Little Brown Birds (LBBs)
Story and photographs
by Paul Roberts
W
hen was the last time
you were walking
on the beach and
disturbed a flock of
little birds that scurried ahead to get out
of your way? You kept walking and got
too close again. Finally, they took flight
and flew 50 yards down the beach to
resume their foraging. What were those
little birds? I call them “little brown
birds” (LBBs). My New Year’s resolution
this year was to learn their names. I’ll
show you a few I’ve learned.
The LBBs most common on our
beach are sanderling, piping plover,
semipalmated plover, Wilson’s plover,
least sandpiper, western sandpiper,
semipalmated sandpiper, and if you
are willing to go a little larger, you
can include dunlin, red knot, ruddy
turnstone, and maybe even a black-
bellied plover.
The first problem you will face is
that for a portion of the year some
of the little brown birds are not very
brown. A sanderling is a pale gray in the
wintertime. Further, the spring breeding
plumage for some species is not the
same as the winter plumage. Breeding
plumage is spotted brown with a rufous
neck. Further, to confuse you, a juvenile
has a spangled back and a white bib at
the neck.
Another example of different
plumage in the breeding season is the
dunlin. During breeding season dunlins
have a very distinctive dark belly that
is not there during the remainder of
the year. In the two photos at right, you
can see the difference in the same bird
between the two seasons.
8
Above and below: Sanderlings.
Above and below: Dunlins.
Naturally Kiawah