The Global Flyway Network (GFN) is a non-profit foundation that seeks to foster and strengthen partnerships between researchers studying the demography and movement ecology of migrant shorebirds across the world. This website provides the latest news about the research conducted by our partners, and enables professionals and laypeople to explore the movements of individually tracked shorebirds.

Using the menu on the left, or scrolling down this page, you can explore tracking data for specific species, projects, flyways, or within a certain radius of your current or a selected location. Please bear with us as we are constantly working to expand and improve our services.

The development of the GFN (website) is led by the BirdEyes Institute for Global Ecological Change of the University of Groningen. more

Tracks of a specific species

Black-tailed Godwit

Black-tailed Godwit

Limosa limosaview tracks
Bar-tailed Godwit

Bar-tailed Godwit

Limosa lapponicaview tracks
Red Knot

Red Knot

Calidris canutusview tracks
Eurasian Spoonbill

Eurasian Spoonbill

Platalea leucorodiaview tracks
Eurasian Whimbrel

Eurasian Whimbrel

Numenius phaeopusview tracks
Eurasian Curlew

Eurasian Curlew

Numenius arquataview tracks
Nordmann's Greenshank

Nordmann's Greenshank

Tringa guttiferview tracks

Latest news

Black-tailed Godwits (Limosa limosa) in southern Spain; habitat description and finding colour marked birds from 1 – 9 October 2024

In this expedition from 1 to 9 October 2024 we visited the most important areas for wintering Black-
tailed Godwits in southern Spain. Our aim was to resight individual colour marked birds, describe the
habitats used by godwits and to gain information on threats and opportunities by field observations
and meetings with local experts. In this report we present a daily overview of our f...

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Bohai Report 2024

Most of the Yellow Sea intertidal mudflats are critical feeding areas for migratory shorebirds on their journeys to and from their breeding and non- breeding grounds. The areas used by migratory shorebirds are referred to as ‘stop-over sites’ (sites used mainly for a ‘pit-stop’, a rest) or ‘staging sites’ (sites used for more than a few days for serious refuelling). B...

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Bohai Bay 2024 Update 3

And before you know it it’s all over. I am back in Broome; Kath is on her way to Chongming Dao today and the Liu’s have jobs and kids/grandkids to keep them busy! So, we have said our goodbyes to the Nanpu seawall and the birds for 2024. We wish them well on the rest of their journey to breed and back to their non-breeding grounds where we hope to encounter them again.

[caption ...

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Bohai Bay 2024 Update 2

As all our regular readers will know we are here to focus on Red Knots. No bird, carrying a mark, passes our telescopes without being recorded but undoubtedly Red Knots remain our focus.

Three subspecies occur in the EAAF but one of them, roselaari only occurs as a breeding bird on the Wrangel Islands. Roselaari’s main non-breeding area is the Pacific coast of California and Mexico....

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Bohai Bay 2024 Update 1

Well, that’s a nice title to write after 5 years. I am back on the Luannan Coast with our work once again centred on the mudflats of Nanpu. Of course, we have had our colleague Katherine Leung keeping everything going in 2020, 21, and 23. And our excellent drivers and scanners Liu Jianfeng and Liu Yang who managed the work alone in 2022. The field team this year for the scanning is Kat...

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Recherche sur les limicoles du Banc d’Arguin, Mauritanie

Dans ce rapport nous décrirons les expéditions du NIOZ au Parc National du Banc d’Arguin en 2023. Cette année, nous avons effectué trois visites au Parc National pour nos travaux sur les limicoles. L'objectif principal de la première expédition était de capturer des bécasseaux maubèche pour les équiper de émetteurs (satellites). Nous avons utilisé différents types de émet...

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Grutto landschap project: Jaarverslag 2023

De landbouw in Nederland staat voor een grote uitdaging: het produceren van genoeg, veilig en gezond voedsel zonder dat dit ten koste gaat van de leefbaarheid op het platteland voor plant, mens en dier. En zonder dat het de planeet in bredere zin zwaar belast. Een veelgehoorde en serieuze oplossingsrichting is om het bedrijfsmodel weer te baseren op korte kringlopen en natuurlijke proces...

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Tweet @GlobalFlyway - Jun 20, 2023 12:55

Bird eyes & ears: is it a virtue to see & hear attentively, thus sense the state of the world around us; & then speak about it?
We think so, as explained in editorial to #SAHEL-special of @ArdeaJournal with Foreword of @ibrahimthiaw.
"Ground-truthed baseline to Great #GreenWall" https://t.co/pKV0BzLPNP https://t.co/PSsS4rdbJ1

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Tweet @GlobalFlyway - Jun 20, 2023 12:37

#SAHEL-special is forworded by @ibrahimthiaw, who grew up here & saw: "how nature could suddenly shift from healthy – full of trees & birds – into barren landscapes."
"I hope that today’s young Sahelians will get to experience the beauty & bounty of this harsh yet hopeful land." https://t.co/9bwfrz3xuO https://t.co/m5tMUIeDsG

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Tweet @GlobalFlyway - Jun 20, 2023 12:19

YES! Some of us were lucky enough to receive copies of mighty #SAHEL-special of @ArdeaJournal with >400 pages packed with information on trees & birds & people across the entire zone! Subscribers to @ArdeaJournal will follow soon. Amazing achievement of Zwarts team! @ibrahimthiaw https://t.co/7YflpombaG

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Tweet @GlobalFlyway - Jun 20, 2023 09:24

@Ben_Sheldon_EGI @VeenVitaal @RoelandBom @RuthHowison @SisselSjoberg @CampusFryslan @univgroningen @projectgodwit @ParcDiawling @prcmarine @HacenElHacen @BirdLife_Sci It did! Have a look at https://t.co/0k3EIuDNby to see the many tagged black-tailed #godwits that are already underway, many of them failed breeders!

