Exe Estuary SPA/Ramsar Non-breeding populations; Avocet Black-tailed godwit Dark-bellied brent goose Dunlin Grey plover Oystercatcher Slavonian grebe restore Waterbird assemblage (>20,000 individuals)
Focusing on Oystercatcher At designation the Exe supported 3980 individuals (5 year peak mean) At present 46% decline since classification. Possible reasons for decline Shell-fish resource (local factor) Human disturbance (local factor) Kleptoparasitism (local factor) Breeding productivity (off-site effect) Climate change (global effect)
Current & future work areas Darvic ringing of oystercatcher over-winter and inter-annual survival fitness of individuals determining site turn-over and fidelity Functionally linked land GPS tagging?