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Scolopacidae

(Family)

Overview

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The sandpipers are a large family, Scolopacidae, of waders or shorebirds. They include many species called sandpipers, as well as those called by names such as curlew and snipe. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. Different lengths of bills enable different species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food.

Sandpipers have long bodies and legs, and narrow wings. Most species have a narrow bill, but otherwise the form and length are quite variable. They are small to medium sized birds, measuring 12?66 cm (4.7?26 in) cm in length. The bills are sensitive, allowing the birds to feel the mud and sand as they probe for food. They generally have dull plumage, with cryptic brown, grey, or streaked patterns, although some display brighter colors during the breeding season.1]

Most species nest in open areas, and defend their territories with aerial displays. The nest itself is a simple scrape in the ground, in which the bird typically lays three or four eggs. The young of most species are precocial.[1]

Sandpiper nest with four eggs

Taxonomy

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This large family is often further subdivided into groups of similar birds. These groups do not necessarily consist of a single genus, but as presented here they do form distinct monophyletic evolutionary lineages.[2] The groups, with species numbers in parentheses, are:

Genus Bartramia (monotypic)
Genus Limosa (4 species)
Genus Limnodromus (3 species)
Genera Coenocorypha, Lymnocryptes, Gallinago and Scolopax (nearly 30 species, plus some 6 extinct)
Genus Phalaropus (3 species)
Genera Xenus, Actitis, and Tringa which now includes Catoptrophorus and Heteroscelus (16 species)
Genus Prosobonia (1 extant species, 3?5 extinct)
Roughly 25 species, mostly in Calidris which might be split up into several genera. Other genera currently accepted are Aphriza, Eurynorhynchus, Limicola, Tryngites, and Philomachus, in addition to the 2 Arenaria turnstones.

Evolution

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The early fossil record is very bad for a group that was probably present at the non-avian dinosaur's extinction. "Totanus" teruelensis (Late Miocene of Los Mansuetos (Spain) is sometimes considered a scolopacid ? maybe a shank ? but may well be a larid; little is known of it.

Paractitis has been named from the Early Oligocene of Sasketchewan (Canada), while Mirolia is known from the Middle Miocene at Deiningen in the N?rdlinger Ries (Germany). Most living genera would seem to have evolved throughout the Oligocene to Miocene with the waders perhaps a bit later; see the genus accounts for the fossil record.

In addition there are some indeterminable remains that might belong to extant genera or their extinct relatives:

Description

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The Least Sandpiper is the smallest species of sandpiper

The sandpipers exhibit considerable range in size and appearance, the wide range of body forms reflecting a wide range of ecological niches. Sandpipers range in size from the Least Sandpiper, at as little 11 centimetres (4.3 in) and 18 grams (0.6 oz) in length, to the Eastern Curlew, at up to 66 centimetres (26 in) in length, and the Eurasian Curlew, at up to 1.3 kg (3 lbs). Within species there is considerable variation in patterns of sexual dimo rphism. Males are larger than females in Ruffs and several sandpipers, but are smaller than females in the knots, curlews, phalaropes and godwits. The sexes are similarly sized in the snipes, woodcock and tringine sandpipers. Compared to the other large family of wading birds, the plovers (Charadriidae) they tend to have smaller eye, more slender heads, and longer thinner bills. Some are quite long-legged, and most species have three forward pointing toes with a smaller hind toe (the exception is the Sanderling, which lacks a hind toe).[4]

Sandpipers are more geared towards tactile foraging methods than the plovers, which favour more visual foraging methods, and this is reflected in the high density of tactile receptors in the tips of their bills. These receptors are housed in a slight horny swelling at the tip of the bill (except for the Surfbird and the two turnstones). Bill shape is highly variable within the family, reflecting differences in feeding ecology. Bill length relative to head length varies from three times the length of the head in the Long-billed Curlew to just under half the head length in the Tuamotu Sandpiper. Bills may be straight, slightly upcurled or strongly downcurved. [4] Like all birds, the bills of sandpipers are capable of cranial kinesis, literally being able to move the bones of the skull (other than the obvious movement of the lower jaw) and specifically bending the upper jaw without opening the entire jaw, an act known as rhynchokinesis. It has been hypothesized this helps when probing by allowing the bill to be partly opened with less force and improving manipulation of prey items in the substrate. Rhynchokinesis is also used by sandpipers feeding on prey in water to catch and manipulate prey. [5]