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Tweet @GlobalFlyway - Jun 20, 2023 09:16

Black-tailegd #godwit OVERVEEN, tagged by @VeenVitaal, gave away marvels of #migration during #flight from SW Netherlands to Senegal delta. @RoelandBom's quick analysis shows brief stops in Oléron & Donana and daytime climbs to #altitudes of 4-6 km, flying v high across #Sahara! https://t.co/eIcN8yNoUK https://t.co/7Az6WST6y6

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Projects with tracks (view projects on map)

Bar-tailed Godwit -- East Atlantic Flyway -- GPS-GSM

269456 deployed locations

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Bar-tailed Godwit -- East Atlantic Flyway -- PTT

48676 deployed locations

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Bar-tailed Godwit migration, New Zealand

38339 deployed locations

Determine how godwits use the Yellow Sea region on northward migration in the face of habitat degradation and catastrophic food supply loss. This is a collaboration involving the Global Flyway Network, Birds NZ, Massey University and Birds Canada.

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Black-tailed Godwit Iberia - NL 2019

103110 deployed locations

Btg caught in Portugal 8-01-2019.


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Black-tailed Godwits -- VeenVitaal

113346 deployed locations

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Black-tailed Godwits Extremadura (HQXS)

12035 deployed locations

Oxidative stress during energetically demanding states and its transgenerational consequences in migrants (OXISTRESS)


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Black-tailed godwits NL South Holland

5198 deployed locations

In nature reserve De Nesse and Berkenwoude of Zuid-Hollands Landschaps and agricultural area management by Agrarisch Collectief Krimpenerwaard measures were taken to improve the habitat of waders, such as the black-tailed godwits. Previous studies show that the number of waders increase, however do they also succeed in raising chicks successfully? By tracking families we will be able to determine the breeding success, but most importantly learn more about the habitat use during the chick phase.

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Curlew Sandpipers -- East Atlantic Flyway -- GPS-VHF

102 deployed locations

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Duemmer Adult Godwits_2018

18082 deployed locations

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Duemmer Adult Godwits_2019

16936 deployed locations

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Duemmer Adult Godwits_2020

21037 deployed locations

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Duemmer Adult Godwits_2021

20689 deployed locations

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Duemmer Godwit Chicks_2018

6354 deployed locations

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Duemmer Godwit Chicks_2021

13940 deployed locations

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Eurasian Spoonbill - Lok - Netherlands 2019-2023

2185378 deployed locations

For background information about the project, see https://www.nioz.nl/en/expertise/wadden-delta-research-centre/expertise-wadden/birds/how-do-migratory-birds-find-their-way

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GrassBirdHabitats Adult Godwits_2022

32556 deployed locations

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GrassBirdHabitats Adult Godwits_2023

119395 deployed locations

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GrassBirdHabitats Adult Godwits_2024

167677 deployed locations

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GrassBirdHabitats Common Redshank

76364 deployed locations

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Great Snipes -- Sweden -- GPS-GSM

4188 deployed locations

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hand-raised juveniles 2017

22345 deployed locations

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Manila Bay Shorebird Tracking Feb 2024

291140 deployed locations

Shorebirds were fitted with trackers to study local habitat use and (migration) movements


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Migratlane [ID_PROG 1275]

4211166 deployed locations

tracking seabirds and terrestrial migrants to identify foraging, resting, dispersal and migratory pathways to advise offshore wind farm planning in the Channel and East Atlantic, off France

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Nordmann's Greenshank - Global Messenger - Thailand

50720 deployed locations

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Nordmann's Greenshank - Lotek PinPoint 75- Thailand

114 deployed locations

Tracking Nordmann's Greenshank from SE Asia (Thailand) using Lotek PinPoint 75s


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Red Knot Vici Van Gils

9111 deployed locations

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Sanderlings -- East Atlantic Flyway -- GPS-VHF

194 deployed locations

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SPOONBILL_CULTURE - Eurasian Spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia, Threskiornithidae) from the breeding population in The Netherlands

1261 deployed locations

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SPOONBILL_WAAKVOGELS - Eurasian Spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia, Threskiornithidae) from the breeding population in The Netherlands

973586 deployed locations

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Teampiersma HQXS 2023

33867 deployed locations

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Teampiersma Interrex 2023

52408 deployed locations

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TeampiersmaBD_Limosa limosa

97470 deployed locations

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Whimbrel -- East Atlantic Flyway -- PTT

31744 deployed locations

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WWF-Hong Kong migratory bird tracking

19283 deployed locations

WWF-Hong Kong believes as problems grow in scale and complexity, we need future solutions and a creative multi-pronged approach to secure the future of wetlands and the iconic species that depend on it. With generous donation from HSBC, WWF-Hong Kong has launched the Wetland Incubator project to find conservation solutions for future thriving flyways. We aim at using tracking devices as a tool to investigate migration of shorebird species in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. To learn more about project: https://www.wwf.org.hk/en/wetlands/mai-po/wetland_incubator/

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