This story map describes the work of researchers from different organizations that document the migration of Whimbrels breeding in North America. Focusing on three individual birds from different parts of the species' breeding range, researchers used externally mounted solar-powered transmitters to monitor migratory movements and identify sites and habitats important to migratory shorebirds.
USGS Alaska Science Center scientists Lee Tibbitts, Dan Ruthrauff, and Bob Gill contributed information and data for the story map "Whimbrels on the Wing," produced by Manomet, Inc. Whimbrels are large shorebirds that breed in the Arctic across North America and Eurasia and winter along the shores of temperate regions on six continents around the globe. T6, a whimbrel tracked by USGS, is featured in the story map which describes this bird's 9,160-mile migration from the breeding grounds on the Colville River Delta in northern Alaska to Río Maipo in southern Chile, a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site. In one year, T6 flew nearly 20,000 miles over the course of its migratory movements. Whether in coastal mudflats, blueberry barrens, arctic tundra, tropical mangroves, or urban wetlands, Manomet and its partners throughout the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network and beyond are working to empower effective conservation action at the sites that matter most to migratory shorebirds by working with local biologists and community leaders at key shorebird sites across the hemisphere.
Story Map: Whimbrels on the Wing
Additional information about our science: Shorebird Research