Explore Data
MSP has large, rich data sets from years of collecting observations from citizen scientists.
MSP has large, rich data sets from years of collecting observations from citizen scientists.
Review our data collection protocols, or show other how they can contribute to our project!
It’s time to count us!
Between November 15, 2022 and February 15, 2023, more than 600 people from 50 organizations and volunteers visited nearly 130 coastal wetlands from Canada to Chile, to carry out the counts of the Migratory Shorebird Project.
Shorebirds use aggregation sites from southern Canada to southern Chile. During the months of September to March, while the boreal winter happend, they use wintering sites.
Every year, MSP Partners take advantage of these shorebird flocks to learn about their population trends and understand the importance of the sites along the Pacific American Flyway.
Be ready to join the flock!
Visit the Survey Resources section to see the Field Protocol.
Click here for the 2021-2022 Report
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!
MSP surveys were key to characterize the composition of shorebird communities in the mouth of Iscuandé River (IS) and the Sanquianga National Natural Park (SNNP), in Colombia. The paper show the proportional abundance, prevalence and mean density there, of ten years of standardized counts for these sites. Read more here!
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.
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).
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.
Willets and Marbled Godwits.
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.