On the Wing #12: Saving the Spoon-billed Sandpiper
The bird world is filled with species that beguile and amaze us with their plumages, displays, flight styles, and call notes. They range from the unusual Wrybill ( Anarhynchus frontalis ) with its right hand facing bill to the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock ( Rupicola peruvianus ) with their vibrant orange plumage and crest to the majesty of the Whooping Crane ( Grus americana ) that continues to recover despite the daunting odds that it faces in its future survival. Those daunting odds are more apparent these days as many species of birds are endangered with a few that are even critical. The little guy in front of the Curlew Sandpiper( Calidris ferruginea ) is the one who needs our help! One of those species is the Spoon-billed Sandpiper ( Eurynorhynchus pygmeus ), a critically endangered shorebird that breeds in the Siberian Arctic and is feared to number at less than 100 breeding pairs! I recently became enamored and concerned about the plight of the SBSA (alpha code being used for co...