TOPEKA — The Nature Conservancy and Cheyenne Bottoms are preparing for World Shorebirds Day, Wednesday, Sept. 6.Observed every year in early September, in conjunction with a Global Shorebird Count, World Shorebirds Day celebrates those extreme migrant birds and the people and places that do the most for them.“Some 50 percent of the world’s shorebird species are in decline, and vital habitat is being lost at a higher rate than ever,” said Robert L. Penner II, Ph.D., avian programs manager in Kansas for The Nature Conservancy and chair of the Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network’s United States Committee. “We urgently need to raise public awareness around the world of these imperiled birds’ plight and the need for shorebird conservation and research.”Penner is leading local efforts to participate in World Shorebirds Day, including a bird count at Cheyenne Bottoms and special displays at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center. Cheyenne Bottoms is the largest interior marsh in the United States.