The Importance of a Network of Sites to Maintain Hudsonian Godwits (Limosa haemastica) in a Critical Non-Breeding Area

Abstract

Many shorebirds rely on a set of key sites to complete their annual cycles at the flyway, regional, and landscape scales. Coastal wetlands on Chiloé Island, Chile, (Chiloé) support a high proportion of the Hudsonian Godwits (Limosa haemastica) spending the boreal winter along the Pacific coast of the Americas. We conducted annual counts of godwits on Chiloé between 2010 and 2020 to estimate trend in the population. To understand use of individual sites and local networks of sites (clusters), we conducted monthly counts September 2013–March 2014 and September 2017–March 2018. Because of wide variation in annual counts, we did not detect a significant trend in abundance of godwits on Chiloé. Mean monthly abundance summed across all sites during December–February varied markedly among site clusters, with godwits being most abundant in the central Chiloé cluster. Across Chiloé, variation in monthly counts of godwits at individual sites was twice as great as variation in counts summed within a cluster. Casual re-sightings of color-flagged godwits supported the idea that godwits used clusters consistently across years. Our results illustrate the importance of conserving a network of sites across multiple scales as an important step in maintaining Hudsonian Godwit populations.