Surfbirds at Point Pinos

Yesterday, Eric and I spent the day in Monterey with some friends, browsing used book stores, taking in the historic sites and, of course, exploring the tide pools and the rocky shoreline around Point Pinos.  The area affectionately known as The Great Tide Pool, made famous by the research, collections and publications of Edward Ricketts, is not only one of my favorite places to peer into tide pools, but also to bird, particularly with an eye for the birds of the rocky shore, like turnstones, oystercatchers and the appropriately-named Surfbird (Calidris virgata).


Surfbirds are stocky migratory sandpipers, closely related to other familiar shorebirds such as sanderlings, dunlin, and least and western sandpipers.  Surfbirds are relatively common along California's rocky shores during migration and winter, from late summer through late spring.  They are almost always found within the splash zone, just out of reach of the pounding waves and foaming sea spray.  Only during the breeding season do Surfbirds venture inland from their beloved wave-splashed habitat to nest in the rocky ridges and tundra of Alaska and the Yukon.


The winter range of the Surfbird, from which they are best known, is longer and narrower than that of any other North American breeding bird and extends along the rocky coastline from southern Alaska all the way to the Strait of Magellan in Chile.  While their range is over 10,000 miles long, it is only a few meters wide - just as wide as the intertidal and spash zones, where waves meet the rocky shore.


Surfbirds make their living by prying mussels, barnacles, limpets and other aquatic invertebrates from rocks, for which their thick, strong bills are specially adapted.  They are often seen hurrying over rocks in search of prey.


So, while the abundant life found within tide pools draws scores of curious human visitors, remember that these beautiful places are rich and critical habitats for an array of birdlife as well.

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