Surfbird

Calidris virgata

The surfbird (Calidris virgata) is a small stocky wader in the family Scolopacidae. It was once considered to be allied to the turnstones, and placed in the monotypic genus Aphriza, but is now placed in the genus Calidris.
Resting!  A small portion of a much larger flock of Surfbirds. Approaching by a small boat made it quite easy to get close. Calidris virgata,Canada,Geotagged,Summer,Surfbird

Appearance

This bird has a short dark bill, yellow legs and a black band at the end of the white rump. In breeding plumage, it has dark streaks on the brownish head and breast with dark spots on its white underparts; the upperparts are dark with rust colouring on the wings. Birds in winter plumage and immature birds are mainly grey on the upperparts and breast and white on the underparts with streaking. Their breeding habitat is rocky tundra areas in Alaska and the Yukon. The female lays 4 eggs in a depression on the ground lined with vegetation. Both parents look after the young birds, who feed themselves.
Surfbird (Calidris virgata) Reserva de Paracas, Ica, Peru. Mar 21, 2022 Calidris virgata,Fall,Geotagged,Peru,Surfbird

Behavior

The song is a whistled tee tee tee.
A Surfbird, Calidris virgata or Aphriza virgata in Winter Plummage. The Surfbird is more often observed in this area in the fall and winter. This one was foraging on the rocks below our deck. It was with about a dozen of its friends, some Black Turnstones and relatives and unless they fly are usually heard before they are seen. One of the differentiating characteristics from the Black Turnstone is that the Surfbird has an orange base to the beak while the Turnstone’s is totally black.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfbird
 Aphriza virgata,Calidris virgata,Canada,Fall,Geotagged,Surfbird

Reproduction

These birds migrate to the Pacific coasts of North and South America, from southern Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.

On the nesting grounds, these birds mainly eat insects and some seeds. At other times of year, they eat mollusks and crustaceans found along the surf line on rocky coasts and are usually found in small flocks, often with turnstones.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassAves
OrderCharadriiformes
FamilyScolopacidae
GenusCalidris
SpeciesCalidris virgata
Photographed in
Canada
Peru