Least Sandpipers (Calidris minutilla) photos by Larry Jordan
The three common small sandpipers resident in North America are collectively called “peeps.” The Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) is the smallest of the peeps measuring a mere 6 inches.
To see a flock of these small shorebirds flying and turning in unison, changing from dark to light and back again, is truly a treat to behold.
It’s also fun to watch them forage on the mudflats as I did a few weeks ago at the Arcata Marsh.
Breeding mainly in subarctic tundra and far northern boreal forest over much of North America, the Least Sandpiper prefers coastal wetlands or subalpine sedge meadows for nesting. They migrate on a broad front across North America, with eastern populations likely undertaking nonstop transoceanic migrations of 3,000 to 4,000 kilometers1. Map courtesy of Birds of North America Online.
These peeps are in non-breeding plumage which always makes them more difficult to identify. Click on photos for full sized images.
A simple way to distinguish the Least Sandpiper from other peeps is their legs. Besides being slightly smaller, the Least Sandpiper is browner looking and has yellowish or greenish legs whereas the other peeps have blackish legs.
I caught this little one actually standing still for a brief moment.
This is most likely a juvenile Least Sandpiper. Notice that it is more colorful than some of the others, with extensive rufous on its shoulders and upperparts.
If you get a chance to see this little peep, take the time to watch them for awhile. They are bundles of energy.
You probably want to take the time right now to get on over to World Bird Wednesday and see all the other beautiful birds from all over the world.
And while you’re here, if you use Google Friend Connect, please consider joining my website via the widget in the right hand column of my blog and I will join yours in return. Thanks for the visit!
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) photos by Larry Jordan
When I began landscaping around my house about ten years ago, I planted a couple of Raywood Ash trees and three Redwood trees near my garage. They are about fifteen feet tall now. Little did I know that they would become the battleground for birds foraging for insects in my yard! (Click on photos for full sized images).
When I went out early Sunday morning to walk the dog I noticed that I had Ruby-crowned Kinglets (Regulus calendula) flitting around the oak trees. I love seeing these active little birds arrive for the winter. They are easy to spot in the trees despite their small size because of their constant habit of flicking their wings and never remaining still, even for a moment.
Well, I grabbed my camera and headed out to the scrub oaks to capture some shots of the little bundles of energy when I discovered that the Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) Warblers (Setophaga coronata) were foraging in the trees as well.
Right away I could see that they weren’t getting along. As soon as the kinglet approached the Raywood Ash tree, the warbler would chase it out of the tree. She was seriously guarding her food source of the day!
I guess this is not surprising since they both forage for insects. The Ruby-crowned Kinglet ended up coming over to the other Ash near the fence where I was standing, working her way around the branches, looking for arthropods and insects no doubt.
Both birds were hawking insects in mid-air which is always fun to watch. By the way, both of these species breed in the Canadian Boreal Forest where 53% of warblers breed and where these breeding grounds need more protection from development and polution (see previous post).
When the Butterbutt wasn’t chasing the Ruby-crown from her Ash tree, she would go up to the roof of the garage to catch insects.
There was a huge hatch of some kind of flying insect (let me know if you know what it is from the photos) that had the Yellow-rump hawking all day from these trees.
When she retreated to the roof, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet got a brief respite in the trees.
During the fray, I heard the sound of wings beating over my head as a Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber) flew in and landed right on the trunk of the Ash tree where all the action was taking place! My first Red-breasted Sapsucker for my yard list! How cool is that?
You can see more information and photos of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet here and more of the Yellow-rumped Warbler here and the Red-breasted Sapsucker here. You can also see some great bird photos from around the world at World Bird Wednesday! Come join the fun!
If you use Google Friend Connect, please consider joining my website via the widget in the right hand column of my blog and I will join yours in return. Thanks for the visit!
The boreal forest of Canada is a critical stronghold of our planet’s bird life, supporting large portions of the global population of many species. Billions of birds migrate to and from the boreal region and reproduce in the short boreal summers, largely because of the region’s abundant wetlands and undammed waterways.
October 26, 2011 (Ottawa) – As billions of birds near the end of their annual fall migration from Canada, international experts are calling for increased protection of Canada’s “bird nursery of the north”: the water-rich boreal forest which contains the breeding and nesting grounds for billions of migratory birds and whose waterways and wetlands are under increasing pressure from the double threat of industrial expansion and climate change.
In a report released today entitled Birds at Risk: The Importance of Canada’s Boreal Wetlands and Waterways, a coalition of conservation organizations have called upon Canadian governments to seize on the many opportunities to save intact boreal landscapes—the largest source of global freshwater—while there’s still time.
“Just as we depend on the natural resources of the boreal, so do billions of birds who nest, breed and stop over there,” said Ted Cheskey, Nature Canada’s manager of bird conservation and a co-author of the report. “These vital waterways and wetlands are under increasing threats posed by industry such as tar sands, mining, logging and hydropower. This is, of course, compounded by the effects of climate change.”
