| Family
/ Genus |
Recurvirostridae
/ Recurvirostra - from the Latin recurvo "to bend backward" and rostrum
"bill". |
| Range
|
Breeds
in the west from Canada to Western Texas. Winters along the
Pacific from California to Baja and south to Guatemala and along the
Gulf Coast and in Southern Florida. |
| In
the Delaware Valley |
A
rare to fairly common migrant along the New Jersey and Delaware coast,
usually appearing from mid July through early November annually and
in most years in small numbers from late march through April.
Occasionally non-breeders (they usually beginning breeding at 2-3
years) will stay through the summer. |
| Habitat
|
Shallow
ponds, marshes, prairie ponds, beaches, estuaries and lakeshores with
extensive mudflats. Inland, they favor salty or alkaline lakes
over fresh water ponds. |
| Plumage
|
Sexes
similar in color, with cinnamon/rusty head and neck from March to
August and gray from September to February. Males are slightly
larger than females. Juveniles have duller and lighter cinnamon coloration
appearing soon after hatching.
|
 |
| Bill
|
Females
bill is more strongly curved / upturned and slightly shorter than
the males. There is no known reason for this, though it may
be related to foraging strategies / ecology or some form of sexual
selection. |
| Behavior
|
Often
feeds in large groups, walking slowly, swinging their heads and bills
side-to-side, stirring aquatic insects from the shallow water or soft
mud with the base of their bills and having their bills partially
open to catch prey, finding their food by touch. The also find
food visually picking food off the water surface. Often seen
swimming on the water and will occasionally put their head below the
surface and "upend" like a surface feeding duck. They also can
dive under the surface. |
| Toes
|
Have
well webbed toes, one of the few shorebirds (Black-necked Stilt and
Phalaropes) that do, which allows them to go into deeper water and
swim. |