Sandpipers go with the flow: Correlations between estuarine conditions and shorebird abundance at an important stopover on the Pacific Flyway.

ABSTRACT: Estuaries of major rivers provide important stopover habitat for migratory birds throughout the world. These estuaries experience large amounts of freshwater inputs from spring runoff. Understanding how freshwater inputs affect food supply for migrating birds, and how birds respond to these changes will be essential for effective conservation of critical estuarine habitats. We estimated trends over time in counts of Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri) and Pacific Dunlin (Calidris alpina pacifica) during northward migration on the Fraser River estuary, British Columbia, Canada, where shorebirds feed extensively on intertidal biofilm and invertebrates. We also examined whether counts were correlated with a suite of environmental variables related to local conditions (precipitati

SUBMITTER: Canham R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7981218 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature