International Wader Study Group

Do you work with waders or shorebirds in the Western Hemisphere? 🌎⬇️ Join the webinar, available simultaneously in English and Spanish

Could you pull off the Hooded Plover's look? 🕶👕🧥🩳👟

Three of these six wader species are red-listed in the UK. Which ones? Answers in this blog about the eleven wader species on the list and how they 'earned' their places: wadertales.wordpress.com/2022/10/04/u... 🎂4️⃣ #birds

#WaderJob

Thanks for joining us! It was great to hear more about your research #IWSG2026

Could you dress to impress like a Northern Lapwing? 👕👖🧥🧣🧤🥾🎩 #waders #shorebirds

Congratulations to Dr. Hans-Ulrich Rösner on receiving the Federal Cross of Merit in Germany. A long-time member of IWSG, he played a key role in securing the Wadden Sea's designation as a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Read more ⬇️ www.waddensea-worldheritage.org/news/hans-ul...

A lovely review from a lovely weekend ⬇️ and congratulations again on your award! Hopefully you'll be able to join us for another conference in the future 😊

Everyone is welcome at our conferences, especially Traveller Heron 😂

Thank you for joining us, and glad you enjoyed it! It was great to hear about your research too #IWSG2026

Excellent closing to the @waderstudy.bsky.social Conference, with a brilliant plenary talk by Clemens Küpper @chorlnev.bsky.social: "Evolution of diversity: intraspecific variation matters for Ruffs (and others)". In Santiago de Compostela (Galicia,Spain) #IWSG2026 #IWSGconf

Great to have so many people from so many countries at this year's conference. A brilliant job by all the organisers - well done! #IWSG2026

Day 3 of our conference and another great selection of talks. Thank you to all our speakers #IWSG2026

Thank you to all our speakers on Day 2 of our conference 🇪🇸 #IWSG2026 #IWSGconf

@waderstudy.bsky.social conference. Great to see info from David Dougla (RSPB) on 3 projects about woodland effects on breeding waders. Some earlier blogs ... wadertales.wordpress.com/2022/06/18/i... wadertales.wordpress.com/2020/06/19/t... wadertales.wordpress.com/2022/03/16/k... #ornithology

Nice plenary talk by José Masero in the @waderstudy.bsky.social Conference in Santiago de Compostela (Galicia,Spain) "New diets in a changing world: insights from Black-tailed Godwits” #IWSG2026 #IWSGconf

At @waderstudy.bsky.social conference. Pierrick Bocher showing tagging data for Black-tailed Godwits linking Europe to Africa. Adding more detail to this important work, by identifying linkages between African wintering areas: wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/01/09/h... #ornithology

At @waderstudy.bsky.social conference. Connecting sites for conservation. José Alves adds two more blogs to your reading list: wadertales.wordpress.com/2023/04/07/c... wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/05/06/m... #ornithology

Pssst... its conference weekend 🥳 We're gathering in Santiago de Compostela, Spain 🇪🇸 for another brilliant weekend #IWSG2026 #IWSGconf

At which age do Red Knots become red? NEW SHORT COMMUNICATION by Oortwijn and colleagues www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20954/ #waders #ornithology #shorebirds

Observation of a Purple Sandpiper Calidris maritima with progressive greying in Melrakkaslétta, northeast Iceland NEW SHORT COMMUNICATION by Rodrigues and Micael www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20894/ #shorebirds #waders #ornithology

The influence of abundance and variety of food on the local distribution of migrating waders in inland waters of European Russia NEW RESEARCH PAPER by Shubin et al. www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20915/ #shorebirds #waders #ornithology

Inter-annual variation in feather growth rates of Hudsonian Whimbrel 𝘕𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘴 and Dunlin 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢 from western Hudson Bay NEW RESEARCH PAPER by Parno et al. www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20911/ #waders #shorebirds #ornithology

Recent nesting of Dunlins 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘻𝘪𝘪 in the Netherlands provides new insights into breeding habitat choice NEW SHORT COMMUNICATION by van der Winden and colleagues. www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20921/ #shorebirds #waders #ornithology

Congratulations to Ramesh Kumar Selvaraj, winner of the 2025 Small Project Grant, to work on hunting pressures for waders and shorebirds in coastal Tamil Nadu in India 🇮🇳 Calls for 2026 will open soon, to support fieldwork in 2027.

