KUCHING, March 3: The Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris Pygmaea, one of Asia’s rarest migratory birds that has never been recorded by scientists in Borneo, has been discovered on the coastal mudflats in Buntal Bay on Feb 27.
Two members of the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) Kuching Branch, Batrisyia Teepol and Daniel Kong, made the discovery when conducting a regular shorebird survey.
MNS Kuching Branch, in a statement today, pointed out that this discovery is the first time this endangered shorebird has been reported from Sarawak, and the whole of Borneo, and demonstrates the importance of Bako-Buntal Bay Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) for the conservation of migratory birds in Southeast Asia.
Batrisyia, who is a recipient of the Conservation Leadership Award said this discovery is exciting news for shorebird conservation and provided an affirmative answer to one of the predicted distributions of this species in Southeast Asia made by scientists.
“This individual is preparing for its northern migration and hopefully it will travel back to its breeding ground safe and sound.”
Kong, on the other hand, emphasised that this find helps to underscore the importance of this area to wildlife, especially migratory birds.
“We hope that it will highlight the need to conserve and protect this area and others like it for both wildlife and the communities who rely on its natural resources. May Sarawak continue to be a good host to migratory birds and may their travels be swift and safe.”
The Spoon-billed Sandpiper is listed as Critically Endangered under the IUCN Red List and their global population is estimated around 490 mature individuals.
According to the MNS Kuching Branch, this petite shorebird breeds only in northeastern Russia and travels more than 5,000km each year to spend its winter in the wetlands of South China, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Throughout its migration route, this species would make stopovers at key staging sites in Russia, Korea and China. To date, there have been a total of 19 sightings of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Malaysia, all from Peninsular Malaysia, with the latest sighting dating back to 2015.
The Bako-Buntal Bay IBA, MNS Kuching added, is the only Flyway Network Site in Malaysia recognised by the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP).
Buntal’s wetlands is used by internationally significant numbers of migratory shorebirds yearly, and it is possibly the most important known site for migratory waterbirds on Borneo.
Each year, these wetlands are visited by good numbers of globally threatened species such as the Great Knot, Far Eastern Curlew, Chinese Egret and the Nordmann’s Greenshank. — DayakDaily
