peep," seems most at home on the sea beaches, but it also frequents the
sand flats of tidal estuaries, and to a less extent, the salt marshes,
and is even found on the shores of inland lakes during the migrations.
_Courtship._--Although I have never seen this bird on its northern
breeding grounds, I have been so fortunate as to have heard many times
the courtship song during the migrations on the New England coast, and
to have witnessed some, at least, of its posturing on the ground. This
sandpiper is more of a musician than the least, and his song is well
worth hearing. I can but repeat what I have already published on the
subject (1905):
Rising on quivering wings to about 30 feet from the ground, the
bird advances with rapid wing beats, curving the pinions strongly
downward, pouring forth a succession of musical notes--a continuous
quavering trill--and ending with a few very sweet notes that recall
those of a goldfinch. He then descends to the ground where one may
be lucky enough, if near at hand, to hear a low musical _cluck_
from the excited bird. This is, I suppose, the full love flight
song, and is not often heard in its entirety, but the first
quavering trill is not uncommon, a single bird or member of a flock
singing this as he flies over.
Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1900) writes as follows of this species at Cape
Blossom, Alaska, in July:
A few were to be found in the Interior on damp, grassy flats, but
the strip of low meadow bordering the lagoon back of the mission
was by far the most popular resort. Here the grass was short and
smooth as a lawn, with occasional narrow branches from the main
slough cutting their way back toward the higher ground. In one part
of this stretch of tide flats the sandpipers were so numerous that
as many as a dozen pairs were in sight at once, and their
twittering notes were to be heard on all sides. They were flying
back and forth over the meadows chasing one another, with shrill,
rolling notes uttered so continuously as to become almost inaudible
from their monotony. At times in an individual case this trilling
would become so intensified as to remind one of the shrill notes of
the white throated swift.
Joseph Dixon (1917_a_), writing of a bird that sang at an elevation of
about 50 feet above the nest says: "His song seemed to come from every
direction, and this illusion was difficult to account for even by the
unusual location of the songster." Whether the _whinny_ heard from
birds, many of which are posturing on the sand is a modification of the
nuptial song or rather a partial reproduction of it, I do not know, but
I am inclined to think it is. Many of these musicians appear on close
scrutiny to be young birds, which would explain the imperfection of the
song. The posturing is often in the nature of mock fighting--I have
never seen any real blows exchanged--when two, facing each other, crouch
almost flat on the sand, and then suddenly spring at each other with
wings outspread. Again, two would slowly walk toward each other with
neck and body almost touching the ground and with head up. This act is
often performed with tail cocked up over the back, displaying a white
triangle of tail coverts, and every now and then the birds would run at
each other with outspread wings. All birds acting thus appeared to be
uttering a series of rolling notes, which, emitted from a number of
birds scattered over the flats, produces a considerable volume of sound.
I have described this partial song as a _whinny_, and have tried to
reduce it to syllables--_eh, eh, eh_, or _what-er, what-er_.
Lucien M. Turner in his Ungava notes records two individuals that "ran
back and forth, uttering a purring twitter, holding their wings over
their back with the head and neck depressed, while the posterior portion
of the body was somewhat elevated. The throat was at times inflated and
at other times every feather of the body was nearly reversed, presenting
a strange sight."
Herbert W. Brandt supplies the following from observations in Alaska:
The semipalmated sandpiper flies high into the air, often almost
out of sight, and pours forth a sustained tinkling song, which
sounds like its native name uttered as a high-pitched
trill--"la-v-la-v-la-v." As it sings it rapidly fans the air with
short wing beats, at the same time moving at considerable speed
continuously back and forth over a distance of 50 yards or more.
Four of the birds which I took to be males were rather noisy,
twittering, and purling, and occasionally one of them rushed at
another as if he seriously intended to wage mortal combat. The
feathers on his dainty neck stood out in an angered ruff; his wings
were half spread, showing their light markings; and when the little
warrior was just about to strike he folded his wings and elevated
his tail until it was almost vertical above his long wing tips.
There was, however, no real fight, for each one seemed to know his
superior and gave way, after a little display, like a weaker
rooster in a well-regulated barnyard.
