Birdwatching Tips: How To Identify Shorebirds

In this video I give you five tips that will help you identify shorebirds. Shorebirds are relatively drab birds that migrate long distances and breed for relatively short periods of time before migrating back towards the equator. Shorebirds include sandpipers, dowitchers, godwits, yellowlegs, plovers, and more. Many people have trouble identifying shorebirds probably because they do not spend enough time trying to identify them. I believe many people are intimidated by their drab color. But if you are one of those people, hopefully this video helps!
This channel is for people of all ages who are passionate about exploring nature, viewing wildlife, and learning about the environment. My name is Eddie and I'm a 29-year-old wildlife biologist from California. I have an MSc in Ecology and have been to four continents to seek and study wildlife. I hope to inspire naturalists by providing content that everyday people can use to enhance their experience observing nature in the field. Nature activities I cover are birdwatching, herping, wildlife photography, snorkeling/scuba diving, hiking, ecotourism-travel, and much more. This includes app and gear reviews, tips for spotting and identifying wildlife, travel guides for wildlife tourism, and fun lessons about natural history, ecology, and conservation. Whether you travel across the world or step into your own backyard, exploring nature is always an adventure, so subscribe to immerse yourself in Adventure Education!

[@Adventure.Ed.EcoFit]

Does anyone here have any tips for identifying shorebirds? Let me know your thoughts below

[@thebirdie]

Love being by the seaside and filming birds. It's so relaxing.

[@Adventure.Ed.EcoFit]

it is awesome!!

[@someplacewild965]

I waited all day at school to watch this! I got the notification in the morning and was so excited to watch it later. I am a beginning birder but shorebirds are actually probably my favorite types of birds. I just had a vacation in New England and my mom and I went searching for the endangered piping plover.. we saw the last 3 plovers before they left the beach and I absolutely fell in love! We spend hours just watching them and following them at a distance. They are the cutest little birds to me. :)

[@maryrosekent8223]

Brooke Huxell Hi Brooke-welcome to the wonders of birds! Shorebirds as definitely fun. In California, winter is a bonanza of little legs running in and out of waves. Have FUN!

[@Adventure.Ed.EcoFit]

thanks a lot for watching Brooke! I first got into birding in New England--I went to high school there. I have seen piping plovers at Seabrooke Beach in New Hampshire a few times. very special bird, I am glad you saw them!! :) keep up the birding

[@someplacewild965]

Mary Rose Kent Thanks for the welcome!! Also, I’m from California! Do you have any recommendations for specific spots to watch for shorebirds? :)

[@someplacewild965]

Adventure Ed I always enjoy watching your videos!! It’s so great to be able to learn from someone whose living out what you want to do with your future. KZbin is really a great thing! Keep up the birding as well and I hope you’re enjoying what you do :) I sure enjoy watching whatever you share! By the way, do you have any recommendations for places in SoCal to go birding? Like maybe your favorite spots? And where do you like to watch for shorebirds? :)

[@maryrosekent8223]

Brooke Huxell I got interested in birds when I was traveling around Southeast Asia. After I returned to San Francisco I lived in an apartment that was ONE BLOCK from Golden Gate Park, so every weekend that it wasn’t pouring down rain, I walked through the park. And from this, I eventually figured out that different areas had different birds because the habitats had subtle differences. I discovered that not all birds are here all of the time. Habitat and migration are two of the most basic variables to birding, but until I found my patch, it simply hadn’t occurred to me that it wasn’t random. So my top recommendations to new birders is to find a place that you love and for at least a year bird it every time you go out. Also, every county has an Audubon society: San Francisco/Alameda counties=Golden Gate Audubon, San Mateo County=Sequoia Audubon, Mendocino County=Peregrine Society, etc.; join your county’s group and go on as many walks with them as you can fit into your schedule. Get on your county’s listserve to receive notifications about what various people are seeing-I used to receive SFBirds notifications, now I receive them from MendoBirds. Most importantly, HAVE FUN!

[@maryrosekent8223]

One little pneumonic device I use when I know what I’m looking at is either a Western or Least Sandpiper (the itty-bitty peeps) is that *Least* Sandpipers have *light* legs. I just got so tired of having to look it up in my field guide that I made this up to help myself remember.

[@Adventure.Ed.EcoFit]

that sounds like a great way to remember!

[@avesofficial]

I'd also recommend the 10x42 Bino's for shorebirds, that extra 2x zoom makes a difference when you don't have a scope.

[@StefanoIaniro]

Great tips, bud! Shorebirds and Gulls were the two groups that took me the longest to get into.

[@Adventure.Ed.EcoFit]

thanks a lot :)

[@bryanobregon5188]

I do bird watching in Costa Rica just having all the migratory sps back, very worth it. Thanks for the video, I normally take the photos of the shorebirds with my telescope and the cellphone and ck them once back home, rather than start saying my guess right away.

[@Adventure.Ed.EcoFit]

thanks for watching :)

[@Tigerpuffer]

Good info in this video, I'll just say that pectoral sandpiper is much bigger than any peep - like, just over two inches longer.

[@NewEnglandNaturalist]

Helpful video! Shorebirds are tough!

