New England Shorebird Guide on-line
Soheil Zendeh
Folks,
Due to severe declines in the populations of most shorebird species over the past several decades, I think it is important that bird and nature-lovers become as familiar as possible with these birds and advocate for their conservation.
Shorebirds are reputed to be difficult to identify. This may be true for some species, but it is also partly due to the fact that most shorebird species are highly migratory and travel long distances during the course of a year. Most are in our region for only a few weeks every year, so they are easy to miss and hard to learn to identify.
By learning their habits and habitats, as well as their behavior, shapes, and plumages, most observers can identify 20-plus species—perhaps up to 30 species of shorebird—in New England and adjoining states and provinces each year.
To increase the fan base of appreciation for
these birds, I have created a free, online visual guide to shorebirds of New England. Bird
Observer generously provides free access to the New England Shorebird
Guide through its website. Use this short URL to get to it directly:
https://www.birdobserver.org/NESG.
The first 19 species accounts went online last fall; more species are planned for release by fall 2025.
The guide is designed primarily as a visual
aid that can be used in the field on your smart phone; it can also be installed
on your tablet or computer. I have prepared a brief user manual for the guide:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12G0dziV9JlXuyOxzUCElEwWS9FQim1ou/view?usp=sharing
I have also uploaded instructions for installing an icon on your iPhone that directly accesses the app: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NVpWGWzwt4RXGGGULi7JVxfZlJ5e14WZ/view
I hope you find this guide useful for finding and identifying shorebirds in our region. It is also important that you communicate to me the shortcomings, errors, and inconsistencies of the guide so that I can improve future versions. You can reach me at sohz...@gmail.com
New England Shorebird Guide content was created by Soheil Zendeh. Marsha Salett of Bird Observer was the editor. Eric Swanzey, web manager for Bird Observer and other Massachusetts birding sites, created the website/app. The instructions for installing the guide icon on your iPhone were provided by Jay Dia. The photos in the guide were contributed by many generous photographers.
Enjoy the shorebirds.
Soheil Zendeh
Littleton, MA 01460