Part 11

This species seemed to habitually frequent the sand or gravel beaches in preference to rocky localities, and had regular feeding grounds to which they resorted at certain stages of the tide, returning regularly each day at the same time. Their food consists largely of decapods together with small crabs, marine worms, and minute mollusks.

Its food seems to be mainly insects, but includes small crustaceans, minute mollusks, marine worms, and other small marine animals. The contents of six stomachs, reported on by Preble and McAtee (1923) consisted of “flies (Diptera), 46.1 per cent; caddis flies 30.6 per cent; amphipods, 16 per cent; mollusks, 3.6 per cent; and beetles 1.1 per cent.”

Behavior.--The movements of wandering tattlers are often suggestive of spotted sandpipers with which they are sometimes associated; they indulge in the same “tip-up” motion of the body, though less frequently; and their flight is very similar, with intermittent strokes of down-curved wings. W. Leon Dawson (1923) says:

When it alights, it sits for some time motionless in a plover like attitude, with its long bill held horizontally, invisible, in the dull light of a foggy day, unless, perchance, outlined against the surf. At other times the bird will betray its uneasiness by a jetting motion of the tail.

In his notes on the Farallones, Mr. Dawson (1911) says:

Contrary to earlier statements these tattlers do spend a considerable portion of their time upon the higher ground. The tiny bowlder-strewn meadow surrounding my earlier camp (just east of Franconia Beach) was a favorite resting place for them, and I am inclined to think the birds spent the night there, for some were invariably startled upon my first appearance mornings. Having a common affection for the tide reefs, wandering tattlers are not infrequently found in loose association with black turnstones; but when put to flight they pay no attention whatever to the fortunes of their chance shipmates nor to others of their own kind.

Dr. E. W. Nelson (1883) writes:

Their note is a loud, ringing whistle, which seems specially fitted to the bird and the haunts it occupies, and as the shrill cry reechoes from the towering cliffs and ledges at the base of which it feeds its peculiar character and intonation might lead one to fancy some genie of the rocks was uttering its cry. When the birds are approached by boat as they are feeding along the water’s edge they ascend gradually, with an expression of mild curiosity, and pass from ledge to ledge until they reach a jutting point on the face of the cliff or its brow, where they stand in relief, like beautiful clear-cut statuettes, and do not utter a sound or move until they are still further alarmed, when they take flight, uttering at the same moment their loud note before mentioned.

Voice.--Doctor Nelson (1880) describes its note as “a loud, ringing kla, kla, kla,” and again he (1887) calls it “a loud, clear, flutelike tu, tu, tu, tu.” Mr. Dawson (1923) says it is “a quavering cry, somewhat like the tew, tew, tew of the greater yellowlegs, but more subdued.” Mr. Murie (1924) writes:

Whenever I approached the home grounds of a wandering tattler he would fly to meet me and would scold excitedly, uttering a vigorous deedle-deedle-deedle-deedle-dee, with variations which I failed to record minutely.

Fall.--Doctor Nelson (1887) says:

They usually reappear on the seacoast about St. Michaels the last of July or very early in August and remain until from the 1st to 10th of September. During their presence on the coast of Norton Sound they show a decided preference for the most rugged and rock-bound parts of the shore, rarely or never occurring elsewhere. It is a frequent and regular summer bird on the rocky parts of the coast to the vicinity of Bering Straits and occurs on the islands and Siberian shore of Bering Sea.

William Palmer (1899) says that on the Pribilof Islands:

It is the first species to return in the fall; adult birds, July 10 and afterwards. Usually in pairs on the surf-swept rocks, but sometimes seen--usually the brownish, unbarred, and less wary immature--on open sandy places, and sometimes with the turnstones on a sandy beach. They are not shy, but are seldom noticed when perched on the wet rocks, which harmonize so well with their color. Solitary birds remain quiet and unseen and will permit one to approach quite close, frequently startling us as they get up suddenly, almost under our very feet, and uttering their loud, shrill cry, flying off to another resting place.

