Spoon-billed Sandpiper

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper (or Spoonbill Sandpiper) is a critically endangered small wading bird that breeds in northeastern Russia. The migrant winters in south and southeast Asia.

The species breeds in coastal areas in extreme northeastern Russia. Habitat loss at all stages of life - breeding, migration, and wintering - all threaten the survival of this unusual species.

Because of the recent rapid decline of the global Spoonbill Sandpiper poplulation, a captive breeding program was started in the summer of 2011. Only time will tell if the breeding program will save the Spoon-billed Sandpiper from extinction.