List of Shorebird Profiles

Pacific Central Atlantic Species Page Flyway Flyway Flyway American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) •513 American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) •••499 Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) •488 Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) •••501 Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani)•490 Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Tryngites subruficollis) •511 Dowitcher (Limnodromus spp.)•••485 Dunlin (Calidris alpina)•••483 Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemestica)••475 Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)•••492 Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) ••503 Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)••505 Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva) •497 Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa)••473 Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)•••479 Sanderling (Calidris alba)•••477 Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)••494 Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia)•••507 Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda)•509 Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri) •••481 Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) ••515

All illustrations in these profiles are copyrighted © George C. West, and used with permission. To view his work go

to http://www.birchwoodstudio.com.

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S M 472 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Red Knot (Calidris canutus)

Description The Red Knot is a chunky, medium sized shorebird that measures about 10 inches from bill to tail. When in its breeding plumage, the edges of its head and the underside of its neck and belly are orangish. The bird’s upper body is streaked a dark brown. It has a brownish gray tail and yellow green legs and feet.

In the winter, the Red Knot carries a plain, grayish plumage that has very few distinctive features.

Call Its call is a low, two-note whistle that sometimes includes a churring “knot” sound that is what inspired its name. Generally, they are quiet fliers except for an occasional soft “kuret”.

Non-breeding Habitat Red Knots are mostly marine shorebirds in the nonbreeding season. They probe the mud and sand for Migration Today’s Population mollusks, especially bivalves (small Juvenile Red Knots begin their fall The Red Knot was once very marine animals with a two-part shell) migration about two to three weeks abundant in North America. which they swallow whole! after the adults have left. Many fly Today, scientists estimate that to rich stopover sites found along approximately 145,000 of these birds Breeding the Atlantic coast. Here they stop remain along the Atlantic flyway. Red Knots breed from June through to feed on tiny blue mussels, worms, About half of them stop at Delaware August in the high Arctic. Long days and other invertebrates. After Bay. and massive numbers of insect foods resting and fattening up, many Red make the arctic areas of Canada an Knots continue over the Atlantic to Potential Threats to Red Knots ideal spot for raising their young. South America finally stopping in Delaware Bay also happens to be the Males set up the territories and Tierra del Fuego- the southern tip second largest petrochemical port begin courtship display flights. After of Argentina. They stay here, in an in the eastern U.S. A major oil spill selecting a female, the pair mates and area pockmarked with tidal pools, could seriously affect these birds and then quickly builds a nest from lichen, for several months dinning on local their food supply. Also, some local moss, and willow leaves. Red Knots mussels. fishermen use horseshoe crabs, the usually nest on high, dry ground. It Red Knot’s main food source, as bait. takes the female about 6 days to lay In March and April, the Red Knots four camouflaged eggs that together moves again, this time up the coast of Something to Think About…. weigh more than half her own body South America toward their northern How might fisherman and shorebirds weight! breeding grounds. When they arrive share the important Delaware Bay on the U.S. Atlantic Coast many Red horseshoe crabs so there is enough for Both parents take care of the chicks Knots stop along the Delaware Bay both? during their first few days of life. to feast on horseshoe crab eggs. In Then the female leaves the male only two weeks they double their behind to continue caring for the bodyweight! This critical stopover brood. She prepares for her long site is what fuels the rest of their migration flight south to Florida or flight to the Arctic, a miraculous

South America. 20,000-mile round trip!

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S M 473 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P To U.K.

From Wrangel Island, AK

Red Knot

Breeding

Winter

Not many along this coast

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 474 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemestica)

Description The Hudsonian Godwit is a large crow-sized bird with a long, straight or slightly upturned bill. It has a dark tail with a white patch on top. In breeding plumage, the male has a chestnut colored breast and the base of its bill is orange.

Behavior These birds are gregarious and often seen in large flocks. They are also swift and powerful flyers.

Call The call of the Hudsonian Godwit is a common “kaweep kaweep”.

Non-breeding Habitat Hudsonian Godwits use a variety of inland and coastal wetlands including estuaries, mudflats, salt marshes, and sandy shores during the winter and migration. They feed mostly on invertebrates.

Breeding The adults nest from late May old! The Hudsonian Godwits then Hudsonian Godwits pass through through July in lowland marshes continue southeast, passing over the James Bay, Canada in late summer on or near northern tundra coasts or coast of the US, the Atlantic Ocean, their way south. Over 7,000 of these rivers. Males make noisy flights to the east coast of South America shorebirds spend their winter in claim a territory. After mating, both and finally to the tapering coast of Bahia, San Sebastian and Tierra Del the male and female incubate the four Argentina and Chile. Here, they Fuego in Argentina. eggs. The female typically sits on the spend from October to April eating nest during the day and the male at worms, mollusks, and insects along Threats to Hudsonian Godwits night. The nest is a depression about estuaries, grasslands and rice fields. Scientists aren’t sure if agricultural 5 inches across under the edge of a Their spring migration is more chemicals affect Hudsonian Godwits. dwarf birch tree that usually sits on westerly, using freshwater wetlands It is possible that many of these the dry top of a sedge marsh. When along the Central Flyway. shorebirds could be affected by large the adults no longer need to guard oil production or shipping accidents their chicks, the young become Since most people rarely see when they concentrate at the tip of secretive for about ten days, then Hudsonian Godwits, they were once South America. reappear on nearby shorelines. thought to be endangered. They hide nests far from people, in marshes and Something to Think About… Migration tundra. In addition, they only stop What is the advantage of elliptical Most Hudsonian Godwits have an once or twice during the trip, making migration (using one migration route elliptical migration meaning that they their migration truly amazing! in the spring and a different one in use one migration route in the fall and the fall)? another to return to their breeding Today’s Population grounds in the spring. Scientists once thought that the After breeding in the low Arctic, Hudsonian Godwit was a rare Hudsonian Godwits gathers at shorebird. Today, about 11,000 birds Hudson Bay and James Bay in use the Atlantic flyway, only one Canada. The young birds make this fifth of the total North American

trip when they are only ten weeks population. More than 10,000

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S M 475 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Fall

Spring Hudsonian Godwit

Breeding

Winter

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S M 476 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Description The Sanderling is a small sandpiper easily identified by the large amount of white on its feathers. In winter plumage Sanderlings are one of the palest sandpipers around and have a light gray back that blends into their white belly.

During breeding, both males and females are bright rusty-red on their backs and breasts. They have a white belly, and black legs and bill.

Behavior A quick way to identify Sanderlings is watching their feeding behavior. At first glance they seem to be chasing the waves. They are really pecking for small food in the beach sand as the waves recede back from the ocean. polyandrous meaning that the female species of shorebirds, their numbers Call may form another pair bond with a are declining. Based on population Their flight calls are a “twick” or new mate and lay more eggs in his surveys, scientists believe that the “kip”, and sometimes a short trill. nest. Sanderling population along the Their song is a “churring” delivered Atlantic Flyway has shrunk a great in bursts during courtship. Migration deal in the past three decades. The Sanderling is one of the most Non-breeding Habitat widespread of all shorebirds. It Threats to Sanderlings Unlike other small sandpipers, the is most commonly found in huge What is effecting the population Sanderling is most commonly seen numbers on the east coast in of Sanderlings? The loss of habitat at beaches in the winter and during Delaware Bay feeding with knots and food is a serious problem. They migration. Here it gets its nickname and turnstones. It also has a long winter along beaches where \chances “wave chaser” from the way it runs migration route. Some of the of conflicts with people are high. after the ocean waves pecking for Canadian nesters migrate south Human disturbances like boats, tiny invertebrates left behind on the down both the Pacific and Atlantic ATV’s, cars, and even dog walking surface of the sand. Coasts as far as Tierra del Fuego in can scare nervous birds off their Argentina. Others choose to stay as resting and feeding grounds. This Breeding far north as Alaska or Massachusetts causes them to waste valuable energy Sanderlings nest in the arctic. during the North American winter. and time feeding. If the disturbance Here they eat the buds of dwarf They return to their breeding is great enough, some Sanderlings trees and moss, and then later grounds in late March and stay until may not return to their feeding and mosquitoes. Males are the ones to set late May. resting grounds at all. up territories and begin courtship displays. After mating, the pair Large flocks of Sanderlings fly Something to Think About… builds a nest of dried willow leaves in between staging grounds to “refuel” Polyandry, where a female forms an open area. The female lays a clutch their bodies by feeding on high- pair-bonds with two or more males of 3-4 eggs for the male to protect and energy invertebrates. Some of non- in one summer, and double clutching, later raise. breeding individuals remain south all are not common breeding traits year. among birds in general. What might In this species, the female may then be the advantage of this mating lay a second clutch of eggs with the Today’s Population system to shorebirds? same male, termed double clutching. Currently, the population of She takes care of this second Sanderlings is estimated to be about

family herself. Sanderlings are also 300,000 birds. But, like many other

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S M 477 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P To U.K.

