Post-script to Pectoral Sandpiper posting

["Richard Johnson" <>]

Hi Chris and other wader fans

I saw a similar occurrence years ago at the mouth of Ross R., Townsville. A Hobby overhead caused a small flock of foraging waders, mostly Red-necked Stints, to freeze. They crouched low to the muddy sustrate and would not break this position despite repeated low swoops by the Hobby, which seemed unable to take birds from the ground. Of course, the stints knew what they were doing; to lift off the ground would have been instant death. The Hobby eventually tired of this and flew off. Quite a spectacle.
Funnily enough, the big flocks of larger-sized waders (godwits, knots) at Broome would take off en masse when a raptor flew over them. Perhaps a different defensive technique was in play, namely the 'safety in numbers' strategy which uses large numbers of moving targets to confuse the attacker.

Richard

Chris Tzaros wrote:

Birders,

Forgot to mention before,

It was amazing to witness an account of "evasive freezing" exhibited by the
waders at the Woodvale Ponds in the presence of an Australian Hobby.  The
Hobby circled the ponds for some time, during which most of the small
waders (i.e. Sharpies, Marshies, Stints, Dotterels, Plovers and even the
young Avocets) crouched low to the ground/water until danger passed.

Common behaviour?

Cheers,

Chris Tzaros

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Richard Johnson
Habitat Case Studies Project Officer
Qld Parks & Wildlife Service
Southwest District
Tel: (07) 4622 4266  Fax: (07) 46 22 4151
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