Tag: Shorebirds

Migrating shorebird of Illinois

Many Species of Shorebirds

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Small Least sandpipers and a Semipalmated sandpiper take a short rest after feeding, on a tiny mud island in a flooded corn field.

August 8, 2021 – We had plenty of rain in the second half of July and that extra precipitation created a kind of pseudo wetlands in the low areas of the agricultural fields here in northeastern Illinois. As a result of the heavy rains some corn and bean crops were unfortunately damaged or completely destroyed in the low areas making an extra expense for some farmers. Some areas looked like large lakes stretching out across the landscape giving us a hint of what it must of looked like before the Europeans arrived. Much of the land in some of these locations were in fact lakes, ponds, and wetlands before being settled and drained for farming. In the days following the recent flooding the submerged crops began to die back and as the waters slowly receded, these areas started to resemble coastal mudflats. Soon herons, ducks, and egrets began to show up. Many species of shorebirds, some of which had nested as far north as the Arctic, took advantage of these flooded areas for hunting and resting as they worked their way south towards their winter range. These short-lived oases are an important food source for the migrating birds. Some of the wet areas are void of birds while others are quite busy with avian activity. When you begin to see a number of species congregating and foraging day after day, before the waters disappear, that is a sure indicator of an abundance of food in the shallow waters and soft mud for the weary travelers. Worms, nymphs, midges and terrestrial invertebrates are all on the menu in and around these pop-up wet areas for both long-legged and short-legged shorebirds. Some of the shorebirds I have seen recently in Iroquois County in those flooded spots are the Greater and Lesser yellowlegs, Least sandpiper, Semipalmated sandpiper, Semipalmated plover, Stilt sandpiper, Short-billed dowitcher, Spotted sandpiper, Killdeer, Solitary sandpiper, Pectoral sandpiper, and Wilson’s phalaropes. The long-legged shorebirds, like the Greater yellowlegs and the Stilt sandpiper, hunt the deeper waters wading and feeling for movement with their feet and then probing and grasping the prey with their long bills. The short-legged shorebirds, like the Least sandpiper and the Semipalmated sandpiper, stay at the edges and hunt the soft mud and the shallow waters that are barely a few inches deep. My thoughts while observing these shorebirds is always of amazement knowing where they were just weeks ago. Some of these birds summer on the open Arctic tundra while others nest along the coastal areas of the Arctic ocean, and now here they are for a brief time on their arduous journey south feeding and resting in a flooded field in Iroquois County Illinois.

A pair of Stilt sandpipers move their feet across the mud bottom searching for prey in the standing water in an agricultural field in Iroquois County.

Southbound

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A pair of Lesser Yellowlegs Sandpipers standing tall face to face having a dispute over the hunting area that will eventually lead to a noisy fight.

July 30, 2020 – This past week a number of early migrating shorebirds, on their southbound journey, had stopped at a flooded field in Iroquois County taking advantage of the available but temporary source of food. The largest of the shorebirds that was feeding at the shallow, slow draining, organism rich, field were the Greater Yellowlegs Sandpipers. The smallest birds were the Least and the Semipalmated Sandpipers. The Least, which is the smallest shorebird in the world, and Semipalmated Sandpipers searched for insects around the perimeters. The Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs with the longer bills and legs were wading through the deeper waters probing the soft mud below the surface with their long pointed bills searching and amazingly finding tiny insects and other invertebrates with their sensitive bills. While many of the species feeding in the flooded field get a bit aggressive when it comes to their hunting areas, quickly chasing away other birds that get too close, the Lesser Yellowlegs at this feeding site over a few days of observation seemed to only have conflicts with its’ own species. The Lesser Yellowlegs would fly, sometimes 50 feet, to challenge or chase away an intruder. Sometimes, though, the intruder would hold it’s ground and the excited birds would face off. Standing as tall as they could, bill to bill, making themselves appear large, the birds were certainly trying to intimidate each other. Suddenly, one would jump high into the air above the other coming down with it’s feet in the face of the other bird. With wings flapping, their bills and feet became weapons, the aggressive sounds of fighting sandpipers intensified, then suddenly they would stop. The birds would once again take that face to face bigger than life posture until one would attack. This squabble would happen four or five more times before they would slowly, but carefully, back away from each other and start feeding a short distance away widening the gap to a safe, tolerable, and perhaps agreed upon, distance. Most of the shorebirds were tolerable of each other with little aggression when hunting areas overlapped, at least they weren’t fighting like Lesser Yellowlegs who seemed to be looking for trouble. These shorebirds will work their way south to Gulf Coast, some going as far as South America where they will spend the winter until spring once again calls them north.

A small sharp looking Semipalmated Sandpiper on it’s way to Central and South America feeding in a small flooded field in Iroquois County this past week.

Large Shorebirds

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A large Marbled Godwit in breeding plumage gives a profile look at that impressively long orange colored upturned bill.