Birds from Russia

Sanderling

Breeding

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 478 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)

Description The Ruddy Turnstone is a stocky, medium-sized shorebird. Its striking breeding plumage has patterns of black, white and rust on its back. It also has a black bib, white belly, and short pinkish-orange colored legs. You can still see its black bib when it is carrying its duller winter plumage.

Behavior Observing the behavior of the Ruddy Turnstone is key to identifying it in the field. This bird gets its name from the way it uses its strong neck and bill to flick seaweed sideways or to turn over small stones looking for food. In sandy areas, this bird also digs holes in search of buried prey like the horseshoe crab eggs on Delaware Bay.

Call The Ruddy Turnstone has a distinctive call that sounds like a low- Territorial behavior includes Today’s Population pitched rattle. courtship flights and calls that begin Scientists estimate through bird from the time they form pair bonds population surveys, that there are Non-breeding Habitat until their chicks hatch. Turnstones about 138,000 Ruddy Turnstones The Ruddy Turnstone can be found will perch on rock outcrops to let along the Atlantic Flyway. Like other on coasts south of their Arctic females know that they are ready to shorebirds, the Turnstone population breeding grounds throughout the mate. Pairing is completed by early is also declining. world. They also inhabit rocky to mid June. shorelines and sandy and muddy Threats to Ruddy Turnstones areas. Here they eat mostly small Turnstones make their nests in wet The reasons for the decline of Ruddy crustaceans. areas that support small mounds of Turnstones are the same as for many plant material. They don’t mind the other types of shorebirds: habitat loss Breeding nests of other birds being close by. and human disturbances. These shorebirds nest on the drier Both male and female help keep the ridges of coastal tundra that stays eggs warm. Soon after hatching, the Something to Think About… moist and provides food until late female leaves the male to care for the What other shorebirds have been summer. Ruddy Turnstones first chicks. named after a feeding behavior, the eat the plants that come up early sound of their call, or a physical trait? in the season, before most animal Migration foods are available. They switch to Turnstones use both the Atlantic and invertebrates as they slowly appear. Pacific Flyways to reach Mexican, Turnstones arrive on their breeding Panamanian, and South American grounds in late May or early June. nonbreeding grounds. Flocks fly in tight groups when moving locally, but in loose lines when migrating long

distances.

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S M 479 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P To U.K.

Some on Pacific Islands

Ruddy Turnstone

Breeding

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 480 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)

Description The Western Sandpiper is a very small shorebird, only 6 ½ inches from the tip of its bill to the tip of its tail. It has speckled rust and tan colors on its head and shoulders. Its belly is an off-white to light buff-color. You can see dark, arrow-shaped spots on the breast and sides. This coloration helps the little Western Sandpiper blend in very well with its background. Its toes are slightly webbed and its legs are black. The slender, black bill droops a little at the tip. Males and females look alike, but females are heavier with longer bills.

Behavior Western Sandpipers are found in The female lays four spotted eggs and eastern tip of Russia! large flocks. They walk near the both parents take turns incubating Adult birds gather to begin the water’s edge, constantly probing in them. The chicks hatch after 21 long flight south by the end of July. the mud for tiny clams, worms, and days. They are covered with soft, Young birds stay in the nesting area, sand fleas. speckled down and begin searching gorging themselves on insects and for food right away. Like most other exercising their young flight muscles. Call shorebirds that nest on the tundra, In mid-August, they too form large This little shorebirds lets out a high- Western Sandpipers feed on large flocks and fly south for the winter. pitched, raspy “jeet”. numbers of insects that hatch there each summer. Today’s Population Non-breeding Habitat Western Sandpipers are considered Western Sandpipers are found mostly The Western Sandpiper has to watch common and abundant shorebirds. along the coast from California to for predators like foxes, weasels, and About 3 ½ million Western Peru. They are also sometimes found gulls. The parent will sometimes Sandpipers are found globally. in inland wetlands. pretend to have a broken wing and Biologists think about 80% of these drag itself away from the nest to shorebirds pass through the Copper Breeding distract a predator. This tactic works River Delta in Alaska during spring The male Western Sandpiper usually well because if a predator attacks migrations along the Pacific Flyway. arrives a few days before the female the parents they can simply fly away. Much smaller numbers of Western to breed in the tundra in mid-to Another defense the chicks have Sandpipers also use the Central late May. This vast, open, treeless is their instinct to “freeze”, sitting Flyway. habitat of the far north is covered perfectly still, when a parent gives an with a layer of permafrost. This alarm call. Threats to Western Sandpipers frozen ground doesn’t allow for good Western Sandpipers rely on wetlands drainage so the area is dotted with At first, both parents tend the young for feeding areas. Slowly, wetlands pools of water and small ponds. birds. A few days before the chicks are being replaced by farm lands are ready to fly the female leaves the and urban sprawl. Some towns in The male selects a nesting site male to stay with the chicks until the United States and Canada have on the tundra and then defends they fledge, at about 19 days old. passed laws to protect wetlands from it against other males. When destruction. the female arrives, she helps the Migration male build a shallow, grassy nest. Early in April, they form huge flocks Something to Think About… Western Sandpipers have very small and begin the long migration to What are people, agencies, or local territories and build their nests close breeding grounds in the far north. organizations in your area doing to together on small, grassy mounds. Most use the Pacific Flyway and help preserve wetlands? The nest is often hidden beneath a travel to Northwestern Alaska. Some

low shrub. even fly across the Bering Sea to the

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S M 481 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Western Sandpiper

Breeding

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 482 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Dunlin (Calidris alpina)

Description The Dunlin is smaller than a Robin – about 8 inches from the tip of its bill to the tip of its tail. The Dunlin has reddish speckled back feathers and a light-colored breast with dark streaks. It used to be called the red- backed sandpiper. It has black legs and a black bill that droops a little at the end.

The most distinctive trait of the Dunlin’s plumage is seen during the summer breeding season, when it is the only shorebird, besides the Rock Sandpiper, with a black belly patch. Even in a giant flock of peeps (small shorebirds), a few of those tar-black patches will give away the presence of Dunlins!

Behavior northern arctic areas. In April and other small sandpipers starting in Dunlins are amazing to watch. They May, they arrive at their breeding mid- August. Some Dunlins stay in fly in large flocks with each bird grounds of northern Alaska, Canada, Alaska until October, a few will stay flying at the same speed and in the Scandinavia, and Russia. The male all winter. As they migrate, Dunlins same direction. In almost an instant sings in the air as a courtship display stop at wetlands, especially coastal or they can all turn in unison and make designed to attract a female and estuarine mudflats, to feed. you wonder how they do it. During claim a nesting territory. The pair migration and winter, Dunlins feed then makes a shallow, very hard to Today’s Population near the water’s edge by probing see nest that is lined with grass or Of the 3.1 million Dunlins found with swift movements in the soft mud willow leaves. The female lays four around the world, about 1.5 million for tiny clams, worms, insect larvae eggs that are greenish with green are found in the United States. The and shrimp-like animals. and brown splotches. largest populations of migrating Dunlins use the Pacific and Atlantic Call The parents take turns incubating Flyways. Its call, heard during migration, is a the eggs for 22 days. While one harsh, slurred “kree.” parent is sitting on the nest, the other Threats to Dunlins feeds nearby on spiders, beetles, Like other shorebirds, Dunlins Non-breeding Habitat earthworms, and adult and larval depend on clean, healthy wetlands for Dunlins prefer muddy estuaries but flies. After the chicks hatch, they survival. Pollution is killing the life in are sometimes seen feeding on sandy grow very fast. They fledge in about some wetlands. Oil spills kill the tiny coasts. In the winter, Dunlins live 20 days. Adult birds leave the young animals that shorebirds need for food. along the shore in warm climates and begin flying south in to mid- If oil covers a bird’s feathers, it can’t from British Columbia to Mexico and August. keep warm. Birds that accidentally in the east north to Massachusetts eat oil may be poisoned, produce and New Jersey. Dunlins that breed Migration fewer eggs, or be generally less in Alaska will fly to Japan China and Dunlins use all three migration healthy which makes migration even Korea. Some will even stay in Alaska routes within the United States, harder for them. for the winter. They are not found which keeps the west coast, central, south of the equator. and eastern populations separated. Something to Think About… What is being done in your area to Breeding Dunlins begin their spring migration protect your wetlands from oil spills? Dunlins have a circumpolar breeding north, first staging in large flocks, in distribution, meaning that they late March or early April. They begin

are found throughout the world in their fall migration much later than

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S M 483 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Japan China Korea

To West Africa

Dunlin

Breeding

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 484 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Dowitchers (Limnodromus spp.)

