Ingo Waschkies was at Amrum, one of the North Frisian Islands on the German North Sea, just before Christmas last year. He brought back a photograph of a Sanderling (Calidris alba) catching a shrimp. The temperature then was around -10º C and the bird had the frozen shrimp for lunch.

The Sanderling breeds in Siberia, Alaska, Canada and North Greenland, feeding on insects and crustaceans. It winters on the Indian subcontenent, Sri Lanka, South Japan, South China, the Malay Peninsular, down to Borneo, Java, the Philippines, Wallacea and Australia.

Sanderling is listed as an uncommon winter visitor in Singapore. Here, it frequents “beaches rather than mudflats, so you won’t see them very often in typical wader haunts like Sungei Buloh,” writes Ingo.

Image by Ingo Waschkies.

This post is a cooperative effort between NaturePixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.

“A pair of Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) was observed in August 2009 having a squabble at Seletar Mudflat. Before this picture was taken they were chasing each other over the mudflat for a good two minutes. Then everything got heated up and they starting fighting with their feet. The fight ended when one was pinned down momentarily by the victor!”

Tan Tze Siong
Singapore
18th December 2009

Note:
An earlier post shows a pair of usually peaceful Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) fighting over a feeding territory. The birds usually indulge in a “mandibular clash” using their long bills to settle a territorial dispute. In the above image the two Common Sandpipers are confronting each other using their feet, and most probably also their bills.

TS Tan sent in a dramatic image of a Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fluva) catching a polychaete worm, taken at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in October 2009. With such a long worm, the plover will need some maneuvering to swallow it. At the same time there will be a possibility of the worm being snatched by another bird.

These plovers are common winter visitors and passage migrants and can be seen in large numbers through October-November and January-March. However, they can be seen in small numbers any months of the year. The birds congregate in mudflats, marches, along rivers and even on golf courses and open fields. They feed alone or in large flocks on insects, spiders, molluscs, worms, crustaceans and sometimes seeds and berries.

The images of the Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) by Mike Tan a.k.a. woof was taken in early November 2009. The image above shows the bird standing in shallow water picking an insect from the surface. It then proceeds to bash the insect into submission against the water as shown in the image below before swallowing it.

According to Wells (1999), the Common Sandpiper mainly takes crabs. Gils & Wiersma (1996) lists insects and their larvae, spiders, mollusks, crustaceans and annelid worms; sometimes it also takes frogs, tadpoles, small fish and occasionally plant materials. Occasionally it has the habit of washing prey before eating it.

References:
1. Gils, van J. & P. Wiersma, 1996. Family Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes and Phalaropes. In del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott & J. Sargatal (eds.), Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 3. Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Editions, Barcelona. Pp. 444-533.
2. Wells, D.R., 1999. The birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsular. Vol. I, Non-passerines. Academic Press, London. 648 pp.

This post is a cooperative effort between NaturePixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.

The Grey-tailed Tattler (Heteroscelus brevipes), an uncommon winter visitor and passage migrant, was photographed at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in October 2009 with what looks like a crab in its bill.

“It was a fine weather and I decided to head down to Sungei Buloh to look for two rare winter visitors - the Broad-billed Sandpiper (Limicola falcinellus) and the tattler. It’s either one but not possible to be both as both have never been sighted together.

”So I decided to take a risk and go in the direction of the Tattler last sighted by me a week ago in hide 2E to 2D. I guess luck was with me this time. I found the tattler feeding frenzily on the mudflat for tiny crabs and scrimps. It only lasted for less than an hour before it decided to keep a distance away, probably sensing my presence, and soon nowhere to be found. Other photographers then came but saw no bird. What a day to hunt for this elusive rare winter visitor and passage migrant in Sungei Buloh.”

Ben Lee
Singapore
27th October 2009

Note: Grey-tailed Tattler breeds in NE Siberia and winters in S China, the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Borneo, Java, Bali and to the Philippines, New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand. The birds migrate mainly along the coast, sometimes a little inland along wetlands. The main route passes through east of Singapore, through the Philippines. Most first year birds remain south during the northern summer.