It’s shorebird time and many of us are confused. In southwestern Pennsylvania we only see these birds on migration and a lot of them look alike.

I’m not good at shorebirds but I want to be better.  What to do? Practice!  Here are some tips I’m using this month, written down so I don’t forget.  Maybe they’ll help you, too.

Here’s a quick summary:

1. Prepare in advance.
2. Take your time.
3. For some brown/gray shorebirds, 3 field marks are all you need:
   1. Size compared to other birds,
   2. Beak shape, size and color,
   3. Leg length (relative to body) and color.

Still stumped? You’ll have to read …

THE WHOLE LIST:

Prepare in advance:

• Choose a birding location with lots of shorebirds so you can compare sizes, shapes and behavior.
• Before you go, narrow your choices to what’s possible at that location at that time of year. Make a list. Highlight the common ones.  Bookmarks help.
• Take field guides(*), a scope(+), a sun hat, and maybe a chair.  These birds stay put. So will you.

Methods in the field:

• Take your time!  Study their behavior.  Quick impressions don’t work.
• Pick one bird to identify.  Learn it well then move on.
• Don’t focus on plumage yet unless the bird has really striking colors or patterns.  (Plumage is the least useful field mark on difficult shorebirds.)
• Size: Compare to other shorebirds.  (ex: smaller than a killdeer?)
• Silhouette:
  • Beak shape: Long or short? Straight or Curved up or down? Convex (bulged) or thin?  Sharp tip or blunt?
  • Legs: Long or short relative to the body?
  • Neck: Long? Short? “No-neck”?
  • Head: Big or little? Round or long?
  • Body: Chunky? Thin? Stubby? Long?
• Color of beak and legs.  (Sometimes size, beak and legs are all you need)
• Behavior:
  • Stands tall or always crouched?
  • In a tight flock or solo?
  • Does it stand in water? Or does it stay at the edge, hating to get its feet wet?
  • Does it peck daintily? Grab and go? Move its bill like a sewing machine needle?
  • Does it chase waves?  (field mark of a sanderling)
• Now look at plumage (adults + juveniles this month).  Does it match your guess?
• Can’t make up your mind? Repeat the process.

If all else fails, hope for a peregrine or merlin to stir them up. Some species are impossible until they open their wings (willets, black-bellied plovers).  And it’s always nice to see a falcon.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original.)

p.s. Did I miss anything?  Do you have a tip for shorebird practice?  Please post it in a comment.

Footnotes:  Here are some great guides to use at home or while sitting in the field. These books are big and heavy.
(*) For plumage and field marks: The Sibley Guide to Birds, 2nd Edition.
(*) For detailed behavior of each species (No pictures): Pete Dunne’s Essential Field Guide Companion

(+) Scope: If you have a really good camera it can out-perform a scope. Photos show the details frozen in time.