The Pacific coastline of Chile is over 4000 km long and is used by numerous Nearctic and Neotropical shorebirds. To date, there are five WHSRN sites in Chile. Bahía Lomas, in the eastern mouth of the Strait of Magellan, is the most important wintering site for Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa) in South America, but Chile’s other four WHSRN sites are all on the Pacific coast. Three are sites of regional importance (Humedal del Río Lluta, Desembocadura y Estuario del Río Maipo, and Humedales de Maullín), and one is a site of Hemispheric importance (Humedales Orientales de Chiloé). These sites were designated primarily for their importance to the Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) and Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus).
In order to better understand distribution and abundance of non-breeding shorebirds along the Pacific coast in Chile, and to find additional key sites for shorebirds, a comprehensive shorebird survey was implemented in January 2014. The project was part of a regional survey along both the Chilean and Peruvian coast and was financed by the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA). The protocol used for the survey was based on a Peruvian coastal shorebird survey carried out in 2010, which was implemented with the help of over 150 volunteer observers and which led to the publication of the Atlas de las Aves Playeras del Perú (Senner and Angulo 2014). The 2014 surveys in Chile and Peru gathered nearly 300 volunteers to survey more than 200 wetland and beach sites and count more than 50,000 shorebirds.
Following the example of the Peruvian atlas, the surveys in Chile led to the publication of the Chilean Shorebird Atlas. Atlas de las aves playeras de Chile (García-Walther, J., Senner, N. R., Norambuena, H.V. & F. Schmitt. 2017) includes data on the distribution of 30 Nearctic and Neotropical shorebird species, collected from a total of 54 rocky and sandy beaches and 46 wetland sites. The surveys revealed a total of 12 new sites that could qualify as WHSRN sites of Regional Importance. To be nominated at this level, a site must support at least 1% of the biogeographic population for a species. Species that reached this threshold in the Chile surveys include two Nearctic shorebirds (Hudsonian Godwit Limosa haemastica and Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus) and three Neotropical shorebirds (Collared Plover Charadrius collaris, “Peruvian” Snowy Plover C. nivosus occidentalis, and American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus). Results from the Chilean surveys led to the recognition of the earlier mentioned “Desembocadura y Estuario del Río Maipo” as a WHSRN site of Regional Importance and the Desembocadura del Río Choapa as a Ramsar site.
Volunteers conducting shorebird surveys for the Chilean Shorebird Atlas. Fotos: Heraldo Norambuena.
In December 2017, representatives from WHSRN, the University of Santo Tomas, and Chile’s Network of Bird and Wildlife Observers (ROC) met with Chile’s Minister of the Environment, Marcelo Mena Carrasco, to present him with a copy of the Chilean Shorebird Atlas. In the meeting, they discussed how the Atlas can now serve as a baseline for future shorebird work in Chile, and stressed the importance of implementing official protection for the critical sites identified in the surveys. Mena Carrasco expressed that the Chilean Ministry of the Environment is committed to conserving wetlands as key ecosystems to tackle climate change, and declaring protected areas to safeguard critical habitats for shorebirds and other species at risk. To read more about their meeting with the Minister of the Environment, click here.
Carmen Espoz, Diego Luna Quevedo, and Rodrigo Barros present the Atlas to Chile’s Minister of the Environment. Foto: Diego Luna Quevedo.
Both the Shorebird Atlas of Peru and Shorebird Atlas of Chile show that comprehensive shorebird surveys are a great tool for identifying important shorebird sites. They stimulate interest in shorebirds at a broad level, and provide opportunities to engage new volunteers in citizen science. Building on these successes, in January 2019 the WHSRN Executive office will coordinate a comprehensive shorebird survey along the entire coastline of Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil with funds from the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservancy Act (NMBCA). Stay tuned for future WHSRN News articles about this project!
