Human disturbance was investigated as a factor that might limit the capacity of a staging area to support migrating shorebirds. Long-term census data were used to test the hypothesis that human disturbance at an important coastal migration staging area has a negative impact on shorebird movement patterns because of (1) displacement of shorebirds from preferred resting areas within the study area; and (2) abandonment of the study area. Results revealed that four of seven species showed one or more types of movement in response to disturbance. The impact of disturbance was greater on species using the heavily distributed front side of the beach. The abundance of impacted species may be reduced by 50% at high disturbance levels. Abundance of front-beach species, such as red knot Calidris canutus and short-billed dowitcher Limnodromus griseus, declined between 1972 and 1989 more than back-beach species, such as black-bellied plover Pluvialis squatarola and semipalmated plover Charadrius semipalmatus; red knot and short-billed dowitcher declined more at Plymouth Beach than at two comparable, but less disturbed, coastal staging areas and more than the overall eastern North American population. Disturbance is implicated as a potential factor in long-term declines in shorebird abundance at Plymouth Beach. The impacts of disturbance could be reduced or perhaps eliminated by closing one or more small portions of the front beach as refuge resting areas during migration.