WORLD SHOREBIRDS DAY . COMPLETE CHECKLIST FOR ABACO, BAHAMAS

September 5, 2022 by Rolling Harbour

WORLD SHOREBIRDS DAY: ABACO’S COMPLETE CHECKLIST

Abaco’s birding records compiled for over 20 years include 33 shorebird species. For a few, the islands and cays are a permanent residence; for many others they are winter quarters; some species are visitors transient in their migrations; a few are rare vagrants. The complete checklist of Abaco’s shorebirds is below, along with 3 links to specific posts.

I have divided the species into 3 categories: sandpipers & kin; plovers; and a catch-all ‘large shorebird’ group that includes 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). Many of these are showcased in my book The Birds of Abaco.

CLICK A LINK TO INVESTIGATE

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

Photo Credits: Tom Sheley, Bruce Hallett, Keith Salvesen

WORLD SHOREBIRDS DAY: ABACO’S COMPLETE CHECKLIST

September 6, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

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)

CLICK A LINK TO INVESTIGATE

LARGE SHOREBIRDS

SANDPIPERS

PLOVERS

THE COMPLETE CHECKLIST

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

“CHECK OUT THE WEB” (2) SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS ON ABACO

August 7, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

“CHECK OUT THE WEB” (2) SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS ON ABACO

Having recently headlined a post for SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS with a web-related title, I’m repeating it for Abaco’s other part-webbed shorebird, the semipalmated sandpiper. Either it’s so apposite that it doesn’t need changing; or else I lack the imagination to think up something new…

semipalmate This attractive little sandpiper Calidris pusilla has the partially webbed feet that give it its name. In spring and fall these ‘peeps’ are the most numerous shorebirds on Abaco but they are just passing through on their migration further south – so-called ‘transients’. Flocks of these birds may be arriving any moment now on a beach near you. The signifiers are black legs, a short, straight dark bill, and a body that is white underneath and brown /gray on top, tinged lighter on the head and neck.

SO THEY’RE EASY TO SPOT ON THE SHORELINE?

Not really, I’m afraid. This species is very easy to confuse with other small shorebirds (with which they happily mingle), especially the less common western sandpiper which has a slightly longer and downturned bill. It takes an experienced birder to tell them apart. The most reliable way – to see the feet to check for the partial webbing between the toes – is far from easy. A photograph of the bird as it picks its way across sand, tide margins or mud may be best, if you can zoom in on the feet. The webbing is just visible in both the images above; and more clearly in the one below.

A recent SPSP from Bruce Hallett, in which the semipalmation can more easily be seen

WHERE DO SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS LIVE?

These are birds of the far north – Canada’s tundras and Alaska, close to water – where they breed and lay their eggs in scrapes. Rather sweetly, the male makes several prospective nests for the female to choose her favourite and furnish with grasses etc. Both adults share incubation duties. The chicks are independent almost as soon as they are hatched. Then in early fall they head many miles south to warmer places, of which Abaco is one of the most northerly, principally as a stopover for rest before continuing their journey to the coastal margins of South America. The migrating flocks may contain tens of thousands of birds. Of the many range maps around, this one from the excellent avibirds.com shows the marked contrast between the summer and winter habitats very clearly.

HOW DO THEY COMPARE IN SIZE WITH OTHER SANDPIPERS?

The SPSP is one of the smallest shorebirds, the female being slightly larger than the male. This image shows 2 of them in the company of a much larger white-rumped sandpiper (also a transient on Abaco) for comparison.

Time now to get the binoculars out (now where on earth are they?) and patrol the beach to catch the first of these little birds as they begin to arrive in considerable numbers during their fall migration.