Southern Lapwing

Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis)

Southern Lapwing

Order : Charadriiformes
This is a diverse order which includes about 350 species of birds in all parts of the world. Most Chardriiformes are strong flyers, some species performing the most extensive migration of any birds. Most live near water and eat invertebrates or other similar small animals and most nest on the ground. the order is split into 3 main suborders; Charadrii (about 200 species including Sandpipers, Plovers and Lapwings ), Lari ( about 92 species including Gulls, Turns, Skimmers and Jaegers), and Alcidae ( about 21 species including Auks, Guillemots and Puffins)

Family : Plover (Charadriidae)
The bird family Charadriidae is made up of about 64 to 66 species and includes the Plovers, Dotterels and Lapwings. They are small to medium sized birds with compact bodies, short thick necks and long usually pointed wings. The have world wide distribution and inhabit open countryside usually near water. They feed mostly on insects, worms and other invertebrates, usually obtained by a run and pause technique rather than probing like some other wader groups.

Name : Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis)
Length : 32 cm ( 13 in )

This strikingly marked and multi coloured bird inhabits low cut grassland and pastures near water. The nest is simply a depression on the ground, the young moving away from the nest soon after hatching. The parents defend the nesting site forcefully diving to with inches of any predator, including humans. It has a loud and distinctive warning that can be heard whenever the Lapwing is disturbed, day or night, and can act as an early warning for other species. The diet consists mainly of insects and other small invertebrates.


#Southern Lapwing #Vanellus chilensis #Plover #Charadriidae #Charadriiformes #birds #birds of Trinindad & Tobago #birds of Tobago



Bird identification images

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Order : Charadriiformes
This is a diverse order which includes about 350 species of birds in all parts of the world. Most Chardriiformes are strong flyers, some species performing the most extensive migration of any birds. Most live near water and eat invertebrates or other similar small animals and most nest on the ground. the order is split into 3 main suborders; Charadrii (about 200 species including Sandpipers, Plovers and Lapwings ), Lari ( about 92 species including Gulls, Turns, Skimmers and Jaegers), and Alcidae ( about 21 species including Auks, Guillemots and Puffins)

Family : Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)
Predominantly birds of arctic regions, the Scolopacidae is a large family of waders or shorebirds, the majority of which eat small invertebrates picked out from mud, soil or sand. Different bill lengths mean that different species can feed in the same habitat without competing with each other. They are usually found in groups on or near the beach. For the most part they are silent in winter and on migration.

Name : Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
Length : 13 - 15 cm ( 5 - 6 in )

Adults have black legs and a short straight dark bill. The upperparts are dark grey-brown, underparts white, head and neck are tinged light grey-brown. Their breeding habitat is the southern tundra in Canada and Alaska where they nest near water. The males make several shallow scrapes, the female chooses one and adds grass and other materials to line the nest. The male assists in incubation, and a few days after hatching the female leaves the young with the male, however the young are able to feed themselves. The birds forage on mud flats and beaches picking up aquatic insects and crustaceans by both sight and feel. (the bill). They are long distance migrants and winter in coastal South America, the Caribbean and southern North America, migrating in flocks that can number in the hundreds of thousands, but such large groups are highly dependent on some key stop over habitats during their migration.

#Semipalmated Sandpiper #Calidris pusilla #Sandpipers #Scolopacidae #Charadriiformes #arctic shorebirds #migrant birds #coastal birds #North American migrant birds #birds #birds of Tobago

Bird identification images

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaia interpres)

Ruddy Turnstone

Order : Charadriiformes
This is a diverse order which includes about 350 species of birds in all parts of the world. Most Chardriiformes are strong flyers, some species performing the most extensive migration of any birds. Most live near water and eat invertebrates or other similar small animals and most nest on the ground. the order is split into 3 main suborders; Charadrii (about 200 species including Sandpipers, Plovers and Lapwings ), Lari ( about 92 species including Gulls, Turns, Skimmers and Jaegers), and Alcidae ( about 21 species including Auks, Guillemots and Puffins)

Family : Turnstone (Charadriidae)
The bird family Charadriidae is made up of about 64 to 66 species and includes the Plovers, Turnstones, Dotterels and Lapwings. They are small to medium sized birds with compact bodies, short thick necks and long usually pointed wings. The have world wide distribution and inhabit open countryside usually near water. They feed mostly on insects, worms and other invertebrates, usually obtained by a run and pause technique rather than probing like some other wader groups.

