Part 34

Food.--On its breeding grounds it feeds on insects (Diptera, Coleoptera, and their larvae). Collett records Bembidium and Elater larvae; Petenyi records Dorcadion, Silpha, and Pachygastra. Earthworms are also taken, according to Saxby, Collett, and Berg. H. J. Pearson also records vegetable matter, apparently seeds of Empetrum nigrum or crowberry. H. B. Tristram writes that in its winter quarters in Palestine it subsists largely on small snails (Helix).

Behavior.--The dotterel is a quiet, unobtrusive bird, not associating much with other waders and generally met with in small parties out of the breeding season. Its general brown coloring is not striking and no doubt it is frequently overlooked. Its flight is strong, the clean-cut wings, as Gordon says, “moving with swift and powerful strokes only a few feet above the surface of the ground.”

Enemies.--Naumann (1887) states that the chief enemies of the dotterel are the falcons (peregrine, hobby, and merlin) and the short-winged hawks (goshawk and sparrow hawk).

Fall.--At Heligoland Gätke (1895) observed large numbers of young birds of the year on passage on one or two occasions; on August 22, 1882, great numbers passed, although wind and rain prevailed, and on September 4 in fine weather one flight alone took five minutes to pass, an unprecedented occurrence.

Winter.--Lord Lilford found it abundant in its winter quarters on the plains of Tunisia consorting with sand grouse, lapwings, golden plover, little bustards, and cranes. He failed to get within shot on foot, but killed many from horse, donkey, or camel, though the birds would run about fearlessly within a few feet of the Arab plowmen.

DISTRIBUTION

Breeding range.--In the British Isles confined to a few localities in the North Pennine and Cumbrian Hills, and in Scotland chiefly to levels of 3,000 to 4,000 feet in the Grampians and Cairngorms, and very locally north and west. On the Continent, in northern Scandinavia, north Finland and Russia, Nova Zembla, Waigatz, and Kolguev. It is found locally in the Riesengebirge, Styria, Transylvania, etc. It is also said to breed in southeast Russia. In Asia it is found across Siberia and on the New Siberian Isles in the tundra and south to the mountain ranges of central Asia.

Winter range.--Extends to North Africa, Palestine and Syria, Iraq, Arabia, and Persia.

Spring migration.--In the western Mediterranean it is scarce on spring passage, but Brehm obtained one at Cartagena, Spain, on March 31. It is also of rare occurrence at Malta in spring and seldom recorded from Greece. At Muonioniska flocks arrive from the south about May 29 and remain for a week or two before proceeding to their breeding grounds on the tundra.

Fall migration.--The great bulk of migrants seem to pass through eastern Europe southward through Palestine, but small numbers pass the Straits of Gibraltar in August and September, and it is not uncommon on Malta in October and November (early date, August 23; late date, December 11). Whitaker notes its arrival in Tunisia in September and October.

Casual records.--Saxby records one on the Shetlands in mid-June, 1869. It is a rare visitor to the Canaries and has not been recorded there for many years. The supposed record from Spitzbergen is probably a mistaken identification, but it has occurred in Japan and on King Island, Alaska (July 23, 1897).

Egg dates.--British Isles, 8 dates between May 30, and June 15; 5 dates between June 21 and July 14; probably including some second layings. In Scandinavia, 14 dates between June 3 and 15; 33 dates between June 16 and 30; 2 dates between July 1 and 6.

SQUATAROLA SQUATAROLA (Linnaeus)

BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER

HABITS

I use the above name rather than the latest check list name, cynosurae because I can not see any valid reason for recognizing a North American race of this cosmopolitan species. A slight average difference in size is of little significance in a species which shows such a wide range of individual variation. Recent investigation has, I believe, convinced even Mr. Bangs that this race, which he described, has no standing. The bird which breeds in northeastern Siberia has been separated under the name hypomelaena; this may be a good race, though material to establish it is rather scanty in this country. Probably it is the Siberian race which breeds on the Bering Sea coast of Alaska. For life-history purposes the species, as a whole, will be considered.

