The migratory movements of Curlew Sandpipers Calidris ferruginea which visit Australia

A comprehensive analysis of overseas banding recoveries and leg-flag sightings was undertaken to delineate the migratory behaviour of Curlew Sandpipers Calidris ferruginea which visit Australia. Nearly 35,000 Curlew Sandpipers have been banded in Australia, producing 65 overseas recoveries (0.19%), and 14,000 birds have also been marked with coloured plastic leg flags, resulting in 525 sightings overseas (3.75%). The sighting rate of flagged birds is 20 times that of conventional recovery reports. The northward migration features the Chinese coast, from which birds then migrate overland to their Northern Siberian breeding grounds. The first birds reach Asia in the last ten days of March, after a direct flight from the northern Australian coast, and most have left the Chinese coast by the end of the third week in May, reaching their Siberian breeding grounds by early June. The southward migration commences in mid-July and appears to follow a rather more westerly route, with most adults passing through Asia by early September. Juveniles follow in September. The breeding grounds of Curlew Sandpipers which visit Australia are mainly in north-eastern Yakutia (133–154°E), but some breed much further west on the Taimyr Peninsula (98–111°E). One bird was recovered 13,100 km from its banding location. There is a considerable overlap in breeding areas between the Curlew Sandpipers from different flyways, involving birds which spend their non-breeding season in widely separated areas such as Australia, India, South Africa and West Africa. Curlew Sandpipers which spend the non-breeding season in Australia do not migrate back to the breeding grounds until they are two years old.