WORLD SHOREBIRDS DAY: ABACO’S COMPLETE CHECKLIST

Abaco is home to 33 shorebird species. For a few, the islands are a permanent residence; for many others they are winter quarters; and some species are visitors transient in their migrations, or rare vagrants. Last year I produced 3 posts with plenty of photos showcasing 26 of the species, the remaining 7 all being transients or vagrants. 

I divided the species into 3 categories: sandpipers & kin; plovers; and a catch-all ‘large shorebird’ group that included one or two sandpipers. Of the 26 birds featured and shown in the main checklist below, 23 are ones you might reasonably hope or expect to encounter on Abaco, though some only if you are lucky or your field-craft is excellent. The others are the long-billed dowitcher, American avocet and Wilson’s phalarope (of which only one has ever been seen on Abaco, with a photo to prove it)

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LARGE SHOREBIRDS

SANDPIPERS

PLOVERS

THE COMPLETE CHECKLIST

The codes tell you, for any particular bird, when you may see it (P = permanent, WR = winter resident, TR = transient, V = vagrant); whether it breeds (B) on Abaco; and your chance of seeing it, graded from easy (1) to vanishingly unlikely (5). 

• Black-necked Stilt                             Himantopus mexicanus                PR B 3
• American Avocet                               Recurvirostra americana             WR 4
• American Oystercatcher                  Haematopus palliatus                   PR B 2
• Black-bellied Plover                         Pluvialis squatarola                       WR 1
• American Golden-Plover                Pluvialis dominica                           TR 4
• Wilson’s Plover                                 Ochthodromus wilsonia                 PR B 2
• Semipalmated Plover                      Charadrius semipalmatus             WR 2
• Piping Plover                                     Charadrius melodus                       WR 3
• Killdeer                                               Charadrius vociferus                     WR 2
• Spotted Sandpiper                            Actitis macularius                          WR 1
• Solitary Sandpiper                            Tringa solitaria                              WR 2
• Greater Yellowlegs                            Tringa melanoleuca                      WR 2
• Willet                                                   Tringa semipalmata                     PR B 2
• Lesser Yellowlegs                              Tringa flavipes                               WR 3
• Ruddy Turnstone                              Arenaria interpres                        PR 2
• Red Knot                                             Calidris canutus                            WR 3
• Sanderling                                          Calidris alba                                   WR 1
• Dunlin                                                 Calidris alpina                               WR 2
• Least Sandpiper                                Calidris minutilla                          WR 2
• White-rumped Sandpiper               Calidris fuscicollis                          TR 3
• Semipalmated Sandpiper                Calidris pusilla                               TR 2
• Western Sandpiper                           Calidris Mauri                                TR 2
• Short-billed Dowitcher                    Limnodromus griseus                    WR 1
• Long-billed Dowitcher                     Limnodromus scolopaceus           WR 4
• Wilson’s Snipe                                   Gallinago delicata                          WR 3
• Wilson’s Phalarope                           Phalaropus tricolor                        V 4

For the sake of completeness, the other 7 species of shorebird recorded for Abaco – all transients or vagrants – are:

• Upland Sandpiper                     Bartramia longicauda             TR 4
• Whimbrel                                    Numenius phaeopus                 TR 4
• Hudsonian Godwit                   Limosa haemastica                    V5
• Marbled Godwit                         Limosa fedoa                              V5
• Buff-breasted Sandpiper          Tryngites subruficollis             V5
• Pectoral Sandpiper                   Calidris melanotos                    TR 3
• Stilt Sandpiper                           Calidris himantopus                 TR 3

Please excuse the wonky column formatting, an aspect of listing that WordPress doesn’t seem to cater for…

Photo Credits: Tom Sheley, Bruce Hallett, Keith Salvesen