SHOREBIRDS! Brief Background. World Travelers 11/6/2016

Transcription

1 SHOREBIRDS! Brief Background In 1821, about 200 gunners in the New Orleans area harvested 48,000 golden plovers in one day. Since 1916, hunting has been illegal for all but two migratory shorebirds: American woodcock & Wilson s snipe World Travelers Migrate, breed, and winter throughout the world Breeding Grounds = Arctic Wintering Grounds = Central & South America Average migration for a shorebird = 12,000km from breeding to wintering grounds (around 7,500mi) Bar-tailed godwit- A female was recently found to have flown 7,145 miles (11,500 kilometers) nonstop from Alaska to New Zealand without taking a break 1

2 SHOREBIRDS Fall Migration: mid-july / August / mid- Sept Spring Migration: April / May / early June Food is Key (high metabolic rates) Limit Disturbance; Let em eat! And, rest MACROINVERTEBRATES Pond snails, freshwater shrimp, midges, blackflies, mosquitos, dragonflies, beetles, etc. Chironomid larvae (a.k.a. blood worms) Adult Chironomids are Midges 2

3 Guild: any group of species that exploit the same resources, often in related ways (differ than niche) In this case, partitioned by water depth Habitat Use Shorebirds within the same foraging guild use habitats of different water depth (and vegetation height & density) It s all about the legs! 3

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5 Probing upper sediment layer 0-10cm Shorebird Management 1. Vegetation Management 2. Water Management 1. Will cover later this week Shallow Water & Mudflats 0 inches (mudflats) to 4 inches Dunlins foraging 5

6 Veg Density: No Cover to 75% Cover Majority of Use = < 25% veg cover and prefer shorter veg, < than ½ height of bird In most cases, wetland managers are managing on a seasonal scale 6

7 Timing! Veg Detritus Mudflats WATER MANAGEMENT Fall Flooding - 1 month before the first heavy freeze and continued water will enable invertebrates to lay eggs and colonize the area Tennessee = early to mid-november Seasonal flooding creates environmental conditions necessary for invert s to thrive, grow, and multiply 7

8 ruddy turnstone black-bellied plover dark armpits 8

9 white rump 9

10 killdeer vs. Wilson s plover 10

11 semipalmated plover vs. piping plover Piping plover spotted sandpiper vs. solitary sandpiper 11

12 Greater Yellowlegs's bill appears slightly upturned and blunt-tipped Lesser Yellowlegs's bill is straight and sharp-pointed Greater gives three or four piercing notes, Lesser two rapid, softer short whistles (sometimes three). And, when together willet 12

13 mockingbird-like wings marbled godwit 13

14 willet vs. marbled godwit sanderling Running! 14

15 dunlin Peeps 15

16 Western sandpiper Longer, more drooping bill Semipalmated sandpiper Least sandpiper yellow legs 16

17 Pectoral sandpiper dowitcher 17

18 Voice is best character to distinguish adults: Short-billed gives a "call tututu, a staccato series of low, musical notes. Longbilled typically gives a higher pitched keek or peep call often repeated several to numerous times in rapid succession. The difference in voice is regarded as a nearly fail-proof field mark. Juvenile short-billed has tiger-striped tertials instead of plain gray ones. The eyes on Short-billed are placed at a higher angle above the bill than on Long-billed American oystercatcher 18

19 black-necked stilt American avocet American Woodcock Scolopax minor 19

20 Identification Tips Dumpy, short-legged, short-tailed, rounded-winged shorebird Explosive takeoff when flushed, wings make twittering sound in flight Very large, dark eye set high in head Buff-brown head, breast and belly buff to pale cinnamon Black nape crossed by pale lines Dark eyeline and auricular stripe Gray-brown back, with black and chestnut feathering interspersed between two pale Vs Upperwings reddish-brown; underwings brown, with rusty wing linings Rusty rump; dark rectrices tipped gray/white Found in woods and shrubby fields American woodcock: Habitat A ground-dwelling migratory shorebird associated with forests and shrublands Woodland thickets & bottomland forests, around and within rich, moist bottomlands, and lots of leaf litter to support earthworms COVER: Small openings with sparse herbaceous cover, Scattered shrubs and/or young trees, Dense, young forest Breakdown: Dense, young forest that encompasses rich bottomland (80% of mgmt area), larger fields interspersed (each at least 5 acres in size, 1 field per 100 acres), and small openings scattered (at least ½ acre in size, 8 per 100 acres) SPACE: Minimum recommended patch size is 500-1,000 acres. Wilson s snipe. more slender and elongate, without the crossbars on nape. In flight, the snipe has much more pointed wings Bars run lengthwise with the body Woodcock: bars are perpendicular with body 20

21 American woodcock- a bird of brushy thickets and forests Wilson s snipe- a bird of open wetlands (sparse veg & mud) Similar to typical shorebird habitat mentioned previously Also, you will likely find snipe in wet pastures 21

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23 Monitoring Waterbird Use Do it! And, don t rely on someone else 23