Fresh space to shorebirds message in Northumberland after species are re-classified

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are the authors of the international red list of species threatened with extinction and they have recently announced that turnstones and dunlins are considered to be “near threatened” with extinction, joining curlew and oystercatcher in this worrying status.

This is a change from their previous status of ‘least concern’, which has been brought about due to global declines of 20-30% since the start of the century.

Space for Shorebirds, Northumberland County Council’s coastal wildlife ranger service, has a special role protecting wildlife by helping beach users to be aware of the birds that share our coastline.

Senior wildlife ranger Richard Willis said: “These are birds that come to Northumberland in the autumn and spend the winter and early spring here, before migrating thousands of miles north to breed.

“It’s easy to consider them commonplace on our beaches and forget the pressure that they are under to survive through the winter.”

To help shorebirds during the autumn and winter, beach users are asked to look out for groups of shorebirds and give them space.

Richard explained: “If a bird is disturbed many times during a day, it wastes valuable energy which it doesn’t have time to replace – harming its chances of survival.”

If you want to learn more about Northumberland’s shorebirds, go to www.spaceforshorebirds.co.uk or join rangers on a Shorebird for Beginners guided walk.