What’s New? 

MSP+ Science to Action, the New Grantmaking Program for Shorebirds in America Latina  

Point Blue piloted a fledgling grants program in 2023:  MSP+ Science to Action

A familiar salt farm included good practice to benefits shorbirds in Guatemala.

This program is a new source of funding to support shorebird and wetland conservation in Latin America, and has been built on the foundation of over 13 years of our collaborative science and conservation action network, the Migratory Shorebird Project (MSP).

During the pilot phase of MSP+ in 2023, many of the MSP partners in Latin America submitted conceptual proposals and the MSP+ Program was able to issue five grants. These grants supported activities related to using data to inform conservation actions, a project led by ROC in Chile; the link between shorebirds and good practices in salt ponds in Guatemala and shrimp farms in Nicaragua, projects led by FUNDAECO and Quetzalli in their respective countries; the power of citizen actions supported by SalvaNATURA in El Salvador; and capacity building for local and indigenous leadership in nature management in Bahía de Kino, Mexico, led by Prescott College Kino Bay Center.

If you want to know more about this program, and the launch of the new round please visit

Toolkit to address Human Disturbance on Shorebirds in Latin America

We developed a set of tools designed to address human disturbance on shorebirds and their habitats to promote the recovery of shorebird populations that are declining in the Americas. This toolkit compiles a variety of on-going conservation projects occurring in Latin America, using diverse methodologies that encompass human dimensions.

We gathered information from 28 projects who have developed actions to mitigate these threats in 11 countries across the Americans featuring efforts from Latin America (see interactive map). We documented six success case studies, five in shorebird important sites in Mexico, Canada, Ecuador, and Chile, and one at the level of the Pacific and Atlantic Flyways. We achieved an annotated bibliography for 31 scientific research papers, academic theses, and reports; a tool that synthesizes the main context of each document findings and includes management recommendations from the authors.

This set of tools contributes to the international efforts of the Pacific Shorebird Conservation Initiative and the Migratory Shorebird Project to advance conservation actions and impact mitigation on shorebirds.

Download the Toolkit in the Resources section in the Spanish Version.

If you want to share the Press Release in your organization’s website, or on social networks, download it HERE.

Migratory Shorebird Project 2022-2023 Annual Progress Report now available!

Click here for the 2022-2023 Report

General developments

Mantagua © Red de observadores de aves de Chile -ROC

Completed 13th year of surveys at most sites (November 2022 – February 2023) in North America, 9th year in Central America, and the 11th year in South America.

• • Finalized a new 10-year strategy for the Migratory Shorebird Project in collaboration with all partners.
  • Finalized first formal communication strategy for the Migratory Shorebird Project.
  • Data collected by >564 volunteers, researchers, and local communities at >200 sites (>2000 survey units).
  • Contributed the new recreational disturbance tool kit for the Pacific Americas Flyway.
  • MSP data supported the designation of at least 7 new Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network sites, since 2021.
  • Developed models to understand (1) changes in shorebirds habitats during the last 20 years, (2) trends for 21 species across the Pacific Americas Flyway, (3) distribution and habitat use of shorebirds in Guatemala, and (4) temporal trends in shorebirds in Ecuasal salt works in Ecuador.
  • Supported students and fellows: 5 master’s degree students, 1 undergraduate student and 5 Coastal Solution Fellows are using MSP data to complete their research or support decision-making.
  • Coordinated a symposium focused on the MSP at the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Group Meeting helped virtually in September 2022: 10 years of stories connecting communities through research and conservation with the Migratory Shorebird Project. Eleven presentations of the science of MSP were delivered by partners representing 9 countries.

MSP Science

Two new papers were published with analyses using MSP data: 

Winter population trends and environmental drivers for three species of temperate shorebirds. 

Estefanía I. Muñoz-Salas, Eduardo Palacios, Lucía Alfaro, and Matthew E. Reiter, from Centro de Investigación Científica y Educación Superior de Ensenada- CISESE, Terra Peninsular, and Point Blue Conservation Science. 

An impact evaluation of conservation investments targeting long‐distance migratory species.

© Asociación Calidris

This paper used MSP data at sites in Latin America to characterize the impact of conservation investments at key sites in the region. 

Partners Trainings

Growing the flock: Training in Honduras on MSP

©Aves Honduras

From November 18 to 21, observers and researchers from Honduras met in Choluteca (Honduras) to strengthen skills for identification, estimation and counting of shorebirds. We also reviewed the field protocol for the Migratory Shorebird Project and visit sites in the Gulf of Fonseca in Honduras where MSP shorebird surveys are carried out.  Finally we shared multiple resources available to support shorebird conservation, research and increase awarness.

This event was organized by Aves Honduras and had the support MSP partners: Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la conservación FUNDAECO, Asociación Calidris, Point Blue Conservation Science, and the US Forest Service. The flock is growing!

Become part of the Migratory Shorebird Project

Join this ambitious 10-year, multi-partner research project to help guide shorebird conservation. You will be part of the team protecting shorebirds and wetlands from Alaska to Peru through research for conservation.
We need your help, as a scientist, a volunteer scientist, an educator, or funder.

Data analysis workshop with Migratory Shorebird Project partners  at the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Group meeting during October 2019 in Panama City, Panama.

How to Get Involved

Willets and Marbled Godwits.

• Add your organization to the list of partners.
• Join forces with a local partner.
• Volunteer to study shorebirds, attend a training.
• Share information, sightings, research findings.
• Educate people about wetland conservation.

The Migration Phenomenon

Each year, millions of shorebirds migrate in waves from their wintering grounds along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts to their nesting grounds in Alaska and Northern Canada, including many that stop at just a few rich feeding spots along the way.

Impact of human disturbance on the abundance of non-breeding shorebirds in a subtropical wetland

In the recent paper from Palacios et al. (2022) MSP data helped to show that where there is more potential for human disturbance there are lower abundances of migratory shorebirds during the non-breeding season. Read more here!

Distribution and abundance of shorebirds in tidal flats of Sanquianga National Natural Park and the mouth of Iscuandé, Nariño (Colombia), between 2009 and 2020

Data in Action

Over the last two years MSP data have contributed to the successful nomination of 3 Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) sites (Golfo de Nicoya in Costa Rica, Canal de Jambeli in Ecuador and Humedal Marino de Chamiza in Chile) and a Ramsar site in Peru (Estuario de Virrila). You can explore the MSP data from these sites and more using our online data summary tools.

Outreach 

Through MSP’s participation in the Pacific Americas Shorebird Conservation Initiative (PASCI), we have seen MSP data now serve as the cornerstone of measuring the success of PASCI while also driving one of its key strategies of increasing capacity. Recently the work of the MSP was highlighted as part of  the PASCI story map – see it  here).