Semi-palmated plover, August 2010 (photo by Bobby Greene)
30 July 2026
While songbirds wrap up the breeding season, some shorebirds are already on their way south. This week at Presque Isle State Park’s Gull Point — 26-29 July — eBirders reported eight species of migrating shorebirds, illustrated in the slideshow above.
- Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
- Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
- Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus)
- Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
- Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)
- Sanderling (Calidris alba)
- Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
- Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)
Each species has its own breeding and migration strategy. In general, unsuccessful breeders leave early.
Successful lesser yellowlegs migrate at different times based on sex and age. The first to leave the breeding grounds are the mothers who leave as soon as their young hatch. The fathers watch the kids for a while and then they leave, too. Finally the youngsters form flocks of first-year birds who find their way to Argentina without any adults in charge.
Read more about shorebird migration in my 2018 article by the same name: Fall Migration Has Begun.