How do Ruddy Turnstones Arenaria interpres prepare to cross the Pacific?
Info
Pages
33 – 35
Published
1 April 08
Authors
N. C. Davidson, R. E. Gill
Correspondence
N. C. Davidson
davidson@ramsar.org
Chemin des Jordils, 1261 Le Vaud, Switzerland.
Files
Public Files
We discuss evidence that some Ruddy Turnstones use the Trans-Pacific Flyway and make long distance non-stop flights from Alaska or nearby islands to the Hawaiian archipelago and beyond. In the past they made use of abundant food resources associated with the killing of large numbers of Northern Fur Seals. This no longer occurs, so we evaluate the food supplies currently available to underpin the migration and the strategy the birds adopt, and make a call for better evaluation of shorebird migration strategies on this least-known of shorebird flyways.