Sanderling Demography

Sanderlings are small sandpipers with an average weight of 50 g. They forage rapidly on sandy beaches with a characteristic habit of chasing after the tides. The Ghana coast supports between 3-4 % the East Atlantic Flyway sanderling population. Between 40 and 70 % of this proportion of sanderlings use a 13 km sandy beach between the Amanzule and Ankobra estuaries (hereafter referred to as Esiama beach) in the Western Region of Ghana. Sanderlings are captured in mist nets along the sandy beach, ringed according to the Ghana Ringing Scheme (GRS) and colour marked according the International Wader Study Group (IWSG) Colour Ringing Scheme for identification at the individual level. Colour marking of sanderlings involves the use of four plastic rings and a red flag. Therefore, any sanderling observed with a red flag on either legs indicates that that particular individual was first captured and colour marked in Ghana. A team of colour ring observers go out every month to observe and look out for colour marked sanderlings, using telescopes. This project is also part of a global consortium of experts and amateurs’ observers of colour marked sanderlings. The preliminary results confirm that sanderlings have shown varying levels of site fidelity, high turnover rate and longevity of individuals.

Project Donors – Global Flyway Network, CAW

Project coordinator – Jones Quartey