the.com/sandpiper
a shorebird that sprints from waves like the ocean owes it money
means A small, long-legged wading bird of the family Scolopacidae that scurries along shorelines probing wet sand and mud for tiny invertebrates.
from A plain English compound, joining 'sand' to 'piper' — the bird earns the second half from its thin, piping call, the kind of high reedy note that carries over a beach. Recorded in English from around the 17th century, it simply names what the bird does: pipes, and haunts the sand.
- role reversal
- Females often abandon eggs; males do all the parenting
- epic commute
- Some migrate over 9,000 miles without stopping
- built-in radar
- Bill tips sense buried prey by detecting pressure
- shrinking act
- Warming Arctic is making chicks hatch smaller
least sandpiper — smallest shorebird in north america at 5-6 inches, breeds across alaska and canada
semipalmated sandpiper — migrates 9,000 miles annually from arctic to south america, stops at delaware bay each may
spotted sandpiper — only sandpiper with spotted breast, breeds across north america from sea level to 10,000 feet