Description Dowitchers are beautiful shorebirds. Overall they appear rusty-colored, with darkish, brown spotted backs and a rusty-brown breast and belly. They are much larger than Western Sandpipers and Dunlins – closer to the size of a Robin. They have long, black, snipe-like bills and green legs.

There are two species of Dowitchers found in North America, the Long- billed Dowitcher and the Short- billed Dowitcher. The one physical difference between them is the length of their bill. The Long-billed Breeding behind and practice flying for another Dowitcher has a bill only slightly Dowitchers nest in muskeg, tundra, week or so. Like most shorebird longer and heavier than that of the and wooded marshes along the species, the Dowitcher young are left Short-billed Dowitcher. The best way Alaskan and Russian coast or inland to find their own way south. to tell them apart is by their calls. Canada. The male arrives at the During migration these shorebirds breeding grounds first and chooses a Migration feed on worms, clams, snails, and nesting site. He claims his territory Long-billed and Short-billed sand fleas. and courts the female by hovering Dowitchers will use all 3 migration over the nesting site and singing. routes. They begin migrating Behavior northward in small groups in early Dowitchers feed using their bills in an The female helps the male build a March. During the flight north, up and down motion of the head like a nest on the ground with grass and Dowitchers travel 2,500 miles at a sewing machine. They often dip their soft moss. Long-billed Dowitcher time without stopping to rest and entire heads into the water. nests are often in such wet habitat feed! When they do stop, migrating that the bottom of the nests are wet! Dowitchers use a variety of inland Call The female lays four green eggs and coastal wetland habitats to rest The calls of the Long-billed and that are spotted with a buff color. and feed. the Short-billed Dowitchers are For 21 days, the parents take turns quite different. The Short-billed incubating the eggs. The female Today’s Population Dowitcher makes a soft “tu-tu-tu” spends a very short time in the Population counts suggest a during migration. The Long-billed Arctic! As soon as the chicks hatch larger population of Long-billed Dowitcher, on the otherhand, makes from their eggs, she leaves! The male Dowtichers (about 500,000) than a high-pitched “keek”. Their songs is left to care for the chicks. Like Short-billed Dowitchers (320,000). are different too. Although true other shorebirds, Dowitcher chicks The largest number of Short-billed songs of birds are heard only during can walk when they hatch, but they Dowitchers migrate along the Pacific their breeding season and on their cannot fly for several weeks. Flyway, whereas more Long-billed breeding grounds, you might hear the Dowtichers use the Central Flyway. song of the Short-billed Dowitcher The male protects the chicks from during any time of the year. predators and shows them how to Threats to Dowitchers look for insects, beetles, and the seeds Dowitchers were once hunted in Non-breeding Habitat of water plants. Once they are a few great numbers for North American These shorebirds are essentially days old, the chicks begin exercising markets. Today, the greatest threat coastal in the winter. You will often their tiny wing muscles by stretching to shorebirds, including Dowitchers, find large flocks feeding on intertidal then out as they walk. Soon they take is the loss of the wetlands they mudflats. Long-billled dowitchers short, flying steps as they run about depend on. will winter on all southern United looking for food. States coasts and throughout Mexico. Something to Think About…. Short-billed dowitchers will winter As soon as the chicks can fly, the male What other shorebird populations along southern United States and gathers with other males to begin were hurt by the market hunting of

northern South American coasts. the flight south. The young birds stay the early 20th century?

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S M 485 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Long-billed Dowitcher

Breeding

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 486 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Mainly to South or South and Central America

Short-billed Dowitcher

Breeding

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 487 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)

Description The Black-Bellied Plover is a medium-sized, plump, handsome shorebird. It has a short but sturdy bill and large eyes. Its summer breeding plumage, is a stunning black and white speckled back with black face, neck and breast. It has white undertail feathers and a distinct white strip down each side of its neck. Notice how the black of its belly extends all the way to the face, unlike the Dunlin. The “under arms” (under the wing, close to the body) are always black. The legs and short bill are also black.

This plover is also known in Europe as the Grey Plover or Silver Plover named after its much duller winter coloring.

Behavior This plover feeds by watching and then running toward the water’s edge to pick the food off the surface.

Call The call is a loud, sad 3-note whistle Parents work together to build the Migration “tlee-oo-ee”, with the second syllable nest. The male makes the scrape, the Like many other shorebirds, these lower in pitch than the first or last. female lines it with grass or lichens plovers are great long-distance fliers. and lays four pink, green, or brownish In mid-April Black-bellied Plovers Non-breeding Habitat eggs speckled with dark spots. begin the long flight north to their Black-bellied Plovers of the Western The parents take turns incubating breeding grounds in the tundra. They United States spend the winter in their eggs for 23 days. Like other fly in small, mixed flocks all the way grasslands and beaches along the shorebirds, they may abandon their to the coast of the Arctic Ocean. coast from British Columbia to Chile. eggs if they are disturbed. They feed on earthworms, grubs, and Today’s Population beetles they find there. In the northern tundra, the land of Bird Survey counts show that almost the midnight sun, young Black-bellied 500,000 Black-bellied Plovers are Plovers eat a lot and grow fast. Both found globally. Almost 40%, about Breeding parents help care for the chicks. They 200,000, are here in North America. The male chooses a nest site that is show them how to hunt for insect usually on a grassy mound with a larvae and beetles. Something to Think About… good view of the tundra. He defends Does your community have healthy, the nest site, or territory, against In July or August, the adults begin clean wetlands where Black-bellied other males and courts the female the long migration south. As soon as Plovers and other shorebirds can with a short, zigzag, or “butterfly,” their wing muscles are strong, the feed? flight. Because plovers are so alert on young chicks head south too. During the breeding ground, some scientists fall migration, Black-bellied Plovers believe other shorebirds nest near often stop to feed in wetland areas, plovers to take advantage of their stopover sites, along their route.

watchfulness.

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S M 488 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Small Numbers on Pacific Islands and Asia

Black-bellied Plover

Breeding

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 489 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani)

