Atlantic Shores: Beaches & Dunes

We have all at one time or another been to a beach and either took a stroll or stood at the edge where the water and sand meet. Behind us are dunes which are formed by the flow of the wind and high storm tides and soon vegetation grows high and dense. Around us we see and hear gulls flying overhead, sandpipers and plovers skirting and jabbing the wet sand not too far from where we are. These are the scenic memories we have of beaches, but the beaches and dunes provide an important and vital habitat for birds.

Many species of birds such as terns, gulls, plovers, and sandpipers can be seen at the beaches. Some gulls only come south in the winter, while a few stay year round. The Herring Gull is the most abundant on the Atlantic coast while on the West coast is the Western Gull and further North the Glaucous-winged Gull. The largest gull is the Great Black-backed Gull which has recently begun expanding south to the Carolinas.

Depending upon the season, we can find Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones feeding in the sandy and muddy shorelines of the Atlantic coast. Further along the Northern beaches, Common Terns will hover and dive into the water after small fishes.

During the spring and fall migration, beaches provide feeding areas for many species of shorebirds. The most important area is the Delaware Bay where plovers, sandpipers, and other shorebirds migrating North from South America stop and feed on the horseshoe crabs eggs, which are desposited in the sand the end of May, for a few weeks and then head to the Arctic to their breeding grounds.

Birds of Beaches & Dunes
(Not all birds are listed)

Birds	Breeding Facts	Number of Broods
American Oystercatcher	Mid April through June and ends by early July	1*
Black Skimmer	Early May to early June and ends by mid August	1
Boat-tailed Grackle	Mid March to late April	2-3
Bonaparte's Gull	Mid June	1
Common Tern	Breeding begins mid May	1
Double-crested Cormorant	Mid March to mid June	1*
Fish Crow	Early April to early May	1*
Herring Gull	Early May to mid June and ends by early August	1
Horned Lark	Beginning of March to mid June	2-3*
Laughing Gull	Mid April to late May	1
Oldsquaw	Late May through June	1
Peregrine Falcon	Early March to mid May	1
Piping Plover	Anywhere from late April to late August	1*
Ring-billed Gull	Early May to mid June and ends by early August	1
Royal Tern	Early April through mid May	1
Sanderling	Late June through July	1-2
Semipalmated Plover	Early to late June	1-2
Spotted Sandpiper	Begins mid May through mid June	1
Surf Scoter	Mid June	1
White-winged Scoter	Mid June	1

(*) Clutches are replaced if lost