Site Safety and Food Affect Movements of Semipalmated Sandpipers(Calidris pusilla) Migrating Through the Upper Bay of Fundy

The upper Bay of Fundy is a critical stopover site for Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidrispusilla) during their fall migration. However, little is known about factors that influence selection of feeding and roosting sites by these birds, or the extent to which birds move between different sites during their time in the region. Using radio-telemetry, we studied movement patterns, examined habitat use, and tested hypotheses associated with factors influencing foraging and roost-site selection. Movements of radio-tagged sandpipers were tracked in the upper Bay of Fundy in August 2004 and 2005. In 2004, sandpipers from the Minas Basin, Nova Scotia and Chignecto Bay, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, were tracked, and in 2005, sandpipers were tracked only in Chignecto Bay.

Ashley J. Sprague et al., Ecologie et conservation des oiseaux 3(2): 4