Shorebirds Are Never Easy

By Dave Freeland

As we enter the most bewildering season of all birders' year -- fall migration -- we're reminded of one of the toughest identification challenges of all, the separation of small, "peep" sandpipers. You know the "peeps." They look alike, are very small and way out there on a mudflat challenging you to first, find them, then figure out which is which. Is that little rascal a Least Sandpiper or a Semipalmated or a Western? Could it be a Baird's or a White-rumped? Any chance of finding an Old World stint among them?

The toughest challenge of all is separating Semipalmated Sandpiper from Western, two common species that are very similar. Old field guides made it seem a lot easier than science has proven is reality. The Peterson's I used as a kid told me and others that a drooping bill was enough to clinch a dark-legged "peep" as a Western Sandpiper. All through the fall and into winter, we called out Westerns and Semipals based on leg color and bill shape.

Even the esteemed Cocoa Christmas Count, as well as other CBCs across America, listed lots of Semipalmated Sandpipers in December in Central Brevard County. They were reported every year from 1951 through 1974, including a peak count of 3200 in 1964. Then something happened that short-circuited all those records. A scientist studied museum skins of Semipalmated Sandpipers collected in winter and discovered they were all actually Western Sandpipers. There were NO Semipals in the museum trays collected beyond October. It turns out that one subspecies of Western Sandpiper has a shorter, straighter bill than the other subspecies. It looks like a "typical" Semipalmated Sandpiper. To be sure, there are characteristics of Semipalmated Sandpiper that can help distinguish it -- even after post-nuptial molt -- from Western, but they hard to see in the field. New field guides, and especially some of the newest shorebird books, are much more definitive than my old Peterson's in showing how to separate these two similar species. But experts advise us now to not bother when the calendar tells us winter has arrived. In Brevard County in winter, they are almost certainly all Western Sandpipers. Semipals are gone from October to late April, when the first migrants begin reappearing along the coast.

Where to Go: Shorebirding is possible just about anywhere there is junction of land and water. Inland ponds and gravel pits, marshes with muddy edges, open beaches, the impoundments of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge -- all hold possibilities for good shorebirding. Since spring, Shiloh Marsh Road at MINWR has been a good spot.

To find this site, drive Route 1 north from Scottsmoor into Volusia County and cross the railroad overpass well before the Route 3 intersection. At the bottom of the overpass, take a right onto a dirt road marked as wildlife refuge day-use property. Drive the bumpy road slowly for a mile or so and you will come out into Shiloh Marsh and, later, Indian River Lagoon on the right. Two large pools on the left are best for shorebirds, but the lagoon edges on the right can also harbor shorebirds. The road rolls along for a couple of miles and, eventually, allows you to exit to Route 3 on either Pattillo Creek Road or Live Oak Road. These are also the entry roads when you are arriving on Route 3 from the main portion of MINWR. Watch for them after you cross Haulover Canal and the manatee viewing area.

Bird of the Month: Great White Heron. A color morph of Great Blue Heron and not a true species (though its status has been long debated), a Great White Heron was discovered back in May by our own president, Sarah Linney, in Shiloh Marsh. It continued into the summer, most recently near the beginning of Blackpoint Drive. Great White Heron looks like a big Great Egret except that it has yellowish, not black, legs. There are only about 850 pairs of Great White Herons in the world, all in South Florida except for the occasional straggler like ours that moves further north, south, east or west. Most birders who want to see one, however, head for South Florida. Lately, thanks to Sarah's keen eyes, they can find one at MINWR!

Your Question: How can I tell an Eastern Willet from a Western Willet?

A -- Basic point of separation of these birds (presently subspecies of Willet, but a possible future split into separate species) is body shape and location. Western is a bird of the beach for us in fall and winter while Eastern is a marsh dweller that leaves the country in late August and returns in late March or April. Western has a longer, slimmer and straighter bill than Eastern, stands more upright on longer legs and has more body bulk by about 10% than Eastern. There are no confirmed records of Eastern Willet in the United States in winter, by the way, making it a lot easier to identify at that season, just like Semipalmated vs. Western Sandpiper.

Forward your birding questions to me at freela148@aol.com. I'll answer as many as I can directly and will publish one each month in The Limpkin.