An Illinois Shorebird Primer

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1. “Shorebirds” as a designation for a grouping of birds indicates that all the birds, so classified, frequent open shorelines to forage.

True

60.9%

False

39.1%

2. Having partial or slight webbing between its toes allows the semipalmated plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) to spread its weight across a greater surface area and thereby to wade in particularly saturated soils.

True

91.6%

False

8.4%

3. The female American avocet (Recurvirostra americana) has a more pronounced upturned bill curvature than does the male.

True

58.0%

False

42.0%

4. Of the short-legged shorebirds, the ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres) is readily identified, during the bird’s breeding season, by its coloration pattern of reddish (ruddy) pebble-sized spots upon white neck, breast, and wings.

True

69.6%

False

30.4%

5. Phragmites spp. or common reed, which thrives in wetlands and upon shorelines, provides excellent shelter and food for shorebirds. Photo courtesy Paul Skogland, Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

True

43.7%

False

56.3%

6. Red knots (Calidris canutus), once one of the most populous of North American shorebirds, have declined in number because horseshoe crabs’ eggs are becoming less abundant on the East Coast.

True

87.0%

False

13.0%

7. Pictured here is the whimbrel, one of the curlews of the genus Numenius which were historically affected by the roar of the market hunters’ guns.

True

75.0%

False

25.0%

8. The pictured sandpiper of the genus Calidris goes by the common name of “sanderling” and is the “clockwork toy” bird who chases waves on sandy beaches.

True

48.5%

False

51.5%

9. The American golden-plover (Pluvialis dominica) seems to prefer pastures and wet agricultural fields rather than beaches and mudflats in Illinois.

True

86.8%

False

13.2%

10. To determine whether the hefty shorebird with a 12-inch body length and with a long straight bill is a long-billed dowitcher or a short-billed dowitcher, birders need only to observe the length of the dowitcher’s bill.

True

27.1%

False

72.9%

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