_Nesting._--H. W. Brandt contributes the following:
The semipalmated sandpiper nests amid the short herbage on the
grassy dunes near the moaning breakers of Point Dall, where it
selects a site quite exposed to view. Among the creeping berry
vines the bird simply scratches a depression in the sand, and this
it lines with a few disconnected grass stems, stiff moss stems, and
a handful of tiny, crisp-dried leaves of the cranberry, willow, or
dwarf birch. The range of measurements of five nests is: Inside
diameter, 2 to 2-1/2 inches; inside depth, 1-1/2 to 2 inches; total
depth, 2-1/2 to 3-1/4 inches. The nest is very fragile and breaks
up at once if disturbed. Like all shore birds that nest in the
open, the brooding bird is anything but a close sitter, and in
consequence the nest must be found by diligent search. An
incubating female was collected as it departed from the nest.
Roderick Macfarlane, who found many nests of this species in the Barren
Grounds, describes two of them as follows:
Nest was found between two small lakes--a few withered grasses and
leaves in a shallow hole or depression, partly shaded from view by
a tuft of grass. The nest was a mere depression in the midst of
some hay and lined therewith, as well as with a few withered
leaves.
Winthrop Sprague Brooks (1915) relates his experience in Alaska as
follows:
Thirteen nests were found, the first, a set of three fresh eggs,
being taken on June 12. All the nests were essentially alike--mere
cavities in damp tundra close to a pool, and lined with dry willow
leaves. On seven nests the female was found, and the male on six.
Although the male seems to take about an equal share in brooding on
the eggs and taking care of the young, I could not see that he did
this at any particular time, for I could find either sex on the
nest at midnight or midday. Neither sex showed any more concern
than the other when an intruder was at the nest. In most cases the
bird disturbed would flutter along a few yards and then remain
walking quietly and watching. On one occasion a female made a great
disturbance. Semipalmated sandpipers on the breeding ground are the
most gentle and interesting birds of the North.
_Eggs._--[_Author's note_: Four eggs seems to be the invariable rule
with the semipalmated sandpiper. They are usually ovate pyriform in
shape with a tendency to become subpyriform. The shell is somewhat
glossy. The eggs can not with certainty be distinguished from those of
the least sandpiper on one hand or the western sandpiper on the other
hand; the measurements overlap with both and the colors and markings
intergrade with both. I have 11 sets of semipalmated, and I can match
nearly every one of them with sets from my series of the other two
species. In series, however, they much more closely resemble the least
sandpiper.
Herbert W. Brandt has sent me a description of his sets taken in Alaska,
which are probably of the normal type, as follows:
In the six sets before me the ground color is uniformly dull white
and is conspicuous. The markings are bold and individual, with most
of them round instead of elongate, although there is a slight
spiral tendency. These spots are dark, ranging from "claret brown"
to "burnt lake," producing a deep red effect when examined in
series. The underlying spots are numerous and rather conspicuous,
due to the whitish ground color. They shade from "light Quaker
drab" to "Quaker drab."
Less than half of my sets, all from Alaska, would fit his description;
the ground colors in most of mine vary from "pale olive buff" to "olive
buff"; in some it is "deep olive buff," and in one "Isabella color." The
colors of the markings run from "liver brown" to "chestnut brown" in the
darkest and from "hazel" to "cinnamon brown" in the lightest. There are
comparatively few underlying drab markings. The eggs show the same
variations in shape and arrangement of markings as eggs of the least
sandpiper. I have two sets from Point Barrow, taken with the parent
bird, which are almost exactly like eggs of the western sandpiper in
color and style of markings but smaller, and several other sets
approaching them in appearance. There are 10 sets of eggs in the Museum
of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge collected by W. Sprague Brooks near
Demarcation Point, Alaska, with the parent bird in each case. Three of
these are of the western sandpiper type, and three others are similarly
marked with different shades of brown. The measurements of 52 eggs
average 30.2 by 21.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes
measure =32= by 21, 30 by =22=, =27.7= by 21.3, and 31.5 by =20=
millimeters.]
