in stunning video a Cornell Lab of
Ornithology researcher has captured the
first known images of newborn chicks of
a critically endangered species in the
wild The Sweeney billed Sandpiper chicks
hatched in Russia’s northeastern
Chukotka region where it borders the
Bering Sea researchers estimate as few
as 100 breeding pairs remain in the wild
and with a 25% rate of decline each year
the species could be extinct within a
decade
Cornell lab videographer garret ven
spent two months in the northeastern
Russia tundra and followed the
sandpipers through June and July the
sandpipers arrived in late May and early
June while snow still covers much of the
land once a breeding pair mates in the
spring they become inseparable their
numbers have dwindled due to habitat
loss in their migratory stopover paths
of Japan North and South Korea mainland
China and Vietnam and their wintering
grounds in Bangladesh and Myanmar then
spent four days waiting for four eggs to
hatch rather than what’s the nest
constantly he used headphones to listen
for newborn chicks from day one the
chicks feed themselves foraging close to
the nest at brief five to ten minute
intervals the sandpipers feed on insects
like mosquitoes and fly larvae along
with vegetation like crow berries and
grass seeds
the adult calls the chick back to the
nest to warm up and the chicks tuck
under the wings of the parents the
fathers look after the chicks during the
day and the mothers take over at night
but when the last egg hatches the female
heads south and the male rears the
chicks until they become independent
about 20 days later vin hopes his work
filming the spoon-billed sandpiper will
help awaken global attention to an
environmental crises along the east
asian Australasian Flyway where more
than half of coastal wetlands in China
and South Korea have been lost
Ornithology researcher has captured the
first known images of newborn chicks of
a critically endangered species in the
wild The Sweeney billed Sandpiper chicks
hatched in Russia’s northeastern
Chukotka region where it borders the
Bering Sea researchers estimate as few
as 100 breeding pairs remain in the wild
and with a 25% rate of decline each year
the species could be extinct within a
decade
Cornell lab videographer garret ven
spent two months in the northeastern
Russia tundra and followed the
sandpipers through June and July the
sandpipers arrived in late May and early
June while snow still covers much of the
land once a breeding pair mates in the
spring they become inseparable their
numbers have dwindled due to habitat
loss in their migratory stopover paths
of Japan North and South Korea mainland
China and Vietnam and their wintering
grounds in Bangladesh and Myanmar then
spent four days waiting for four eggs to
hatch rather than what’s the nest
constantly he used headphones to listen
for newborn chicks from day one the
chicks feed themselves foraging close to
the nest at brief five to ten minute
intervals the sandpipers feed on insects
like mosquitoes and fly larvae along
with vegetation like crow berries and
grass seeds
the adult calls the chick back to the
nest to warm up and the chicks tuck
under the wings of the parents the
fathers look after the chicks during the
day and the mothers take over at night
but when the last egg hatches the female
heads south and the male rears the
chicks until they become independent
about 20 days later vin hopes his work
filming the spoon-billed sandpiper will
help awaken global attention to an
environmental crises along the east
asian Australasian Flyway where more
than half of coastal wetlands in China
and South Korea have been lost
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