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Breeding Birds of the Alabama Coast

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Breeding Birds of the Alabama Coast White Ibis • L 25”• Stable • Why Birds are Important of the White, mid-sized wader with long, • Bird abundance is an important indicator of the health Breeding Birds Alabama Coast downward-curving, red-orange bill and legs – juveniles mottled brown of coastal ecosystems • Nests in live and dead vegeta- Tricolored Heron • L 26”• Moderate • Revenue generated by hunting, photography, and Brown Pelican • L 51”• Stable • Large gray- tion • Uses touch-sensitive bill to Conservation Concern, declining • birdwatching helps support the coastal economy in brown bird with distinctive bill and pouch – probe shallow water and soft mud Tague Mid-sized heron; slate gray back and Alabama breeding adults have yellow head with dark in search of food dark breast with contrasting white belly Chuck brown neck• Colonial nesters on islands with • Nests in mixed-species colonies on dense vegetation and low shrubs • Plunge- islands in dense vegetation • Chases Black-bellied Whistling-Duck • L 21”• dives to feed on fish Tague Threats to Coastal Nesting Birds fish through water, crouching low and Moderate Conservation Concern • Goose- Chuck Tague • Habitat loss from erosion and wetland degradation Chuck quickly stabbing bill to catch prey like duck with long neck and pink legs, pinkish-red bill, black belly, and white eye-ring • Predators such as foxes, coyotes, and feral and free- Least Bittern ▪ 13” ▪ High Conservation • Nests in tree cavities, woody vegetation on Reddish Egret • High Conservation Con- roaming cats that eat eggs and young Concern, declining-limited distribution ▪ islands, and in nest boxes • Feeds on plants cern, rare, limited distribution • Dark morph Small marsh bird; buffy with black cap and seeds in shallow water • Disturbance from humans and their pets has slate-gray body with reddish breast, and back ▪ Secretive solitary nester in Clipart.com • Entanglement in discarded or lost fishing tackle and reeds or cattails ▪ Stalks through water or neck, and head; white morph completely line, as well as other debris – PLEASE DISCARD FISHING stands on vegetation hunting fish, frogs, white – both have Mottled Duck ▪ L 22” • High Conser- LINE IN APPROPRIATE TRASH CONTAINERS and insects pink bill with black vation Concern, declining-limited John Turner tip; shaggy-looking distribution • Brown dabbling duck Greg Lavaty plumage • Nests with paler buffy head and dull olive Great Blue Heron • L 46”• Stable • in mixed-species to orange (female) or bright yellow Tague Largest heron – overall gray-blue colonies in low vegetation or on ground bill (male) • Nests in meadows, wet- with yellowish bill – will extend and – in only one location • Uses quick, erratic Chuck lands, or agricultural areas • Feeds Hubick coil long neck • Nests colonially on movements to stir up prey Bill on seeds and aquatic invertebrates islands in woody shrubs or trees • Wades to feed on a wide variety Tague Cattle Egret • L 20”• Stable • Smallest white Clapper Rail • L 14.5”• Moderate Con- of prey Chuck Tague servation Concern, limited distribution Tague egret, with stocky body, short legs, rusty-buff • Thin, chicken-like bird, grayish to rusty Chuck plumes on back, chest, and head, and Chuck Cattle Egret nestlings Tricolored Heron nestlings Great Egret • L 39”• Stable • Large, white reddish-orange bill • Nests in mixed-species brown with long, orange bill • Nests in wading bird with long, orange-yellow bill groups on vegetated coastal islands • clumped grasses or low in forks of veg- and black legs; during breeding season Usually seen foraging in agricultural areas etation • Forages alone among woody Tague How to Avoid Disturbing Birds has long plumes on back and lime- inland; feeds on insects shrubs and along marsh edges Greg Lavaty Chuck “Fish, Swim, and Play From 50 Yards Away!” green skin around eyes • Nests in groups Killdeer • L 10.5”• Stable • Large plo- among other species on wood shrubs Green Heron ▪ L 18” • Moderate • Please observe posted areas where groups of birds are or trees • Wades or waits motionlessly to ver with double black neck band and Tague Conservation Concern, declin- nesting on beaches and islands capture fish or other prey red eye ring • Solitary nester on bare Chuck ing • Small, stocky heron with ground, gravel, or sandy/shell-based • Anchor your vessel at least 50 yards away from nesting long bill, dark body and dark surfaces • Forages on land or water’s Tague Snowy Egret • L 24”• Stable • Small, rufous neck; juveniles similar with islands and beaches edge eating insects and worms white egret with long black bill - yellow streaked neck • Nests alone or in Chuck • Keep children and pets away from all posted nesting feet contrast with dark legs; yellow skin loose groups in wetland trees and areas around eye • Nests in mixed-species shrubs • Feeds at water’s edge; Wilson’s Plover • L 8”• Highest • Move away from nesting birds if they increase colonies among shrubs • Slowly wades Ralph Wright