Sable Island Birds:

Transients 1   

(November 2002)

Sable Island is not an important migratory corridor for terrestrial bird species (e.g. wood warblers and thrushes).   It is probable that many of the common migrant land birds and most of the "rare" birds observed on the island are actually off course from their regular routes.  However, Sable Island is considered significant for migrating shorebirds and several marine species. 

During spring and more so in autumn, many hundreds of shorebirds are found at the water's edge along the north and south beaches and on the sandflats around saltwater Lake Wallace - among the most numerous are Black-bellied and American Golden Plovers, Semipalmated Plover, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Red Knot, Sanderling, and Least, Semipalmated and White-rumped Sandpipers.  Feeding on polychaete worms, and also small amphipods, these shorebirds sometimes remain in the area for two or three weeks, accumulating resources before beginning their extensive travels to and from wintering grounds.  

In 1970 and 1971 Sable Island was used as a monitoring site in a study of migrating shorebirds.  Using returns from fifteen species captured and banded on the island, as well as data on bird weight, and dates of arrivals and departures combined with weather records, researchers were able to learn much about the southward migration of shorebirds in eastern North America.  Among the many shorebirds scampering at the waters edge and on the sandflats, banded individuals are occasionally noticed.  An example is a Semipalmated Sandpiper seen, in August 1995, feeding on the flats near Lake Wallace.  It had been banded as an adult at Coroa do Aviao Island, Itamaraca, Pernambuco, Brazil, in April 1990.

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