May 7, 2020 – A large number of shorebirds stopping off in Iroquois County on their spring migration could be seen feeding in a flooded field this past week. There were at least twenty Lesser Yellowlegs, and four Greater Yellowlegs, along with some Short-billed Dowitchers, and some small Dunlins. The variety of shorebirds were working the shallow waters and shoreline searching and probing in the soft mud for worms, arthropods, and other tiny creatures to replenish their fat reserves and building up the needed energy to reach their summer nesting grounds for the breeding season. Even more exciting were some obviously larger and less often seen visitors that seemed to dwarf the other species. There were four large shorebirds that are called Willets, all in their breeding plumage. The Willets are slightly larger than the more common Greater Yellowlegs, which is also a fairly large shorebird and is often seen in our area during the spring and fall migrations. The Willet has a heavier build than the Greater Yellowlegs, a thick straight bill and long legs for wading. Willets are seen during the winter months along the seacoasts of North America, Mexico, Central America, and South America. They nest inland making their nests in small depressions lined with grasses on the prairies of Northwestern United States and into the grasslands of Southern Canada. Some eastern Willets nest closer to the coast in the salt marshes and dunes of the Northeastern United States as far north as Newfoundland. Even more rare to see here in Northeastern Illinois was a very large shorebird with a long multicolored upturned bill. This large heavy looking bird, known as Marbled Godwit, is a little bigger than the Blue-winged teal ducks that were swimming nearby. The Marbled Godwit has a winter range on coastal beaches and mudflats almost identical to the Willet winter range. The Godwits nest in the native prairie grasslands, preferably close to wetlands located in the northern boarder states of the great plains and on into southern Canada. The Marbled Godwit is a very large sandpiper that has an interesting color and shape to its’ extra long bill. The bill is sword shaped, slightly upturned, with a dull pinkish to bright orange color extending from the base that continues about halfway down the bill where it turns dark all the way to the tip. These temporary flooded areas that were once wetlands across the prairies and are dreaded by today’s farmers are always a challenge to agriculture but they do play an important role with migratory shorebirds as they travel hundreds to thousands of miles in some cases to their summer and winter ranges.

A pair of Willets wade into deep water to search for insects and worms in the depths of the muddy standing water where they will probe the mud with their long sensitive bills to locate prey.

Shorebirds Stopping by

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A large Greater Yellowlegs shorebird wading through shallow water looking for prey while at times stopping to probe the mud with its’ long bill.

April 16, 2020 – When the spring rains create temporary flooded pools in the agricultural fields, pastures, and on the low well saturated land of restored prairies here in Northern Illinois, the migratory shorebirds large and small will show-up tired and hungry. A variety of shorebird species are working their way across Illinois this time of year. These birds must feed and rest and sometimes wait for the right weather conditions as they instinctively know when to continue the push north. The mudflat-like edges surrounding the flooded slow draining areas in the fields are the perfect habitat where these birds can find the tiny worms, mollusks, and insects that are important to rebuild their depleted energy. Building up fat reserves and resting is key to the survival for both medium and long distance migrants as they pass through on their challenging springtime journey, moving to their northern summer nesting areas. Many of the shorebirds travel great distances to reach their nesting areas on the high Arctic tundra. Pectoral Sandpipers spend the winter on the wetlands and agricultural areas of South America but they nest many thousands of miles north on the sometimes cold springtime Arctic tundra. Here in Illinois we see many flocks, some quite large, of the Pectoral sandpipers using the flooded fields to rest and feed as they work their way north. The sandpipers stay together in and around the flooded wet spots feeding, preening and occasionally taking to the air when a bird of prey comes too close. Flying in a tight pattern the birds circle back and forth until all is clear and then quickly return to the same wet spot to continue their feeding. The much larger Greater Yellowlegs has longer legs than the Pectoral Sandpiper and are often in deeper water searching for prey. The Greater Yellowlegs migrates a shorter distance than the Pectoral. They spend the winter on the Atlantic coast, the Gulf coast, Florida, Mexico, Central and South America. The Greater Yellowlegs nest across Canada just south of Arctic Circle and on the coastal areas of Southwestern Alaska. Those are just two species that are fairly easy to identify during the northern movement, there are many others to watch for in these short-lived shallow pools that temporarily linger in the fields. Some of these shorebirds are quite small, others are in their impressive breeding plumage, sometimes there are rare species, but one thing is for sure they all are in need of food and rest as they still have many miles ahead.

A Pectoral Sandpiper plucks a small snail out of the water and quickly swallows it.

Tired Travelers

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American Golden Plover

American Golden Plover

April 9, 2017 – Last week some remarkable birds, the American Golden-plover, had been seen resting and feeding in the agricultural fields of Iroquois county as they are on their spring migration crossing the United States on their way north to the high Arctic for another breeding season. Well over a 100 of these birds were sharing a wet field near Ashkum with nearly 70 Pectoral Sandpipers that also winter in South America. For more then a week as the miserable weather conditions and relentless northerly winds held them fast the plovers could be seen spread out and walking across the wet field hunting in their typical method of run, stop, run, stop, look then grab a worm or bug. The plovers’ are very well camouflaged, they quite easily blend into the surroundings and they most likely go unnoticed.

American Golden Plover

American Golden Plover

When they bed down for a midday nap they locate a little nest-like depression in the field and they seem to disappear as they settle down into it for some sleep. A smaller group, less then 50 were resting about four miles west of Askum this past Sunday. I was able to observe them for nearly four hours as they hunted the field until about 12:30 pm when I noticed about fifteen of them fly out of the field and stand on the roadway for about ten minutes until they slowly walked to another field and out of sight. Others, about ten, bedded down about twenty-five feet from where I was located. These little birds seemed really tired and over the next three hours there wasn’t much activity, only the occasional getting up to stretch, with a few walking around at times but quickly they would find a spot to lay.

American Golden-plover

American Golden-plover

Most of the birds were still in their winter plumage with a few showing darkening feathers as they transition to their beautiful breeding colors of a coal black face and chin and underparts with a bright white stripe that runs from their forehead above the eyes down the side of the neck to the breast. Their backs are browns with gold spots. It is a remarkable migration cycle that takes these Robin sized birds over 20,000 miles on their amazing journey. The plover spends the winter months on the grasslands of Argentina and the summer, their nesting season, on the rocky tundra of the high Arctic.