World Shorebirds Day is an annual global celebration of shorebird conservation to raise awareness about shorebirds, their migrations, and the need to protect the habitats they use that range from nesting areas to migration stopover sites to wintering ranges. Created to strengthen the public connection with shorebirds and promote conservation through observations, education, and citizen science, World Shorebirds Day is celebrated on September 6 each year. Shorebirds are important indicators of ecosystem health, and their presence or absence can signal the condition of inland wetlands and coastal systems – so vital for wildlife and people.
During the week, the Global Shorebird Count is conducted by birders and other interested people and documented on internet platforms like eBird. Shorebirds include sandpipers, plovers, avocets, stilts, godwits, curlews, oystercatchers, and similar sandpiper-like birds that are highly mobile, with many species migrating across continents and even hemispheres. They rely on diverse habitats from Arctic tundra to prairie marshes and tropical wetlands, estuaries, inland mudflats, lakeshores, and other shallow water areas where they find food and safe open spaces.
You can participate in World Shorebirds Day in several ways: First, by joining the Global Shorebird Count in which you count and report shorebirds wherever you find them and report your information via eBird during the designated count week. Even beyond the Count period, continue to go birding at locations where you can document shorebirds, such as local beaches or wetlands to observe and document shorebirds you see. You can also share information about shorebirds with others by learning about shorebird migration routes, the habitats that individual species rely on, then share this knowledge with friends, students, or community groups.
You can support conservation efforts by participating in habitat protection, beach stewardship, or advocacy for wetland preservation within a local birding club, at a bird observatory, an Audubon chapter, or other groups. And share your information and thoughts on social media; you can use a hashtag like #WorldShorebirdsDay to connect with the global community.
By participating in any way, you contribute to long-term monitoring that informs conservation priorities and international cooperation. For more details, resources, and how you can join the Global Shorebird Count, visit the official site at World Shorebirds Day – Global Shorebird Conservation Initiative