Description establish and defend The Black Oystercatcher is a large, well-defined feeding dark, funny looking shorebird. It has and nesting territories dark grayish plumage year-round. It and return to them year has a long and heavy orange-red bill, after year. They select a bright yellow eyes and large pink feet. site above the tideline to build a nest of rock flakes, Behavior pebbles, or pieces of shell. Black oystercatchers use their The female usually lays laterally-flattened bills to pry open 1-3 pear-shaped, buff- shellfish. colored, speckled eggs. She will re-nest if weather Call or predators destroy the The Black Oystercatcher makes first clutch. loud, piping whistles that sound like “wheep, wheep.” Both the male and the coastal islands. About 1,000 Black female Oystercatcher incubate the Oystercatchers are found in Prince Habitat eggs for about 26-32 days until the William Sound. Black Oystercatchers are shorebirds eggs hatch. Unlike other shorebirds, of American Ocean shorelines. More adult Black Oystercatchers provide Potential Threats to Black than half of the entire population lives food for their young. One parent Oystercatchers on the sandy and gravel beaches and guards the chicks while the other Because Black Oystercatchers feed rocky shores of the Alaska coast and goes off in search of a family meal. and breed on shorelines, they are nearby islands. Parenting of young oystercatchers especially susceptible to oil spills. A extends well beyond the usual 3 big oil spill, like that of the Exxon Contrary to what its’ name implies, weeks when most other shorebird Valdez in 1989, can contaminate oystercatchers do not feed primarily species stop taking care of their shorebird nests, the feathers of chicks on oysters. They prefer to eat other young. In fact, adults may care for and adults, and contaminate the clam mollusks such as clams and mussels, the young more than a month and and mussels beds these birds depend limpets, whelks and chitons. They sometimes as long as six months. on for food. When this happens, Black will also eat crabs, sea urchins, and During this time, biologists speculate Oystercatchers are forced to abandon barnacles. They use stabbing and that the young are learning the very their nests and chicks in search of hammering to pry open or crack specialized feeding techniques to eat new feeding grounds. shells to reach their prey. They are their tough prey from their parents. fun to watch! Predators, like river otters, red Migration foxes, glaucous-winged gulls, bald Black Oystercatchers use their long Although some Black Oystercatchers eagles, and common ravens, are a big bill to probe the mud for unsuspecting are considered to be resident threat to Black Oystercatchers. In clams or mussels. When the shorebirds, meaning they do not fact, biologists think that the reason oystercatcher finds one with its’ shell migrate for the non-breeding season, these shorebirds live and nest along slightly open, it jams its’ bill into the northern populations likely do fly rocky shorelines is to make it harder opening and tears the soft flesh out south for the winter. However, most for predators to reach their eggs and of the shell. Oystercatchers also use will regroup into post-breeding flocks chicks. their bills like a chisel to pry mollusks and spend the winter near their off the rocks. nesting area. Something to Think About…. How can we protect Alaska’s Nonbreeding Today’s Population rocky shoreline and the Black Black oystercatchers spend the Biologists suspect that disturbance Oystercatcher from another big oil nonbreeding sites in flocks along of shoreline habitat has been the spill? mussel-rich habitats of the Pacific primary reason for the low population coast. levels of this West Coast shorebird. The news often reports of oil spills There are about 11,000 Black around the world. How could we Breeding Oystercatchers worldwide today. protect wildlife species and habitats Black Oystercatchers are More than half of the population along the entire oil transportation

monogamous breeders. They is found along Alaska’s coast and corridor?

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S M 490 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Generally Resident

Black Oystercatcher

Year-round

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 491 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus )

Description The Killdeer is the most widespread and maybe the best-known shorebird in North America. At 10 ½ inches tall, it is about the same size as a Robin. Its beak is small compared to other sandpipers. It has two black bands that stretch across its chest and a pure white belly. When the Killdeer flies, you can see its beautiful reddish-orange tail feathers. Males and females look alike.

Behavior Because Killdeers have short bills, they tend to pick insects from the surface of the ground, rather than probe into the mud looking for invertebrates or clams. You usually see Killdeers alone or in pairs running in a “watch-run-peck” pattern.

Call Their call is a loud “killdee, killdee” chicks, the adult Killdeer drags its Threats to the Killdeer and it is often one of the first wing in an attempt to lure it away. Perhaps the most dangerous threat shorebirds you hear returning in the Of course, once fooled, the Killdeer to the Killdeer is its tolerance for spring. quickly flies up to safety. urban yards, parks, and gardens. Where there are people there are Habitat Migration bound to be cats and dogs; domestic Killdeers are not shy birds. In fact, In the winter, many Killdeers stay in predators. Other urban predators they seem not to be bothered by the southern United States. Others like foxes, coyotes, and raccoons also people. You can find them feeding in go to Mexico, Central America, or do extremely well alongside people. meadows, pastures, gravel beaches, even South America. A few Killdeer They have learned to feast on the pet and on the edges of freshwater rivers will also travel to the Canadian food and birdseed we leave outside and ponds. Arctic and south Alaska to nest and and the kitchen scraps we throw in breed, but most tend to nest and our garbage. These animals are very Nonbreeding breed in the central United States serious predators of Killdeer chicks During the nonbreeding season and along the Pacific and Atlantic and eggs. Killdeer use a wide range of grassy coasts. Take a look around and see if and wetland habitats. They will also you can find one! Agricultural areas aren’t much be seen more frequently in flocks. safer for the Killdeer either. Farm Today’s Population machinery may damage nets and Breeding Once the target of market hunters eggs and can kill chicks. You often find Killdeer nesting the population of Killdeer dropped in farm fields, on suburban lawns dramatically. Today Killdeer are Something to Think About… and even in gravel parking lots. A more common then they ever were. What other shorebirds have Killdeer nest is nothing more than a Biologists estimate a population of developed behaviors, like the scrape in stones, gravel, or pebbles. 1 million birds in North America. Killdeer’s “broken wing act” that fool The rocks are a sort of camouflage Unlike most shorebirds, Killdeer or scare away predators? for the four speckled eggs the female seem to like many of the habitat lays. Perhaps one of the best-known changes brought on by people! Only shorebird displays is the “broken- in the west may their population be wing act” of the Killdeer. When a declining.

predator threatens their eggs or

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S M 492 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Broad movement to wintering range

Killdeer

Breeding

Year-round

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 493 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)

A Federally Listed Threatened Species

Description The Snowy Plover is a small shorebird with a thin bill and black legs. During breeding season, males have a black forehead, ear patch and partial neck-ring. These areas are all brown in females.

In winter plumage, both the males and females carry the female’s duller summer plumage.

Behavior Their short, slender black bills are used to pick a wide variety of insects and aquatic invertebrates. Their camouflage coloring allows them to seemingly disappear from sight because they blend so perfectly with their environment.

Call Its call is a low “krut” and a soft, whistled “ku-wheet.”

Nonbreeding These birds primarily spend the nonbreeding season in coastal habitats, including beaches and other salt water wetlands

Habitat faithful, meaning that they return Plovers are polygamous meaning The Snowy Plover is found to the same breeding spot year they will sometimes choose a new primarily on barren sandy beaches after year. In fact, Snowy Plovers mate and start another nest. She may and flats along the Pacific coast often nest in the exact same build this new nest in the same spot from southern Washington to location as they did the year before. or move altogether, sometimes up to southern Baja, California and several hundred miles away. into the Salt Lake area. A second The usual clutch size is three eggs. population is located between the For 27 days, male and female Snowy Migration Gulf Coast and South Central Plovers take turns incubating their Plovers that nest along the coast United States. Snowy Plovers are eggs. Males incubate at night, females also spend their winter there. The uncommon at freshwater wetlands during the day. Plover chicks are coastal and interior group of Snowy even during migration. precocial, and leave the nest and Plovers will stay together along nesting territory within hours after the California coast. However, the Breeding hatching to search for invertebrate coastal population of the Western The breeding season for Snowy foods on the beach or in the sand Snowy Plover does not, for the most Plovers starts in mid March and dunes. Chicks fledge within 30 days. part, breed with interior birds. Many runs through mid September. Snowy Plovers on the Gulf Coast are Snowy plovers breed in loose Unlike other types of shorebirds, year round residents. colonies. You will find their nests Snowy Plovers will renest after the in flat, open sandy beaches or by loss of a clutch or brood or sometimes Today’s Population brackish or saline wetlands. The even when they have successfully Nesting Western Snowy Plovers

majority of snowy plovers are site- hatched a nest. Female Snowy were once found further along the

