Why the Bay of Fundy Is a Shorebird Paradise

The Bay of Fundy’s record-breaking tides (up to 16 m / 53 ft) create a feeding bonanza that makes it one of the world’s most critical stopover sites for migratory shorebirds.

Tidal Table Setting

Each ebb exposes vast mudflats and sandflats teeming with amphipods, polychaete worms, and bivalves—high-energy prey that birds like Semipalmated Sandpipers, Red Knots, and Whimbrels gorge on to double their body weight before the next leg of migration.

Predator Refuge

Rising water forces birds to higher ground, concentrating them in safe roosts away from ground predators.

Habitat Diversity

The bay’s indented coastline offers salt marshes, beaches, and estuaries, each supporting different invertebrate communities and bird guilds.

Climate Buffer

Maritime moderation allows some species to overwinter rather than fly further south.

Millions of birds stage here annually; conservation of the bay’s intertidal ecosystem is a hemispheric priority.