What do the shorebirds need when they are in Maine?
Food resources and suitable roosting sites in close proximity to feeding areas are the two most critical factors in determining shorebird distribution.
An individual bird only stays on the staging area between 10 and 20 days. In that short period of time, that bird must double its body weight to acquire the fat reserves needed to fuel the next leg of their migration, a nonstop, over the ocean flight to South America.
Once over the ocean they are committed. If birds do not have the reserves to reach South America they plummet into the sea or may reach their wintering areas only to die shortly after.
- Habitats used by migrating shorebirds range from intertidal mudflats to sandy beaches, to rocky intertidal areas.
- Staging shorebirds need feeding areas with high concentrations of intertidal invertebrates and roosting areas such as sand/gravel bars, rock islands and ledges, and saltmarsh panes that remain above the high water mark during high tide, allowing the birds to rest and preen.
