Lindy Yeates

Eastern Curlew

2023

72 x 57cm

Charcoal on Japanese paper

Over the last 30 years, the global population of Eastern Curlews has declined by 80% placing them on Australia’s critically endangered list. Severe loss of habitat, particularly in the Yellow Sea - where Eastern Curlews rest and restore during migration - has led to diminished food resources and depleted sanctuaries for these birds. Not limited to China, coastal development in the Ramsar listed Moreton Bay wetland of Queensland is currently threatening the Eastern Curlew’s tidal-flat habitat. Australian Company, The Walker Group, are proposing a 200-berth marina, stating that since the Eastern Curlews are in decline anyway, the marina shouldn’t significantly impact population numbers.

Bar-tailed Godwit - flight

2020

36 x 37cm

linocut and woodcut

The Bar-tailed Godwit holds the record for the longest non-stop flight of any bird travelling over 13,000 km without rest, from its breeding grounds in Alaska, along the East Asian Australasian Flyway, to Rhyll Inlet on Phillip Island. There the rich food source provided by the mud flats and mangroves of the Inlet, sustain the birds over the Northern winter before they once again take their epic flight home. On December 3rd 2022, a young bar-tailed Godwit broke flight records by making the 13,500km journey from Alaska to NE Tasmania in only 11 days, averaging 51km/hr.

In 2022, the Bar-tailed Godwit was listed as ‘near threatened’ due principally to habitat loss.