World Shorebirds Day 2021

While World Shorebirds Day 2021 is September 6th, 2021, this year’s Global Shorebird Count will take place from September 1 through 7, 2021.

All across the Caribbean, birders will be compiling checklists from island to island and recording them on eBird Caribbean. Our migratory shorebirds are more vulnerable than ever, threatened by human activities that have changed their habitat. Most species of shorebirds are in decline around the world.

eBird Caribbean is a critical tool for tracking and understanding bird migration and population changes – never more so than for our shorebirds. If you do not have an account, it is easy to register – here’s a quick guide to entering eBird data online.  There is even a free eBird Essentials course to get you fully oriented.  Download the free mobile app for recording your data in the field.

Note that shorebirds are a type of waterbird and any counts you do at wetlands, mangroves, mudflats, coastal areas or beaches count as Caribbean Waterbird Census counts. To increase the value of your count to science, be sure to count ALL birds at your site, including seabirds, herons and egrets, land birds, etc.

Make Your Shorebirds Count—Submit & Share Your Data!

To make your submitted data visible to World Shorebirds Day, please be sure to share your checklist with worldshorebirdsday eBird username of World Shorebirds Day, or add shorebirdsday@gmail.com email address, to your contact list, and share all your related checklists. Only checklists made during the World Shorebirds Day count period between September 1-7, 2021 (inclusive) are eligible. Guidelines for sharing eBird checklists are here.

Need a quick reference for a shorebird you spotted? Check out the Shorebird Identification Guide for Bonaire!

What To Do if You See Banded Birds

Be sure to be on the lookout for banded birds! Especially Piping Plovers, Red Knots, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, and Sanderlings. You may report your sightings to BandedBirds.org and the USGS Bird Banding Lab which oversee all banding in the United States.