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| Eastern flyway | |
|---|---|
| Name | Eastern flyway |
| Location | Asia–Pacific |
| Type | Migratory route |
Eastern flyway The Eastern flyway is a major avian migration corridor linking Arctic breeding grounds with temperate and tropical wintering areas across Asia and the Pacific. It connects sites from the Russian Arctic and Bering Sea through East Asia and the Yellow Sea to the Philippine Sea, Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef regions, supporting millions of birds, shorebirds, raptors and waterfowl. The route intersects important conservation initiatives and international agreements such as the Convention on Migratory Species, the Ramsar Convention, and bilateral frameworks between China and Australia.
The Eastern flyway functions as a network of stopovers, staging areas and wintering sites spanning the Russian Federation, Japan, the Korean Peninsula, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. Major governance actors include the BirdLife International partnership, the East Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership, and national agencies like the Ministry of the Environment (Japan) and the Department of the Environment and Energy (Australia). Scientific collaboration engages institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, the Australian National University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Korean National Arboretum, and the University of Tokyo.
The route originates in high-latitude tundra and wetlands of Siberia and the Chukchi Sea coast, passes along the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Strait, then follows coastal corridors including the Yellow Sea, Bohai Sea, and the East China Sea. Key bottlenecks occur at sites like the Bohai Bay mudflats, Yalu Jiang Nature Reserve, Tengger Desert peripheries, and island chains such as the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan (Republic of China), and the Philippine Archipelago. Southward extensions link to the Arafura Sea, Gulf of Carpentaria, and the Great Barrier Reef, including important wetlands like Moreton Bay and Port Hedland.
A diverse assemblage uses the flyway: shorebirds such as the Bar-tailed godwit, Red knot, Great knot, and Ruddy turnstone; waterfowl including the Tundra swan, Bean goose, and Greater white-fronted goose; raptors like the Osprey and Peregrine falcon; and seabirds such as the Short-tailed shearwater and Lesser frigatebird. Endangered taxa include the Spoon-billed sandpiper, Nordmann's greenshank, and the Asian dowitcher. Passerines using island chains include migratory populations of Barn swallow, Willow warbler, and Common cuckoo.
Habitats along the corridor comprise Arctic tundra, boreal wetlands, intertidal mudflats, coastal marshes, estuaries, mangroves, tropical rainforests, coral atolls, and pelagic zones. Iconic sites include the Yalu Jiang National Nature Reserve, Mai Po Nature Reserve, Suncheon Bay, Cameron Highlands, and Kakadu National Park. Ecosystem processes such as tidal nutrient fluxes, benthic invertebrate productivity, and seasonal insect emergences at places like Yellow Sea mudflats and Torres Strait islands structure refuelling and breeding success. Keystone species interactions involve predatory control by White-bellied sea eagle and nutrient transfer by migratory Gray-tailed tattler aggregations.
Major threats comprise habitat loss from land reclamation and development across the Yellow Sea, pollution events near industrial centers like Shanghai and Busan, climate-driven changes in Arctic phenology, hunting pressure in parts of Southeast Asia, and invasive species on stopover islands such as Guam. Conservation responses include protected area establishment under national laws like Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and international designations by the Ramsar Convention and World Heritage Convention. NGO campaigns by Wetlands International, WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), and Conservation International work alongside regional agreements like the East Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership to secure crucial sites and promote sustainable coastal development.
Monitoring employs satellite telemetry, geolocators and stable isotope analysis developed by research centers including the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, the Australian Antarctic Division, and the Institute of Zoology (Chinese Academy of Sciences). Long-term programs such as the Asian Waterbird Census, coordinated by Wetlands International, and banding schemes run by the Korean Bird Banding Association and Japanese Bird Banding Association provide migration timing and population trend data. Collaborative projects integrate remote sensing from Landsat, Sentinel-2, and research vessel surveys from institutions like the CSIRO to map habitat change and model climate vulnerability.
The flyway underpins ecosystem services that sustain fisheries and tourism economies in regions such as the Yellow Sea coast, the Great Barrier Reef corridor, and ecotourism hotspots like Kakadu National Park and Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. Cultural values are embedded in indigenous and local practices of groups like the Yupik people, Ainu people, Korean people, and Torres Strait Islanders, and in national symbols such as the Japanese crane in Japan and the Whooper swan in Russia. International conservation funding from bodies including the Global Environment Facility and multilateral investment by the Asian Development Bank supports habitat restoration, sustainable livelihoods, and cross-border scientific exchange.
Category:Bird migration Category:East Asian–Australasian Flyway