A few birds from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
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Spotted Sandpiper:Spotted Sandpiper Ikigcaqaq One of the Yupik names I’ve come across for Spotted sandpiper is Ikigcaqaq, loosely meaning “the one that bends forward with its buttocks stuck out.” The name perfectly describes the way this sandpiper hunts for food along the edges of rivers, lakes, ponds and seashores. As it walks or stands, it bobs its tail up and down in a constant teetering motion. Even when it flies, it seems to continue this motion as it skims low over the water with bursts of shallow wingbeats (“vibrating like taut wire,” someone once observed) and short stiff-winged glides. As it flutters, it utters a sharp, clear, whistled peet-weet, a call that brings back many memories for me of this small sandpiper while canoeing on the Lower Yukon Delta. These memories widen to include the rest of Alaska, the Lower 48 and even Mexico and Central America where I’ve seen them in winter. They are not only North America’s most widespread sandpiper, but also one of the farthest ranging sandpipers in its migration, wintering as far away as southern South America. But, you ask, what happens after they get back to Alaska and the Lower Yukon Delta from their vacation in the south? Unlike most other bird species, the females migrate north first, arriving on their breeding grounds a week ahead of the males. They immediately find and defend a nesting territory, and when the guys arrive they try to attract them with aggressive flight and ground displays. The females are polyandrous and have been known to mate with up to five males in a season. After she and her mate build their nest in a cup- or saucer-shaped depression lined with grasses, mosses and sometimes feathers, she lays her clutch of four eggs (buff, blotched with brown) with the narrow ends pointing toward the center. Then the male takes over and begins incubating the eggs, while she searches for another consort and begins the process all over again. Only in the case of her last clutch of the season might she help the male incubate the eggs. With all the others it is up to the males to remain on the eggs for more than three weeks till the eggs hatch. As soon as they hatch the downy young leave the nest, running over the ground bobbing and teetering their tail just like dad. They are able to feed themselves but dad stays near them, brooding them if it’s rainy or cold, and coaching them in nutrition. As he feeds on insects, worms, crustaceans, snails and even small crabs and fish, the kids take note and do the same. He also does his best to protect them from predators. Since the young know how to swim from the get-go, one of their escape strategies is to dive under the surface of the water. This has saved more than one little fluffy hide from the talons of a hungry hawk or falcon. When the young learn to fly about three weeks later, dad is at last finished from his parental duties and free to think about migration. Even before they’ve taken their first flight, though, their wayward mom is long gone from the scene and moving south. Dad is close behind. But the young have to stay put for another month or more to fatten up and body-build until they feel strong enough to go, too. Then they follow their instincts and the food trail south to warmer climes. Both old and young migrate at night. Their ability to navigate over such long distances in the dark is truly remarkable, especially since they migrate all the way from the Arctic to Central and South America. Remember also that the young are able to find their way alone without any help from the adults. Scientists say they do this by using the earth’s magnetic field as a guide, as though they had a compass built into their brains. And they aren’t the only species that operates this way. One of the most fascinating of them is the Bar-tailed godwit that flies non-stop all the way from the Lower Yukon Delta to Australia – almost 8000 miles! Finally, a few more names for this little shore bird: I have found two other Yupik names: Elagayuli and Elagtertayuli, both meaning “one who really knows how to dig.” Some common English names are: gutter snipe, peep, peet-weet, river snipe, sand lark, sand peep, sand snipe, tilt-up, tip-up, teeter-tail, teeterer, seesaw and teeter peep. Their scientific name is Actitis macularia, which are Greek and Latin words that translate as “shore-dweller with spots.”  |
