Sunset

I love walking on the beach near sunset, especially when the weather isn’t too warm.  The sand feels delightfully soft and cool, the clouds stretch across the sky in gorgeous pastel shades, and waves provide a relaxing soundtrack as they steadily lap the shoreline.

The seashore birds’ calls—some raucous, some guttural, and some piping—punctuate the sounds of the water and wind.  Black-bellied Plovers may look fairly drab in their winter plumage, but their plaintive, whistling notes are anything but dull.  These close relatives of the familiar, pasture-loving Killdeer remain on the Gulf Coast through the winter, but migrate north in the spring.  It amuses me that this bird doesn’t have a black belly at all during this time of year.

Black-bellied Plover at the shoreline

Like most egrets and herons, the Snowy Egret has a very unmelodious—even grating—call.  But few people would deny its elegance as it gracefully strides through the tide pools, hunting for small fish and invertebrates.  Although the water is a bit too cold for me, the Snowy Egret appears to pay it no mind.  Black legs ending in bright yellow feet are one of its identifying features.

Snowy Egret striding

While the egret moves off, the small, browinish Dunlin comes forward to prod the mud near the edge of the pool with its pointed beak.  The Dunlin is a common winter visitor and migrant on the Gulf Coast, and, on most beaches, only the grayish but equally small Sanderling outnumbers it.  These species may mingle with each other, but the Dunlin tends to feed in somewhat deeper water, as the slightly greater length of its bill would suggest.

Snowy Egret and Dunlin foraging

As I look up and slightly to the right, I see several more species of shorebirds, including Marbled Godwit, Willet, and Semipalmated Plover.  The larger individuals, such as the godwits and the willets, forage in the deeper water, while the smaller plovers and dunlins stay in the shallower sections.  The names godwit and willet may seem strange, but they were intended as transcriptions of the birds’ calls.  I hear neither of these species calling at the time, but the persistent chirps and whistles of the others more than make up for that.

Shorebirds foraging in the tide pools

The sun starts to drop below the horizon, signaling that it’s time for me to leave.  I will miss the sights, sounds, and sensations of the beach, and I hope that I can re-experience them soon.

Reporting from the Coast

How about a nice, long walk?  I find that strolling up and down a stretch of seashore helps me to decompress.  Any time of the year can be good, but springtime is surely one of the most interesting seasons for avian life—especially on the Mississippi coast.

It is late afternoon.  A lone Reddish Egret stalks fish in the cobalt waters.  Its blue-gray body—with touches of white—and rust-colored head and neck echo the tints of the waves.  Found almost exclusively in coastal regions, this species occurs in a white form as well as the more familiar “reddish” morph.  This individual appears almost stately—perhaps it is wary of beach walkers—but Reddish Egrets are frequently very lively foragers, darting back and forth and flicking their wings outward to startle their prey. 

Reddish Egret

The egret isn’t the only wading bird braving the waves: a trio of Marbled Godwits—migratory transients on the Gulf Coast—also feeds in the surf.  They’ll likely have moved on, northward, in a month or two.

Marbled Godwits

The same cannot be said for the ubiquitous Laughing Gulls.  These coastal residents remain here all year long, and are as opportunistic as they are common.  Many people view Laughing Gulls as nothing more than nuisances, but I think this is an unfair assessment of these long-lived and clever birds.  Like crows, raccoons, and black bears, they have figured out how to exploit human resources, and we hate them for it!  I don’t think the gulls are too concerned about this, however.

Laughing Gulls

The Reddish Egret from earlier paces in front of the group of gulls.  Are the pickings better over this way?  Maybe, maybe not.

Reddish Egret and Laughing Gulls

A Snowy Egret shows up to survey the surf for small fish.  As you can probably tell from the photo, this species is considerably smaller than the Reddish Egret.  Like its larger relative, it often displays a particularly active foraging style, with lots of “dancing” in and out of the waves.  The larger wading birds, such as Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets, tend to be more sedate in their hunting behavior.  This Snowy, however, mostly stands still and makes itself compact, probably as protection from the wind.

Snowy Egret and Laughing Gulls

Farther up the beach, a Ruddy Turnstone turns over … not a stone, but a leaf.  What is it finding in the sand?  Tiny insects?  Possibly so—this is a fairly opportunistic hunter.  Like the Marbled Godwit, it’s a species that breeds farther north.  It will probably migrate soon, but, in the meantime, it frequents the beaches with other migratory shorebirds, flashing its stunning black-and-white wing patterns whenever it flies up the shoreline in search of prey.