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S M 494 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Pacific coast. California alone had 53 Another big problem for Snowy Something to Think About… breeding sites before 1970. Today, Plovers is beach raking. Throughout How can the snowy plover and only 20 nesting areas can be found. Los Angeles County and parts of people share the Pacific Coast? The largest colony of Snowy Plovers Orange County, California, entire Agencies responsible for protecting nests in the abandoned salt ponds and beaches are raked daily or weekly to endangered species are dedicated levees surrounding active salt ponds remove trash and tidal debris. This to doing everything necessary to in San Francisco. makes it impossible for plovers to save the plover, but the work cannot nest. Machinery crushes plover nests be done by agencies alone. As In Oregon, only 6 of the 20 original and chicks and the noise from these caretakers of our environment, all of colony sites remain. On the southern large machines scare the adults away. us can contribute to the protection Washington coast, only 2 of 5 colony Raking beaches also removes the kelp of the plover. What can you and your sites are active. The number of and driftwood that invertebrate foods friends do to help the Snowy Plover Snowy Plovers breeding has also live on. survive? declined to less than 1,5000 birds, most of which are now found in Habitat destruction also hurts snowy California. plover breeding sites. Residential and industrial developments, recreational Threats to the Western Snowy Plover facilities, roads, parking lots, and Unfortunately for the Snowy Plover, summer homes have wiped out nesting season (mid March to mid valuable nesting habitat. European September) is the peak summer Beach Grass, introduced to the West recreation season along West Coast Coast around 1898 to stabilize sand beaches: Memorial Day through dunes, has spread up and down the Labor Day. People walking, jogging coast. Snowy Plovers prefer to nest or running pets on the beach; riding in unvegetated sandy areas. The off-road vehicles and horses; and introduction of this exotic plant has beach raking all upset the Snowy wiped out about 50% of the potential Plover’s breeding routine. coastal nesting sites for the Snowy Plover. When people scare Snowy Plovers off their nests, chick mortality increases. Predators are also a threat to Snowy To avoid intruders, adult Snowy Plover eggs, chicks, and adults. Plovers will leave their chicks wet Animals that do well around people, and unattended. A nest of eggs can like the American crow, raven, and quickly be buried by blowing sand red fox, do the most damage. or overheat on a sunny day. Plovers crouching down in depressions trying to hide have been found run over on

their nests!

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S M 495 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Local movements along coast southward

Snowy Plover

Breeding

Year-round

Winter

Resident "Peruvian Plover"

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 496 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Pacific Golden-plover (Pluvialis fulva)

Description The Pacific Golden-Plover appears nearly identical to the American Golden Plover. In fact, scientists once thought these were both just subspecies of the Lesser Golden Plover.

The Pacific Golden-Plover is a medium-sized shorebird with a small black bill that is clearly shorter then its head. It has black legs.

In flight, the Pacific Golden Plover has uniformly dark underparts and a grayish underwing. Its black head, nape and back are spangled with gold and white markings. It has a black face and throat. A white stripe runs down both sides of its head and neck to the lower sides of its breast.

Behavior The birds that feed in urban grasslands during the nonbreeding grounds seem to be unaffected by human activities. In fact, these birds can be seen roosting during the night whistles. Other courtship displays Threats to Pacific Golden Plovers on roof tops! designed to catch a female’s attention Like many shorebirds, market are head-to-tail rocking, scraping the hunting of the 19th and early 20th Call ground, and wing-stretching. centuries nearly wiped out the Pacific The Pacific Golden Plover has a two- Golden-Plover. Today, contaminants, to-three part whistle that sounds like Both males and females guard feral animals, roaming pets and bad “chuwi” or “chuweedle.” the simple depression they make weather during migration take their for a nest, incubate the eggs and toll on these birds. Nonbreeding Habitat tend to the chicks. Pacific Golden These shorebirds will use mudflats Plovers can be highly territorial and Thankfully, most of the breeding and beaches found around Pacific will use elaborate aerial displays, ranges of the Pacific Golden Plovers islands. Many use plowed fields, vocalizations, chases, and even fights remain in tact today and they are pastures, lawns and golf courses to protect their nests and chicks. relatively unexploited. Agriculture, in Hawaii islands, and other short- ranching, and urbanization are grass habitats where they eat Migration putting their winter ranges and grasshoppers, crickets, and grubs. The Pacific Golden-Plover and the migratory routes under pressure. American Golden-Plover have very Those that winter on Golf Courses Breeding different migration routes but both in Hawaii do come in contact with Pacific Golden Plovers nest in make some of the longest migrations hazardous chemicals. Siberian and northwestern Alaskan in the world and undergo long tundra. They have many pair- nonstop flights over water. Pacific Something to Think About… bonding displays but perhaps the Golden Plovers winter in South East What prevents hunters today from most spectacular is the male’s Asia, Australasia, or on the Pacific shooting migrating shorebirds? Butterfly Display Flight. Sometimes Islands. The birds that nested in done alongside the female, the two Alaska migrate over the Pacific birds fly up into the air and land Ocean often choosing to winter in together holding their wings up in a Hawaii.

V and calling with a series of complex

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S M 497 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Few along California coast

Pacific Golden-Plover

Breeding

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 498 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)

Description This tall, graceful, beautiful bird has long, gray-blue legs and a long, slender, upturned black bill. The male and females look the same in all plumages except that the male’s bill United is a little longer and straighter than States are now the female’s. During the breeding agriculture. On top of season their grayish hood turns a this, wildlife in the dry west rust color. American Avocets have dive bomb competes for water with urban wings that are black and white above. a predator and agricultural areas. Some They have white underwings and a from the air important breeding sites have white belly. or chase it already shrunk as much as 90%. with their Thankfully, the North American Behavior feathers Waterfowl Management Plan Avocets are easy to spot in a group ruffled and (NAWMP), designed to protect by the way they sweep their slim, feet ready to wetland habitat for migrating upcurved, sensitive bills side to attack. They waterfowl, also protects what side through the water straining also try to fool shorebird breeding grounds are left out aquatic insects, crustaceans, predators with a in this region. tiny shrimp and fish. You can find “false incubation” them frequently swimming, like display. In this In the Gulf of Mexico, possible oil phalaropes, and tipping up to feed case, the bird crouches on the spills threaten avocets. The Houston like marsh ducks. ground as if it is incubating its eggs. Ship Channel, an Inter- Coastal As soon as the predator gets close, Waterway with the largest oil port in Call the avocet gets up and runs away the United States, runs right along The call of the American Avocet is a leaving a confused predator behind. Bolivar Flats Reserve, an important loud “wheet.” staging site and wintering area for These shorebirds also have elaborate avocets. Nonbreeding courtship rituals. For example, after Avocets will use a wide variety of copulation, the mating pair crosses Another important wintering area on habitats in the nonbreeding season. bills and the male drapes his wing the Gulf of Mexico, Laguna Madre, They may also gather and feed in over the female’s back. Together the has been drained to grow cotton and large flocks. male and female select a site and sorghum. Agricultural herbicides and build a simple hollow lined with grass pesticides runoff into this wetland Habitat where the female lays 3 or 4 eggs. poisoning the food chain. Scientists These long-legged waders prefer Avocets are known to rebuild flooded found that shorebirds in Laguna shallow lakes, sloughs, and marshes nests using sticks and feathers. Madre had enough chemical residue year around. American Avocets are in their bodies to make them unable more commonly found in the West Migration to reproduce. where they breed on sun-baked flats American Avocets are considered to near saline lakes, North American be medium-range migrants flying Something to Think About… prairies, lakes and marshes in the about 2,000 miles to their wintering What other programs, besides the Great Basin, and at coastal estuaries grounds on the shores of the NAWMP, are in place to preserve and ponds. Southern United States and Mexico. shorebird habitat? You might want to check out the “conservation link” on Breeding Today’s Population the Shorebird Sister School Program American Avocets are monogamous, There are about 450,000 American to find out (http://sssp.fws.gov). semi colonial breeders found in Avocets today. Most are found in especially large numbers in the western North America using the marshes of the Great Salt Lake and Central Flyway during migration the northern Great Basin. Threats to the American Avocet American Avocets are well known for Today, half of all upland grasslands

their aggressive displays. They will in the prairie pothole region of the

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S M 499 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P American Avocet

Breeding

Year-round

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 500 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)

Subspecies Hawaiian Stilt (Ae’o in Hawaiian) is a state and federally listed endangered bird.