Distribution, habitat, and movements

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Sandpipers spending the non-breeding season in Roebuck Bay, Western Australia

The sandpipers have a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring across most of the world's land surfaces except for Antarctica and the driest deserts. A majority of the family breed at moderate to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, in fact accounting for the most northerly breeding birds in the world. Only a few species breed in tropical regions, ten of which are snipes and woodcocks and the remaining species being the unusual Tuamotu Sandpiper, which breeds in French Polynesia (although prior to the arrival of humans in the Pacific there were several other closely related species of Polynesian sandpiper).[4]

Diet and feeding

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There are broadly four feeding styles employed by the sandpipers, although many species are flexible and may use more than one style. The first is pecking with occasional probing, usually done by species in drier habitats that do not have soft soils or mud. The second, and most common, method employed is probi ng soft soils, muds and sands for prey. The third, used by Tringa shanks, involves running in shallow water with the bill under the water chasing fish, a method that uses sight as well as tactile senses. The final method, employed by the phalaropes and some Calidris sanpipers, involves pecking at the water for small prey.[4]

Gallery

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ A distal right tarsometatarsus of a bird roughly similar to a Pectoral Sandpiper. Probably calidrid or basal to them, somewhat reminiscent of turnstones.[3]
(16 species)
Genus Prosobonia (1 extant species, 3?5 extinct)
Roughly 25 species, mostly in Calidris which might be split up into several genera. Other genera currently accepted are Aphriza, Eurynorhynchus, Limicola, Tryngites, and Philomachus, in addition to the 2 Arenaria turnstones.

Evolution

[ Back to top ]

The early fossil record is very bad for a group that was probably present at the non-avian dinosaur's extinction. "Totanus" teruelensis (Late Miocene of Los Mansuetos (Spain) is sometimes considered a scolopacid ? maybe a shank ? but may well be a larid; little is known of it.

Paractitis has been named from the Early Oligocene of Sasketchewan (Canada), while Mirolia is known from the Middle Miocene at Deiningen in the N?rdlinger Ries (Germany). Most living genera would seem to have evolved throughout the Oligocene to Miocene with the waders perhaps a bit later; see the genus accounts for the fossil record.

In addition there are some indeterminable remains that might belong to extant genera or their extinct relatives:

Description

[ Back to top ]
The Least Sandpiper is the smallest species of sandpiper

The sandpipers exhibit considerable range in size and appearance, the wide range of body forms reflecting a wide range of ecological niches. Sandpipers range in size from the Least Sandpiper, at as little 11 centimetres (4.3 in) and 18 grams (0.6 oz) in length, to the Eastern Curlew, at up to 66 centimetres (26 in) in length, and the Eurasian Curlew, at up to 1.3 kg (3 lbs). Within species there is considerable variation in patterns of sexual dimo rphism. Males are larger than females in Ruffs and several sandpipers, but are smaller than females in the knots, curlews, phalaropes and godwits. The sexes are similarly sized in the snipes, woodcock and tringine sandpipers. Compared to the other large family of wading birds, the plovers (Charadriidae) they tend to have smaller eye, more slender heads, and longer thinner bills. Some are quite long-legged, and most species have three forward pointing toes with a smaller hind toe (the exception is the Sanderling, which lacks a hind toe).[4]

Sandpipers are more geared towards tactile foraging methods than the plovers, which favour more visual foraging methods, and this is reflected in the high density of tactile receptors in the tips of their bills. These receptors are housed in a slight horny swelling at the tip of the bill (except for the Surfbird and the two turnstones). Bill shape is highly variable within the family, reflecting differences in feeding ecology. Bill length relative to head length varies from three times the length of the head in the Long-billed Curlew to just under half the head length in the Tuamotu Sandpiper. Bills may be straight, slightly upcurled or strongly downcurved. [4] Like all birds, the bills of sandpipers are capable of cranial kinesis, literally being able to move the bones of the skull (other than the obvious movement of the lower jaw) and specifically bending the upper jaw without opening the entire jaw, an act known as rhynchokinesis. It has been hypothesized this helps when probing by allowing the bill to be partly opened with less force and improving manipulation of prey items in the substrate. Rhynchokinesis is also used by sandpipers feeding on prey in water to catch and manipulate prey. [5]

