Vocalization
When listening to Charadriiformes in Eastern North America, one will most likely find themselves at marshes, lowlands, or the beach. When most people think about birds on a beach they usually tend to remember the familiar chuckling sound of the laughing gull; however, there are several other species of gulls as well as many other families that are present. During the crowded seasons on beaches it may be hard to distinguish the sounds of other species due to the overwhelming amount of gulls looking for food, but there are many other interesting birds, including terns, plovers, and sandpipers.
Least Tern
While on the beach, I noticed a group of two small birds walking along the dunes. After a closer look I identified them to be Least Terns due to the black crown, white forehead, and yellow bill. After watching them two a couple of minutes I noticed that they were starting to communicate to each other. It sounded like kreet kreet kreet followed by a rapid kit kit kit kit noise. After watching them for another short period of time I observed what looked like two more terns diving in the water for food, so I am assuming that this call might be related to feeding. It did not seem like they were in distress because they sat there for another couple of minutes before finally flying away.
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| Least Tern The call of a Least Tern can be heard by going to |
Spotted Sandpiper
Close to my house across from Barnegat Bay is a small marsh type area where I've noticed a lot of birds gathering. A couple of days ago I noticed what I think was a Spotted Sandpiper. It was standing on a little mound of dirt sticking its head in the water most likely looking for food. As I approached closer it starting making a rapid weet weet weet sound. I assumed it was getting distressed so I started to back off. It lowered its head into the water a few more times but then flew off shortly after.
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| Spotted Sandpiper |
The called of the Spotted Sandpiper can be heard by going to
References
Cornell University. "All About Birds." Least Tern, Identification,. N.p., 2011. Web. 19 June 2012. <http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/least_tern/id>.
Cornell University. "All About Birds." Spotted Sandpiper, Identification,. N.p., 2011. Web. 19 June 2012. <http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Spotted_Sandpiper/id>.
YouTube. Dir. Banffwego. YouTube. YouTube, 22 July 2009. Web. 19 June 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKopvBLXmKc>.
It is interesting to note all of the other birds on the beach that are using vocalizations. We are all so familiar with the laughing gulls that it is easy to associate only that bird call with the beach.
ReplyDeleteYou have really interesting birds around you house. I usually only see American Robins and grackles. Sandpiper must have been a good find!
ReplyDeleteI do have a lot of those directly in my yard as well. The bay is only a short distance from my house and I have often seen a lot of cool birds there, I just didn't know what there were until now.
DeleteWhen you were on the beach did the least terns seem to be concerned with their surroundings, by making any specific calls?
ReplyDeleteThey did seem to be aware of their surroundings, but they weren't too concerned with what was going on. Their alarm call consists of more of the rapid kit kit kit sounds. They did make this noise but it was more mixed in with the kreet kreet noise so I'm assuming there weren't too alarmed, and were just busy looking for food.
DeleteI've heard Least Terns on the beach too, i never noticed that they do call before diving for food, that seems interesting i wonder if they are sharing information about the food, because it sort of seems like it is just less for them to eat then.
ReplyDeleteThe least terns calls could be mistaken as alarm calls. But you are right, as the calls are probably related to feeding and they are probably alerting everyone about the food they found.
ReplyDelete