Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
But no wild creature can afford to sleep too deeply. As the white face of the
moon begins to appear in the pond's shallow waters, other shore residents pad to-
ward the dozing flocks in search of a meal. Coyotes, non-native Red Foxes, and
feral cats all take advantage of the cover afforded by brush and salt grass.
This year, the male is lucky. Nearby birds catch a whiff of predators before they
can pounce and all the birds take flight, the male sandpiper with them. He sur-
vives to see another spring. In February, his appetite grows. He begins to eat more
frequently, increasing his featherweight grams by a third or more. His guts shrink,
his fat stores swell, and his behavior grows more flighty. By April 21, he departs his
winter home for the multiday trip that will bring him to Alaska by early May. The fe-
males follow days later to renew the cycle of life amid the tundra and low-lying
marshes of Alaska's coastal regions.
KMW
Peeps in flight. (Max Eissler)
through in their travels. In spring, more than a million Western Sandpip-
ers will pause to refuel along bayshores on their way north to Alaska; more
than 500,000 may be present in a single day by late April.
Double-crested Cormorant
Drive east across the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, and it's impossible to
miss the chunky black bodies and snaky necks of Double-crested Cormo-
rants (
Phalocrocorax auritus
) roosting on the cement footings of the power
pylons. The species is named for its summer breeding plumage: twin head
tufts of white feathers reminiscent of Alfred Einstein's eyebrows. As the
only cormorant in North America associated with fresh, brackish, and sa-
