The Restoration of Batiquitos Lagoon | The Ecological Story | Intertidal Habitats

Intertidal Birds

Snowy Plovers

The intertidal habitat is an important source of food, shelter, and nesting grounds for many birds in the wading bird and waterfowl guilds. Some members of the shorebird guild, such as American avocet and black-necked stilt, and the gull guild also use the intertidal habitat. This habitat also supports other intertidal birds.

Wading Birds

Species in the wading bird guild have long necks and legs and long pointed bills, which they use to spear fish or other food. They also have large, broad, rounded wings; a short tail; and a long, slow wing beat. During the breeding season, many wading birds develop long plumes.

Wading birds frequent the shores of slow-moving tidal areas, marshes, or ponds. Most wading birds feed in the water or along the shoreline, but some species also feed in upland habitats. Because of their long legs, wading birds can forage in deeper water than shorebirds and walk through tall marsh vegetation in search of food.

Wading birds to look for at the Batiquitos Lagoon in the spring and fall include four herons (egrets are herons).

The great egret, with its stealthy walk and about-to-strike posture, feeds in marshes, as well as in fields and along roadsides.
The snowy egret, which resembles the great egret, can be identified by its "golden slippers" (black legs with yellow feet). Both the great egret and the snowy egret often feed in small groups.
The green heron, with its squat body and bright red legs, feeds along the shoreline at the lagoon and is the smallest North American heron.
The great blue heron, with its long body, sleek crest, and beautiful blue-gray plumage, is the largest wading bird at the lagoon. It typically feeds alone.

Mallards

Waterfowl

The waterfowl guild is a diverse group of aquatic birds that frequent the shores of coastal or inland waters and include ducks, swans, and geese. Waterfowl have webbed feet, long necks, short legs, and flattened bills with tooth-like edges. Waterfowl species feed by dabbling in shallow water with their strainer-like bills, or by diving for plants, fish, and mollusks. Because they spend so much time in the water, waterfowl are well insulated with downy feathers and fat. Most waterfowl species are migratory, and many travel great distances between their nesting and wintering grounds. Species in the waterfowl guilds at Batiquitos Lagoon vary throughout the year but include three categories of waterfowl.

Surface-feeding ducks (ducks that search for food by tipping "bottoms up" in shallow water), such as the mallard and northern pintail, swim along the surface, straining water through the tooth-like edges of their bills in search of food. In shallow water, they also reach down for food on the lagoon bottom.
Bay ducks (ducks that search for food by diving from the surface), such as the redhead, feed on plants, crustaceans, and invertebrates from the lagoon bottom.
Stiff-tailed ducks (small ducks with often upright tails that search for food by diving or sinking), such as the ruddy duck, are small stubby ducks with upright tails. The male ruddy duck has cinnamon-color plumage and a blue bill.

Sandpipers

Shorebirds

The most abundant guild at Batiquitos Lagoon is the shorebird guild. Species in the shorebird guild are a diverse group of wading or swimming birds that frequent the shores of coastal or inland waters. Although most shorebirds feed along the shoreline, some feed in upland habitats. Shorebirds have long pointed wings, long legs, and relatively narrow pointed bills. Most shorebirds are migratory and many travel great distances between their nesting and wintering grounds. Some small shorebirds use the lagoon as a place to rest and feed as they travel between their nesting grounds in Alaska or northern Canada and their wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America.

Batiquitos Lagoon provides habitat for both small and large shorebirds.

Small shorebirds are typically smaller than large shorebirds and have proportionately shorter legs and bills. Small shorebirds usually feed in shallow water and mudflats on insects, invertebrates, and small crustaceans. They capture food using visual or tactile (by touch) methods. For example, birds using tactile methods may probe the mudflats with their bills. Small shorebirds often are very quick and elusive.

Small shorebirds that you may see throughout the year include the least sandpiper, semipalmated sandpiper, western sandpiper, and snowy plover. Two other small shorebirds that you might see are the western sandpiper and the snowy plover.

The western sandpiper is the most common small shorebird in the lagoon. In the fall and spring, you can see flocks of these birds scurrying along the water's edge. You have to look carefully for these tiny birds because they are less than 6 inches tall!
The snowy plover is federally listed as a threatened species. In 1997, biologists located 38 snowy plover nests at Batiquitos Lagoon.

Large shorebirds have long legs and bills. These birds typically feed on insects, invertebrates, and small crustaceans in shallow to deeper water and mudflats. They capture food using visual or tactile methods. Tactile methods include probing the mudflats or sweeping through the water with their bills.

At any time of year, resident large shorebirds that you might see include two particularly graceful birds: the American avocet and the black-necked stilt.

The American avocet, with its red head and dainty upturned bill, feeds tactilly by sweeping its bill back and forth through the water and soft mud in search of crustaceans and insects.
The black-necked stilt, with its striking black and white plumage and red eyes and legs, makes its nest in the mud or small mounds of vegetation near water. If water levels rise too close to the nest, the stilt adds more material to raise the nest above the water level.

Whimbrel

The black bellied plover, which sprints quickly from place to place along the shore, is typically in winter plumage when it stops by the lagoon. You probably won't get to see this bird, with its black face, chest, and belly and salt and pepper wings.
The whimbrel, with its stately striped head and long curved bill, uses its bill to probe mudflats in search of invertebrates.
The long-billed curlew, with its immensely long bill and cinnamon plumage, also uses its bill to probe the mud, but because its bill is twice as long as the whimbrel's, it can reach food deeper in the mud.
The long- and short-billed dowitchers, with their short necks and long, straight bills, use their bills to stab the mud in a feeding method called stitching, because it resembles the bobbing action of a sewing machine needle.

Gulls

Species in the gull guild have webbed feet, long pointed wings, and stout hooked bills. They are large birds that frequent the shores of coastal or inland waters but also are found at other inland locations. Many gull species are migratory and travel great distances between their nesting and wintering grounds. Gulls are primarily scavengers and feed by picking at food floating in the water or on the shoreline. Gulls often collect shellfish, which they carry into the air and drop on rocks or roadways to break open. Some gull species take several years to reach maturity and go through various plumage stages.

Species in the gull guild at Batiquitos Lagoon vary throughout the year but include three common gulls.

The California gull is a 4-year gull, which means it takes 4 years for it to reach breeding age. It winters in the lagoon and breeds on the plains of central Canada and portions of the intermountain west. The adult California gull has two small spots, one red and one blue, on its bill.
The ring-billed gull is a 3-year gull (see first bullet above). When it reaches breeding age, the ring-billed gull has a distinctive black ring near the tip of its bill. The ring-billed gull winters in the lagoon and breeds in the northern United States and southern Canada.
The Bonaparte's gull is a 2-year gull (see first bullet above). During the breeding season, it has a black hood, but in the winter it has no hood, only a dark spot behind the eyes. The Bonaparte's gull winters in the lagoon and breeds in northern Canada.

Other Intertidal Birds

Other birds that use the intertidal habitat include the marsh wren, red-winged blackbird, song sparrow, and Belding's savannah sparrow. The Belding's savannah sparrow, which is on the state list of endangered species, nests in pickleweed. As the pickleweed-dominated salt marsh habitat in Batiquitos Lagoon continues to reestablish, it is expected that Belding's savannah sparrow breeding activity will increase.