TASS, June 8. The absence of foreign ornithologists will not affect another expedition season to preserve spoon-billed sandpiper (Calidris pygmaea) on the Chukchi Peninsula. Due to the coronavirus restrictions and the growing international tensions, the cooperation with foreign scientists will continue remotely, coordinator of the project to preserve the species Nikolay Yakushev told TASS.

An international project (Beginning Life) continues on the Chukchi Peninsula (Russia’s Chukotka Region) since 2012. It has featured specialists from the UK, Singapore, China, South Korea. Under the project, scientists take a certain number of sandpiper eggs from the nest to protect future chicks from predators. Then the people hatch them in an incubator and release young birds into the natural environment at the age of about three weeks. During the last field season, the project’s ornithologists raised and released 28 rare birds into the nature.

"The project has always involved foreign specialists," the Russian scientist said. "The initiative kicked off in 2012. It featured the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB, the UK), and every year ornithologists from many countries have come here. In 2019, the coronavirus [pandemic] transferred the joint work into a remote format, and even the recent international events have not brought the scientists apart - we will continue to cooperate."

During the expedition in the current year, he continued, Russian scientists will count sandpipers, study their diet, behavioral characteristics. However, the scientists have decided to abandon the work of raising chicks in captivity. The scientist called this work "jewelry accurate," adding the Russian team has only two specialists to do this work - he and his colleague Ivan Shepelev. However, Shepelev for family reasons will not be able to fly to the village of Meynypilgino, where sandpipers nest. Thus, is it a very big risk to carry out such work having only one experienced specialist.

"The birds [bred in captivity] are not like their wild relatives - they are less afraid of humans, which is not very good for endangered birds. Therefore, although this year we are changing the methods due to a number of factors, this may be even beneficial: let’s see how the population will behave without the human support," the scientist said.

New field season

First ornithologists from central institutes have arrived in Chukotka: they will spend the summer in Meynypilgino, where several scientific expeditions will work during this season.

An ornithologist from the Institute of Geography (the Russian Academy of Sciences) and a consultant of the Menzbir Russian Society for Conservation and Study of Birds, Elena Lappo, has been participating in the project for many years, and, she says, the change in the format in 2022 may be a useful experience. "We want to turn the "minus" into a "plus", because for several years there have been questions: "What will happen to the sandpiper population if people do not actively interfere with its vital activity?" One season of course cannot clarify the situation to us, but anyway we will obtain some practical understanding," she said.

"Three years ago, our big international team worked in Meynypilgino, then the pandemic came, but the scientific initiative has continued. We have a sufficient number of ornithologists, but without an international involvement we can’t manage - all the countries along sandpiper’s migration route must care for the bird’s preservation," the expert said.

In the field season 2022, ornithologists will study not only sandpipers, but also other birds. The Red Data Book birds "pay back" scientists for this close attention and caring by keeping stable numbers, she added. "In 2007, there was a slump in the number of sandpipers. They almost immediately faced the threat of extinction. This trend still remains in the world. In Meynypilgino, the situation is stable and we’ve registered even a slight increase in numbers," she said.

The residents of the Chukotka village are looking forward to the scientific expedition. "We are used to working in difficult field conditions, but in Meynypilgino the season flies by easily. The locals are very proud that they have such a rare bird nesting, and thus they are always happy to respond to our requests. We have built there comfortable mini-cottages, with hot water, a dining room and even a cook. By the standards of field works, it is a resort, and the active involvement of the locals, their willingness to help brighten up long Arctic evenings," Yakushev said.

Rare bird

Spoon-billed sandpiper is on Russia’s Red Data Book. The monitoring of its population began in the early 21st century. Scientists have been working to find out reasons for the population’s reduction and to preserve sandpipers from extinction. These works involve the Russian Society for the Conservation and Study of Birds, as well as the Arctic Council together with Russian and foreign partners.

Over the years of the Beginning Life project, ornithologists have managed to cut by about 4-5 times the birds’ mortality at the stages of incubation and chicks feeding. Additionally, several other projects to preserve sandpipers have been working in Chukotka since 2000.