Bird #32: Stilt Sandpiper

Common Name: Stilt Sandpiper

Scientific Name: Calidris himantopus   

Description: 8-8.5 inches; medium size sandpiper; long bill with tick base, slightly drooping down at the tip; greenish legs; whitish eyebrow strip; Non-Breeding: upperpart greyish; underpart whitish; Breeding: Reddish cheek patch; underparts  heavily barred; Juvenile: similar to non-breeding plumage but darker

Habitat: mud flaps, shallow ponds

Bird #31:Bananaquit

Common Name: Bananaquit aka Yellow Breast

Scientific Name: Coereba flaveola sp. barbadensis

Description: 4-5 inches; upperparts black with some white patches ; black head with white eyebrow stripe (yellow in juveniles); bill curved; neck black, breast yellow, rump white

Habitat: Island wide – can be found in flower gardens etc – Feeds on the nectar of flowers.

Many sub-species of Coereba flaveola are found throughout the Caribbean with sp. Bardadensis being endemic to Barbados.

Lesser Scaup

Aythya affinis

Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata)

Zenaida auriculata

Bird #28: Spotted Sandpiper

Common Name: Spotted Sandpiper

Scientific Name: Actitis macularia     

Description: 7-8 inches; upperparts: brown; underpart white; marks on the neck; yellow legs; have a teetering walk; Breeding: underpart spots; bill orange with black tip.

Habitat: water edges of swamps, ponds and shorelines.