A Time and a Place for Everything: Eurasian Spoonbills Divide Spring and Summer Activities Across Different Areas in the Eastern Dutch Wadden Sea

Eurasian Spoonbills, once thriving in European protected areas including the Dutch Wadden Sea, now face stalled recovery despite strict protection of breeding colonies. A study using GPS-loggers with behavioral sensors on 31 spoonbills over 11 years revealed distinct space-use patterns across four key zones in the eastern Wadden Sea, with males and females converging post-breeding at Lutjewad mudflats for moulting and pre-migration fueling. While these areas are protected as N2000-sites or Natural World Heritage sites, they may lack sufficient safeguards against human disturbance, particularly from planned infrastructure developments.

Henriques, M., Piersma, T., Vansteelant, W. M. G., Goeij, P. d., & Lok, T. (2025). A Time and a Place for Everything: Eurasian Spoonbills Divide Spring and Summer Activities Across Different Areas in the Eastern Dutch Wadden Sea. Ardea, 113(1). https://doi.org/10.5253/arde.2024.a24