Ruddy Turnstone

Tire tracks show where someone has driven an ATV up the beach.  Laughing Gulls, Black Skimmers, and a few Sanderlings congregate just past these markings, while Dunlin rest closer to the dunes.  They remind me of cattle, with their (tucked-in) heads all turned in the same direction. 

Beach birds

Laughing Gulls and Sanderling

Dunlin

A close-up of snoozing Dunlin reveals subtle markings, which would help to camouflage these birds in the sand and mud.

Dunlin markings

Other migratory shorebird species on the beach sands are Black-bellied Plovers and Willets.  The plovers are still mostly in drab winter plumage, but they’re showing signs of molting into breeding plumage, in which they will have black bellies.  The Willets are similarly dull and gray, since they haven’t finished molting into their barred-and-mottled breeding plumage.  Willets are common all over the beaches at this time of year.

Black-bellied Plovers and Sanderlings

Black-bellied Plover and Dunlin

Willets and Laughing Gull

Rounding out the beach bird community are Black Skimmers.  It’s still early enough in the day that these crepuscular birds probably haven't made too many trips away from the shore.  They will head out in larger numbers closer to evening, when they fly low over the water and drag their ultra-long, red-and-black bills along the surface to find fish to snap up.  Right now, resting along the beach, they look a bit odd and awkward, propped up on their stumpy legs and with their colossal bills slanting downward.  At evening, however, their unusual adaptations will serve them well, making them highly efficient hunters.

Black Skimmers, Laughing Gulls, and Dunlin

For a diurnal mammal like me, though, it’s about time to turn in for the night.  Since this is spring, coming back to the beach later will likely mean reporting on a slightly different group of birds—a unique mixture of resident species and transients—as migration continues.

Beach Sunset

I love walking on the beach near sunset, especially when the weather isn’t too warm.  The sand feels delightfully soft and cool, the clouds stretch across the sky in gorgeous pastel shades, and waves provide a relaxing soundtrack as they steadily lap the shoreline.

The seashore birds’ calls—some raucous, some guttural, and some piping—punctuate the sounds of the water and wind.  Black-bellied Plovers may look fairly drab in their winter plumage, but their plaintive, whistling notes are anything but dull.  These close relatives of the familiar, pasture-loving Killdeer remain on the Gulf Coast through the winter, but migrate north in the spring.  It amuses me that this bird doesn’t have a black belly at all during this time of year.

Black-bellied Plover at the shoreline

Like most egrets and herons, the Snowy Egret has a very unmelodious—even grating—call.  But few people would deny its elegance as it gracefully strides through the tide pools, hunting for small fish and invertebrates.  Although the water is a bit too cold for me, the Snowy Egret appears to pay it no mind.  Black legs ending in bright yellow feet are one of its identifying features.

Snowy Egret striding

While the egret moves off, the small, browinish Dunlin comes forward to prod the mud near the edge of the pool with its pointed beak.  The Dunlin is a common winter visitor and migrant on the Gulf Coast, and, on most beaches, only the grayish but equally small Sanderling outnumbers it.  These species may mingle with each other, but the Dunlin tends to feed in somewhat deeper water, as the slightly greater length of its bill would suggest.

Snowy Egret and Dunlin foraging

As I look up and slightly to the right, I see several more species of shorebirds, including Marbled Godwit, Willet, and Semipalmated Plover.  The larger individuals, such as the godwits and the willets, forage in the deeper water, while the smaller plovers and dunlins stay in the shallower sections.  The names godwit and willet may seem strange, but they were intended as transcriptions of the birds’ calls.  I hear neither of these species calling at the time, but the persistent chirps and whistles of the others more than make up for that.

Shorebirds foraging in the tide pools

The sun starts to drop below the horizon, signaling that it’s time for me to leave.  I will miss the sights, sounds, and sensations of the beach, and I hope that I can re-experience them soon.

Tricky Birds, Part II

Last month, I discussed how to identify gulls, terns, and related species by analyzing their structural characteristics and behavior.  This time, I’m examining the shorebirds that I saw at Dauphin Island during March of this year.

Shorebirds are a challenging group; most of them are fairly drab in color, and several species are so similar that, at certain times of year, it may be impossible to reliably distinguish them.  That being said, if you know which species are common for the particular area, habitat, and season that you’re birding, then you’re probably already halfway to making an identification.  For example, at Dauphin Island, I was birding on the beach, so I knew that I was unlikely to see any shorebirds that prefer freshwater habitats.  Furthermore, I knew that Sanderlings and Willets are two of the most abundant shorebird species in coastal Alabama, so I could use those as a basis for comparison with other, less familiar species. 

