The thick, dense feathering on its underparts allows this dainty shorebird to float high on the water. They are uncommon to common in winter at lower elevations along the coast and in inland valleys, and can be locally abundant where birds gather to feed in coastal pastures and other wetlands. They are a common summer resident east of the Cascades. They are uncommon and local west of the Cascades in the summer and uncommon and local in the Cascades in the breeding season. In breeding season they become more flamboyant, appearing atop fence posts and displaying their unique winnowing flights from high in the air, their outer tail feathers vibrating with an eerie whistling sound. This plump-bodied, long-billed bird of open marshland is primarily crepuscular, peaking in feeding activity at dusk and dawn, and often sleeping during the day. During winter along the coast, Westerns are occasional to uncommon.Ĭryptically colored, usually solitary and somewhat secretive, the Wilson snipe is often flushed before being seen, sometimes exploding from practically underfoot and rocketing off in a corkscrew flight. The largest concentrations of migrant birds are usually found at Tillamook Bay, Bandon Marsh and the Columbia River estuary. Generally, larger flocks are seen in fall than in spring. Longer-billed females generally are larger than males but are otherwise similar in appearance.Īlong the coast of Oregon, the Western sandpiper is the most abundant shorebird in estuaries and along beaches during migration.
In breeding plumage they have a rich rufous-chestnut back, cheeks and cap, dark-centered scapulars with rufous-chestnut edges, grayish throats streaked with dark chevrons through the flank, and whitish underparts.
In winter, these small sandpipers are gray above with white underparts. At certain estuaries and interior alkali lakes, flocks of many thousands of these migrants can be observed swirling around over shallow water, landing to frantically feed, before resuming migration.įalcons often attack Westerns, and their acrobatic, tightly coordinated escape flights are breathtaking to observe.
0 kommentar(er)