[@keithmcfaul9204]

I live in Northeast Texas and I've been doing bird photography for a little over a year. We have a lot of different shore birds come through this area during both migrations. The problem is, we don't have shores except for a few lakes in the area. But we do have farm fields which get partially to completely flooded during the late winter (February & March) and stay flooded for a couple of months. This is where we find most of our shore birds. I have a couple of books and a friend whom is also a bird photographer and we go out together looking for, finding and photographing birds. I'm still learning what to look for and how to identify birds so I am a work in progress. Thank you for your video.

[@kenaldri4982]

Thanks for the vid. Bill length and shape can be quite variable (I'm thinking for example Whimbrels and Curlews which you might think of as being easy to separate all the time). The most experienced birders will factor in everything they can think of including vocalizations and knowledge of migration habits, feeding behavior, etc

[@avesofficial]

Shorebirds are the best! Good video

[@roymeljoturrentine5774]

Thank you for the great tips vudeo. Are there any gidros about flight of shorebirds? I had a fliwck over a plowed field fly up ..very distinctive flight as a group. Just curious.

[@TheWildlifeBrothers]

All great tips Ed, and beautiful shots! My go to with shorebirds is definitely the shape of the body when dealing with sandpipers and other plovers, some are more colorful and distinct than others but size is a good tell, especially bill length. I can’t wait for more birding content from you, it’s always amazing! - Evan and Harrison

[@Adventure.Ed.EcoFit]

We gotta do some birding when we collab some day! Hope you guys are doing wel

[@TheWildlifeBrothers]

We’re doing really well, we’re in college at Ohio State now so that’s been interesting, and we would love to! A collab would be incredible, and a huge honor!

[@Adventure.Ed.EcoFit]

The Wildlife Brothers he’ll yeah man! You guys are officially buckeyes?!!! Go Big Ten!

[@TheWildlifeBrothers]

Yes sir!

[@charlotterogers8733]

Thankyou

[@SD_Marc]

I've just learned there are easy, and common shorebirds, there are less easy, seasonal shorebirds, and there are a bunch I'll never figure out. Lessers and greaters, long-billeds and short-billeds, and distant peeps. I usually cross my fingers and hope someone with a scope, who looks like they know things, shows up.

[@Adventure.Ed.EcoFit]

Lol yes little peeps are soooo hard!!

[@FloridaKeysBirding]

Great perspective on shorebirds/wading birds. I find them hard to identify so some do get overlooked. Im going to have give your method a try!

[@maryrosekent8223]

Florida Birding and Wildlife Nice Roseate Spoonbill. I’ve only ever seen one, on a self-guided birding trip to Aransas NWR on the Gulf of Mexico [south a smallish distance from Corpus Christi].

[@FloridaKeysBirding]

@@maryrosekent8223 Thanks! I live in key largo and visit the everglades alot, and theres a good chance youll find some spoonbills most lf the time when you go:) they are my fave!

[@maryrosekent8223]

Florida Birding and Wildlife Spoonbills are classified with Ibises in the family Threskiornithidae.

[@FloridaKeysBirding]

@@maryrosekent8223 your right I believe I read that somewhere as well!:)

[@dbdsar112358]

"... good luck on being a super buge nerd." Yes sir, thank you sir 🤣 self-awareness is very important, yaknow. Bahaha

[@trevorslovick3313]

Could you do a video on cameras for birding?

[@Adventure.Ed.EcoFit]

yes at some point I will :)

[@indyreno2933]

A shorebird is any bird of the order Charadriiformes, whilst shorebird belonging to the families Turnicidae (Buttonquails), Pedionomidae (Plains Wanderer), Thinocoridae (Seedsnipes), Rostratulidae (Painted Snipes), Jacanidae (Jacanas), Scolopacidae (Snipes, Sandpipers, Curlews, Godwits, Woodcocks, Dowitchers, Phalaropes, Shanks, Tattlers, Turnstones, Knots, Stints, Dunlin, Ruff, and Surfbird), Charadriidae (Plovers and Lapwings), Pluvianellidae (Magellanic Plover), Recurvirostridae (Avocets and Stilts), Ibidorhynchidae (Ibisbill), Haematopodidae (Oystercatchers), Burhinidae (Stone-Curlews), Chionididae (Sheathbills), Glareolidae (Pratincoles and Coursers), Dromadidae (Crab Plover), Pluvianidae (Crocodile Bird) are specifically called waders, interestingly enough, waders are a paraphyletic group of shorebirds because the families Burhinidae, Chionidae, Glareolidae, Dromadidae, and Pluvianidae are more closely related to the families Laridae (Gulls), Stercorariidae (Skuas), Sternidae (Terns, Noddies, and Skimmers), and Fraterculidae (Puffins, Razorbill, Auks, Auklets, Guillemots, Murres, and Murrelets) than to other waders, additionally shorebirds range in size from sandpipers to skuas.

[@kristina_lynn]

San elijo lagoon?

[@kristina_lynn]

Also I think shorebirds are SO much less drab than some songbirds in the chaparral. I literally had a bird book called “drab birds of the arid southwest”

[@Adventure.Ed.EcoFit]

Kristina Lynn The OB famosa slough

[@Adventure.Ed.EcoFit]

Kristina Lynn lol I guess sparrows are drab, and so are bushtits wrentits California towhees and california thrashers

[@travellumbanksaw5231]

Encyclopedia

[@josephbouvier9788]

Befriend a scope owner, steal their scope, run away, move to zimbabwe and live in hiding.

[@Adventure.Ed.EcoFit]

lol yes good strategy!!