Conservation and Management

In the late 1800s, this species was not protected by law from market hunters in the United States and Canada. Although not as attractive to hunters as the larger shorebirds, Semipalmated Sandpipers were considered good eating, and dozens could be killed from large migratory flocks with a single shot. Numbers decreased rapidly, until Canada and the United States signed the Migratory Birds Convention in 1916, agreeing to protection of migratory birds. In subsequent years, numbers increased (Bent 1927). Some hunting still exists in northern South America (P. Hicklin pers. comm.), but maintenance of populations is chiefly threatened by destruction or manipulation of coastal and inland wetlands, and possibly environmental contaminants (Senner and Howe 1984).

Since each site along a migratory pathway is necessary for survival of these birds, in the mid–1980s an international organization was created to aid in preservation of critical habitat for shorebirds throughout the Americas. The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network identifies important shorebird sites and helps to protect them. The most important areas are called “Hemispheric Sites,” and several named to date are of great importance to Semipalmated Sandpipers: Mary’s Point, N. B. (Bay of Fundy fall staging area); Suriname, South America (wintering area); Minas Basin, N. S. (Bay of Fundy fall staging area); Delaware Bay, NJ (spring staging area), and Cheyenne Bottoms, KS (spring and fall staging area). Other sites are presently being investigated.