MV: DOZER, a Long-billed Curlew, bathing

MV: DOZER, a Long-billed Curlew was banded and fitted with a satellite transmitter in May 2020 by the Intermountain Bird Observatory at his breeding grounds in Indian Valley in the West Central Mountains of Idaho.
Dozer returned to his non-breeding grounds in Morro Bay for his 5th season on June 17, 2024. This encounter with him was filmed on Saturday, June 29, 2024, at Alva Paul Lagoon (Morro Strand State Beach).
Dozer's mate, Mimi, also has a satellite transmitter. She spends the non-breeding season in Sonora, Mexico just north of the Gulf of California.
The Intermountain Bird Observatory has been studying Long-billed Curlews since 2009 as local populations in SW ID have been in a ~ 95% decline. They began tracking their migration through use of satellite transmitters since 2013 to learn more about their migratory connectivity and to try to find out the reasons for their decline. They have discovered the illegal shooting on the public lands is one of the main driving factors for this decline.