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Seasonal changes in numbers and species composition of migratory shorebirds in northern Bohai Bay, China

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Pages
133 – 139

Published
1 December 08

Authors
Hong-Yan Yang, Bing Chen, Zhen-Wang Zhang

Correspondence
Hong-Yan Yang
zzw@bnu.edu.cn
Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.

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From January to December 2004 we counted shorebirds at a coastal site in the north of Bohai Bay, which is in the NW Yellow Sea, China. Thirty-six shorebird species used it as a stopover area, of which eight occurred in internationally significant numbers. The majority of Curlew Sandpipers Calidris ferruginea, Red Knots Calidris canutus, Red-necked Stints Calidris ruficollis and Broad-billed Sandpipers Limicola falcinellus occurred during northward migration, whereas most Marsh Sandpipers Tringa stagnatilis and Black-winged Stilts Himantopus himantopus occurred during southward migration. Eurasian Curlews Numenius arquata and Grey Plovers Pluvialis squatarola were present in internationally significant numbers during both northward and southward migration. Within the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, our study site harbours the most Red Knots known during northward migration. We conclude that northern Bohai Bay is a critical stopover site for many shorebirds (especially Red Knots), but one that is highly threatened through reclamation.