January Meeting: “Update on the Delaware Shorebird Project” by Kat Christie
January 21 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EST
Summary: Shorebirds are an important part of the ecology of Delaware’s shorelines. But they are under threat; populations are declining. DNREC’s Delaware Shorebird Project works to mitigate that threat, through research and monitoring, habitat protection, and management planning. The Shorebird Project team has conducted research and monitoring since 1997. They have studied the health and status of several shorebird populations. These include the Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Dunlin, Semipalmated Sandpiper and the federally threatened rufa subspecies of the Red Knot. The professional staff and dedicated volunteers of the Project are part of a team that includes state and federal scientists, local and international researchers, local volunteers and birders who collect high-quality data.
Kat Christie is the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife’s coastal waterbird biologist and project leader for the Delaware Shorebird Project, a long-term study centered on the stopover of tens of thousands of long-distance migrant shorebirds in the Delaware Bay each spring. She has a background in avian conservation and earned a Masters degree from the University of Georgia studying wading bird pathogen dynamics, working in novel urban breeding colonies of white ibis in Florida. She moved to Delaware to join DNREC in July of 2023 and is now preparing for her third full field season here, managing the planning, field work, and data analysis related to migratory shorebirds, colonial waterbirds, and other breeding coastal species of conservation concern such as American Oystercatcher and Piping Plover.
The meeting is held in person at Ashland Nature Center and is streamed online via YouTube Live. The in person meeting is open to everyone, but the YouTube Live presentation is for DOS members only.
Members in good standing will receive an email with the link to YouTube Live prior to the meeting. If you are not a member and would like to attend virtually, please consider joining DOS.
We look forward to seeing you soon!