Many shorebirds have long legs for wading and long slender bills which they use for probing the beaches, mud flats, and jetties for food.

The feeding grounds to birds like avocets, oystercatchers, plovers, sandpipers and stilts are estuaries, mudflats, and sandy shores because these are places with an abundance of aquatic insects, crustaceans, mollusks and worms are to be found.

Virtually all shorebirds are migratory and most North American shorebirds winter on the southern coasts of the continent but some fly farther south into Mexico. There are a very few shorebirds that nest in the Arctic and are not seen on this continent until they migrate southward. Also, nearly all shorebirds retreat to freshwater wetlands both when nesting and when taking a rest stops during migration.

Shorebirds include: avocet, curlew, dowitcher, dunlin, godwit, killdeer, oystercatcher, sandpiper, stilt, plover, red knot, ruff, sanderling, surfbird, tatler, turnstone, willet, Wilson′s Phalarope, wimbrel, woodcock, and yellowleg.

Orders include: Charadriiformes, three Families.

All of the Shorebirds are in the Order Charadriiformes. Charadriiformes (means having the form of the Eurasian stone-curlew) is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. It includes about 350 species and has members in all parts of the earth.

050am American Oystercatcher, Haematopus palliatus, L 18 inches

050bl Black Oystercatcher, Haematopus bachmani, L 17 inches

051st Black-necked Stilt, Himatopus mexicanus L 14 inches

051av American Avocet, Recurvirostra american L 18 inches

059sp Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularia, L 7 1/2 inches

056bl Black Turnstone, Arenaria melanocephala, L 9 inches

056ru Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres L 9 1/2 inches

055up Upland Sandpipper, Bartramia longicauda, L 12 inches

054re Red Knot, Calidris canutus, L 10 inches

055bu Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Calidris subruficollis, L 8 1/2 inches

060ba Baird′s Sandpiper, Calidris bairdii L 7 1/2 inches

060cu Curlew Sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea L 8 1/2 inches (Eurasian)

060du Dunlin, Calidris alpina L 8 1/2 inches

061le Least Sandpiper, Calidris minutilla L 6 inches

055ru Ruff, Calidris pugnax, L (male) 12 inches, (female) 10 inches (Eurasian)

056su Surfbird, Calidris virgata, L 10 inches

056ro Rock Sandpiper, Calidris ptilocnemis, L 9 inches

056pu Purple Sandpiper, Calidris maritima L 9 inches

059pe Pectorial Sandpiper Calidris melanotos L 8 1/2 inches

061sa Sanderling, Calidris alba L 8 inches

061se Semipalmated Sandpiper, Calidris pusilla L 6 1/2 inches

059sh Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Calidris acuminata L 8 1/2 inches

060st Stilt Sandpiper, Calidris himantopus L 8 1/2 inches

061we Western Sandpiper, Calidris mauri L 6 1/2 inches

060wh White-rumped Sandpiper, Calidris fuscicollis L 7 1/2 inches

057mo Mountain Plover, Charadrius montanus L 9 inches (Endangered)

058ki Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus L 10 inches

058pi Piping Plover, Charadrius melodus L 7 inches (Endangered)

058se Semipalmated Plover, Charadrius semipalmatus L 7 inches

058sn Snowy Plover, Charadrius alexandrinus L 6 1/2 inches

058wi Wilson&prim;s Plover, Charadrius wilsonia L 8 inches

055co Common Snipe, Gallinago Gallinago, L 11 inches

054lo Long-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus scolopaceus, L 11 inches

054sh Short-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus, L 11 inches

051hu Hudsonian Godwit, Limosa Haemastica, L 15 inches

051ma Marbled Godwit, Limosa fedoa, L 18 inches

052es Eskimo Curlew, Numenius borealis, L 14 inches

052eu Eurasian Curlew, Numenius arquata, L 22 inches

052lo Long-billed Curlew, Numenius americanus, L 23 inches

052wh Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus, L 18 inches

059wi Wilson′s Phalarope, Phalaropus tricolor, L 9 inches

057am American Golden Plover, Pluvialis dominicus, L 10 inches

057bl Black-bellied Plover, Pluvialis squatarola, L 11 inches

057pa Pacific Plover, Pluvialis fulva, L 10 inches

055am American Woodcock, Scolopax minor, L 11 inches

053gr Greater Yellowlegs, Tringa melanoleuca, L 14 inches

053le Lesser Yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes, L 11 inches

059so Solitary Sandpiper, Tringa solitaria L 8 1/2 inches

056wan Wandering Tattler, Tringa incanus, L 11 inches

053wi Willet, Tringa semipalmatus, L 15 inches

058no Northern Lapwing, Vanellus vanellus L 12 inches (Errasian)