Here’s a photo from the last post.  The larger, brown shorebird is a Willet.  As you’ll see, Willets are much larger and taller than most of the other shorebirds that you are likely to find on the beach.  The small, pale sandpiper is a Sanderling.  It’s considerably smaller than a Willet, but far from the tiniest shorebird seen on the beach, as we’ll see.

Sanderling, Willet, Laughing Gull, and Ring-billed Gull

On the shoreline, there were a few plovers—small, stocky shorebirds.  The one in the photo is a Semipalmated Plover, a name that refers to the partial webbing between its toes.  As you can see, its bill is much shorter than that of the Sanderling (in the lower photo), and its body is stockier and more front-heavy, on the whole.  Semipalmated plovers are smaller than Sanderlings, though, and they tend to forage farther up the beach than Sanderlings, which will skitter around closer to the waves.  The plover family includes the abundant and widespread Killdeer, which usually occurs on inland fields, pastures, and meadows.  Like the Killdeer, the Semipalmated Plover will walk several feet and then pull up sharply, apparently scanning its environment.

Semipalmated Plover

Sanderling

There was another plover species on the beach, the much paler Piping Plover, but I didn’t manage to photograph it.  However, I did get a picture of a Snowy Plover that was wandering on the dunes.  The Snowy Plover is smaller and slimmer than the Semipalmated Plover, and lacks a complete neck-ring.  It has pale, grayish upperparts; a proportionally long, narrow bill; and black legs.  Snowy Plovers are a vulnerable species, and the bird in the photo had been color-banded for population research purposes.

Snowy Plover

In the photo below, you can see a Semipalmated Plover and a Sanderling foraging near the same pool.  The differences between the species are pretty obvious.  What species are the birds in the background?

Sanderling and Semipalmated Plover.  (Ring-billed Gull and Willet in background.)

This next photo shows a species that is a bit larger than the Sanderling and the Semipalmated and Snowy Plovers, but much smaller than the Willet.  True to its name, the Ruddy Turnstone actually does turn over rocks and other material to find food underneath, so its foraging behavior can be an important clue to its identity.  It also has bright orange legs and a dark, swirling pattern on the breast.  The white patches on its back, wings, and tail are concealed unless it is in flight.

Ruddy Turnstone with Black Skimmers and Sanderling

Okay, what are the birds in the photo below?  They have small, stocky bodies; short, black legs; drab brown upperparts; and white underparts.  These are Dunlins, which have longer bills than Sanderlings but are otherwise about the same size.  Their longer bills provide a clue to their behavior, as they often feed in deeper water than Sanderlings do. 

Dunlin

In the next photo, a Sanderling forages to the left of two Dunlins.  Notice the difference in color: the warmer brown of the Dunlin versus the pale gray of the Sanderling.

Sanderling and Dunlin

The next pictures show the bill differences a bit more clearly:

Sanderling

Dunlin

Willets are so much larger than any of the shorebirds I’ve previously discussed that they usually don’t provide any identification challenges.  As you can see in the photo below, they’re nearly as large as Laughing Gulls.

Calm Willets, angry Willet, and a Laughing Gull

Here is a Willet by itself.  You can see the long, grayish legs, grayish bill, and overall grayish-brown plumage.  I should mention, though, that Willets are grayer and drabber in the winter and early spring than they are during the summer.  The bird’s face has white feathers in front of the eye and a thin eye-ring, but is otherwise very plain.

Willet

In the next pictures, the two larger birds are Willets, but the smaller bird on the left is a Short-billed Dowitcher.  Notice the warmer tone of the brown plumage, the speckling on the underparts, the pale “eyebrow,” the yellowish-gray legs, and the white rump feathers.  (The very similar Long-billed Dowitchers also occur on the coast in March, but they are less common in saltwater habitats, and their identification is a bit beyond the scope of this piece.)

Short-billed Dowitcher and Willets

Same Short-billed Dowitcher and Willets

In the photo below, dowitchers mingle with Willets and Laughing Gulls.  Size and body structure, plumage characteristics, and posture/behavior can all help you to sort out these birds!

Obviously, identifying tricky-to-ID species is far more difficult when they are alone than when other birds are nearby, and I still struggle with a number of species groups.  However, breaking away from a fixation on minute plumage details and taking a more holistic approach to identification can save you plenty of frustration in the field and teach you more about bird ecology.  Try it out!