Name : Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaia interpres)
Length : 21 - 25 cm ( 8 - 10 in )

A short legged chunky shorebird the Ruddy Turnstone ranges from northern North America to Europe and Asia. The North American species winters as far south as Argentina and Chile. In breeding plumage the species develops striking chestnut upperparts with black across the wing covets, underparts are white, the legs orange. The bill is small slender and dark. Usually seen by the coast in small numbers, the Ruddy Turnstone scavenges for small crustaceans and insects. The flight is fairly strong and direct. In the evenings each member of the group takes a sea bath, usually immersing itself completely under water, preening is accompanied with short erratic flapping that may lift the bird a few inches off the ground.



#Ruddy Turnstone #Arenaia interpres #Turnstone #Charadriidae #Charadriiformes #shorebirds #North American migrants #birds #birds of Tobago

Bird identification photos

Royal Turn

Royal Turn (Thalasseus maximus)

Royal Turn

Order : Charadriiformes
This is a diverse order which includes about 350 species of birds in all parts of the world. Most Chardriiformes are strong flyers, some species performing the most extensive migration of any birds. Most live near water and eat invertebrates or other similar small animals and most nest on the ground. the order is split into 3 main suborders; Charadrii (about 200 species including Sandpipers, Plovers and Lapwings ), Lari ( about 92 species including Gulls, Turns, Skimmers and Jaegers), and Alcidae ( about 21 species including Auks, Guillemots and Puffins)

Family : Gulls and Turns (Laridae)
The Laridae family compromises two distinct subfamilies Lari (Gulls) and Sterninae (Turns). Gulls account for over 40 species, and are heavily built web footed scavengers that take insects, molluscs, crustaceans, fish and garbage from beaches and shorelines, worms and grubs from fields, and some will even take eggs and chicks of other birds including their own. Turns account for about 40 species of slender water birds that often form large breeding colonies nesting on the ground on remote Islands sometimes numbering millions of individuals. Many Terns are long distance migrants covering thousands of kilometres in just a few days.

Name : Royal Turn (Thalasseus maximus)
Length : 45 - 50 cm ( 18 - 20 in )
Local Names : Sprat Bird, Gabby

The Royal Turn has two distinct races, Sterna maxima breeds on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of southern North America and Mexico, and throughout the West Indies. While Sterna albididorsalis breeds in coastal west Africa. The species nests in colonies on coasts and Islands the nest being a scrape on the ground where one or two eggs are laid. The male will offer the female fish as part of the courtship ritual. Like all white Turns it’s fiercely defensive of it’s nest and young. The Royal Turn’s diet consists of fish which it plunge dives to catch, usually diving directly as opposed to the ‘stepped hover’ preferred by the Arctic Turn. The Royal Turn is a large crested Turn with a heavy orange or yellow bill, grey upperparts and white underparts. It’s black cap turns grey in winter.


#Royal Turn Thalasseus maximus Gulls Turns Laridae Sterninae Sterna maxima Charadriiformes migrating birds seabirds Sea Birds birds birds of Tobago

Bird identification photos

Lesser Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

Lesser Yellowlegs

Order : Charadriiformes
This is a diverse order which includes about 350 species of birds in all parts of the world. Most Chardriiformes are strong flyers, some species performing the most extensive migration of any birds. Most live near water and eat invertebrates or other similar small animals and most nest on the ground. the order is split into 3 main suborders; Charadrii (about 200 species including Sandpipers, Plovers and Lapwings ), Lari ( about 92 species including Gulls, Turns, Skimmers and Jaegers), and Alcidae ( about 21 species including Auks, Guillemots and Puffins)

Family : Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)
Predominantly birds of arctic regions, the Scolopacidae is a large family of waders or shorebirds, the majority of which eat small invertebrates picked out from mud, soil or sand. Different bill lengths mean that different species can feed in the same habitat without competing with each other. They are usually found in groups on or near the beach. For the most part they are silent in winter and on migration.

Name : Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)
Length : 23 - 25 cm ( 9 - 10 in )

The Lesser-yellowlegs is a medium sized shorebird with long yellow legs, long thin dark bill, grey brown plumage above and white below. The birds forage in shallow water for insects, small fish and crustaceans, sometimes stirring up the water with their bill. The Lesser-yellowlegs nests in clearings near ponds in boreal forest region from Alaska to Quebec, migrating to the Gulf coast of North America, the West Indies, and South America mainly from July to November, but some individuals may be seen at any time of year.