“Canada’s boreal is the largest intact forest left on earth,” said Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, international program director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Yet only a fraction of this landscape is protected, far less than is scientifically recognized as necessary to sustain the ecosystem over time. Thankfully, we still have the potential to make a unique contribution to conserving international migratory birds through preservation of the boreal. Governments should act quickly, using the best science available, to create a healthy future for the boreal and the migratory birds who call it home.”
The report was issued by Nature Canada, Nature Quebec, the Boreal Songbird Initiative, and the Natural Resources Defense Council and focuses on three boreal areas that are critical for birds:
The Hudson and James Bay Lowlands, where hydroelectric projects in the Hudson and James Bay Lowlands have flooded a huge swath of boreal forest, removing prime breeding habitat for as many as 10 million birds, including the Surf Scoter.
The Peace-Athabasca Delta, where a dam and tar sands operations are reducing flows, and threatening water quality.
The Lake Superior Watershed, where logging is reducing the diversity of plant and animal species and threatens food supplies and aquatic habitat.
The report also notes that the boreal waterways, peatlands and wetlands are important to some of the most threatened bird species, including the Rusty Blackbird which breeds across the boreal and always nests near water.
The Rusty Blackbird has experienced a more than 90 percent population decline since the 1960s and is listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act as a species of “Special Concern.”
“For some very vulnerable species of boreal birds,” said Jeff Wells, Boreal Songbird Initiative’s Science and Policy Director, “Canada’s boreal forest is their last haven and their best hope for survival. We can’t take it for granted that the boreal will always remain an intact landscape with abundant resources. Action should be taken now to safeguard the boreal for our benefit and the benefit of our shared global resources.”
“As many as five billion birds flood south from the Canadian boreal to wintering grounds in the US, Mexico, and beyond. Canadians have an international responsibility to protect these breeding grounds as reflected in Canadian laws and international agreements,” Cheskey said. “Protecting the boreal from the threats of development also protects indigenous communities across the boreal, where many people still live very close to the land. We strongly urge all governments in Canada to work with First Nations and others on a secure future for wildlife and birds by protecting at least 50% of the boreal forest.”
Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, Director, International Program
Natural Resources Defense Council
Tel: (202) 289-2366
Cell: (646) 287-6225
email: sclefkowitz@nrdc.org
Blog: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/sclefkowitz/
Jeff Wells, Ph.D., Science and Policy Director
Boreal Songbird Initiative
Tel: (207) 458-8492
jeffwells@borealbirds.org
Blog: http://www.borealbirds.org/blog/
Backgrounder: Boreal by the numbers
Canada’s boreal forest represents 25% of the world’s remaining intact forest.
The boreal contains the world’s highest concentrations of large wetlands, lakes, and undammed rivers. There are more than 800,000 square kilometers of surface fresh water within its borders.
Over 300 species breed in the boreal.
Of these, 40 land birds and several duck species are facing declines. Habitat loss is one likely cause.
80% of North American waterfowl, 63% of finches, and 53% of warblers breed in Canada’s boreal forest.
For at least 96 species, over half of their entire breeding population occurs in the boreal.
Many boreal bird species have registered serious declines in recent years. Rusty Blackbirds have declined by 90%, Boreal Chickadees and Evening Grosbeaks by more than 70%, Olive-sided Flycatchers, Bay-breasted and Canada Warblers by over 50% as have the boreal-breeding ducks Surf Scoters and Scaup.
Boreal birds are serious economic drivers. Boreal birds conduct over 5 billion dollars worth of ecological services by pollinating plants and controlling insect pests.
60 million people spend time in North America watching migratory birds and 3.2 million people hunt ducks and geese every year spending tens of billions of dollars annually on travel, lodging and gear.
Among the over 40 species we saw on the hour bird walk before our Northern California Audubon Council meeting was the Marbled Godwit.
This large shorebird breeds in the grasslands of the northern United States and southern Canada, with small isolated nesting populations in southwestern James Bay and Alaska1. Map courtesy of Terry Sohl at South Dakota Birds.
There were hundreds of Marbled Godwits at the marsh and in Humboldt Bay as well. Here are a couple of the birds I saw at Arcata Marsh, hanging out with an American Avocet in the foreground and a few Greater Yellowlegs in the background.
At coastal sites they feed primarily by probing the substrate with that long beak for polychaetes, small bivalves, crabs, and earthworms1.
Here are some more shots I took of this cool shorebird strutting his stuff.
Are they cool looking or what? For more great bird photos from around the world, you have to check out Dave Springman’s World Bird Wednesday!
Least Sandpipers (Calidris minutilla) photos by Larry Jordan
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