Distribution, habitat, and movements

[ Back to top ]
Sandpipers spending the non-breeding season in Roebuck Bay, Western Australia

The sandpipers have a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring across most of the world's land surfaces except for Antarctica and the driest deserts. A majority of the family breed at moderate to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, in fact accounting for the most northerly breeding birds in the world. Only a few species breed in tropical regions, ten of which are snipes and woodcocks and the remaining species being the unusual Tuamotu Sandpiper, which breeds in French Polynesia (although prior to the arrival of humans in the Pacific there were several other closely related species of Polynesian sandpiper).[4]

Diet and feeding

[ Back to top ]

There are broadly four feeding styles employed by the sandpipers, although many species are flexible and may use more than one style. The first is pecking with occasional probing, usually done by species in drier habitats that do not have soft soils or mud. The second, and most common, method employed is probi ng soft soils, muds and sands for prey. The third, used by Tringa shanks, involves running in shallow water with the bill under the water chasing fish, a method that uses sight as well as tactile senses. The final method, employed by the phalaropes and some Calidris sanpipers, involves pecking at the water for small prey.[4]

Gallery

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ A distal right tarsometatarsus of a bird roughly similar to a Pectoral Sandpiper. Probably calidrid or basal to them, somewhat reminiscent of turnstones.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Harrison, Colin J.O. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph. ed. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 103?105. ISBN 1-85391-186-0. 
  2. ^ Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A.; Sz?kely, Tam?s (2004). "A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny". BMC Evol. Biol. 4: 28. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-4-28. PMC 515296. PMID 15329156. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=515296. 
  3. ^ Wetmore, Alexander (1937). "The Eared Grebe and other Birds from the Pliocene of Kansas" (PDF). Condor 39 (1): 40. http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Condor/files/issues/v039n01/p0040-p0040.pdf. 
  4. ^ a b c d Piersma, Theunis (1996). "Family Scolopacidae (Snipes, Sandpipers and Phalaropes)". In del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3, Hoatzin to Auks. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 444?487. ISBN 84-87334-20-2. 
  5. ^ Estrella, Sora; Masero, Jos? A. (2007). "The use of distal rhynchokinesis by birds feeding in water". Journal of Experimental Biology 210 (21): 3757?3762. doi:10.1242/?jeb.007690. http://jeb.biologists.org/content/210/21/3757.full. 

External links

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Taxonomy

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The Family Scolopacidae is a member of the Superfamily Scolopacoidea. Here is the complete "parentage" of Scolopacidae:

The Family Scolopacidae is further organized into finer groupings including:

Genera

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Actites

[more]

Actitis

Actitis is a small genus of waders, comprising just two very similar bird species: [more]

Aechmorhynchus

[more]

Aphriza

The Surfbird, Aphriza virgata is a small stocky wader in the family Scolopacidae. It is usually classified in a genus of its own. It was once considered to be allied to the turnstones, but more recent data suggests it is very close genetically to the Red and Great Knots and should be included in Calidris. Indeed, the Great Knot looks very much like a larger, longer-billed, and somewhat darker Surfbird. [more]

Arenaria

Arenaria, a Latin word meaning sand-loving (or ), may refer to : [more]

Arquatella

[more]

Bartramia

Bartramia may refer to either of two genera: [more]

Calidris

The calidrids or typical waders are a group of Arctic-breeding, strongly migratory wading birds. These birds form huge mixed flocks on coasts and estuaries in winter. They are the typical "sandpipers", small to medium-sized, long-winged and relatively short-billed. [more]

Capella

A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[1] [more]

