The Columbia River estuary was recently designated as one of the Western Hemisphere’s significant sites for wide-ranging shorebirds. Come out on May 1st and celebrate International Migratory Bird Day with us. This celebration commemorates the annual journey of birds in the Western Hemisphere between their summer and winter homes.
The estuary event, free to the public, starts with a ceremony at 9:30 a.m. at Fort Stevens State Park near Astoria, followed by three different field trips to observe the estuary and its birds. The event will emphasize the importance of the estuary being added to the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.
Launched in 1984, the network is a conservation strategy that aims to protect key habitats throughout the Americas in order to sustain healthy populations of shorebirds. The network includes 29 million acres of shorebird habitat, made up of 82sites in 13 countries. It is a voluntary, non-regulatory approach to protecting shorebirds at all stages of their annual migratory life cycle.
“The addition of the Columbia River estuary to this international conservation network recognizes the estuary’s importance to thousands of shorebirds,” said Robyn Thorson, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Region. “The designation will enable participating landowners and agencies to apply for grants, coordinate their efforts and get technical assistance and other support to protect and enhance vital habitat.”
The Columbia River estuary hosts more than 20,000 shorebirds during the annual spring migration, including spotted, western and least sandpipers, marbled godwits, whimbrels, black-bellied and semi-palmated plovers, red knots, short-billed dowitchers and red-necked phalaropes, among others. The Site of Regional Importance includes the shoreline and islands from river mile 60 at Crims to the mouth of the Columbia River estuary in both Washington and Oregon.
Members of the public will get a chance to learn more about the estuary and its shorebirds during three different field trips offered immediately after the opening ceremony:
- USFWS biologists will lead a walking tour in search of shorebirds around Fort Stevens State Park’s South Jetty and at sites around the estuary. The tour is expected to last two to three hours and no pre-registration is required.
- Oregon State University biologists will lead a boat trip to East Sand near the mouth of the river to view migratory shorebirds in Baker Bay and nesting colonial water birds on the island. These include Caspian terns, double-crested cormorants, Brandt’s cormorants and several gull species. The trip will last about three hours and pre-registration is required.
- USFWS biologists will lead a boat trip to Lois of the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge to look for shorebirds. Pre-registration is required the trip, which will take about one to two hours.
To sign up for one of the boat trips please contact Vanessa Loverti at Vanessa_Loverti@fws.gov by April 28. Please include your name and contact information, including a cell phone or message contact number. Participants are advised to wear proper clothing for the elements.
Landowner participation in the network is voluntary. Current landowner participants include:
- Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge
- Julie Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge
- Washington Department of Natural Resources
- Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Washington Department of Parks and Recreation
- The Nature Conservancy of Oregon
- Hancock Forest Management
- Columbia Land Trust
- Non-landowning supporters of the nomination of the estuary as a Site of Regional Significance include:
- Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Birds and Habitat Program
- Pacific Joint Venture
The recognition of the estuary as a Site of Regional Significance enhances opportunities to involve more landowners who wish to protect vital shorebird habitat. For more information about the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve System please visit www.whsrn.org