_Young._--According to Mr. Dixon (1917_a_), incubation lasts 17 days. It
is performed equally by the male and female, as is shown by Mr. Brooks's
very conclusive report quoted above. Mr. Dixon (1917_a_), writing of
birds observed in Alaska says the young so exactly match the
surroundings that they are invisible at 3 feet. He relates the case of a
snowy owl that sailed from its perch in the direction of a brood of
young which flattened and froze obedient to the alarm cry of the mother.
The owl poised directly over them, but evidently failed to see them and
flew away. On another occasion two parasitic jaegers flew by; the young
flattened, and all escaped but one that began to move before the second
jaeger had passed and was promptly snapped up.
He says:
It was found that the parents made no effort to feed the young. It
was soon seen, however, that such care was not necessary. The young
would stumble about and pick up minute gnats and flies with great
dexterity, and the shallow algae-rimmed pools furnished them many a
juicy "wriggler." The gait of the young sandpipers was a stumbling
toddle, while their large feet and legs were all out of proportion
to the rest of their slender bodies. By dropping and extending
their wings they were able to use them as crutches, which often
kept them from falling.
In about a month they were fully fledged, and a week later the
sandpipers were leaving for the south.
_Plumages._--[_Author's note_: In natal down the young semipalmated most
closely resembles the young western sandpiper, but it is generally
paler, with less brown or rufous. The forehead, sides of the head, and
all under parts are white, faintly washed on the cheeks and upper breast
with pale buff; a median stripe on the forehead, reaching only halfway
to the bill, a broad loral stripe, and a malar spot are black; there is
a black spot in the center of the crown, broken by a few very small
white dots, surrounded by "hazel" and bordered with black; a short
stripe over the eye and an auricular patch are black and "hazel" mixed;
between these and the crown patch there is a broad band of white dots,
terminal tufts; the back, rump, wings, and thighs are variegated "hazel"
and black, with numerous small white dots, terminal tufts. The bill is
broad at the tip.
Young birds are in juvenal plumage when they reach the United States on
the fall migration. They can be distinguished from adults by the buffy
edgings above and by the absence of dusky streaks on the throat and
upper breast. The feathers of the crown are edged with sandy buff and
those of the back and scapulars with "ochraceous buff" or creamy white;
the wing coverts are edged with pale buff; the upper breast is washed
with buff and the rest of the under parts are white. This plumage is
partially molted during September and October, producing a first winter
plumage, which is like the adult winter plumage, except for the juvenal
wing coverts, some scapulars, and a few body feathers, which are
retained. At the first prenuptial molt, the next spring, young birds
become practically adult.
Adults have a complete molt from July to November, the body plumage
being molted first and the wings last, the latter sometimes not until
winter. Their partial prenuptial molt involves the body plumage,
sometimes the tail and some wing coverts; it begins in February and
lasts into May. The freshly molted spring plumage, in early May, has a
"drab-gray" appearance, due to broad drab-gray tips on the feathers of
the mantle; these tips soon wear away, revealing the bright colors of
the nuptial plumage before the end of May.]
_Food._--I have recorded the following found by me in the stomachs of
this species taken on the New England coast; insects of various kinds,
including beetles, small mollusks (_Littorina_), worms and crustaceans
(_Gammarus orchestia_), bits of seaweed and sand. Dr. Alexander Wetmore
(1916) records the contents of six stomachs from birds taken in Porto
Rico in August; 99.16 per cent was animal matter, 0.84 per cent
vegetable matter.
Beetles, bugs, fly pupae, and small mollusks form the bulk of the
food. Small water scavenger beetles (_Hydrophilidae_) were found in
four stomachs and amount to 27 per cent. Two ground beetles
(_Bembidium_ sp.) amount to 5 per cent and miscellaneous beetles to
3.34 per cent. One bird had eaten nothing but four back swimmers
(_Notonecta_ sp.), and these made 16.66 per cent. Fly pupae figure
largely in two stomachs, forming 21.66 per cent of the total, and
snails (_Planorbis_ sp.) 13 per cent, while miscellaneous animal
matter amounts to 12.50 per cent. The small quantity of vegetable
matter present was rubbish. The numbers of Diptera eaten speak well
for this sandpiper.
