#charadriiformes

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

can you do the killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)?

Of course! They're very cute.

Photos thanks to Frank Thierfelder & Enrique Giron, respectively.

[fullfrontalbirds]

Sanderling (Calidris alba)

© Ricardo Salgueiro

[haveyouseenthisbirdpoll]

Photo source

Map source

[birdblues]

Piping Plover

[herpsandbirds]

Dovekie aka Little Auk (Alle alle), family Alcidae, order Charadriiformes, Iceland

Photograph by Christophe Moning

[snototter]

A comb crested jacana chick (Irediparra gallinacea) in Kakadu National Park, Australia

by Charles Sharp

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

If any bird was going to be recognized for its pride, it would be the fabulous ruff. This bird was one of the first species in which homosexual behaviour was documented by a naturalist, Edmund Selous, in 1906!

(Image: A pair of male ruffs (Calidris pugnax) by Sulin Gopalan)

If you like what I do, consider buying me a ko-fi!

[unrestrained-balderdash-art-blog]

Happy Pied Month! Oystercatcher? More like acetercatcher!

Reference photo by JJ Harrison

[alonglistofbirds]

[1697/10977] Bronze-winged courser - Rhinoptilus chalcopterus

Order: Charadriiformes Suborder: Lari Family: Glareolidae (pratincoles and coursers) Subfamily: Cursoriinae (coursers)

Photo credit: Fernando Nunes via Macaulay Library

[alphynix]

The mancallines were a lineage of flightless semi-aquatic birds closely related to auks. Known from the Pacific coasts of what are now California and Mexico, between about 7.5 and 0.5 million years ago, they convergently evolved a close resemblance and similar lifestyle to both the recently-extinct North Atlantic great auk and the southern penguins.

Miomancalla howardi here lived in offshore waters around southern California during the late Miocene (~7-5 million years ago). The largest of the mancallines, it just slightly beat out the great auk in size – standing around 90cm tall (~3') and weighing an estimated 5kg (11lbs).

Like great auks and penguins it would have been a specialized wing-propelled diver, swimming using "underwater flight" to feed on small bait fish. It probably spent much of its life out at sea, probably only returning to land to molt and breed.

———

NixIllustration.com | Tumblr | Patreon

[life-on-our-planet]

🪶🛫southern lapwing🛫🪶

bonus baby:

[awkwardbirdsdreaming]

Bird #47 - the southern New Zealand dotterel

A sadder post today, sorry! While the northern subspecies is faring well, the southern NZ dotterel numbered only 101 birds in April, and the number continues to drop due to introduced predators. In fact, the population has declined by a fifth from 126 just in the last year. These birds can naturally live to be 30; their current life expectancy is only about 5 years.

They breed on Stewart Island to the south of New Zealand, where a few rangers are stationed to trap introduced predators. Large areas of the island aren't protected, though, since there isn't enough funding for more traps and rangers.

You can find out more here on the NZ Department of Conservation site (they even have a little 10 minute documentary but its really sad), and if you'd like to help them out you can donate here!

[fullfrontalbirds]

Have you done timberdoodles yet? (Scolopax minora)

American Woodcock (Scolopax minor)

© Fyn Kynd

[birdblues]

Bronze-winged Jacana

[herpsandbirds]

Cream-colored Courser (Cursorius cursor), parent with chicks, fdamily Glareolidae, order Charadriiformes, found in North Africa and the Middle East

photograph by Seyed Babak Musavi

[snototter]

A black guillemot or tystie (Cepphus grylle) in Mousa, Shetland, UK

by Gary Faulkner