The Eurasian Spoonbill International Expert Group [1] met in Djerba (Tunisia), 14—18 November 2018, in the framework of its 9th international workshop—the 8th was held at the Tour du Valat in 2015 (find out more).
Co-organised by the Tunisian Association “Les Amis des Oiseaux/Birdlife [2] (AAO)” and the Tour du Valat, this workshop brought together 25 participants from 10 different countries. The island of Djerba is used by hundreds of spoonbills in winter, which makes it one of the main wintering sites for the central European population, which includes mainly birds that nest in the Camargue, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia.
The discussions focused on the state of knowledge on the Eurasian Spoonbill in each of the participating countries, the threats facing the species, particularly during its migration, and the new knowledge acquired about its ecology in recent years. The Eurasian Spoonbill is a flagship species of wetlands, and as such benefits from an international action plan implemented by the group of experts, which was renewed this year until 2028 (find out more [3])
Since 2008, the Tour du Valat has been conducting a monitoring programme for the Eurasian Spoonbills that are ringed every spring in the Camargue (find out more [4]). This work enables us to continually improve our knowledge about this species, particularly with regard to its migratory behaviour. The recent monitoring workshop was followed by a ring reading mission in the Gulf of Gabès, during which 140 marked individuals were identified, including thirty spoonbills from the Camargue. Since 2016, GPS tags have been placed on some individuals from the Camargue, which also makes it possible to monitor in real time and very precisely their movements around the Mediterranean, between west Africa and northern Europe (find out more [5]).
Contact: Jocelyn Champagnon, Research scientist (e-mail [6])