Hi Greg,Saw this flock of small shorebirds on a north Puget Sound beach yesterday. Sorry for the phone quality photo.
Anyone know what they are?
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My impression is that they are ruddy turnstones. Here is my reasoning. First, habitat; on boulders at the water's edge - very typical for turnstones. And in a flock of 20ish birds, also typical of turnstones in the fall. The bill is relatively stubby (and dark, ruling out surfbirds) and the body appears to be larger than a typical sandpiper. If you saw a white stripe running down the lower back, that would clinch the ID (and separate these birds from non-breeding red knots which have a uniformly gray back). I lean toward ruddy turnstone vs. black turnstone because a number of the birds show a lighter head coloration (typical of juvenile ruddy turnstones. The head of a black turnstone is always dark.) and there appear to be fewer dark feathers on the chest (though hard to see from this angle and distance).
Steve
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