Identification cues: Shorebirds. Bill size & shape relates to niche. Bird Groups

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1 Identification cues: Brown Pelican Pacific Loon Marine birds in the Monterey Bay Hannah Nevins & Jim Harvey Sooty Shearwater Western Gull Northern Fulmar! Jizz flight or diving behavior, association with other birds, boats, etc.!habitat (estuary, marine, etc.)!call (terrestrial birds)!bill length, overall body size!coloration (but beware of seasonal changes) Shorebirds Small Sandpipers or Peeps Snowy & Semi-palmated plovers Medium Black-bellied Plover sandpipers Large Oystercatcher Willet Godwit Shorebirds Waders Bill size & shape relates to niche Alcids Tubenoses Bird Groups Divers: Loons & Grebes Gulls & Terns Sea Ducks Pelicans & corms 1

2 Sanderlings Marbled Godwit Range in North America (BNA No. 492) Snowy Plover State/Federally listed Endangered Occur in upper beach crest habitat Feed along high wrackline Eat amphipods, fly larvae, crustaceans Visual predators Susceptible to predators & disturbance Sandy beach or mudflat Roost in flocks in pickleweed Very vocal, territorial Conspicuous in flight Willet Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus Marbled Godwit Black-bellied Plover Willet Long, down-curved bill Largest shorebird in North America Occurs on mudflat & shore 2

3 Shorebirds Waders Rocky Shore Resident Very vocal, territorial Conspicuous red bill Black Oystercatcher American Avocet Herons, Egrets & Bitterns Breeding Plumage Non-Breeding Plumage USGS Breeding Bird Survey Thin, upward turned bill Long legs Sifts through the water from side-to-side to filter out prey Great Blue Heron Long legs Long, sharp bills Wetlands are main habitat Great Egret Black-necked stilt Thin, long-legged Contrasting black/white Resident year round Distributed in both hemispheres Snowy Egret Yellow feet Black bill Smallish Common in wetlands Black-crowned Night Heron Gray wings with green scaps Black bill Smallish Common in harbors 3

4 Surface-feeding birds Great Egrets were once extirpated by plume-hunters for millinery trade Storm-petrel Pattering Kick up prey Tern Surface plunger Phalaropes Mini-whirlpools Pickers victims of fashion. Seabirds Foraging Behaviors Loons Different winter and summer plumage Surface Picking Surface scavenging Stealing (not shown) Plunge diving Pursuit diving from Warham 1996 Flattened tarsi Pacific Loon (winter plumage) Long, sharp bills, spotted scapular feathers Types of diving birds Grebes Shearwater Wing-propelled Good flyer Cormorant Foot-propelled Benthic feeding Murre Wing-propelled diver Fair flyer Western Grebe Aechmorphus occidentalis Long necks Clark s Grebe Aechmorphus clarkii Forage in groups, possibly at night From Sibley 2001 Piscivorous 4

5 Photo: L. Henkel Data from USGS-BBL Grebes nest along lakes inland, make floating nest Western gulls nesting on Año Nuevo Island Gulls & Terns California Gull Larus californicus Western Gull J Harvey Black-legged Kittiwake J Harvey Surface feeders large wings and eyes Opportunistic diverse diet Caspian Tern Eat krill, fish, squid Visual foragers large eyes, feed during day J Harvey Migratory Abundant (esp. winter) Map from USGS Bird Banding Lab Western Gull Larus occidentalis Heermann s Gull Larus heermanni Spanish: Gaviota mexicana Chick & adult Opportunistic scavenger Surface feeder Local resident California Current endemic Adult Breeding Juvenile Adult Non-breeding Occur: May to July Map from Birds of North America 5