Catoptrophorus

The Willet (Tringa semipalmata), formerly in the monotypic genus Catoptrophorus as Catoptrophorus semipalmatus, is a large shorebird in the sandpiper family. It is a good-sized and stout scolopacid, the largest of the shanks. Its closest relative is the Lesser Yellowlegs, a much smaller bird with a very different appearance apart from the fine, clear, and dense pattern of the neck, which both species show in breeding plumage. [more]

Chubbia

[more]

Coenocorypha

Coenocorypha is a of tiny birds, also known as the New Zealand snipes, which are found in the Outlying Islands of New Zealand. There are currently two widely accepted extant species, two extinct species and several subspecies, but the taxonomy of the genus is currently under debate and these subspecies have been raised to full species by some authors. One as yet undescribed species or subspecies was discovered off Campbell Island as recently as 1997. The genus once ranged from Fiji and New Caledonia, across New Zealand and down into New Zealand's sub-Antarctic islands, but predation by introduced species has drastically declined their range. [more]

Crocethia

A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[2] [more]

Ereunetes

A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[3] [more]

Erolia

A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[4] [more]

Eurynorhynchus

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Eurynorhynchus pygmeus), is a small wader which breeds in northeastern Russia and winters in Southeast Asia. [more]

Gallinago

Gallinago is a genus of birds in the wader family Scolopacidae, containing 16 species. This genus contains the majority of the world's snipe species, the other three extant genera being Coenocorypha, with two species, and Lymnocryptes, the Jack Snipe. Morphologically, they are all similar, with a very long slender bill and cryptic plumage. Most have distinctive displays, usually given at dawn or dusk. They search for invertebrates in the mud with a "sewing-machine" action of their long bills. [more]

Heteropygia

[more]

Heteroscelus

The tattlers are the two very similar bird species in the shorebird genus Tringa. They formerly had their own genus, Heteroscelus. The old genus name means "different leg" in Greek, referring to the leg scales that differentiate the tattlers from their close relatives, the shanks. [more]

Limicola

The Broad-billed Sandpiper (Limicola falcinellus) is a small wading bird. It is the only member of the genus Limicola; some have proposed that it should be placed in the genus Erolia with the "stint" sandpipers[], but more recent research (Thomas et al., 2004) suggests that it is should rather go into the genus Philomachus with the ruff and possibly the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper; it certainly is a fairly unusual calidrid. [more]

Limnocryptes

Limnodromus

The three dowitchers are medium-sized long-billed wading birds. They resemble godwits in body and bill shape, and the reddish underparts in summer, but are much shorter legged, more like snipe to which they are also somewhat closer related (Thomas et al., 2004). All three are strongly migratory. [more]

Limosa

The godwits are a group of large, long-billed, long-legged and strongly migratory waders of the bird genus Limosa. Their long, bills allow them to probe deeply in the sand for aquatic worms and molluscs. They frequent tidal shorelines, breeding in northern climates in summer and migrating south in winter. In their winter range, they flock together where food is plentiful. A female Bar-tailed Godwit holds the record for the longest non-stop flight for a land bird. [more]

Lobipes

A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[5] [more]

Lymnocryptes

The Jack Snipe, Lymnocryptes minimus is a small stocky wader. It is the smallest snipe, and the only member of the genus Lymnocryptes. Features such as its sternum make it quite distinct from other snipes or woodcocks. [more]

Micropalama

A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[6] [more]

Numenius

Numenius can refer to: [more]

Palaeotringa

Paractitis

Pelidna

[more]

Phalarope

A phalarope or wadepiper is any of three living species of slender-necked shorebirds in the genus Phalaropus of the bird family Scolopacidae. They are close relatives of the shanks and tattlers, the Actitis and Terek Sandpipers, and also of the turnstones and calidrids. They are especially notable for two things: their unusual nesting behavior, and their unique feeding technique. [more]

Phaloropus

[more]

Philohela

A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[7] [more]

Philomachus

The Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) is a medium-sized wading bird that breeds in marshes and wet meadows across northern Eurasia. This highly gregarious sandpiper is migratory and sometimes forms huge flocks in its winter grounds, which include southern and western Europe, Africa, southern Asia and Australia. It is usually considered to be the only member of its genus, and the Broad-billed and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers are its closest relatives. [more]

