Southbound Shorebirds Return to California!
Marbled Godwit, Moss Landing, California. Photo by Brian Sullivan.
Marbled Godwits, Willets and Long-billed Curlews are arriving en masse from their prairie breeding areas. These birds are among the first to arrive back in California, many of the earliest fall arrivals showing up in late June, presumaly some of them failed breeders. Wilson's Phalarops are also moving through in big numbers, the adult females having left the males back at the nest to care for the young!
Arctic breeding shorebirds like Western and Least Sandpipers, Surfbird, Black Turnstone are showing up in numbers as well. These birds will peak in their southbound migration through August. All of the early arriving birds will be adults, followed roughly a month later by the first juveniles.
July is a great time to find rare shorebirds in California, some of rarest Siberian Vagrants have been found at this season. Vagrant eastern shorebirds like Semipalmated Sandpipers also occur in small numbers during this season. It's a great time to be out birding, fall migration has begun! Enter your data into eBird so we can better track these mass migrations through our state!
