Shorebird in the context of "Water bird"

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⭐ Core Definition: Shorebird

Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to forage for food crawling or burrowing in the mud and sand, usually small arthropods such as aquatic insects or crustaceans. The term "wader" is used in Europe, while "shorebird" is used in North America, where "wader" may be used instead to refer to long-legged wading birds such as storks and herons.

There are about 255 species of wader, most of which live in wetland or coastal environments. Many species of Arctic and temperate regions are strongly migratory, but tropical birds are often resident, or move only in response to rainfall patterns. Some of the Arctic species, such as the sanderling and grey plover, are amongst the longest distance migrants, spending the non-breeding season in the Southern Hemisphere; the bar-tailed godwit holds the global record for the longest non-stop flight of any bird, some flying over 13,000 km from Alaska to New Zealand.

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👉 Shorebird in the context of Water bird

A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term water bird is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabirds that inhabit marine environments. Some water birds (e.g. wading birds) are more terrestrial while others (e.g. waterfowls) are more aquatic, and their adaptations will vary depending on their environment. These adaptations include webbed feet, beaks, and legs adapted to feed in the water, and the ability to dive from the surface or the air to catch prey in water.

The term aquatic bird is sometimes also used in this context. A related term that has a narrower meaning is waterfowl. Some piscivorous birds of prey, such as ospreys, sea eagles, fish eagles, fish owls, and fishing owls, hunt aquatic prey but do not stay in water for long and live predominantly over dry land, and are not considered water birds. The term waterbird is also used in the context of conservation to refer to any birds that inhabit or depend on bodies of water or wetland areas. Examples of this use include the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) and the Wallnau Waterbird Reserve.

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Shorebird in the context of Marbled godwit

The marbled godwit (Limosa fedoa) is a large migratory shorebird in the family Scolopacidae. On average, it is the largest of the four species of godwit.

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Shorebird in the context of East-Atlantic flyway

The East Atlantic Flyway is a migration route used by about 90 million birds annually, passing from their breeding areas in the United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Siberia and northern Europe to wintering areas in western Europe and on to southern Africa. It is one of the eight major flyways used by waders and shorebirds. The migrants follow a great circle route, which is shorter although more challenging. When avoiding the barriers created by the Sahara Desert and Atlas Mountains, European honey buzzards were found to overcompensate for the winds they expected to encounter, and take a longer route than was necessary.

Wetlands International has identified key sites on the flyway in the project Wings Over Wetlands. Important sites on the flyway include:

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Water bird ← Marbled godwit ← Waterbird ← Aquatic bird ← East-Atlantic flyway
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Dunlin → Red knot → Bird → Charadriiformes → Shoreline → Mudflat → Foraging → Arthropod → Aquatic insect → Crustacean → Stork → Heron → Species → Bird migration → Tropical → Sanderling → Grey plover → Southern Hemisphere → Bar-tailed godwit →