The black-bellied plover is an aristocrat among shore birds, the largest and strongest of the plovers, a leader of its tribe. It is a distinguished-looking bird in its handsome spring livery of black and white; and its attitude, as it stands like a sentinel on the crest of a sand dune or on some distant mud flat, is always dignified and imposing. Its wild, plaintive, and musical whistle arouses the enthusiasm of the sportsman and serves both as a warning and as an invitation to the lesser fowl that look to it for leadership.

Its breeding range is circumpolar, but decidedly spotty; there are very few places where it breeds at all commonly. On migrations it is widely distributed over nearly all of the Northern Hemisphere. It was never as abundant in this country as the golden plover and apparently never traveled in such immense flocks; hence it was never slaughtered in such enormous numbers. Moreover, it is much wilder, more wary, and better able to take care of itself; consequently it has held its own much better and has proven more of a success in the struggle for existence.

Nevertheless, it has been considerably reduced in numbers during the past 75 years. I am inclined to think that the reduction in numbers is more apparent than real and that the birds have learned to avoid certain localities, where they were once so abundant and where they have been so persistently pursued by gunners. George H. Mackay (1892) has shown a decided decrease on Nantucket, which he attributes to such a cause. From my own 30 years’ experience on Cape Cod I know that this has taken place there; I have noticed a gradual decrease in the numbers of black-bellied plover that come to Chatham and Monomoy during the fall flight, until now I often see no more than half a dozen in a day, where formerly we used to see them in hundreds. On the spring flight, however, they are often very abundant there, and apparently have increased since spring shooting was stopped; formerly they were much more abundant in the fall than in the spring, but the reverse is now the case. This is a striking example of the bird’s sagacity. Francis N. Balch told me that he saw at least 4,000 black-bellied plover on Monomoy on one day during the height of the spring flight in 1927. This compares favorably with Nuttall’s much quoted statement that flocks of more than 1,000 gathered near Boston about 100 years ago. Some of the figures given below will show that there are still plenty of black-bellied plover left in places where they are not too much molested.

Spring.--From the northern part of its winter range in the southern States the black-bellied plover starts on its northward migration in April and there is a general northward movement, entirely across the continent, all through May; the last of the migrants do not leave the northern States until the first week in June. Arthur T. Wayne (1910) says that, in South Carolina, “when the wind is from the south and the tide is low in the afternoon, these birds migrate in small flocks in a northwesterly direction,” probably taking an overland route to their breeding grounds. But there is also a heavy northward migration along the Atlantic coast, at least as far as New Jersey, whence I believe the main flight swings inland, though there is a well-marked spring migration in Massachusetts, mainly during the last half of May, which seems to have increased in recent years. During the latter part of May, 1927, I was privileged to see, through the kindness of Dr. Harry C. Oberholser, the greatest flight of black-bellied plover, dowitchers, and turnstones that I have ever seen. On the coast of New Jersey, in the vicinity of Tuckerton Bay and Little Egg Harbor, we made actual counts, or careful estimates, of all birds seen and the totals were far ahead of any he had recorded there in recent years. Seven day’s records show a total of over 20,000 black-bellied plover; on our two best days, May 27 and 28, we recorded 6,200 and 5,600; and on our poorest day, May 25, we counted only 238, showing that they came in waves. The black-bellied plover were often associated in the large flocks with ruddy turnstones; we saw one immense flock which we estimated to contain 3,500 birds of these two species. This great flock was a thrilling sight, as it swept in over the marsh like a great cloud and alighted; twice, while we were watching, it arose like a swarm of insects, circled about, separated into two divisions, joined again, and alighted. We did not see it depart.