Description depression on an island or along the The Black-necked Stilt is one of the shores of a lake, pond, or stagnant largest shorebirds. Stilts measure 14- pool. They sometimes line their nests 23 inches tall, about the size of a crow. with pebbles, bits of shells, and sticks. The Black-necked still also has the Black-necked Stilts lay 4 buff-colored reputation of having the longest legs eggs that are well camouflaged by of any of the shorebirds. In fact, its brown or black marks. legs are so long, that the bird appears to walking on “stilts.” Like avocets, parents are monogamous, semi-colonial nesters, Black-necked Stilts are tall, slim known for their aggressive displays waders with bubble-gum pink or against predators. Male and female reddish-pink legs you can’t miss. stilts take turns incubating the eggs. Their long, needle-like bills are built In the hot environments where these to feed in water and also on the shore. birds nest, stilts help cool their eggs The males are glossy black above and increase the humidity in the nest with white underparts. Females are by soaking their belly feathers in brownish- black above. Both males water before sitting on their clutch. and females have a white forehead Belly soaking eventually covers the and spot over the eye and carry the eggs in a muddy, salty crust. same plumage all year. Black-necked Stilts are tolerant of predators like the mongoose. Today, Behavior other shorebirds nesting nearby. thanks to a ban on hunting and Stilts are often seen wading in deep You often see them in the company intense predator management, there water in search of food. They can be of other stilts and avocets. However, are more than 1,4000 Ae’os on 6 of the very aggressive when defending their they can be very territorial and 8 major Hawaiian Islands. nest and young. This is to make-up aggressive toward neighboring for their flashy appearance that chicks. Parents carefully keep Threats to Black-necked Stilts almost eliminates any chance of using their broods separated. A chick When water from wetlands is camouflage for defense. that wanders into another family’s diverted to irrigate crops much territory may get severely pecked on runoff is often contaminated with Stilts prefer to land and take off from the back of its head! residues of agricultural chemical and the water. They also have a habit of by products. High concentrations of shaking the mud off their feet when Migration selenium were found at Kesterson leaving the water. Found throughout the southern and National Wildlife Refuge in western United States, Back-necked California. Here, large numbers of Call Stilts migrate to coastal areas in the stilts and other shorebirds were being The Black-necked Stilt’s call is a loud Southern United States and Central poisoned by selenium. “kek “kek” “kek.” and Northern South America. The most critical staging sites are central Like many other shorebirds, habitat Nonbreeding California, the Salton Sea, and the loss is always a threat. Yet, for Stilts will use coastal habitats during Great Salt Lake. Black-necked Stilts, this threat is this time. counterbalanced in some areas by Today’s Population their use of salt and sewage ponds, Habitat Biologists estimate that 850,000 agricultural evaporation ponds, and You will find Black-necked Stilts on Black-necked Stilts can be found rice fields. the edges of salt and sewage ponds globally. Of these about 150,000 are and shallow inland wetlands. They found in North America. Most Black- Something to Think About…. eat aquatic invertebrates, fish, bugs, necked Stilts use the Central Flyway. What North American shorebirds and brine shrimp and flies. are on the federally endangered list? The Ae’o, a non-migrating Hawaiian Breeding subspecies of the Black-necked Stilt, Stilts always breed near water. In was brought to the brink of extinction fact, they may even nest on wet by hunting, habitat loss, and the

ground! Their nest is a shallow invasion of non-native mammalian

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S M 501 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Black-necked Stilt

Breeding

Year-round Resident Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 502 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus)

Description This is North America’s largest sandpiper. It gets its name from its decurved bill, which may be as long as 9” in females.

Female Long-billed Curlews are larger than males, but their plumage are almost identical. They are cinnamon brown with black and buff-colored speckling above and cinnamon-buff below. They have grayish-blue legs and bright cinnamon buff wing linings.

The Long-billed Curlew is sometimes confused with the Whimbrel or the Marbled Godwit when it tucks its bill under its wing in a common shorebird resting pose.

Behavior The tip of the curlew’s upper mandible is actually soft and used to “feel” for prey as it probes the mud.

Call The Long-billed Curlew also gets its nest with rabbit, goose, or livestock Curlew’s range to the West Central name from their call that sounds like droppings! Once the nest is complete United States. “cur-lee.” she lays four light beige to greenish or olive speckled eggs that are Threats to the Long-billed Curlew Nonbreeding Habitat heavily speckled. Today, some of the most endangered During the non-breeding season wetlands in the United States and during migration you’ll find Both the male and female incubate are the prairie potholes of the Long-billed Curlews on coastal the eggs and defend the young. About American Great Plains. Already beaches, salt marshes, and mudflats 2-3 weeks after the eggs hatch, the over half of these unique habitats are along estuaries, dining on fiddler female abandons the male to care for gone, drained for agriculture and crabs, crustaceans, small fish, and the brood. urbanization. This has dramatically amphibians. Its bill is best adapted reduced the range and the breeding for capturing shrimp and crabs living Migration potential of many shorebirds in deep burrows on tidal mudflats. These medium- distance migrants, including the Long-billed Curlew. spend the winter on the coasts of Breeding California, Central America, and Fortunately, the North American The Long-billed Curlew is one of only the Gulf of Mexico. While migrating, Waterfowl Management Plan 9 species of shorebirds that breed on you might find Long-billed Curlews (NAWMP) is helping to bring back prairie and grasslands from West in plowed fields using their bills like some of these critical wetlands. An Central United States to the Prairie tweezers to pull earthworms from emphasis on restoring marginal Provinces of Canada. Here they their burrows. farmland that was once prairie eat mostly grasshoppers, crickets, pothole habitat should help the Long- beetles, and earthworms. Today’s Population billed Curlew. These birds used to breed on U.S. Their nest is most often a bowl prairies all the way to the Mississippi Something to Think About… shaped grass-lined hollow on the River. Unfortunately, market hunting What other shorebirds breed in ground. Sometimes the female Long- and agricultural development has prairie pothole habitat?

billed Curlew chooses to line her greatly reduced the Long-billed

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S M 503 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Occasionally Florida

Long-billed Curlew

Breeding

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 504 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)

Description This large shorebird is named for the marbled pattern of its upperparts which looks a lot like the patterns of the Long-billed Curlew. Like the curlew, Marbled Godwits are cinnamon-brown above speckled with black and buff coloration. Their plumage is cinnamon buff below with bright wing linings of similar color. They have medium length grayish- blue legs.

The key identification feature of the Marbled Godwit is its slightly upcurved, bi-colored bill. During breeding season the base of the godwit’s bill is a brownish orange. The Godwits were found along the rest of the year it is pink at the base Like many shorebirds, Marbled northeastern Atlantic Coast and and blackish-brown toward the tip. Godwits are monogamous and lay 4 southward. But, market hunters eggs in a simple hollow in the grass. nearly wiped out the population. Call Both male and female incubate the Thanks to wildlife hunting laws that The Marbled Godwit is also named pale colored, spotted eggs and care protect shorebirds, their numbers for its call, a strong “ga weet ga for the brood. Marbled Godwits are have increased. Still, it is fairly rare weet.” During the breeding season, so confident of their camouflage to see a Marbled Godwit north of Marbled Godwits often call in flight. that they rarely flush from the nest Virginia today. if a predator approaches. In fact, Non-breeding Habitat biologists have discovered that adults Threats to Marbled Godwits In the non-breeding season, Marbled can sometimes be picked up right Today, some of the most endangered Godwits are essentially coastal birds. from the nest! wetlands in the United States are You will find them on intertidal flats the prairie potholes of the American of bays or rivers using their bill to The chicks are precocial, pecking and Great Plains. Already 57% of these probe deeply into the wet sand, mud, jabbing at insects and invertebrates unique habitats are gone. In fact, 50% or soil. in the grass from the very first day of the wetlands across in the United they hatch. Once the chicks are States have already been drained for Breeding grown, male Marbled Godwits will agriculture and urbanization. This Western species of Marbled Godwits leave their mate and flock together on has dramatically reduced the range breed in grassy meadows of the the breeding ground. and the breeding potential of many northern interior of North America. shorebirds including the Marbled Here they eat grubs, insect larvae, Migration Godwit. tubers, and the seed of aquatic plants. This medium-distance migrant moves primarily along the Central Fortunately, the North American Marbled Godwits perform many and Pacific Flyways for wintering Waterfowl Management Plan courtship displays intended to attract grounds on the West Coast. You can (NAWMP) is helping to bring back a female’s attention. One of the find them from Oregon to Central some of these critical wetlands. An most interesting is the Ceremonial America feasting on sand crabs. Up emphasis on restoring marginal Circling Flight. In this display, to 200,000 Marbled Godwits stage at farmland that was once prairie the male rises 20-90 meters from one time on the Great Salt Lake in pothole habitat should help the the ground and begins circling his the spring. They are less common but Marbled Godwit. territory with slow wingbeats and still regularly found along the East repeatedly calling “Ger-whit .” When Coast from Virginia to Florida and on Something to Think About… he’s satisfied that he has a female’s the Gulf Coast. What other shorebird populations attention he glides with his wings were severely affected by market spread out wide or makes a steep, Today’s Population hunting in the late 18th and early

impressive dive to the ground. In the 19th century, many Marbled 20th centuries?

