birding-aus

Waders, their bills, on the breeding grounds

To: birding-aus <>
Subject: Waders, their bills, on the breeding grounds
From: Jill Dening <>
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:53:06 +1000
From all the  replies, to my question below, which have come forward (some of which were really interesting) I don't think we have come up with any convincing points of advantage for different bills when waders feed on the breeding grounds. (Except the fascinating one from Bruce about the Black-tailed Godwit taking rice, and that may be unrelated to evolution.) As Laurie points out the breeding birds are spread over a vast area of differing habitats. The point of focusing on long distant migrants is because their breeding and wintering habitats are so very different. The question would be the same if it were the case with resident shorebirds.

There doesn't have to be a convincing reason, I just wondered if there was one about which I didn't know.

Thanks to you all for your thoughts.

Cheers,

Jill
Jill Dening
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

26° 51' 41"S	152° 56' 00"E


Jill Dening wrote:
Hi All,

I was recently asked a question about waders which totally fazed me. I was asked if the length of the bill of different species of wader is of any advantage on the breeding grounds.

This came up in respect to my saying that here, where waders live in coastal regions, the length of the bill can allow different species to feed together in intertidal estuaries without competing. I described the intertidal substrate as like a department store with several floors, where different species bought their food on different floors. And then one thinking person asked the question above.

I want to be able to get back to this person with an answer. I didn't find any reference to it in my library. I have never been to the breeding grounds, but there the waders are scattered over thousands of kms, where I imagine the bill length is no competitive advantage. They are not communal breeders. I have never heard the bill length discussed in any context relating to the breeding grounds.

Can anyone help? Can the bill length help some species to eat certain food on the breeding grounds?

Cheers,

Jill
-- 
Jill Dening
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

26° 51' 41"S	152° 56' 00"E

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