6 Caspian Terns nest at Elkhorn Slough Pelicans & allies Order Pelecaniformes Blue-footed Booby Raucous, harsh call Red-orange bill Post-fledging care of young Photos: B. Lyons, Elkhorn Slough Foundation Red-billed Tropicbird Families Phaethontidae Tropicbirds Pelecanidae Pelicans* Sulidae - Boobies and Gannets Northern Gannet Phalacrocoracidae - Cormorants* and Shags Fregatidae Frigatebirds *Occur in California Photos: Harvey-MLML (unless noted) Male Great Frigatebird Female Forester s Tern Sterna foresteri Brown Pelican J. Harvey J. Harvey Adult Dainty tern Forked tail Red bill with black tip Adaptations for plunge diving: Large, expandable gular pouch Cushioning air-sacs Juvenile Mate-feeding Map from Birds of North America Reinforced vertebrae in neck Mixed feeding aggregation Brandt s Cormorant Foot-propelled: large leg muscles & large, wide, webbed feet Piscivorous: long neck, sharp bill Long, stiff tail for rudder Build nests on cliffs, piers, pilings 6

7 Double-crested Cormorant Doublecrested Brandt s Order Procellariiformes: Tubenoses Tubenoses Northern Fulmar J. Harvey J. Harvey J. Harvey Sooty Shearwater Pelagic Black-footed Albatross Most diversity in Southern Hemisphere Mainly surface pickers or scavengers Excellent flying ability Highly migratory Laysan Albatross J. Adams Leach s Storm-petrel Sea Ducks Order Anseriformes - Waterfowl Duck feet: 3 webbed, 4 th lobed Northern Fulmar Surf scoter Melanitta perspicillata SUSC Peter Hodum Migratory (breeding in Alaska) Frequently ingest plastics In Monterey Bay 70-80% of birds have plastic Sooty Shearwater Puffinus greseus Nest in boreal forest & tundra -Little known habits Eat mussels, clams, invertebrates Emerita analoga (Monterey Bay) Herring roe (San Francisco Bay) Breeds in New Zealand, So. America (austral summer) Migrates to California Current System (boreal summer) H. Nevins Eats squid and schooling fish (anchovies, sardines) 7

8 Farallon Is. Bodega ** * Point Reyes San Francisco Pacifica Half Moon Bay * OR WA CA Monterey Bay Santa Cruz * * Moss Landing Monterey Big Sur Murre Colony Shearwaters tracked across the Pacific! Common Murre Japan Monterey Bay, CA Hawaii Samoa Tuamotu Kermadec Trench/Ridge Louisville Ridge Titi Islands, NZ J. Adams, unpublished data 2004 Eltanin Fracture Zone Chatham Rise Guafo I., Chile Usually offshore over shelf During late summer (July- Aug) male-chick pairs arrive. Auks: Puffins, murres, murrelets, auklets Pigeon Guillemot Common Murre Marbled Murrelet Northern Hemisphere J. Adams H Nevins Pigeon Guillemot Cepphus columba Sea Pigeon Nearshore in summer Nests in holes/ crevices, old piers Disperses to pelagic waters during winter Benthic forager sculpin, flatfish, polychaetes Adult Diving birds Lay 1-2 eggs Eat krill, fish and squid Cassin s Auklet Adult delivering fish to chick (s) Juvenile 8

9 Marbled Murrelet Winter plumage Distribution Summer plumage Nest in old growth redwoods, Douglas fir First nest found in SC mountains 1976 Feed on small schooling fishes, crustaceans Endangered species: threats include logging, oil spills, & by-catch in gill nets 2 Ready for your test? (it s really not that difficult)

10 5 8 Clark s OR Western?

11 11 Male OR Female?

12 17* *EXTRA; where was this taken? Brandt s Cormorant, & Brown Pelican 2. Common Murre 3. Brandt s Cormorant 4. Pigeon Guillemot 5. Caspian Tern 6. Western Gull 7. Peep (Sanderling) 8. Snowy Plover 9. Western Grebe Answers: 10. Black Oystercatcher 11. Male Surf Scoter 12. Avocets 13. Brown Pelican (Juvenile) 14. Great Blue Heron, Great Egret 15. Sooty Shearwater flock 16. Willet 17. Brown Pelican flock (at Elkhorn Slough) 18. Marbled Godwit 12