From the Aleutian Islands and the interior of Alaska there is a southward migration to the islands in the Pacific, where it spends the winter, and a more general movement southward along the Pacific coast of North America. D. E. Brown’s notes record it on the coast of Washington from August 10 to September 15. It has been recorded in California early in July, but these were perhaps summer sojourners; the return movement seems to come along between July 15 and August. H. W. Henshaw (1902) says that the return migrants begin to appear in the Hawaiian Islands “about the middle or latter part of August”; he noticed that “the first comers are adults, chiefly males, and still in nuptial dress.”

Winter.--The Santa Barbara Islands, off the coast of southern California, mark the northern limit of the normal winter range of the wandering tattler, where a few may always be found in winter. Most of the birds go farther south. W. B. Alexander tells me that the wandering tattler occasionally visits Cape York, North Queensland, and there is a specimen, unquestionably of this species, in the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy in Cambridge, from Australia.

DISTRIBUTION

Range.--Western North and South America, eastern Asia, and Oceanica.

Breeding range.--The nest and eggs of the wandering tattler have actually been found only on one occasion (Savage River, Alaska [Murie]); but the evidence of young birds seems sufficient to establish additional breeding stations in Alaska (Mount McKinley and probably Montague Island); and in Yukon (Russell Mountains). They probably breed also in eastern Siberia (Plover Bay). Nonbreeding specimens have been observed or collected in summer at many localities on the Pacific coast, south to Lower California (Socorro Island, San Jose Island, and Cocos Island); and the Hawaiian Islands (Cocoanut Island).

Winter range.--The winter range of the wandering tattler extends north to the Philippine Islands (Mindanao); the Hawaiian Islands (Laysan, Kauai, and Hawaii); and probably, rarely, Oregon (Cannon Beach). East to probably, rarely Oregon (Cannon Beach); California (Santa Cruz Island, and Santa Monica); Lower California (Cedros Island, Comondu, and San Jose Island); and the Galapagos Islands (Abingdon, Indefatigable, Chatham, and Hood). South to the Galapagos Island (Hood and Albemarle); Paumotu Islands; Society Islands (Huaheine); Samoa; Fiji Islands (Ovalau); New Hebrides (Aneiteum); and northeastern Australia (Cape York). West to northeastern Australia (Cape York); and the Philippine Islands (Mindanao).

Spring migration.--Early dates of spring arrival are: Washington, Shoalwater Bay, May 1; Alaska, Forrester Island, May 7, Cape Prince of Wales, May 11, Sanak Island, May 15, Unalaska Island, May 18, and Mount McKinley, May 18; and Siberia, Copper Island, May 17.

Late dates of spring departure are: Guerrero, Acapulco, April 30; Lower California, Cedros Island, April 24, Socorro Island, May 10, Guadeloupe Island, May 18, and Clarion Island, May 20; California, San Nicholas Island, May 11, and Eureka, May 18; Washington, Neah Bay, May 20, and Flattery Rock, June 2; and British Columbia, Courtenay, May 23, and Comox, June 4.

Fall migration.--Early dates of arrival in the fall, are: British Columbia, Okanagan, July 26; Washington, Clallam Bay, July 16, and Quillayute Needles, July 17; Oregon, Seal Rocks, July 22, and Crater Lake, July 27; California, Farallon Islands, July 13, Monterey Bay, July 14, and Santa Cruz, August 1; and Lower California, Los Coronados Islands, August 6, and Cedros Island, August 14.

Late dates of fall departure are: Alaska, St. Paul Island, October 4, and Unalaska, October 16; British Columbia, Okanagan, September 20; and Washington, Seattle, September 18, and Clallam Bay, September 19.

Egg Dates.--Alaska: One record, July 1, 1925.

HETEROSCELUS BREVIPES (Vieillot)

POLYNESIAN TATTLER

HABITS