Shorebirds are a fascinating family of birds

Springtime in Southcentral Alaska brings millions of migrating birds and the hundreds of birders watching them. There are several events celebrating this spectacle, the two best known are the Copper River Shorebird Festival in Cordova and the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival in Homer. Both events host guest speakers, field trips to observe local and migrating birds and, of course, the stars of the show, the birds.

The Copper River Shorebird Festival is best known for the massive flocks of sandpipers that gather in the river delta and nearby mud flats to feast after a long northward migration. At high tide, these birds are close to shore and easy to spot and photograph. Their undulating flocks when flushed are a fascinating sight, each individual bird keeping close to its neighbors, moving in perfect synchronization.

The Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival features a similar shorebird migration, with the addition of boat trips throughout the bay to view migrating and returning seabirds and inland walks looking for forest birds. The past two years, extremely rare individual birds have been spotted on the Anchor River. In 2012, a Bristle-thighed Curlew, a far Western Alaska breeding shorebird, was feeding at the river outlet for several days. This spring the rare visitor was a Eurasian Hobby, a small Asian falcon that had only been sighted in North America a few times. It’s the hope of seeing such rarities that keeps the expert birders excited and newcomers to the sport interested in continuing to watch.

All the springtime festivals draw visitors from around the world, so along with the birds that may have traveled thousands of miles to reach Alaska, you meet birders who have done the same. Many of the birds use these staging areas just to fatten up after a strenuous flight before continuing on to their breeding grounds throughout the state. Despite the name, not all these species live on the shore. They breed inland near riverbanks, on the tundra and even rocky patches of ground. Many species use the vast tidal plains near river outlets to the sea. Each species has feather coloring and food choices that allow it to survive in these varied locales.

Shorebirds are a fascinating family of birds to study. They range in size from tiny Least Sandpipers, weighing in at less than an ounce, to long-legged Godwits and Whimbrels standing over a foot tall. Their cryptic coloring, designed to blend in with the grasses, sand and mud of their favorite habitats, make identification a challenge. In addition, they move fast, keep their distance from observers and can flush into flight at the slightest provocation. But it is this mystery that is so fun to solve as you see a new bird greedily feeding on tiny clams and mollusks.

Some members of the family are easy to identify, such as the plovers, which usually sport bright colors or distinctive markings. But the many tiny sandpipers, collectively known as peeps to birders, have only minor differences between species, such as leg color (the legs are often in mud), brown or rust feathers (visible only in good light) or relative size (only noticeable if two competing species are standing side by side). Larger shorebirds are divided by bill length and whether it is straight (Yellowlegs), curved up (Godwit) or down (Whimbrel). Each bill design is used to hunt for different food, whether in the mud flats, grasslands or deeper water. The length of leg varies according to where in the tidal hierarchy the bird feeds; longer legs on birds further out in the water.

In a year with summer arriving very late, as this year, birds do not continue their migration to breeding grounds as soon as they usually do. As a result, here in Southcentral Alaska we have been treated to unprecedented numbers and a variety of birds well into May. During a typical migration, the shorebirds will only spend a day or two in each location to fatten up for the last leg of their trip, thus become less likely to be seen. Take some time this spring to watch for these interesting and often hard to see birds, giving us a special treat with their presence.

Nancy Wade is member of the Mat-Su Birders and Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center. Send birding questions for her column on birding to alaskaflamingo@yahoo.com.