Join The Small Sit, Manomet’s virtual science series, each month as we learn about the wonders of why birds migrate, the importance of river herring in coastal food webs, and so much more!

This past fall, Manomet recently guided a team of 15 specialists  and students from 7 partner organizations on a 10-day onsite workshop to observe shorebird use along the Brazilian Amazon River. Juliana Bosi de Almeida, Manomet’s Managing Director, Flyways, coordinated the effort, which is the first ever of its kind. On February 21st, hear from Juliana and Arne Lesterhuis, Senior Shorebird Conservation Specialist, who co-led the workshop. The activities in Brazil are part of a larger project to understand how many shorebirds use the Amazon Basin rivers as stopover sites, and how they distribute themselves in this region, which is greater than two-thirds of the continental United States. Preliminary efforts were conducted in Peru in 2022, but this workshop was the first time surveys were conducted in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador (in addition to Peru).

Our partners on the survey included the Brazilian National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA), Point Blue, the U.S. Forest Service, University of Massachusetts, SAVE Brasil, Corbidi, and Asociación Calidris. During the workshop, the team compared and contrasted the habitats found in the different countries, while also assessing habitats and shorebirds found along the Solimões River (the Brazilian name for the upper Amazon River). In this webinar, Juliana and Arne will share their work and results, including bird lists and species found. This program is free, but registration is required.