Preble and McAtee (1923) found in the stomach of a bird shot in the
Pribilof Islands "remains of the beach beetle (_Aegialites
californicus_), 10 per cent; fragments of small flies (Diptera), 85 per
cent; and two seeds (not identified), 5 per cent."
Arthur H. Howell (1924) says, "Two stomachs of these birds from Alabama
contained the remains of small mollusks, fly larvae and beetles. This
species is known to feed on marine worms and mosquitoes."
_Behavior._--Semipalmated sandpipers are fascinating birds to watch.
When feeding on the beaches, they run along in a scattered flock just
above the wave line, retreating rapidly as the wave advances, but
sometimes being forced to flutter above it, all the time eagerly seeking
for choice morsels. With head down, not held up as is the case with its
companions the semipalmated plovers, it runs along dabbling here and
there irregularly, and occasionally probing with its bill in the sand.
These probings are not so deep nor so systematic as those of the
sanderling, which makes a series of six to a dozen holes in succession
throwing up the sand on either side. In its greediness the semipalmated
sandpiper sometimes attempts to swallow too large a morsel for its small
round mouth, which is much out of proportion to the stretch of the end
of the bill, and many shakings of the head are needed to get a large
morsel past the sticking point. I have seen one try several times to
swallow a large beach flea (_Talorchestia megalophthalma_), and then fly
off with it in its bill.
On a rocky shore I have seen them hunting for insects at high tide on
the smooth rocks, and at low tide, running among the rocks covered with
seaweed (_Fucus vesiculsus_) and on the floating weed, fluttering their
wings from time to time to keep from sinking. Here they find plenty of
food in the small mollusks and crustaceans, _Littorina_ and _Gammarus_.
On an August day on the coast of Maine I saw one searching about on
floating rockweed several miles from land. Shore birds doubtless often
rest in this way in their long journeys over sea.
In flight, semipalmated sandpipers in flocks, large and small, often
move as one bird, twisting and turning with military precision,
alternately displaying their light breasts and darker backs--flashing
white and then almost disappearing. The method which enables shore
birds, or, indeed, any flocking bird, to accomplish these evolutions is
obscure. In the case of the semipalmated sandpiper these evolutions
appear often to be made in silence, although it is of course possible
that signals, not audible to the human observer, may be given. It has
been suggested that telepathy or even that "a common soul" dominating
the flock may be the interpretation, but both of these explanations are
at present, at least, outside of scientific ken. I have noticed that
birds who do not habitually execute evolutions, like English sparrows
and the young of those that are skillful in this direction when adult,
as for example, starlings, are much less proficient at this, and it
seems to me possible that the whole thing may be accounted for by
quickness of observation and of reaction, inherited and acquired.
Semipalmated sandpipers like other shore birds often stand on one leg
and even hop along on it in feeding and they also sleep in this
attitude. It is difficult to distinguish these from cripples, and one is
easily deceived; the cripples seem as happy and tireless in feeding as
the others.
William Brewster (1925) thus charmingly describes the habits of this
bird in the wet and soft ground at Lake Umbagog:
Here they trot to and fro, almost as actively and ceaselessly as so
many ants, picking up the inconspicuous worms or larvae from the
surface of the ground and seeking them beneath it by thrusting down
their sensitive bills quite to the nostrils, after the manner of
boring snipe, but less quickly, vigorously, and persistently. They
are also given to wading out into shallow water where they pull up
good sized masses of aquatic plants, such as _Utricularia_. By
shaking and piercing these with their bills they evidently obtain
from them food of some kind, perhaps insect larvae or small
_Crustacea_.
At high tide on the beaches, when the wet sand with its bountiful food
supply is covered, great flocks of this species, together with the least
sandpiper, the sanderling, and the semipalmated plover, often spend an
hour or more huddled together on the dry sand. Each species keeps more
or less separate. The birds generally face the wind, but sometimes they
arrange themselves in the lee of bits of driftwood or other
obstructions, and "tail out" down wind in long streamers as it were,
each sheltered by the one next to windward. They sleep standing on one
or both legs with the bill tucked under the feathers of the back--not
"under the wing" as in poems--or they squat down, resting their breasts
on the sand. They occasionally seem to yawn by stretching one wing over
a leg. They also spread both wings above the back as do many other shore
birds, and they flirt the bill nervously from side to side, to relieve
their ennui, perhaps shaking the head at the same time.
