I remember back in the early 1990's seeing a small flock of Ruddy turnstones feeding on a bunch of smashed watermelons in a field in Trinidad. I can not remember if it was a watermelon patch or a bunch of watermelons that were tossed from a passing vehicle...but I do remember the Ruddy's.....also, do not remember if they were eating the seeds or the melon. But thought it interesting and just another example of the difference in diets of migrants between the temperate and tropical regions.


eric kowalczyk
seattle




----- Original Message -----
From: Bob and Barb Boekelheide
To: cariddellwa at gmail.com
Cc: Tweeters
Sent: 1/16/2012 1:58:48 PM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Ediz Hook: Seed-eating Sanderlings


Thanks, Carol, for the note about the Sanderlings at Ediz Hook. Pretty crazy, isn't it?


Someone has been putting out millet at Ediz Hook since at least the winter of 2005-06. Not only Sanderlings, but Dunlin and turnstones also regularly eat the millet. Among the House Sparrows and Starlings we see Savannah and crowned sparrows and once a Snow Bunting. I still don't know who puts out the seed.


I believe certain shorebirds may eat more vegetable matter than we give them credit. There are quite a few accounts of shorebirds eating plant material (buds, seeds, etc.), particularly when they first arrive at nesting grounds in the Arctic, perhaps because it's too early for the big push of insect larvae.


Turnstones, particularly Ruddys, are perhaps the most generalist of the group, which you'd probably guess looking at their bills. But down here on the wintering grounds we may have a skewed impression of shorebirds and their bills, since on the nesting grounds so many of them mostly eat tiny little insect larvae that they pick up one at a time on the tundra. Clearly the long bill of a Dunlin looks adapted for probing in the mud, not for pecking midge larvae from around the grasses and sedges, but that's what they do in the Arctic. So picking up little seeds is not too different than picking up little larvae, and my guess is if the reward is good they'll eat it when presented with the opportunity. Mmmmm, good!


Thanks!
Bob Boekelheide
Sequim








From: Carol Riddell <cariddellwa at gmail.com>
Date: January 16, 2012 10:53:39 AM PST
To: Tweeters <Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] Ediz Hook: Seed-eating Sanderlings




I was birding along the Strait from Port Townsend to Salt Creek on Saturday. At Ediz Hook, near the Coast Guard station, someone had put down an inexpensive mix of bird seed, probably to attract sparrows. The only sparrows feeding on it were House Sparrows. We were fascinated to see a small flock (12-14) Sanderlings also eating the seed. It demonstrates a generalist approach to feeding that one does not necessarily think of with shorebirds, whose bills are designed mostly to specialize in niches for their food. Perhaps Dennis Paulson would be kind enough to comment on this and offer any further information. Thanks.


Carol Riddell
Edmonds