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S M 505 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Marbled Godwit

Breeding

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 506 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia)

Description The Spotted Sandpiper is slightly smaller than a Robin standing 6-8” tall. It has a thin, short, pointed bill and small eyes. Its legs are usually green.

In non-breeding plumage, Spotted Sandpipers are grayish-brown above and white below and are missing the “spots” they were named for.

In breeding season however, they are mostly brown above with a heavily spotted underside.

Behavior Spotted Sandpipers are sometimes called “bobbers” after the way they constantly teeter, bobbing their tails up and down when standing on the dimorphic, a more unusual breeding Threats to Spotted Sandpipers sand or mud. arrangement than most other In Mexico, Central America, and shorebirds. Sex roles are reversed. Ecuador wintering sandpipers rely When flying, Spotted Sandpipers look It is the female that arrives on the on a system of coastal mangrove as if they are “fluttering.” On long breeding ground first, stakes out the swamps for food and shelter. Many distance migration flights they switch territory, courts the male and then parts of this habitat are being to more efficient deep wingbeats defends the nest. One the other hand, changed to meet the needs of similar to that of other shorebirds. male Spotted Sandpipers tend the commercial shrimp farms that also eggs and the chicks. Females are also rely on the nutrient rich waters. You sometimes see Spotted sometimes polyandrous. They will Sandpipers snap an insect in midair. mate and nest with more than one Another long-term threat to these male within a single nesting season. and other shorebirds wintering Call in South America is the use of Spotted Sandpipers make loud, Migration agricultural chemicals like DDT. repeated whistles like “weet weet It is very common to see individual While the use of DDT had been weet” or Peet weet.” Spotted Sandpipers migrating south banned in the United States, across the continent to the coastal shorebirds are picking up toxic levels Nonbreeding southern United States. They also of these chemicals when they feed They use a wide variety of habitat overwinter in the Caribbean and on their wintering grounds. The during this season including beaches, from Central America south to highest levels of DDE (a toxic residue estuaries, ponds and riverbanks. Northern Argentina and Chile. of DDT) were found in Spotted Sandpipers in Peru. This can make Habitat While most shorebirds are known for them unable to reproduce, weaken The Spotted Sandpiper is the most their spectacular migratory flocks, them for their migration back to widespread breeding sandpiper in Spotted Sandpipers migrate singly or breeding grounds, and cause death. North America because it eats many in small groups. different kinds of wetland animal Something to Think About… life. You will find Spotted Sandpipers Today’s Population What other shorebirds have in virtually any coastal or inland Because the Spotted Sandpiper unusual mating systems like sexual wetland across the continent except migrates singly or in small groups, dimorphism or polyandry? Why in the farthest southern and northern population numbers are very hard to might these systems be an advantage areas of the United States. estimate. Biologists suspect that the in breeding? population of Spotted Sandpipers lies Breeding within the 50,000 – 250,000 birds.

Spotted Sandpipers are sexually

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S M 507 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Broad Front Migrant

Spotted Sandpiper

Breeding

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 508 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda)

Description This odd-looking shorebird who almost never visits the shore is often seen with just its head and neck above the grass. The plumage of both the male and female look alike.

Upland Sandpipers has very long wings and a long thin neck. Their head is small which makes their eyes appear overly large. Their legs are long and yellowish.

Behavior You sometimes see Upland Sandpipers perched on top of fence posts or telephone poles. They have a habit of stretching their wings up when they first land. Perhaps they are announcing their territory to April into August. Most are found in population dropped. Farmers other Upland Sandpipers nearby. the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas plowed the prairies for agriculture where there is prairie habitat. One making the situation for the Upland Call the other hand, in the east where Sandpiper even worse. Today, the Upland Sandpipers have what is little prairie habitat remains, over numbers of Upland Sandpipers described as a long, rolling “pulip, ½ of the Upland Sandpipers nest on continue to decline in the northeast pulip” call. airport land! but appear to be climbing in the central United States. Together the male and female build a Nonbreeding typical shorebird nest, a scrape on the Treats to Upland Sandpipers These birds prefer similar habitat for ground thinly lined with cow manure The greatest threat to this shorebird nonbreeding as during the breeding or grass. They may make up to 12 is loss of wintering ground in season. scrapes before finally deciding on one South America. Pampas, a sea-like to use as their nest! Then the female plain of grassland habitat, is easily Habitat lays 4 eggs evenly spotted with dark transformed to agriculture. This The Upland Sandpipers gets brown. Upland Sandpipers raise only makes it one of the most threatened its name from its preference for one brood of precocial young in a ecosystems in South America today. grassy habitats; pastures, prairies, season. alfalfa fields, golf courses, and even Here in the United States, many airports. They feed mostly on small Migration Upland Sandpipers nest on privately invertebrates but also eat some weed These shorebirds spend 8 months owned ranch land. Their nests and seeds. In fact, unlike most other during the nonbreeding season in young are disturbed, sometimes even shorebirds, Upland Sandpipers spend the pampas of South America. Most trampled, by grazing cattle. Other most of their life away from water! migrate through the interior of both potential nesting habitats have been the United States and South America lost to agriculture. Breeding using grassy fields as staging areas The Upland Sandpiper is what along the way. Most return to their Something to Think About… biologists call a “widespread nester.” nesting grounds using the same What is being done to protect the They are found nesting from migration route. South American pampas and other southeastern Alaska to the Central important shorebird nonbreeding Prairies and the Great Plains and Today’s Population habitats? then all the way to the northeastern The Upland Sandpiper was once United States. found in great numbers throughout much of the United States. Early Upland Sandpipers rarely nest alone. settlers collected their eggs and

Loose colonies breed from the end of hunted the adults until their

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S M 509 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Upland Sandpiper

Breeding

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 510 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Tryngites subruficollis)

Description The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is as an elegant and handsome shorebird. Its’ small head makes this shorebird resembles a pigeon.

All the plumages of this medium sized shorebird are similar. It has a streaked brown crown and a buffy face and breast. It has a short, black bill and yellow-green legs.

Behavior Male Buff-breasted Sandpipers are known for using the double wing breeding display when courting females. In this display, the male 30-50 foot territory by chasing other Today’s Population stretches out both of his wings, tips males away or with wing-flashing Human activities like hunting his bill toward the sky, and stands and wing-waving displays. Flutter- and agriculture brought the Buff- up tall on outstretched toes. Then he jumping, where two males rise breasted Sandpiper to near extinction shakes his entire body moving his together up in the air as high as 20 in the early 1920s. Their extreme wings up and down making “tick” to 40 feet, is also meant to intimidate tameness and tendency to return sounds. The females approach him other males. to a wounded bird made them easy as if they are inspecting the silvery- targets for hunters. Today, there are white linings of his wings. Once the pair has mated, the male, probably less than 25,000 of these who is promiscuous, begins looking grassland shorebirds left. Call for another mate. The female is left Buff-breasted Sandpipers are usually to build her nest, lay and incubate her Threats to the Buff-breasted quiet birds. They sometimes make a eggs, and raises her chicks alone. She Sandpiper low, growling “pr-r-r-reet” while in selects the nest site and digs a scrape Biologists don’t expect things to get flight. These sandpipers also make on the ground. She lines her nest any better for the Buff-breasted clicking noises in the breeding season with lichens, dead willow leaves, or Sandpiper in the near future for when doing courtship displays to moss. She then lays four buff-colored several reasons. They are already a attract females. eggs that are heavily camouflaged small population of birds. Very little with dark spots and splotches. Buff- of the habitat they need is left and Non-breeding Habitat breasted Sandpiper chicks are very much of the remaining grassland The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is precocial and soon after hatching is privately owned. Buff-breasted rarely found next to water. During move quickly through the grass Sandpipers also stage in large the winter and migration you can find catching their own food. numbers at sites that are threatened them on golf courses, airports, and by further development. the dry mud around rivers, inland Migration lakes and reservoirs. Buff-breasted Sandpipers migrate Perhaps the most critical threat to south through the center of both Buff-breasted Sandpipers today is Breeding North and South America stopping the loss of their wintering grounds in Buff-breasted Sandpipers are known to winter on the grazed pampas of South America. Pampas, a grassland for their unique mating system. These South America. They use the same habitat, is easily transformed to shorebirds use leks, a gathering place route, perhaps veering a little more agriculture and is one of the most where males make intense breeding to the east, on their way back to threatened ecosystems in South displays to attract females. These their breeding grounds in the spring. America today. leks are found on the drier tundra of During migration flights, Buff- the northern Alaska coast or on high breasted Sandpipers prefer to stop Something to Think About… arctic islands of Canada. on short grass habitats to feed on What other shorebirds use leks as fly and beetle larvae, other insects, part of their mating system? Once a male and female have formed and spiders. They rarely eat marine

a pair bond, the males will defend a invertebrates.

