Tuesday, September 9, 2014

World Shorebird Day

This September 6th was World Shorebird Day.  Shorebirds have compelling life stories of epic migrations and making it across continents.  They are also a massively threatened group of birds who suffers from climate change and habitat loss.  I spent the day with the Atlanta Audubon Society with their Workshop on Shorebirds.  The Workshop focused on learning how to identify and age shorebirds by looking at their structure and learning the stages of molt.  After working on the our skills, we took to the field were we found Spotted Sandpipers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, and even Semipalmated Plovers!

Now its time for a Bird ID Quiz.  What are the two birds below?  Can you age them?  Post your answers below.

Bird #1

Bird #2

American Oystercatchers flying about, not catching oysters

World Shorebird Day - Link here

Wild Bird Wednesday - Link here

Atlanta Audubon Society - Link here

5 comments:

  1. Great idea with the workshop and beautiful photos.

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  2. It's so cool to be able to learn so much about identifying birds. I have no idea what these are or how old they are, but I do hope you will explain how to tell!!

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  3. The workshop sounds great. I'm sorry, I can't identify the beautiful birds pictured here.;

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  4. Hard to tell on iPhone but I ID'd the oystercatchers before I read your text. The second one looks like Least but first is so gray overall-- I would have guesse Spotted.

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  5. Hmmmm.....Solitary and Semipalmated? The first one is hard to tell but I see a spectacle around the eye. I love the challenge of ID'ing shorebirds. We celebrated by going out to our lake in the grasslands where they numbered in the 100's! And we found a Pectoral......I am a Sandpiper aficionado:)

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