At the beginning of each season, we’ve briefly discussed birds arriving for that season. Many of our favorite birds are here all year. In fact, there are so many, let’s focus today on those we often see when we go to the beach. The link in each description is a link to a “Bird of the Week” article previously published or to Cornell Lab’s All About Birds website.
Sanderlings are more frequent in the winter but are on Seabrook Island year-round. It’s always fun to watch them scamper in and out of the waves as they search for food. Their energy reminds me of a child enjoying the beach for the first time.
Brown Pelicans are seen soaring over head in what some call the Seabrook Armada. They nest on neighboring Deveaux Bank. When they see a fish, they will dive to capture it in their large bills.
A favorite of many beach goers are the American Oystercatcher. Their bright orange bill is strong enough to pry open the shell of their namesake, the oysters. Our resident banded American Oystercatcher,U5, has regularly attempted to nest on North Beach but often faces King Tides or greedy crows that disrupt their efforts.
Black-bellied Plovers are a medium sized shorebird that are uniformly drab gray with whitish bellies during nonbreeding season. They have a striking black face and belly during breeding season.
These shorebirds are a Semipalmated Plover in the foreground with a Dunlin in the background. Semipalmated Plovers are the color of wet sand with orange legs. Dunlins have the longer bills with breeding plumage a distinctive rufous or brown back and black belly. In fall and winter, Dunlins have a plain grayish-brown above with white belly. Both are often in large flocks on mudflats and beach of North Beach, sometimes mixing with other shorebirds. Although both are here year-round, they are seen less frequently in the summer.
The distinguishing black and white wings make the Willet easy to identify when in flight. There are actually two subspecies of Willets with the Eastern being seen on Seabrook Island more frequently in the summer and the Western being seen more frequently in the winter.
There are many types of gulls on our beaches. Some are seasonal but the Laughing Gull are present year-round. In summer, their distinctive black head with orange bill (and their namesake call) make them easy to identify. In other seasons, the smudgy gray cheek is harder to distinguish. Juveniles are browner adding more challenges to the identification. Not only are there many types of gulls, birders have to distinguish gulls versus terns.
Royal Terns (pictured) and Caspian Terns are both seen year-round on our beaches. They are large terns with the bill being the distinguishing feature. Royal Terns have an orange bill which is seemingly backwards from their name because the Caspian Tern has a (royal) red bill.
Submitted By: Judy Morr
Photos by:
Sanderling: Ralph Secoy
Brown Pelican: Bob Mercer
American Oystercatcher, Dunlin with Semipalmated Plover, Black-bellied Plover, Willet: Ed Konrad
Laughing Gull: Charlie Moore