A Little Spinning Bird and the Wider World of Great Salt Lake Conservation
Red-necked phalarope photo ©Dorian Anderson
The red-necked phalarope is a bird with an impressive migration story. With winters spent floating in the open ocean off South American coasts and summers spent breeding in the Arctic, the long journey between its two habitats is nothing short of astounding—especially considering that the phalarope weighs around just one ounce.
A crucial stopover for the hardy little bird on its journey of over 11,000 miles, to the surprise of many Utahns, is Great Salt Lake (GSL). Every year, huge numbers of these birds stop on the lake and its surrounding wetlands to feast on insects and replenish exhausted fat stores for the long journey ahead.
Great Salt Lake is a key stopover for Red-Necked Phalarope. ©eBird
The area has such a large impact on so many species, it is considered a site of hemispheric importance to shorebirds. However, as our scientists have been taking a closer look at the health of the lake and the wildlife species it supports, they’ve found that its wetlands are, in many regards, a blank patch in the wildlife conservation data map of the West.
This means that land managers, conservationists, and developers alike aren’t sure how their actions on the wetlands are actually impacting bird habitat, or what management methods will best support birds. In the meantime, whether birds like the phalarope are actually getting the insects and other resources they depend on to survive remains a mystery.
Great Salt Lake draws many visitors, including birdwatchers looking for shorebirds like the red-necked phalarope and hunters in search of waterfowl. Photo ©Dorian Anderson
A Crucial Task
From interviews our scientists have had with various wetland managers, it’s clear that the lack of information on the lake is a result of years of overworked, underfunded managers scrambling to combat mounting threats to the ecosystem. Management of lands the red-necked phalarope depends on—over 300,000 acres in total—is left to a few passionate stakeholders without the resources to make all their important conservation goals happen on the landscape.
One wetland manager detailed how almost 14,000 acres were added to their current responsibilities, but there was no additional funding to support staff or other resources for such a wide expanse.
Wetland managers work hard monitoring, conserving, and managing vast areas of land. ©Janice Gardner
When asked what they’d do if they had unlimited resources, another manager said with an air of playful desperation, “If I could link any of my wetland management data to actual bird use, that would make all of my dreams come true.” Understanding which conservation methods were effective would mean dramatically better management actions to support birds like the red-necked phalarope.
These managers, while busy with all kinds of projects to conserve the lake, simply don’t have the resources to track and analyze the effects of their projects or how their work is interacting with the work of other stakeholders.
The phalarope and other shorebirds and waterfowl that depend on the lake deserve habitat management actions that are backed by data.
©Janice Gardner
At Sageland Collaborative, we believe that the future of the phalarope is promising. We envision an ecosystem with widely shared conservation data, managers who are supported by a close network of other stakeholders and volunteers in their conservation actions, and flocks of birds and waterfowl thriving in a healthy habitat.
Our project is designed to make this a reality, and we need the support of fellow conservationists. Will you support science-driven conservation of the phalarope by donating today?
Intermountain West Shorebird Survey
The northern pintail, a species highly valued by many duck hunters, depends on the health of Great Salt Lake as a stopover during its migration. ©Janice Gardner
In 2021, we built on our 2020 Great Salt Lake Wetland Habitats: A Needs Report Based on Interviews with the Managers to develop a project supporting struggling bird populations. The year’s summer drought brought GSL water levels down to the lowest ever recorded on the lake, threatening the many species—like the red-necked phalarope—that depend on the lake.
To face critical issues like this, there is an urgent need to understand shorebird populations across the entire migration corridor. A large-scale shorebird monitoring program is underway in portions of the Pacific Flyway, but sites in the Intermountain West have not been systematically surveyed since the mid-1990s. This has limited our understanding of population trends and threats, in turn limiting our ability to take action to protect the health of the species.
Over the next three years, we will address severe threats to bird populations by surveying for shorebirds at multiple sites in the Intermountain West including the Great Salt Lake, Utah Lake, and Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge. This will provide a scientific foundation for regional conservation of resources for shorebirds and other wildlife. Major partners are Point Blue Conservation Science, National Audubon, and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
This will help sustain and improve wetland habitat crucial for the phalarope and other birds.
To learn more about the Intermountain West Shorebird Survey and find out how to get involved, check out our project page here.
Female red-necked phalarope. Photo ©Dorian Anderson
If you believe that the health of the red-necked phalarope and other shorebirds and waterfowl should be a priority, please consider becoming a monthly donor today.
Article by Sarah Woodbury.
