Spoon-billed bird looks for love
14-02-2008
 Peter Ericsson
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A new wintering population of Spoon-billed Sandpiper, one of the world’s most threatened birds, has been discovered in Myanmar.
The announcement comes just in time for Valentine’s Day, when people in parts of the UK, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe have traditionally exchanged “love spoons” as tokens of affection.
A team which visited parts of Myanmar’s coast not previously explored by ornithologists found more than 80 of the little waders.
Last year, the population on the bird’s only known breeding grounds in Siberia fell by half. In May, the Spoon-billed Sandpiper will be declared Critically Endangered, meaning that it is on the very brink of extinction.
 John O'Sullivan/RSPB
Cute chick?
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"What better way of pledging your undying love than helping to guarantee a future for these charismatic little birds?" —Jim Lawrence, Species Champion Development Manager
BirdLife is now looking for Species Champions, to provide funds for conservation action to save the Spoon-billed Sandpiper.
What better way of pledging your undying love than helping to guarantee a future for these charismatic little birds? said Jim Lawrence, Species Champion Development Manager.
This news is brought to you by the BirdLife Species Champions and the British Birdwatching Fair - official sponsor of the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme
Credits: The Spoon-billed Sandpiper Recovery Team