Shorebirds in Missouri

Shorebirds from all over migrate through Missouri in the spring and fall on their way to warmer destinations, and Innsbrook usually looks like a pretty good pit stop to them! We’ve been enjoying our beautiful resident birds all summer, but here are some shorebirds that might travel through in September.

American White Pelican
These unique-looking birds typically fly with their heads back on their body, not with their necks extended. More pelicans migrate through the western half of Missouri than the eastern half, but they have been spotted at Innsbrook before, as evidenced by this spring 2008 photo by property owner Bob Goulding.

“Catching a glimpse of migrating pelicans requires stealth and luck, but it can be done,” says Francis Skalicky of the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). “The time immediately before sunrise is a good time to find a flock of pelicans at rest. Pelicans are easily spooked, so stealth is imperative.”

Groups of pelicans sometimes form circles and hunt cooperatively, herding fish into a concentrated pack. Unlike brown pelicans, white pelicans do not dive into water from flight to catch fish. Their winter territory begins just south of Missouri.

American Woodcock
There are places in Missouri where these shorebirds find the appropriate nesting conditions and remain as year-round residents. They live in open forests, young woodlands near water, moist pastures and forested floodplains. The MDC reports that this species might be decreasing on the continent as their preferred habitat grows into mature forests.

MDC photo

Lesser Yellowlegs
These medium-sized shorebirds have long, bright yellow legs. One interesting fact about these birds are that while both the male and female Lesser Yellowlegs provide parental care to the young, the female tends to leave the breeding area before the chicks can fly, leaving the male to defend the young until fledgling. (Source)

Wolfgang Wander photo

Lesser Yellowlegs spend summer in Alaska and Canada and migrate through Missouri on their way to Central and South America for the winter.

Upland Sandpiper
There are parts of Missouri in which the Upland Sandpiper is a year-round resident. But in our area, it is a migratory shorebird. They spend summers mostly in the northern U.S. and parts of Canada, and pass through Missouri on their way to their winter home South America.

We also have nesting shorebirds in this area of Missouri, like the Killdeer.

Though they are in the shorebird family, killdeer are actually common to lawns and golf courses. They run across the ground in spurts, stopping with a jolt every so often to check their progress, or to see if they’ve startled up any insect prey.

While they may not live in the same type of habitat as fellow shorebirds, kill deer are proficient swimmers. Adults swim well in swift-flowing water, and chicks can swim across small streams. (Source)

No matter how long they stay, or during which season they visit, we enjoy snapping and sharing pictures of birds at Innsbrook. If you have taken any you would like to share, please email them to information@innsbrook-resort.com. Your photo might just be our next Photo of the Day on Facebook!

What bird delights you most when you see it at Innsbrook?