WORLD SHOREBIRDS DAY: ABACO’S COMPLETE CHECKLIST
Abaco’s birding records compiled for over 20 years include 33 shorebird species. For a few, the islands and cays are a permanent residence; for many others they are winter quarters; some species are visitors transient in their migrations; a few are rare vagrants. The complete checklist of Abaco’s shorebirds is below, along with 3 links to specific posts.
I have divided the species into 3 categories: sandpipers & kin; plovers; and a catch-all ‘large shorebird’ group that includes one or two sandpipers. Of the 26 birds featured and shown in the main checklist below, 23 are ones you might reasonably hope or expect to encounter on Abaco, though some only if you are lucky or your field-craft is excellent. The others are the long-billed dowitcher, American avocet and Wilson’s phalarope (of which only one has ever been seen on Abaco, with a photo to prove it). Many of these are showcased in my book The Birds of Abaco.
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THE COMPLETE CHECKLIST
The codes tell you, for any particular bird, when you may see it (P = permanent, WR = winter resident, TR = transient, V = vagrant); whether it breeds (B) on Abaco; and your chance of seeing it, graded from easy (1) to vanishingly unlikely (5).
- Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus PR B 3
- American Avocet Recurvirostra americana WR 4
- American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus PR B 2
- Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola WR 1
- American Golden-Plover Pluvialis dominica TR 4
- Wilson’s Plover Ochthodromus wilsonia PR B 2
- Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus WR 2
- Piping Plover Charadrius melodus WR 3
- Killdeer Charadrius vociferus WR 2
- Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius WR 1
- Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria WR 2
- Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca WR 2
- Willet Tringa semipalmata PR B 2
- Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes WR 3
- Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres PR 2
- Red Knot Calidris canutus WR 3
- Sanderling Calidris alba WR 1
- Dunlin Calidris alpina WR 2
- Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla WR 2
- White-rumped Sandpiper Calidris fuscicollis TR 3
- Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla TR 2
- Western Sandpiper Calidris Mauri TR 2
- Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus WR 1
- Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus WR 4
- Wilson’s Snipe Gallinago delicata WR 3
- Wilson’s Phalarope Phalaropus tricolor V 4
For the sake of completeness, the other 7 species of shorebird recorded for Abaco – all transients or vagrants – are:
- Upland Sandpiper Bartramia longicauda TR 4
- Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus TR 4
- Hudsonian Godwit Limosa haemastica V5
- Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa V5
- Buff-breasted Sandpiper Tryngites subruficollis V5
- Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos TR 3
- Stilt Sandpiper Calidris himantopus TR 3
Photo Credits: Tom Sheley, Bruce Hallett, Keith Salvesen