C2

MIKE LUSHINGTON

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As a group, shorebirds have some of the weirdest names in the world of birds. There are whimbrels, dowitchers, knots, killdeer, willets, godwits, dunlins, avocets, and turnstones. Why they have acquired these names is often a mystery to me. However, the odd names do seem to add to the allure of this very fascinating group.

More to the point, I guess, is the fact that the group presents some of the greater challenges in field identification, even for experienced birders. A couple of weeks ago, about a dozen of us had gathered at Eel River Bar to have a look at the birds foraging on the mudflats. Four of us have had some experience in birding, while the others were relatively new to the game. I am certain that some of the newcomers must have been a bit dismayed by the fact that we, the so-called pros, were having such lively discussions/debates/arguments over the identification of some of the more problematic birds in front of us. However, to us it was nothing more than what we have come to expect in dealing with differences that are extremely subtle.

The distinction between a Long-billed dowitcher, and its very close cousin, the Short-billed dowitcher, might seem straightforward, given their names. Not so, though; the distinction that some bird guides make is between a bird that has a bill about one and one-half times the length of its head, while the other's bill is just slightly longer than its head. Easy enough to say, and perhaps easy enough to measure if one had a bird in hand and a ruler or tape measure nearby, but for a bird perhaps a hundred meters away, bobbing up and down on a mudflat, that is a pretty skimpy distinction. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that, otherwise, the two species look almost alike.The same can be said when one is trying to separate Greater yellowlegs from its look-alike cousin, the Lesser yellowlegs, or that species from Stilt sandpiper. Size is the determinant, but that is no easy call, even when the two or three species appear in proximity to one another.

And then we have the small sandpipers to deal with: Semipalmated, Least, Western, White-rumped, Bairds, Pectoral sandpipers, as well as Dunlin and Sanderling — all of them are closely related, and look annoyingly alike. But that is where the challenge exists. Shorebirds can become addictive because they are fascinating creatures. Somehow they exemplify the wilderness of the High Arctic and of remote tropical shores, of oceans and winds and endless expanses of the planet. They visit for a short time and then they are gone; I think that we do them homage while they are present to study, admire, and enjoy them.