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S M 511 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Breeding

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 512 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus)

Description in Virginia and North Carolina are Large and showy, and a bit funny protecting critical habitat where the looking, the American Oystercatcher largest groups of oystercatchers now is a common coastal salt marsh and live. sandy beach shorebird. Its bright red-orange bill is sturdy and laterally Breeding flattened, built for opening mussels The eastern race of American and oysters. In young birds the bill Oystercatchers breed on the Atlantic is a pinkish brown and dusky black and Gulf Coasts from New England toward the tip. It has a yellow eye and south to Texas. The western race an orange-red eye ring. uses the shores of western Mexico and Central America. Since Breeding and non-breeding plumage Oystercatchers are monogamous and is almost identical in American most don’t migrate, biologists think to do with the fact that they are such Oystercatchers. They have black that these shorebirds may mate for specialized feeders and attentive heads and necks and dark blackish- life! parents. It may also help that they brown underreports. They have are strictly coastal birds that migrate white wing and uppertail patches. American Oystercatchers nest on only short distances if at all! Still, Their legs are a tan or sand color. marsh islands, upland dunes, or today’s population of American right on the beach. Their nest is a Oystercatchers is still less than Males and females look alike but simple scrape lined with tiny pebbles, 10,000 birds. females are larger and heavier than bits of shell and seaweed. A pair males. of oystercatchers may make up to Threats to American Oystercatchers five nests before deciding on which These shorebirds are shy and Behavior one to use! In marshy spots the intolerant of people. Since coastal Oystercatchers use their bill to probe oystercatcher may line its nest with property is always in demand for the mud for soft-shell and razor reeds. The 1 –3 eggs they lay are recreation and development, people clams. Once they have hold of their extremely well camouflaged. They are perhaps the greatest threat to dinner, they have two techniques are colored like the sand and marked breeding American Oystercatchers. for removing clams and mussels with dark splotches that look like from their shells. They might plunge little bits of shell and stones. The American Oystercatcher builds their bill, which is a cross between a nests in open, sandy areas they are knife and a chisel, into the open shell Oystercatchers are perhaps the very vulnerable to predators like red of an unsuspecting clam. Or they most attentive of all shorebird fox, cats, dogs, or even other birds. “hammer” the shell with a few well- parents. Without the rush to migrate, Pollution is another threat to the aimed blows. oystercatchers spend up to a year oystercatcher population if the levels feeding and teaching their chicks how are high enough to affect the shellfish Call to find and open clams and mussels. these shorebirds feed on. The American Oystercatcher makes a combination of loud rising and Migration Something to Think About… lowering whistles that sound like The American Oystercatcher is Can you find another shorebird whose ““weep wheep.” considered to be a resident shorebird. population has actually increased in They will flock up in the fall and the last decade? Why is this species Nonbreeding winter but only those birds from the doing better today than ever before? These birds use coastal habitats middle and northern Atlantic regions during this time. The largest migrate south in the winter. flock of American Oystercatchers on the Atlantic coast spends the Today’s Population nonbreeding season at Cape Romain Unlike other shorebirds, the numbers National Wildlife Refuge. of American Oystercatchers along the Atlantic Coast has grown in Habitat the last two decades. In fact, this These shorebirds are only found in is one of the few shorebirds that marine waters on the east and west has actually expanded its range

coasts. New, large coastal reserves northward. Their success may have

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S M 513 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Short-distance migrants

American Oystercatcher

Breeding

Year-round

Winter

Year-round in places

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 514 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)

Description Phalarope and the Red Phalarope This medium-sized, swimming which stay primarily in the ocean). member of the sandpiper family has Their partially lobed feet help them the longest and slimmest bill of all the walk on aquatic plants and wetland sandpipers. Its black bill looks almost grasses. like a needle. It has a large body with a long neck and a small head. A primarily inland shorebird, the Wilson’s Phalarope breeds exclusively Females are larger and more brightly in the Nearctic on the grassy borders colored than males. Their underparts of shallow lakes, marshes, reservoirs, are patterned pearly gray, rufous red, and prairie wetlands. and black in the breeding season. The mudflats, almost doubling their female’s crown, nape and hindneck Wilson’s Phalaropes, like Spotted weight gorging on brine shrimp. This are a solid pearly gray. They have a Sandpipers, are sexually dimorphic. extra source of “fat fuel” prepares black eye mask that continues down Sex roles, like plumage, are reversed. them for their non-stop, 60 to 70 hour both sides of the neck. Females court the male and will chase other females away from her migration flights to South America! The male Wilson’s Phalarope has territory. Once she has found her Threats to Wilson’s Phalaropes similar but duller coloring. In the mate, the pair looks for potential Many of the Wilson’s Phalaropes non-breeding season, both males and nest sites. A few days before laying that stop at Mono Lake are headed females have a gray back, crown, the eggs, the male begins building for Mar Chiquita, a wetland system and eye mask. Their underparts are a grass-lined hollow that serves as in Argentina that is part of the white. their nest. After laying 3-4 buff- colored eggs with brown markings, Western Hemisphere Shorebird Behavior the males chases the female away Reserve Network. Flocks of 500,000 of these birds, locally named Chorlo Phalaropes look almost frantic when and takes over the job of incubating nadador grande (the “great swimmer they feed. Spinning like wind-up the eggs and caring for the chicks. plover”), are found on this nearly toys on top of the water, they create Sometimes female phalaropes are uninhabited region. Mar Chiquita, a small whirlpool that temporarily polyandrous and may chose to mate one of the largest salt lakes in stuns the larvae, crustaceans, and again with another male. the world is located in the central insects they feed on. Then they use region of Argentina. A proposal their needle-like bill to pick their prey Migration to divert water from the country’s off the upper layer of water. Wilson’s Phalaropes begin their southern migration early in the Dulce River to neighboring states Call summer, well before most other is under consideration in Buenos Aires. A water diversion project The call of the Wilson’s Phalarope North American shorebird. While would dramatically change this vast includes a hoarse “wurk” and other the other two species of phalaropes wetland. low croaking sounds. winter at sea, the Wilson’s migrates 3,000 miles to the fresh and brackish Nonbreeding wetlands of South America. Females Something to Think About… One of the greatest challenges in This species of pharlarope uses fresh are often seen migrating as early as migratory bird conservation is the and saltwater wetlands during the June. need to protect not only a bird’s nonbreeding season. Today’s Population breeding habitat but also the critical Habitat Biologists think there are about staging areas and the habitats where they overwinter. What is the Western Wilson’s Phalaropes are salt lake 830,000 Wilson’s Phalaropes in the Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve specialists, found almost entirely United States and Canada with most Network and how does to work to in western North America during along the Central Flyway. meet this challenge? migration. One of the most well known and Breeding critical staging areas for Wilson’s Wilson’s Phalarope is the largest Phalaropes is Mono Lake in Northern and the most terrestrial of the three California. Here as many as 90,000 of phalaropes found in North America these shorebirds have been counted

(the others are the Red-necked feeding and resting on the saline

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S M 515 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P Wilson's Phalarope

Breeding

Winter

Note: Arrows indicate general migration routes for both spring and fall.

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S M 516 I Explore the World with Shorebirds! S A T R ER G S RO CHOOLS P