Birds of the Hackensack: Semipalmated Plover By
Ivan Kossak
One such bird is the Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus). Plovers are usually more thickly built than sandpipers with stout, shorter bills. Plovers also run several steps, stop, feed or survey their surroundings and then repeat the process. Sandpipers will walk or run much longer distances, often hunting or feeding as they move. As much as my macho instincts try to resist, it is difficult for me not to think of the 7 ¼ inch long Semipalmated Plovers as "cute" as they scurry around shorelines or mud flats. Semipalmated Plovers received their name because their toes are partially (hence, "semi") webbed ("palmated"). The webbing does not reach to the ends of the toes as in ducks or geese but is noticeable on close inspection. The backs of Semipalmated Plovers are a rich mud-colored brown that allows the birds to blend in with the mud flats upon which they spend most of their time. Their foreheads have a white patch that runs to the base of the bill. The bill, itself, is yellow with a black tip. During breeding season, the birds also have a black mask that runs through the eye and a black band that encircles the front of the neck. The mask and neck band tend to be thicker on males than females. Other than the black neck band, the bird's underparts are all white with yellow legs and feet. In winter, the neck band becomes the same color as the back and the black mask is lost. Semipalmated Plovers are common on New Jersey's beaches during Spring and Fall migrations and are somewhat less common, but often present, inland. The earliest northbound Semipalmated Plovers appear in New Jersey by late April and migrants continue to be seen through June. The birds breed in Alaska and along the northern third of Canada as far east as the Atlantic Coast. Their breeding season is fairly short and, by the time the last northbound migrants are gone from New Jersey, the earliest southbound migrants have begun to appear in our area. Most birds, however, pass through New Jersey from mid-July through mid-August. Some Semipalmated Plovers can be found in New Jersey as late as December, but most winter on the East Coast from the Carolinas to South America and on the West Coast from California to South America. We are fortunate that we can observe these semi-annual visitors in our own watershed, often at DeKorte Park and at Mill Creek Marsh enjoying the wetlands that have been preserved for their, and our own, benefit. |
At this time of year, we are treated to one of nature's
great spectacles, the fall shorebird migration. Hundreds of thousands (if not
millions) of sandpipers and plovers rely on the various estuaries of the New
York and New Jersey harbor complex - and the barrier beaches of our area - as a
stopover point to rest and feed on the way to their wintering grounds.