When the Semipalmated Sandpipers arrive in July and August, the Corophium born in May are fully grown and are reproducing. Those are the prey the sandpipers go after. Because the adults live for a few weeks after reproducing, they compete with their offspring for food and space in the mudflat.

Why do Sandpipers migrate?

Once these spatulate-billed birds reach their wintering grounds along the Yellow Sea in China, they find their habitats lost to land reclamation for industry, tourism and agriculture. Besides changing, and even disappearing, coastlines much of the Sandpiper population is susceptible to trapping.

Where do semipalmated sandpipers migrate?

Semipalmated Sandpipers move thousands of miles between their Arctic breeding and South American wintering grounds each year. Their fall migrations are epic, nonstop flights of up to 2,500 miles across the ocean, from New England and southern Canada to South America.