A team of Manomet Shorebird Conservation and Research scientists is working in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  For the past five years, Manomet has been working there to document how opening the Refuge to oil development would affect shorebirds. Manomet is particularly concerned because shorebirds concentrate on the Arctic Refuge coastal plain, where drilling has been proposed. Manomet is taking a leadership role in one of the most hotly debated environmental topics of recent years.

Although there have been some studies about the effects of oil drilling on mammals like caribou and polar bears, there is limited reliable scientific information on the effects on birds—and almost none on shorebirds, many species of which are in serious decline. Seven of the 14 species of shorebirds that breed on the coastal plain are listed as species of high conservation concern, including American Golden-Plover, Whimbrel, Bar-Tailed Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Buff-Breasted Sandpiper, Dunlin (arctic subspecies), and Red-Necked Phalarope. Working in cooperation with research, government, industry, and conservation groups, Manomet’s project is focused on developing habitat protection and management protocols on the North Slope. This year, Manomet will work with partners to complete a survey of the entire coast for staging shorebirds. This has never been attempted before. “We are excited by the opportunity to make this important contribution, determining how many shorebirds use the coastline of the Refuge as their staging areas before departing on their long southward migrations” says Manomet’s Director of Shorebird Research & Conservation, Stephen Brown, who is leading the fieldwork in the Refuge.

Manomet provides information, research results, and technical assistance to a broad variety of organizations that are working to prevent oil development in ANWR. Groups that have expressed enthusiasm for adding the conservation of shorebirds to their campaigns include Alaska Audubon, The National Wildlife Federation, The Wilderness Society, the Alaska Wilderness League, and the Alaska Coalition.

In addition, there are an estimated 20-70 million birders in the United States, many of whom are not directly involved in efforts to protect the Refuge because they are unaware of its value for breeding birds. Manomet’s goal is to bring greater focus on the importance of the coastal plain and inspire birders to get involved in efforts to protect the Refuge. Manomet will create a new book called Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with Subhankar Banerjee that will be a companion to his Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land. Subhankar Banerjee will participate in some of Manomet’s field expedition this year, taking photos for this new book. Other book collaborators include renowned photographer Arthur Morris and noted bird artist/naturalist David Sibley.

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Likely Record-Setting Recovery of Shorebird Banded 20 Years Ago.

Shorebirds are hemispheric globetrotters whose long-distance and far-flung migrations present enormous challenges to the researchers who study them. By placing small, unobtrusive bands in different color combinations on the legs of birds, scientists are able to identify and track individual birds. This allows scientists to determine migration routes, population dynamics, and survival rates of birds.

“Absolutely amazing” were the words of Brian Harrington, a senior scientist at Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences (www.manomet.org), who led the research team that first banded the bird in Brazil more than 20 years ago. According to Harrington, Patrick and Doris Leary discovered the banded bird while conducting shorebird surveys from Florida’s Bird Islands to Fort George Inlet. The Learys reported sighting a knot with “a strange gray-colored marker” to Harrington by email, who was able to confirm through photos that this bird was one banded by his team in 1984. At the time of banding the bird was already an adult, so Harrington has been able to conclude that the bird is at least 21 years old.

This bird has “clocked” almost 400,000 migration miles over the course of its lifetime. “It is a champion migrant,” Harrington said, noting that even though this species is known for its remarkable flights, this particular bird has an exceptional story. “By its 13th birthday, this Red Knot, weighing only about 4.5 ounces, had migrated a distance equal to the moon and back.”

The fuel for migration flights of knots typically is accumulated as fat at migration stopover locations, the most famous of which include San Antonio Oeste in Argentina, Lagoa do Peixe in Brazil, and Delaware Bay in the United States. Each year an individual knot will gain and lose an amount of fat roughly three to four times greater than its body weight. Put in terms of a hundred and fifty pound human being, the marked knot from Florida likely had gained and lost 300 pounds of fat a year, or 6,300 pounds over the last 21 years!

Harrington, who authored the book, The Flight of the Red Knot, published in 1996, chose to study knots because of their extraordinary migrations (between the southern tip of South America and the Arctic Circle), and because knots would well-illustrate many of the conservation issues he wanted to document--such as their requirement for essential migration stopover locations like Delaware Bay.

Individuals like Pat and Doris Leary play an important role in shorebird conservation. They volunteer to collect the kinds of information that researchers and conservationists need for sound conservation planning. In the Florida case, the Learys have been searching for knots marked with plastic bands in Argentina, Chile and the United States, and sharing their findings with Manomet and other shorebird research projects managed by the states of Georgia, Delaware and New Jersey, and facilitated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

”It gives us great joy to provide this ‘gift’ of data to one who has dedicated a lifetime to the study and conservation of Red Knots,” said the Learys in the spirited exchange of email they’ve had with Harrington since the sighting. “We know how rewarding such distant news can be when seeking insight into a marked bird. We also value the long-distance relationships we have developed with so many researchers and we are always pleased to contribute toward the greater knowledge of all species.”

As one of the nation's oldest independent environmental research organizations, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences conducts original research on natural systems and wildlife. Manomet uses science to bring people together and guide them in the development of practical strategies that improve conditions for wildlife, habitats and people.