This seems to be the best place on the New Jersey coast to observe shore birds in large numbers, where they alight to rest and feed on the large, flat, marshy islands. These are mud islands raised but a few feet above high water and some of them are partially flooded during spring tides; they are mainly covered with salt-marsh grasses, intersected by tidal creeks and dotted with small pond holes or bare muddy splashes. The plover alighted on the bare spaces or in the short grass, where the large flocks seen in the distance seemed to whiten the ground. These large flocks, with sentinels always alert, were utterly unapproachable; and even the small flocks and single birds were as shy as ever. At low tide they resorted to the extensive mud flats to feed, though they doubtless fed on the meadows also.

On Cape Cod they frequent the same localities as in the fall; my earliest date is April 19 and my latest date for adult birds is June 29. The spring flights here and in New Jersey are made up mainly of adult birds, mostly in full plumage, but many are mottled and there are always some “pale bellies,” or young birds.

The black-bellied plover is an abundant spring migrant up the Mississippi Valley and through central Canada. We saw it in Saskatchewan during the last week in May and first week in June. C. G. Harold tells me that it is abundant around the prairie lakes and sloughs in Manitoba. Prof. William Rowan (1926) calls it abundant in Manitoba; his notes mention a flock estimated at about 3,000 seen on May 23, 1925, at Beaverhill Lake. He says:

At our lake it is one of the later arrivals in the spring, seldom appearing before the middle of May. It stays generally in some numbers till the end of the month and may linger till the second week of June. Flocks are usually small, anything up to 30, except when the birds are ready to start on the next lap north, when they may aggregate many hundreds if not thousands. On May 23, 1925, we estimated the ground covered by a single flock of grey plovers, knots, and a sprinkling of goldens at about one and a half acres. They were not scattered, but neither were they closely packed. The grays made up about 75 per cent of the whole. The sitting flock looked like a large patch of snow.

S. F. Rathbun has sent me the following notes from Washington which illustrates the abundance of this species on the Pacific coast:

May 12, 1927. This morning was a dark one with a steady drizzling rain and light wind following the storm of the preceding two days. On reaching a very wide expanse of grassy salt meadows bordering the bay we found them dotted nearly everywhere with many of the smaller sandpipers and black-bellied plover, the birds being in small and large flocks and mostly grouped around the many shallow pools with which the meadows were flecked. It was one of the finest sights we have ever seen where shore-birds were concerned. The beautiful black-bellied plover in full nuptial dress were scattered over a wide area, rarely as single birds, but ordinarily a number in company and not infrequently in flocks of considerable size. One such flock consisted of 50 individuals, shortly after being joined by another of some 30 birds, the combination of so many large black-breasted birds making a striking sight. When first alighting the birds would stand motionless, following which they would then move slowly about, although at times individuals might take wing, make several turns in the air and then alight among the others on the ground. When in its full plumage this plover is very noticeable even a long distance off, and when on the ground is always wary and alert. On alighting if it does not stand motionless, the bird will immediately move to the nearest height of land, if such there happens to be, and from such point of vantage will then scan the landscape, and should there happen to be a number in company you will always find two or three maintaining a lookout while the remainder move about rather unconcernedly.

At times associated with the many sandpipers would be a number of knots, but as a rule this latter species was found in flocks by itself with this exception, that always with a flock of knots would be one or more black-bellied plover, such acting as sentinels for the former. And this being the case, the knots would then unconcernedly feed, as they seemed to rely implicitly on the plovers’ watchfulness, and we never noted this confidence misplaced. And this fact must in instances prove the salvation of those shore birds more or less unsuspicious and having this plover in company, for they seem to be governed by its actions. Sometimes, with a warning note, the sentinel would suddenly take wing and instantly was followed by the entire flock of other birds en masse, and all would then fly about perhaps for a time before once more alighting on some spot selected by the plover acting as the sentinel. At one time during our stay there were between three and four thousand of these plover on the meadows, and we were told that on the preceding day during the height of the storm this number must have been exceeded.

Courtship.--I have never seen any signs of courtships during the spring migration, though I have often looked for it; nor have I ever seen any mention of it by others. Hence I infer that it is accomplished after the birds arrive on their breeding grounds. Herbert W. Brandt says in his Alaska notes: