A Grasspiper
BIRDS OF NANTUCKET
by Kenneth Turner Blackshaw

How many of you are old enough to remember a 1960's dance craze known as "the shake?" I have the folks at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. to thank for bringing this one to mind. As I was researching this week's bird I noticed their comment that its mating activity made them think of that dance. Unfortunately what I remember of that dance is that it was just another opportunity for me to demonstrate my lack of coordination.

This week's bird goes by the name Buff-breasted Sandpiper. If you read last week's column you are no doubt wondering if I have a fixation on female anatomy since last week's bird was the Bay-breasted Warbler. I'm sure those of you who know me personally will attest to my innocence.

Okay, you've got the image of a sandpiper in your mind, no doubt thinking of the clockwork toylike Sanderlings that tempt the surf on Nantucket's beaches. Hold that image, stretch it out a bit, give it yellow legs and yes - a nice buff coloration from the throat fading gently to white under the tail. The bill is short and black and the buff coloring around the dark eye makes it seem like it is staring at you. In flight, the buff breast contrasts strongly with the bright white underwing coloring.

Now change your setting from the sandy beach to a grassy pasture like you might find around Bartlett's Farm. This is the "grasspiper" connection. Indeed this habitat is where you may find both Black-bellied and Golden Plover. "Buffies" are often described as plover-like sandpipers.

Their scientific name, Tryngites subruficollis, translates to a sandpiper-like bird that is reddish below the neck. They are "reddish" above the neck as well but compared to some scientific names, this is a good one. Buff-breasted Sandpipers are the only living member of the genus Tryngites so that gives you an idea how unusual scientists feel they are. The indigenous people of the far north call them Aklaktaq - a spotted bird.

These shorebirds, just under eight inches long, are long distance fliers, journeying to the ends of the western hemisphere to fulfill their annual cycle. In our summer they fly to the northernmost Arctic shores in Canada, Alaska and Siberia. Our winter finds them enjoying the austral summer in southern Argentina.

Buffies are unique among American shorebirds in that they are the only ones to practice a "lek" breeding system. The males congregate in a group and proceed to do competitive displays, raising one wing horizontally or vertically, sometimes both wings, then running around in circles, twitching and giving a clicking call. This "shake" dance eventually will grasp the attention of a nearby female and mating will occur. A given male often mates with several females who themselves may mate with more than one male. You wanted genetic mixing - you got it!

At this point the males retire to start fattening themselves up for their long southward flight and Mrs. Buffie does the rest, laying her four eggs in a simple depression lined with tundra moss. Upon hatching the chicks are almost immediately able to run around and feed themselves. Not long after that most of the adults begin their 8,000-mile flight south, nearly all of them streaming through the prairie states heading straight for Patagonia.

The youngsters make this flight with little adult supervision and this is how they arrive, seemingly well off course, on Nantucket in late August and September. These birds are never common here but still, our island is one of the best places to see them in the Eastern U.S.

The entire population of these charming little shorebirds is estimated at 15,000, as little as one percent of the masses that flew twice across our country before the market hunting rage from 1840 until 1920. These trusting and social birds would return again and again torn by the cries of their wounded companions until the whole flock would be destroyed.

Early sportsman and naturalist, George H. Mackay, was responsible for many sightings on Nantucket in the late 1800s. At one point he described the behavior of a single Buffie that landed amongst his decoys. He was so charmed by its appearance he couldn't bring himself to shoot it, instead deciding to see how closely he could approach it. He found he could get within five or six feet from it before it flew.

Buff-breasted Sandpipers have not recovered from their earlier abuse. Perhaps their diet is the cause. It is almost totally insects and the increased amount of farming and use of pesticides on their migration route and also in South America has reduced their food supply and rendered the remainder often poisonous.

Watch for these delicate "grasspipers" if you are out walking Nantucket's grassy areas over the next weeks. If you find one, look at it in wonder. It is probably only a few weeks old and stoking up energy for a flight literally to the ends of the earth. I

George C. West creates illustrations for these articles.

The Maria Mitchell Association sponsors bird walks on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 6:30 a.m. and Saturday mornings starting at 8 a.m., from the corner of Vestal and Milk Streets. There is a fee for non-members.

To hear about rare birds, or to leave a bird report call the Massachusetts Audubon hot line at 1-781-259-8805.

Find more about Birding Nantucket on the web at http:// k-blackshaw.com/BN/BN.htm