Prosobonia

The two to four species of Polynesian sandpipers, the only members of the genus Prosobonia, are small wading birds confined to remote Pacific islands of French Polynesia. Only one species now exists, and it is rare and little known. This bird is sometimes separated in the genus Aechmorhynchus, restricting the genus to the extinct southern forms. [more]

Pseudototanus

The Nordmann's Greenshank or Spotted Greenshank Tringa guttifer is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae, the typical waders. [more]

Rhynchaeites

Scolapax

[more]

Scolopax

The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of wading birds in the genus Scolopax. Only two woodcocks are widespread, the others being localized island endemics. Most are found in the Northern Hemisphere but a few range into Wallacea. Their closest relatives are the typical snipes of the genus Gallinago. [more]

Steganopus

The Wilson's Phalarope, Phalaropus tricolor, is a small wader. This bird, the largest of the phalaropes, breeds in the prairies of North America in western Canada and the western United States. It is migratory, wintering around the central Andes in South America. They are passage migrants through Central America around March/April and again during September/October. The species is a rare vagrant to western Europe. [more]

Totanus

Tringa

Tringa is a genus of waders, containing the shanks and tattlers. They are mainly freshwater birds, often with brightly colored legs as reflected in the English names of six species, as well as the specific names of two of these and the Green Sandpiper. They are typically associated with northern hemisphere temperate regions for breeding. Some of this group ? notably the Green Sandpiper ? nest in trees, using the old nests of other birds, usually thrushes. [more]

Tryngites

The Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Tryngites subruficollis, is a small shorebird. It is a calidrid sandpipers and currently considered to be the only member of the genus Tryngites. Indeed, it probably belongs in the genus Calidris itself, or more precisely with the small species thereof which should be split into a distinct genus (Thomas et al., 2004). Depending on whether this would include the Curlew Sandpiper or not, the name Erolia would or would not, respectively, apply. [more]

Xenus

The Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus) is a small migratory Palearctic wader species, the only member of the genus Xenus. [more]

More info about the Genus Xenus may be found here.

References

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  1. ^ a b Harrison, Colin J.O. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph. ed. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 103?105. ISBN 1-85391-186-0. 
  2. ^ Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A.; Sz?kely, Tam?s (2004). "A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny". BMC Evol. Biol. 4: 28. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-4-28. PMC 515296. PMID 15329156. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=515296. 
  3. ^ Wetmore, Alexander (1937). "The Eared Grebe and other Birds from the Pliocene of Kansas" (PDF). Condor 39 (1): 40. http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Condor/files/issues/v039n01/p0040-p0040.pdf. 
  4. ^ a b c d Piersma, Theunis (1996). "Family Scolopacidae (Snipes, Sandpipers and Phalaropes)". In del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Sarg atal, Jordi. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3, Hoatzin to Auks. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 444?487. ISBN 84-87334-20-2. 
  5. ^ Estrella, Sora; Masero, Jos? A. (2007). "The use of distal rhynchokinesis by birds feeding in water". Journal of Experimental Biology 210 (21): 3757?3762. doi:10.1242/?jeb.007690. http://jeb.biologists.org/content/210/21/3757.full. 

Footnotes

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  1. http://www.ubio.org/browser/details.php?namebankID=21994
  2. http://www.ubio.org/browser/details.php?namebankID=22022
  3. http://www.ubio.org/browser/details.php?namebankID=22037
  4. http://www.ubio.org/browser/details.php?namebankID=22039
  5. http://www.ubio.org/browser/details.php?namebankID=22093
  6. http://www.ubio.org/browser/details.php?namebankID=22116
  7. http://www.ubio.org/browser/details.php?namebankID=22183
  1. ^ a b Harrison, Colin J.O. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph. ed. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 103–105. ISBN 1-85391-186-0. 
  2. ^ Thomas et al. (200 4)
  3. ^ A distal right tarsometatarsus of a bird roughly similar to a Pectoral Sandpiper. Probably calidrid or basal to them, somewhat reminiscent of turnstones: Wetmore (1937).

Sources

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Last Revised: August 24, 2012
2012/08/24 13:42:47