A Buff-Breasted Sandpiper Connects Florida to Habitat North and South

Every fall I look ahead to the return of the migratory shorebirds. After months spent on their breeding grounds, these unimaginable birds arrive on Florida seashores to refuel earlier than persevering with their journey throughout the Gulf to their wintering grounds in South America. Even the commonest shorebirds really feel thrilling throughout this season, like working into an previous pal I haven’t seen in far too lengthy. Some people retain their shiny breeding plumage and allow us to have a brief glimpse of their summer season fashions.

Throughout migration most birds observe considered one of 4 particular routes via North America. These routes act as fowl highways, so we name them flyways. Most of Florida sits squarely within the Atlantic Flyway, which helps birders predict which birds are probably to go via the Sunshine State. Nevertheless, once in a while slightly wind from the west and all of a sudden we get guests from the Mississippi and Central flyways pausing for a short feeding frenzy earlier than persevering with their journey. This 12 months, such has been our luck for considered one of my favourite new shorebirds: the Buff-breasted Sandpiper.

The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is a small, unassuming shorebird that may be recognized by the gorgeous heat brown plumage, giant eye, and mottled again. This exceptional species is visiting on its journey from excessive Arctic nesting grounds; after Florida they may finally fly all the best way to South America, the place they overwinter in Brazil and Argentina amongst different nations. In contrast to a lot of our coastal shorebirds in Florida this species depends closely on quick grass prairies all through a lot of its vary, frequenting livestock pastures and sod farms. This migration is over 18,000 miles spherical journey, one of many longest of any North American fowl. One particular person male was recorded touring over 25,000 miles yearly.

To visually see what these migration pathways Audubon has developed a instrument known as the Audubon Migration Explorer and Buff-breasted Sandpiper is without doubt one of the featured birds! I like deciding on considered one of greater than 450 species of fowl in North America and watching how their migration flows all year long. It additionally permits me to try among the conservation challenges these birds face all through their journeys. From this instrument you possibly can see how dependent the Buff-breasted Sandpiper is on good livestock practices and the way weak they’re to local weather change.

I take pleasure in watching these sandpipers now, as a result of in just a few weeks they’ll head south and I am going to have to attend till the circumstances align and so they go via once more. Birds are our superpower. Their magnificence, songs, and personalities seize the creativeness of individuals around the globe; their heroic migrations assist us see the connections between distant habitats. Take a look at our electronic mail listing or volunteer opportunities and work with us to guard locations birds want now and into the longer term!