_Voice._--The varied courtship songs and notes have been described
above. Their call note, to my ears, is very much like that of the least
sandpiper, but shriller and less melodious. A harsh rasping note and a
peeping sound are also given and a low, rolling gossipy note is often
emitted when they approach other birds or decoys, a note that used to be
imitated with deadly effect by gunners. John T. Nichols (1920) says:
The flight note of the semipalmated sandpiper is a rather loud
"cherk," softer and less reedy than the analogous krieker "kerr."
It is commonly modified to a softer "cher" or "che," which with
much variation becomes the conversational twittering of members of
a feeding flock. Soft short, snappy "chips" are characteristic of
flocks maneuvering about decoys * * * Hurried cheeping notes
("ki-i-ip") on being flushed, are suggestive of the same note of
the krieker.
_Field marks._--These have been discussed at length under least
sandpiper to which the reader is referred, but may be summed up here as
follows: a little larger than the least sandpiper, grayer, bill stouter
and straight, tarsi and feet black, semipalmated. The young can be
distinguished from the old in the field by their nearly white breasts
washed with a smoky tint. In the hand their tarsi are seen to be black
with a slight greenish hue.
_Game._--The fact that so many of these birds could be easily killed at
one shot, and the fact that they were so fat and palatable broiled or
cooked in a pie, made them always much sought after by the pot hunter.
As large shore birds grew scarcer and it became more and more difficult
for the gunner to fill his bag with them, "peep" shooting, even by
sportsmen, was in vogue. The Federal law has now wisely removed this
species from the list of game birds and prevented its extinction. The
bird has responded to this protection in a marked degree, and flocks of
500 or more are common and pleasing sights on our beaches where
one-tenth of this number was once rare.
The shooting of semipalmated sandpipers occurred largely on the beaches.
The gunner dug a hole in the sand, banked it up, and put brush and
driftwood, often reinforced with seaweed, on the ramparts. At a
convenient distance decoys of wood or tin were placed, arranged like a
flock of birds with their heads pointing to the wind. Occasionally large
clamshells were stuck in the sand, simulating very well a flock of peep.
Much depended on the skill of the gunner in calling down the birds as
they flew along, by cunningly imitating their notes and by his care in
keeping concealed and motionless until the moment that he delivered his
fire. To bring down a score of birds from a closely packed flock
required but little skill, where, to pick off a single peep, flying
erratically and swiftly by, called for well-seasoned judgment; but the
chances for these birds were small indeed when the beaches were lined
with inviting decoys and concealed whistling gunners.
_Fall._--On the New England coast the semipalmated sandpiper is a little
later in migration than its colleague, the least sandpiper. July 10 to
October 30 are the usual dates, but few are seen after September 20. The
adults come first, but after the middle of August the young appear, to
be distinguished by their nearly white breasts washed with a smoky tint,
and by their more unsuspecting ways.
The extraordinary abundance of this species at certain times on
migration is well illustrated by what Stuart T. Danforth (1925) says of
it in Porto Rico. He writes:
The semipalmated sandpiper is by far the most abundant shore bird
at Cartagena Lagoon, though it occurs only as a fall migrant. I
have records from August 13 to October 20, 1924. During the latter
part of August they are present in almost unbelievable numbers. I
hardly dare estimate their numbers, but on August 26, when they
were at the height of their abundance, I am sure that 100,000 would
have been a low estimate of their numbers. They simply swarmed over
the mud flats. On this date, although I was trying to avoid
shooting them, I got 16 while shooting other birds. They were so
abundant that stray shots could not help killing numbers of them.
On other days many were also unintentionally shot in the same
manner. In fact, all but 4 of the 36 that I collected were shot in
this way. This species prefers the mud flats, but when they were so
excessively abundant some were forced to feed in the sedge and
grass associations, and when the fall rains came a little later
practically all of them were forced to the sedges and grasses and
even to the cane fields. But within a few days after this most of
them left for parts unknown.
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--North America, South America, the West Indies, and
northeastern Siberia; accidental in Europe.