Hand-reared sandpiper bird returns to breed in Russia
- Published
The first of 24 hand-reared spoon-billed sandpipers - one of the world's rarest birds - returns to breed in far eastern Russia, where it was hatched two years ago.
The birds are not much bigger than a sparrow and are known for their unique spoon-billed beaks. But it's thought there are fewer than 100 pairs of them left in the wild, so wildlife experts are worried they could soon be extinct.
So to help save the species, 24 spoon-billed sandpipers were hand-reared at their breeding grounds in Russia by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust.
But there's been a two-year wait to see if any of them would survive their 5,000-mile migration to South Asia. Now the first one has returned to breed, which is great news for wildlife experts.