Last April, our team of experts in Golfo de Santa Clara made an amazing discovery. During a shorebird capture, tag and release campaign, we found a Pacific Red Knot which we first tagged 12 years ago. This was a pleasant surprise, as finding this little survivor in healthy condition represents a success story for conservation.
The Pacific Red Knot (Calidris canutus roselaari) breeds in Alaska and travels thousands of miles each winter seeking better weather conditions, food sources and refuge sites. Many individuals travel across the continent several times in their lifetime, stopping in beach ecosystems such as the Golfo de Santa Clara, in the Upper Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve. The site is home to more than half of the total population of the Pacific Red Knot, a bird considered endangered.
This species is highly sensitive to habitat loss, disturbance, pollution and climate change. If flocks do not find the necessary conditions in the receiving ecosystem, they can suffer considerable drops in their population.
Biological monitoring helps us track the health status of tagged specimens and their populations. As a result of the journey, we recorded a maximum abundance of 1,200 Pacific Red Knot shorebirds in an area of 35 kilometers of beach. We captured 11 specimens that were measured, weighed and marked with flags, codes and hybrid tags; with these tools we will be able to record their continental movement through the Motus antenna network.
But let’s get back to the encounter with this particular bird, at least 13 years old. From its historical record we know that it is a regular visitor to the Gulf of Santa Clara. We have observed it year after year, staying for up to three months, which coincides with the spawning period of the Gulf Grunion (Leuresthes sardina), a fish similar to the sardine, which is one of its main food sources.
While checking the bird, we detected its old marker had lost ink in the code and the plastic showed noticeable signs of wear, so it was replaced by a new one that will help us to continue monitoring its continental voyages. We hope to see it again during our next campaign in Golfo de Santa Clara.
This project is funded by the International Conservation Fund of Canada, the Packard Foundation and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. We collaborate in this work with the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur, as well as with the civil organizations “Cuidando al Playero rojizo y al Pejerrey”, the Environmental Promoters of Bahia de Tobari and the group Accipiter’s Birding from Mexico City.
We invite you to support this fascinating environmental project. Be part of the conservation history in the Gulf of California.
