Coast Bird Identification

Seagulls are common coast birds.

Known as waterfowl and seabirds, there are a variety of avian species native to coastal regions throughout the world, inhabiting six of the seven continents with Antarctica being the exception. Physical and behavioral characteristics of these birds can lend to their identification when birdwatching in coastal areas around the globe.

Size and Shape

The relative size and shape of the bird can tell you what family it belongs to, since most birds in a family resemble one another on this basic level. For example, although there are a variety of plovers, gulls, petrels, sandpipers, oystercatchers and pelicans, each of these families has a distinctive size and shape in comparison to the others, allowing you to narrow down identification accordingly.

Eating and Hunting

Eating and hunting can tell you a lot about the species you are identifying. Shore birds and coast birds fall into four basic categories for feeding and hunting: feeding on the surface, plunge diving, pursuit diving and preying on higher vertebrates. Seabirds that feed on the top surface of the ocean, called surface diving, include gadfly petrels, storm-petrels, frigatebirds, gulls and fulmars. These birds swoop down, dipping their head into the water to catch krill, squid and forage fish. The chinstrap penguin, diving petrels and auks are examples of pursuit diving species which propel themselves through the water, allowing them to hunt more efficiently in the water. Plunge divers dive completely into the water to catch food below the surface and include brown pelicans, tropicbirds, boobies, gannets and some tern species. Some species do not hunt in the water at all, hunting prey on land instead.

Plumage and Markings

Many species can be identified by their markings and plumage, especially within a single family. Pay attention to distinctive markings like stripes, bands and spots, caps and masks on the head and face and distinctive colors. The sooty tern has white-gray underparts, black wings and a black mask and beak. The double-crested cormorant is almost completely black with a bright orange mask. South polar skuas are black with white bands on their wings. Arctic terns are gray and white with black on the cap of the head and a bright red-orange beak.

Feet and Beaks

Beak, leg and foot characteristics can reveal additional details about a coast bird's behavior and identification. Webbed feet are designed for moving through the water, while birds with toes in front and back are more likely to perch in trees. Long, narrow beaks, like the great blue heron's beak, are designed for catching fish, while shorter beaks and bills, like those on the steller's eider or the common seagull, are intended for filtering out water when catching food in the water.

Time Frame

The time frame also can provide clues about a coastal bird's identification, since many coast birds are migratory. Many coast birds only spend part of their time along the coast, and might nest further inland. For others it is the opposite. The California gull, for example, feeds and nests inland, then winters on the coast. Elegant terns nest along Baja California before traveling to the central coast after the breeding season. Many species of auks travel southbound as winter approaches, but tend to not have a specific migration effort in mind.

References

• "Sea and Coastal Birds: of North America"; Scott Leslie; 2008