The only source of information on the population status of Wandering Tattler is the continental Christmas Bird Count (CBC), as there is insufficient coverage of its remote nesting grounds to be regularly detected by the Breeding Bird Survey, and it is not observed frequently enough as a migrant to derive migration monitoring trends from the Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring. Even the CBC has only low reliability because it samples a small part of the population, but the magnitude of decline, amounting to 91% since 1970, provides at least low confidence that there has been a large decrease.

The goal for Wandering Tattler is to increase the population to the level it was at in the early 1970s, based on the Christmas Bird Count. Trend data show that Wandering Tattler is far below its goal range and its population decline is ongoing. The trend will need to stabilize before the population can begin to rebound, and it is not realistic for the goal to be met by 2050. Based on analysis of the historical population loss and potential growth rates, the interim target is to reach 25% of the goal by that year. Achieving this target, and ultimately reaching the national goal for this species, will require ambitious and long-term conservation action.