Pectoral Sandpiper migration south (and others) (1 Viewer)

[Aracari]

I'm doing an article for a nature magazine about the migration of several waders that breed near the Arctic and North America, to their wintering grounds in South America, more especifically southern Brazil's Lagoa do Peixe Nat'l Park.

As I understand, the Pectoral Sandpiper is a good example of one of the longest migration journeys here, with breeding grounds around Beaufort Sea and Alaska.

Does anyone know what is the usual route of these birds in their southward migration to here? Do they come folllowing the Pacific coast, the Atlantic or inland? What about the other several species, what is the general migration route?

Any other information is deeply appreciated.

 

[djleahy]

Good question! I looked on eBird and found this:

http://ebird.org/ebird/GuideMe?cmd=quickPick&speciesCode=&bMonth=01&bYear=2004&eMonth=12&eYear=2008&getLocations=northAmerica&reportType=species&speciesCodes=pecsan&continue.x=46&continue.y=10&continue=Continue

The answer appears to be "primarily inland following the Mississippi Valley."

I have no direct experience with this bird, although I visited a local park (Baylands, Palo Alto, California) on San Francisco Bay three consecutive days during the fall migration when one pectoral sandpiper was reported there (no luck finding it, sadly). It is quite rare here, this guy was basically lost.

 

[Birdingcraft]

Pectorals are certainly very common during fall migration along the Mississippi. When I lived in central Illinois, they were the most numerous shorebird at important stop-over sites along the Illinois river. I must mention that Illinois was fantastic for shorebirds- great place to see Buff-breasted and rarities such as Sharp-tailed and Ruff.