctic the following spring.

About Our Speakers:

Tara Rodkey is a Master’s degree graduate student at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M University - Kingsville.

Kelli Stone is the USFWS Region 2 Migratory Bird Biologist in charge of shorebirds in the region