California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation

Dozens of shorebird species depend on the Pacific Flyway each year, including long-billed dowitchers, dunlins, western sandpipers, and American avocets. The flooded rice fields created through our Bid4Birds program mimic the natural wetland conditions these birds need to survive.

Natural wetlands in California's Central Valley have declined by more than 95 percent over the past 150 years. Flooded rice fields have become an essential substitute, especially during spring migration when habitat availability is at its lowest. Through Bid4Birds, we are strategically targeting those gaps — we’ve created nearly 1,300 acres of seasonal wetlands this spring alone!

While hundreds of thousands of acres of rice fields are flooded in winter, most of those fields are dry by the time spring migrating shorebird arrive. That is why our Bid4Birds program targets these periods, filling the gap when shorebirds need it most. In Spring 2026, we helped farmers to create nearly 1,300 acres of habitat so far.