Registration is now OPEN for our 2026 conference in Spain 🇪🇸 www.waderstudygroup.org/conferences/...

Satellite tracking documents individual migratory movements of the Rufous-chested Dotterel 𝘡𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘣𝘺𝘹 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘴 NEW RESEARCH PAPER by Thomson and colleagues www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20186/ #research #waders #shorebirds #ornithology

Post-hatch ecology, diet, and first migration of juvenile Alaskan Bar-tailed Godwits NEW RESEARCH PAPER by Conklin et al. www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20162/ #ornithology #waders #OpenAccess #research #shorebirds

Habitat selection and conservation issues of the Eurasian Curlew in Europe - PhD thesis by Marie Donnez www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20183/ #research #waders #shorebirds #ornithology #OpenAccess

Understanding the interactions between shorebirds and their prey with emphasis on their foraging behaviour in selected stopover sites - PhD thesis by T.R. Athira www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20183/ #research #waders #shorebirds #ornithology #OpenAccess

NEW PAPER in the Ageing and sexing series by Meissner and colleagues Part 17 deals with ageing and sexing the Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20177/ #waders #shorebirds #ornithology

Ecology and behaviour of non-breeding shorebirds in southwestern India - PhD thesis by K.M. Aarif www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20183/ #research #waders #shorebirds #ornithology #OpenAccess

Un-brie-lievable: A cheese-eating Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus NEW SHORT COMMUNICATION by Trevor MacLaurin www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20174/ #waders #shorebirds #research #ornithology

Ruff Persistence: the role of pre-sexual selection and male-male partner choice in maintaining intraspecific diversity - PhD thesis by James D.M. Tolliver www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20183/ #research #waders #shorebirds #ornithology #OpenAccess

Westhoek saltmarsh – important staging site for Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea in the Dutch Wadden Sea NEW RESEARCH PAPER by Kleefstra and Schekkerman www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20171/ #shorebirds #waders #ornithology #research

Flyway connections: isotopic insights in the changing conditions faced by Red Knots - PhD thesis by Tim Oortwijn www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20183/ #research #waders #shorebirds #ornithology #OpenAccess

Counting shorebirds using high-resolution aerial imaging: a pilot study in the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea, Germany NEW SHORT COMMUNICATION by Kersten et al. www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20168/ #research #shorebirds #waders #ornithology #OpenAccess

Parental care strategies of the Sanderling Calidris alba - PhD thesis by Léa Etchart www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20183/ #research #waders #shorebirds #ornithology #OpenAccess

The effect of human disturbance on shorebird distribution at a critical stopover area on New Jersey’s Atlantic coast, USA NEW RESEARCH PAPER by Harkness and colleagues www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20165/ #waders #ornithology #shorebirds #research

This week's species to meet for #waderwednesday is the Egyptian Plover. They are a mainly sedentary species found across Sub-Saharan Africa, and only a rare vagrant to Egypt! They were also thought to have a symbiotic relationship with crocodiles, whom they shared the riverbanks with.

This week's species to meet for #waderwednesday is the Plains-wanderer. They are an unusual member of the wader family that are only found in Australia, and their population has declined to fewer than 1,000 mature individuals.

Habitat use and spatio-temporal non-breeding behavior of Common Redshank Tringa totanus: implications for conservation - Master's thesis by Guilhem Tellier www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20105/ #waders #research #shorebirds #ornithology

Frequent and prolonged incubation recesses across European Black-tailed Godwit populations NEW RESEARCH PAPER by Silva-Monteiro and colleagues www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20095/ #research #shorebirds #waders #ornithology

Status of the Snowy Plover in Canada NEW RESEARCH PAPER by Goossen www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20083/ #shorebirds #waders #ornithology #research

Shorebird conservation in Venezuela: status, threats and priorities NEW SYNTHESIS/REVIEW by Giner and Sharpe www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20079/ #waders #shorebirds #ornithology #research #conservation

Adult and hatch-year survival and fidelity of Piping Plovers 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘴 in the lower Platte River system, Nebraska, USA NEW RESEARCH PAPER by Forsberg and colleagues www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20076/ #waders #shorebirds #ornithology #research

Preliminary insights into shorebirds breeding at a shrimp farm in the Estero de Urías coastal lagoon, Mazatlán, Mexico NEW SHORT COMMUNICATION by Fonseca and colleagues. www.waderstudygroup.org/article/20073/ #shorebirds #ornithology #waders #research