{"id":1682,"date":"2022-01-17T03:07:08","date_gmt":"2022-01-17T03:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/?page_id=1682"},"modified":"2026-03-18T10:13:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T14:13:04","slug":"delaware-bay-shorebirds","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/conservation\/delaware-bay-shorebirds\/","title":{"rendered":"Delaware Bay Shorebirds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nj.gov\/dep\/fgw\/artmarinehourly_hcsurvey.htm\">A Night on the Horseshoe Crab Survey<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/conservation\/delaware-bay-restricted-area-maps\/\">Seasonal Restricted Access Information<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/rufa-red-knot-delaware-bay-annual-report-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rufa Red Knot Delaware Bay Annual Report, September 2025<\/a> <i class=\"fa-solid fa-file-pdf text-danger\" title=\"Adobe Acrobat PDF File\"><\/i> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p>The Delaware Bay&#8217;s shores are a critical stopover area for six species of migrating birds. The late May arrival of these birds coincides with the spawning of horseshoe crabs, producing one of the most dramatic natural phenomena anywhere in the world. Feeding on crab eggs, the birds refuel and continue their journey to Arctic breeding grounds. Unfortunately, there has been a dramatic decline in horseshoe crab numbers since 1991 and a corresponding decline in shorebird numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New Jersey Fish and Wildlife&#8217;s&nbsp;Endangered and Nongame Species Program&nbsp;(ENSP) has studies these birds and their habitats since the mid-1980s when aerial surveys were initiated.  ENSP continues to coordinate with wildlife biologists in Delaware&#8217;s Division of Fish and Wildlife, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and other conservation partners in New Jersey. Many years of banding shorebirds with field-readable, colored leg bands has resulted in a database of re-sightings that have helped document migration routes, and nesting and wintering areas. This database is particularly important for monitoring red knots, which are State endangered and Federally threatened. The banding and resighting data is used in population modeling for red knot abundance and trends in the Delaware Bay stopover.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ENSP invites reports of banded red knots and other shorebirds. You may report birds marked with field-readable band codes to the Bird Banding Laboratory at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwrc.usgs.gov\/BBL\/bblretrv\/index.cfm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.reportband.gov<\/a> <i class=\"fa-regular fa-arrow-up-right-from-square text-primary\" title=\"External Web Page\"><\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The links below lead to pages with information about these shorebirds and the work of division biologists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>More information on Delaware Bay Shorebirds:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/conservation\/delaware-bay-restricted-area-maps\/\">Seasonal Restrictions on Beach Access<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nj.gov\/dep\/fgw\/ensp\/shorebird_banded.htm\">Delaware Bay Shorebird Banding Information<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nj.gov\/dep\/fgw\/ensp\/shorebird_mig.htm\">Delaware Bay Shorebird Migration Information<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"\/njfw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/delbayshrbirds.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Delaware Bay Shorebirds Brochure<\/a>&nbsp;<i class=\"fa-solid fa-file-pdf text-danger\" title=\"Adobe Acrobat PDF File\"><\/i> (has directions to viewing areas)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Status of the Red Knot in the Western Hemisphere<\/strong>, May 2007 &#8211;&nbsp;<em>US Fish and Wildlife Service<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"\/njfw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/redknot_status07.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Complete Report<\/a> <i class=\"fa-solid fa-file-pdf text-danger\" title=\"Adobe Acrobat PDF File\"><\/i><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"\/njfw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/redknot_status07_body.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Report Body without Appendix<\/a> <i class=\"fa-solid fa-file-pdf text-danger\" title=\"Adobe Acrobat PDF File\"><\/i><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"\/njfw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/redknot_status07_appendix.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Report Appendix<\/a> <i class=\"fa-solid fa-file-pdf text-danger\" title=\"Adobe Acrobat PDF File\"><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>ADDITIONAL LINKS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wildlife\/new-jerseys-endangered-and-threatened-wildlife\/\">New Jersey&#8217;s Endangered and Threatened Species<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nj.gov\/dep\/fgw\/pif.htm\">Partners in Flight<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-content\/uploads\/njfw\/shorebirds.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"556\" src=\"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-content\/uploads\/njfw\/shorebirds.jpg\" alt=\"Shorebirds\" class=\"wp-image-1689\" srcset=\"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/njfw\/shorebirds.jpg 780w, https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/njfw\/shorebirds-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/njfw\/shorebirds-768x547.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Delaware Bay&#8217;s shores are a critical stopover area for six species of migrating birds. The late May arrival of these birds coincides with the spawning of horseshoe crabs, producing one of the most dramatic natural phenomena anywhere in the world. Feeding on crab eggs, the birds refuel and continue their journey to Arctic breeding [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":52,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1682","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1682"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65418,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1682\/revisions\/65418"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/52"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}