The AWSG was formed in 1981 as a special interest group of Birds Australia to coordinate and focus studies on waders, or shorebirds in Australia and throughout their migration routes in the Asia Pacific.
Become a member of the AWSG.
AWSG Objectives
- Monitor shorebird populations, feeding ecology and their migration, at local, national and international levels by a program that includes counting, leg banding and colour flagging
- Instigate and encourage other scientific studies of shorebirds such as feeding and breeding studies
- Communicate the results of these studies to a wide audience through the Stilt, the Tattler, other journals, the internet, the media, conferences and lectures
- Formulate and promote policies for the conservation of shorebirds and their habitat, and to make available information to local and national governmental conservation bodies and organisations to encourage and assist them in pursuing this objective
- Promote wetland conservation and assist in the nomination of important sites for listing under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention)
- Encourage and promote the involvement of a large band of amateurs, as well as professionals, to achieve these objectives
- Encourage and assist similar programs throughout the Asia Pacific region
AWSG Activities
Shorebirds 2020 Population Monitoring Project
There is increasing evidence that migratory shorebird populations throughout the world are declining. Shorebirds using the flyways of the Asia Pacific are under threat from widespread habitat destruction, especially prevalent at staging areas in East Asia. Being at the southern end of the migration routes, Australia is uniquely placed to assess the impacts of these threats on shorebird numbers. A major new program is underway at Birds Australia titled 'Shorebirds 2020'. The program is designed to reinvigorate and coordinate national shorebird monitoring in Australia and is a collaborative enterprise between Birds Australia, AWSG, WWF-Australia and the Australian Government's Natural Heritage Trust. The primary objectives of the program are to collect data on the numbers of shorebirds in a manner that can be utilised to aid their conservation and management, specifically long- and short-term population trends, and explore what may be causing those changes.
Other Research Projects
Trapping and banding, leg flagging and satellite tracking projects are being carried out in conjunction with other shorebird research groups throughout the Asia Pacific region as well as the assistance of a huge network of volunteer observers in all countries along shorebird migration routes, including staging areas and breeding areas as far as the high Arctic regions of Siberia and Alaska.
Threatened endemic species
Hooded Plovers are rare shorebirds that breed mainly on the ocean beaches of southern Australia. These beaches are threatened by disturbance from people, their pets and their recreational vehicles. The biennial AWSG Hooded Plover counts show that serious declines are taking place in parts of their range, with some populations facing extinction. Data are used in submissions to beach management authorities to protect beaches for breeding Hooded Plovers, oystercatchers and terns.
About Flyways
Flyways are broad corridors used by migrating birds. For wading birds eight Flyways have been defined in the world. In Europe and Asia there are five Flyways. These are, (from East to West), the East Asian-Australasian (109k map), the Central Asia/India, the West Asia/Africa, the Mediterranean/Black Sea and the East Atlantic Flyways. In the Americas there are three Flyways. These are the Atlantic, the Mississippi and the Pacific Flyways. Some species or individuals cross from one Flyway to another. Thus in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Ruffs breeding in East Siberia are known to migrate westwards to Europe and Africa joining the East Atlantic Flyway. Grey Phalaropes and Pectoral Sandpipers breeding in East Siberia mainly migrate to spend the non-breeding season in South America in the Pacific Flyway.
The numbers of waders in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway are unknown. They are probably a minimum of 4 million migratory waders. Within Australia there are estimated a minimum of 1 million resident waders and a minimum of 2 million migratory waders.
Flyways are a useful concept for the management and conservation of migratory wading birds. The birds often use many countries within a Flyway during their migrations. It is of limited value to use large resources protecting them in one country, if they are not also protected in the other countries through which they migrate, or where they spend the breeding and non-breeding seasons. Conservation agreements are made between countries which are based on the principle of shared birds within a Flyway.
There are nine bilateral agreements for migratory bird conservation in the East Asian Australasian Flyway, involving 7 countries. The two agreements involving Australia are JAMBA (Japan/Australia migratory bird agreement) and CAMBA (China/Australia migratory bird agreement). These agreements are followed up actively with meetings between governments every 2 years. In addition to bilateral agreements there are two multilateral agreements which are relevant to Flyway conservation of waders. The Ramsar Convention (Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat) promotes wetland conservation, and the Bonn Convention (Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals) provides a multinational framework for the conservation of migratory species. In the East Asian-Australasian Flyway 15 of the 22 countries in the Flyway have signed the Ramsar Convention.
Publications
The AWSG journal, Stilt, is produced twice a year and contains scientific papers and reviews. It is now the leading source of information on the shorebirds of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. The quarterly newsletter,Tattler, contains topical news items about shorebirds, field work, regional group activities and conservation issues. Other publications include The Status and Conservation of Shorebirds in the East Asia-Australasian Flyway contains papers from the AWSG's conference in Canberra in 2003. Most of these are available through our website.
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Bar-tailed Godwits in flight © Glenn Ehmke
Flock of Hooded Plovers © Glenn Ehmke
Sharp-tailed Sandpipers © Glenn Ehmke
Crested Tern © Glenn Ehmke
Red-necked Stints © Glenn Ehmke
Stilt with leg band © Glenn Ehmke
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