October
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Scientific name: Tryngites subruficollis
Spanish name: Playero Acanelado
Status: Near Threatened (IUCN red list of endangered species)
Habitat and behavior: Buff-breasted Sandpipers breed on grassy arctic tundra, preferring well-vegetated hummocky ground around marshy ponds. During their fall migration Buffies forage on prime river-edge habitat at Barba Azul Nature Reserve. Winters in upland grassy areas of Argentina. This species exhibits a unique lek behavior. Males typically gather in groups of 2 to 10, displaying during twilight periods. By flashing or waving wings, they expose the highly conspicuous white underside of their wings.
Bolivia’s only Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site, the Armonia´s Barba Azul Nature Reserve, is protecting the Buff-breasted Sandpiper´s habitat, where the birds fatten up foraging on the river edge short-grasslands to continue they journey further south.
To protect this mighty little migrant, we promote sustainable ranching techniques at Barba Azul Nature Reserve and set up experimental plots of foraging habitat to better understand its preferences. Conserving critical stop-over foraging habitats such as Barba Azul Nature Reserve is essential to halt the decline of the worldwide Buff-breasted Sandpiper population.
By supporting the Armonía´s Barba Azul Nature Reserve you can help to protect a critical stop-over foraging habitat of the Buffies.
You can make a tax deductible online donation through our partners the American Bird Conservancy. (In the comment box, simply write: Barba Azul Nature Reserve.) Thank you for your support.
We thank our international partners and individual donors for the achievements of Barba Azul Nature Reserve program – we cannot save the species or empower our people without your generous support. Thank you.
Discover more
Buffies are back at Barba Azul Nature Reserve
Read about the Barba Azul Nature Reserve
Read about the Blue-throated Macaw program
Find out how to visit the Barba Azul Nature Reserve