#Lesser Yellowlegs #Tringa flavipes #Sandpipers #Scolopacidae #Charadriiformes #North American birds #South American Birds #migrants #birds of the West Indies #Caribbean #birds #birds of Tobago


Bird identification photos

Laughing Gull

Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)

Laughing Gull

Order : Charadriiformes
This is a diverse order which includes about 350 species of birds in all parts of the world. Most Chardriiformes are strong flyers, some species performing the most extensive migration of any birds. Most live near water and eat invertebrates or other similar small animals and most nest on the ground. the order is split into 3 main suborders; Charadrii (about 200 species including Sandpipers, Plovers and Lapwings ), Lari ( about 92 species including Gulls, Turns, Skimmers and Jaegers), and Alcidae ( about 21 species including Auks, Guillemots and Puffins)

Family : Gulls and Turns (Laridae)
The Laridae family compromises two distinct subfamilies Lari (Gulls) and Sterninae (Turns). Gulls account for over 40 species, and are heavily built web footed scavengers that take insects, molluscs, crustaceans, fish and garbage from beaches and shorelines, worms and grubs from fields, and some will even take eggs and chicks of other birds including their own. Turns account for about 40 species of slender water birds that often form large breeding colonies nesting on the ground on remote Islands sometimes numbering millions of individuals. Many Terns are long distance migrants covering thousands of kilometers in just a few days.

Name : Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)
Length : 40 - 45 cm (16 - 18 in )
Local Names : Sea Gull, Laughing Bird

The Laughing Gull is a medium sized Gull of North and South America, and is the only Gull nesting in the Caribbean. The Northernmost populations migrate further south in winter, and has occurred as a very rare vagrant in Western Europe. It has a black head during breeding season which turns mottled grey during winter, otherwise it’s white with grey upperparts and wings and a red bill. The Laughing Gulls name is derived from it’s raucous call. Laughing Gulls breed in coastal marshes or similar habitat, the nest, made largely from grasses, is constructed on the ground. 3 - 4 greenish eggs are laid and incubation takes about 3 weeks. Laughing Gulls are omnivorous, and will feed from fish taken from the sea surface, or scavenge along the shore for offal.


 #Laughing Gull #Larus atricilla #Sea Gull #Laughing Bird #Gulls # Lari #Laridae #Charadriiformes #migrant birds #North American birds #South American birds #birds #birds of Tobago


Bird identification photos

Brown Noddy

Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus)

Brown Noddy

Order : Charadriiformes
This is a diverse order which includes about 350 species of birds in all parts of the world. Most Charadriiformes are strong flyers, some species performing the most extensive migration of any birds. Most live near water and eat invertebrates or other similar small animals and most nest on the ground. the order is split into 3 main suborders; Charadrii (about 200 species including Sandpipers, Plovers and Lapwings ), Lari ( about 92 species including Gulls, Turns, Skimmers and Jaegers), and Alcidae ( about 21 species including Auks, Guillemots and Puffins)

Family : Gulls and Turns (Laridae)
The Laridae family compromises two distinct subfamilies Lari (Gulls) and Sterninae (Turns). Gulls account for over 40 species, and are heavily built web footed scavengers that take insects, molluscs, crustaceans, fish and garbage from beaches and shorelines, worms and grubs from fields, and some will even take eggs and chicks of other birds including their own. Turns account for about 40 species of slender water birds that often form large breeding colonies nesting on the ground on remote Islands sometimes numbering millions of individuals. Many Terns are long distance migrants covering thousands of kilometres in just a few days.

Name :Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus)
Length : 37 - 38 cm ( 15 in )
Local Names : Egg Bird, Blackbird

This dark Tern occurs throughout the Caribbean, one of the largest concentrations being some 2 - 4,000 pairs that breed in the Virgin Islands. As it’s name suggests it is brown all over with a grey to white forehead and crown, and darker wing tips and tail, which is wedge shaped. Immature are whitish on the forehead only. The Brown Noody nests in trees, on the ground, or on bare rock or cliff edges, the nest is either a shallow depression or a rough nest of twigs where a single egg is laid. It spends most of it’s time off shore where it feeds on fish taken at the surface.

#Brown Noddy #Anous stolidus #Turn #Laridae #Sterninae #Charadriiformes #Lari #Egg Bird #Blackbird #Sea Birds #seabirds #Caribbean #birds #birds of Tobago

Bird identification pictures