Today's featured feathered friend is the Whimbrel. Over the past several winters, Whimbrels have been reported from Fort Myers to Clearwater and many places in between, including right here on Lemon Bay, in Englewood. We tried several times to find one, but we dipped (failed to find our target bird). Last Wednesday, we ventured north to Fort De Soto Park in Pinellas County and there it was.
Whimbrels are large shorebirds with long, down-curved bills. They have a distinct head pattern, with dark-and-light alternating stripes. The rest of the plumage is plain mottled-brown overall and does not change seasonally. The bill is solid black in summer and has a pinkish or reddish base during winter. The average Whimbrel is 17 inches long (tip of bill to tip of tail), weighs slightly less than a pound and has a wingspan of 33 inches.
Whimbrels are the most widespread of migrating shorebirds, nesting in the Arctic across North America and Eurasia, they winter on the shorelines of six continents. Some Whimbrels make nonstop flights of 2,500 miles. Enjoy some of our Whimbrel photos, our most recent life bird.....tweet.....tweet!!
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| Up close and personal. |
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| Wading with a smaller Willet and a larger Marbled Godwit. (Taken 3/11/15, Fort De Soto Park, St. Petersburgh FL) http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Whimbrel/id http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whimbrel |
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