This article was submitted by Merry Roy, NCWAS board member

Whimbrels, one of the seven curlew species remaining in the world, fly from their wintering grounds in coastal South America, up to their Arctic breeding grounds.  On their way north the Atlantic flyway Whimbrels congregate for a month along the Carolina and Georgia coast, feeding on crabs in the tidal marshes, readying for the last leg of their journey.  They forage in the day and roost on a few sandbars at night, protected from predators.  The largest roosting area is Deveaux Bank at the mouth of a river in South Carolina.  One-half of the Atlantic flyway population of Whimbrels (one-quarter of all the Whimbrels in North America) roost on this sandbar.

This species has declined by 50% since 1994 and the decline continues.  While astounding numbers of Whimbrel roost on Deveaux Bank, a state bird sanctuary and Important Bird Area, there are few other nocturnal roosting sandbars for these birds.  Fall migration back to South America takes them along Hurricane Alley, creating other stresses.  Birds detour storms, often stopping to recover on islands in the Caribbean.  The French-controlled islands of Martinique and Guadalupe allow the hunting of shorebirds and even advertise “destination hunts”.

Protection of safe roosting sandbars, the proposed creation of new islands for nocturnal roosts, and the reduction of shorebird hunting are all positive actions to slow the Whimbrel population declines, but there is another threat. That’s us.  Researchers fear that birders and photographers traveling to view the amazing nocturnal numbers of Whimbrels on Deveaux will flush the birds.  And there are few other safe places for them to go in the middle of the night. 

For more information about Whimbrels, please see “A Miracle of Abundance: 20,000 Whimbrel take Refuge on a Tiny Island” by Scott Weidensaul, Cornell Lab.

A very compelling movie about Wimbrels on Deveaux Bank, South Carolina is avalilable on YouTube. Watch the movie (9:26).