The following article is taken from the Banksia Bulletin - summer 2024-25 edition. Photos by John Eichler.
Each year, around August, these small birds make the long journey to Australia. In March, they will start their return to home which can be as far away as arctic Siberia, northern Alaska, arctic Europe and Asia in March as part of their annual migration.
These birds can now be seen resting and feeding on the intertidal rock platforms at Ricketts Point. So far, we have witnessed large flocks of up to 1,500 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and small numbers of Red-neck Stints, together with single observations of a Little Stint and a Pectoral Sandpiper.
It is critical for their survival that these migrant birds rest and feed enough to gain weight and store fat reserves and energy for their long-haul flight home to ensure a successful breeding season.
Thank you to our local photographers, John Eichler and Pauline Reynolds, for sharing their incredible images of our visitors with Banksia Bulletin readers.
Protecting migratory birds
Australia provides critical habitat for millions of migratory birds each year.
The Australian Government has fostered international cooperation through a range of important agreements including bilateral migratory bird agreements with Japan (JAMBA), China (CAMBA) and the Republic of Korea (ROKAMBA), the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn Convention), the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), and through the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Partnership.
The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) provides for protection of migratory species as a matter of national environmental significance. Three of the species seen at Ricketts Point are listed migratory species under the EPBC Act. Additionally Sharp-tailed Sandpipers were recently added to the Australian threatened species list as 'vulnerable'.
These partnerships and policies help ensure the conservation of these species.
