Migrant birds

 

Start showing up here around the end of March.  It gets busy in April, then they’re mostly gone by the middle of May.  They’re on their way north to breeding grounds.  The three birds I sent out yesterday, the American golden plover, upland sandpiper, and pectoral sandpiper, they’ll soon be long-gone, not to be seen in these southern parts again until fall.  They winter well south of us in Central and South America.  They breed as far north as the tundra in Canada and Alaska.  They are just passing through.

 

Here are the range maps:

 

Upland Sandpiper.  A relative lightweight.  Some of them only go as far north as the U.S. Midwest to stop and breed (although some do go on to Canada and Alaska).

 

 

Pectoral Sandpiper.  A pretty serious migrant, even though some of them only go as far south as way north South America.

 

The American Golden Plover.  A champion migrator.  All the way from way south South America to the far north tundra and back, every year.