{"id":81073,"date":"2022-01-24T22:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/on-the-tails-shorebirds-in-winter\/"},"modified":"2022-01-25T09:47:46","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T18:47:46","slug":"on-the-tails-shorebirds-in-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/on-the-tails-shorebirds-in-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Tails: Shorebirds in winter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t

By Mary F. Willson <\/ins><\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

For the Juneau Empire <\/em><\/ins><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

On Christmas day, a little group of friends walked along the airport dike trail. Loose snow had drifted over the trail in places and low streamers of more snow were whisked over the meadow by capricious breezes. The shallow lagoon in front of the small shelter was covered with ice. On the ice I saw two killdeer, rather forlornly peering through the ice, unable to reach any bits of food below. Hungry and hopeful, they spent some minutes there, in vain.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Soon thereafter, I was told that killdeer are not uncommon over in the Fish Creek area, so of course I went over to look. In the parking lot, I met someone coming off the trail who reported seeing lots of killdeer out on the west side of the berm leading to the “island.” But — again, of course — by the time I got out there, they were not to be seen.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

These observations made me think about what shorebirds might occur here in winter and the kinds of places they might be found. Consulting with some experienced birders, I used the Juneau checklist to learn which species are most likely to be seen and which are less likely. Occurrences vary from year to year, of course, but the list serves as a starting place.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

[All the birds I’ve known: Reviewing rescued raptors<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“Shorebirds” include the sandpipers, plovers, godwits, and oystercatchers, earning their common collective name from their frequent use of shorelines outside of the breeding season, on migration and in winter. That’s when the species often overlap in their habitat use and bird watchers are mostly likely to see them. Nesting habitats are varied, including wet tundra, dry alpine tundra, bogs, marshes, grassy meadows, and the birds are then spread out over the landscape. All of them forage primarily<\/a> for invertebrates. <\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t