Ocean Watch
By Susan Scott
Friday, August 31, 2001
When my friend called me last week to join him for coffee, I decided to walk to our meeting place. I was feeling a little down that day and hoped some exercise would perk me up. Plovers return to say
hello to old friendsThe walk perked me up all right, but not for the reason I expected. Along the way, an event occurred that always brings a smile to my face: I spotted my first golden plover of the season.
Pacific golden plovers bring cheer to a lot of Hawaii residents because these migratory shorebirds are both beautiful and charming. Among their charms is their faithfulness to a specific area year after year.
If that area happens to be your yard, you'll have an interesting pet for a long time. Exactly how long, no one knows. Twenty-one years ago, Montana bird researcher Oscar (Wally) Johnson banded a bird he called No. 63 at Bellows Beach Park.
As of last May, No. 63 was still looking good and going strong. And this grand old bird is even older than 21. Judging from its plumage, Johnson knew that at the time of banding that the bird was at least 1 year and 9 months old, but it could have been even older.
That means that this 4- to 6-ounce bird has made at least 45 nonstop trips between Hawaii and Alaska. Another fact that endears plovers to humans is their scrappiness. If another bird ventures into their space, you'll know about it because plovers often screech and scratch like cats over disputed territory. It's amazing what a racket these sweet-looking birds can make when upset.
The plovers we are seeing now are adults, which leave their Alaska nesting grounds in August. Their offspring don't get here until October or November.
Young birds are put to the test during their first year of life. They have to fly thousands of miles in a few days, find Hawaii on their own and then fight rested and nourished adults for grazing territory.
But once they get established, plovers hang on to their territories with a passion, even taking on larger bird species. A reader once wrote me that her plover charges mynah birds until they eventually leave the yard.
Not only do people here get attached to their plovers; plovers get attached to their people. Some birds (especially when fed) even know their yard's owners. When the owners come up the walk, the birds continue nonchalantly searching the lawn for bugs and worms. But when a stranger approaches, the birds raise a ruckus and prance away.
And prance they do. The gait of the golden plover is another of its appealing charms. This bird runs and stops with the grace of a ballet dancer and sometimes rests with one leg raised in a willowy pose.
Even though plovers are grouped in the shorebird category, and they cross thousands of miles of open ocean, they are mostly land birds. These birds stay inland because that's where the food is.
Food for plovers is anything they can find. In Alaska they eat mosquitoes, which, in the spring and early summer, darken the air with their thick swarms.
In Hawaii plovers eat cockroaches, bees, ants and countless other alien invertebrates, including blind snakes, skinks and geckos. Sometimes, our plovers even eat flowers and leaves.
Our plovers will be here until early May, defending their grazing areas, eating bug pests and brightening our days with their many charms. Look for these plucky native birds in beach parks, golf courses and cemeteries.
Marine science writer Susan Scott's Ocean Watch column
appears weekly in the Star-Bulletin. Contact her at http://www.susanscott.net.
