From Opus

Photo by gigo
Fort Myers Beach, Florida, USA

Haematopus palliatus

[edit] Identification

L. 17-21 in (43-53 cm)

• Large, stocky shorebird
• Boldly patterened in blackish brown and white
• Long red bill
• Pale pink legs and feet
• Bold white wing patches in flight
• Eye yellow, surrounded by a red ring

[edit] Distribution

Seacoasts and islands of U.S. to southern South America.

Photo by Rodrigo Reyes
Mantagua, Chile, September 2006

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies¹

• H. p. palliatus - Seacoasts and islands of US to southern South America and West Indies
• H. p. galapagensis - Galapagos Islands

[edit] Habitat

Marshes and wetlands, coastal desert and pebbly beaches, mudflats and shellbars' Sandy and pebbly beaches, mudflats, borders of salt marshes. ¹

[edit] Behaviour

Congregate into large flocks in winter and on migration.

[edit] Diet

They specialise in shellfish, using their beak to break open the shells. They also eat worms and insects.

[edit] Breeding

Two to four buffy eggs, with sparse brown markings, are laid in a shallow depression lined with shell fragments.

[edit] Vocalisation

A high whistle, usually given in flight

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. enature

• List of references

[edit] External Links

• Arthur Grosset's Birds