may use bait to capture small fish Conservation Concern/Imperiled, rare, vocalization, fly off their nests, or otherwise move through water with neck extended in declining-limited distribution • Mid-size Tague search of prey plover with single neck band, thick away from you Chuck Black-crowned Night-Heron • L 25” black bill, and white forehead • Nests • Do not leave discarded fishing tackle behind on • Moderate Conservation Concern on sandy ground, often among Least beaches and islands or in the water – dispose of it Little Blue Heron • L 24” • Moderate • Mid-sized, Tern colonies • Eats mostly crustaceans, Greg Lavaty properly Conservation Concern, declining • Smaller nocturnal heron including crabs, crayfish, and shrimp • If you see someone destroying nests or disturbing wader; entirely blue-gray with long, green- with short legs Tague ish legs and bluish nesting birds, please contact: and neck – black Snowy Plover • L 6.25”• Highest bill – immature birds Chuck cap and back, Conservation Concern/Imperiled, rare, Tague are white with gray wings and tail, and red eyes – juveniles declining-limited distribution • Small Stalnaker Alabama Wildlife Law Enforcement or without blue are brown with white streaking • Nests in Chuck pale plover with black forehead and Robert Tague at 1-800-272-4263 mottling • Nests in groups on islands in shrubs • Crouches at ear patch, partial neck band – black All birds are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, as mixed-species colonies on islands in low Chuck water’s edge waiting to strike and capture fish and other prey bill and gray legs • Solitary nester Tague amended, and Alabama Nongame Species Regulation 220-2-.92. shrubs • Slowly wades through water with a stiff, extended neck in on sandy or shelly ground • Feeds in Game species can only be taken through legal hunting search of prey Chuck coastal habitats on insects and worms American Oystercatcher • L 17” Royal Tern • L 20”• Low Con- • Highest Conservation Concern/ servation Concern, Protected of the Imperiled, declining-limited distribution • • Similar to Caspian Tern, but Breeding Birds Black and brown with white underside; with thinner orange bill– adults large, laterally- flattened, reddish- have black cap • Nests in large, orange bill and red eye ring • Nests mixed-species colonies on bare Alabama Coast Tague Fun Waterbird Facts on sandy or shelly shores • Forages on to sparsely vegetated ground • tidal flats for shellfish Chuck Plunge-dives to catch fish, also • Waterbirds take a wide variety of prey, including fish, crustaceans, snails, shellfish, worms, amphibians, rep- Gary Smyle eats crabs and shrimp A Bird Guide for Anglers and Beach-Goers tiles, and insects. Sandwich Tern • L 15”• Com- Black-necked Stilt • L 14” • Stable • February – August mon, increasing • Mid-sized tern Slender shorebird with long reddish- • Green Herons may use bait such as insects, small twigs, with shaggy black cap, slender, pink legs, black upperparts, white and leaves to capture small fish. This is one of few bird black bill with yellow tip • Nests underparts, and long, thin, black species that uses a tool and baiting behavior to cap- in groups, usually with Royal bill • Nests on vegetation clumps Terns, on sandy or shelly ground ture its prey. over water • Stands or wades slowly with little vegetation • Dives to • White Ibis have long decurved bills that are touch- Fish, Swim, and Play through shallow water to catch Tague catch fish near water’s surface – Tom Grey prey sensitive. They forage through shallow water sweeping also eats crustaceans Chuck From 50 Yards Away! their bills back and forth until it comes into contact with Common Tern ▪ L 12” • Moderate Willet • L 15”• Stable • Large, drab, prey, causing the bill to reflexively close. Conservation Concern, declining gray-brown shorebird with long bill • Mid-sized tern with black cap, • The Killdeer, like many plovers, will feign a wing injury and legs – in flight shows distinctive orange bill with black tip, and if you get too close to its nest. This behavior is called black and white wing stripe • Solitary orange legs • Nests on sandy/shelly ground nester amid marsh or beach a broken-wing display, and is used to lure predators substrate within sparse vegetation grasses • Forages on beaches and away from the nest. • Plunge-dives to capture fish tidal flats Greg Lavaty • Black Skimmers rest in a strange position – they lay flat Johanna van de Woestijne on the ground with their heads stretched out in front of Laughing Gull • L 16”• Stable • Breed- Least Tern • L 9”• Moderate Conser- them. “Rest assured” they aren’t dead! ing adult has black hood, reddish-black vation Concern, declining • Smallest bill, and dark gray back with white un- local tern – yellow bill and legs, • The American Oystercatcher has a laterally com- derparts –juveniles are varying shades white forehead, black cap • Nests pressed bill that allows it to easily pry open shellfish to of brown• Nests in large colonies • in sparse colonies on bare, sandy or reach its soft-bodied prey inside.
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