This put up is about Dunlins, as seen in and round Shanghai within the autumn of 2024 – the standard mixture of images and a few information which I steadfastly refuse to name “enjoyable information”. Whereas Dunlins are presumably not a species that will get the heartbeat of birders racing, I had two motivations to work on this put up. One was that I took some first rate images of Dunlins lately – you will discover them sprinkled all through this put up (“some sprinkle stuff”, JD Vance shopping for donuts). The opposite was a paper I encountered with the intriguing title “Particular person Associations in a Wintering Shorebird Inhabitants: Do Dunlin Have Pals?”
Pals?
The very first thing I realized from that paper – which I checked individually – is that the plural of Dunlin is certainly both Dunlin or Dunlins – each appear to be appropriate. Fascinating, isn’t it not?
However sure, the query raised within the paper is intriguing. So, the researchers radio-marked Dunlins wintering at Humboldt Bay, California and checked how regularly two Dunlins roosted collectively or at the very least have been a part of the identical flock. The consequence, in layman’s phrases, sadly, is that Dunlins do not need pals. Which scientifically sounds as follows: “Our findings are in step with predictions for a extremely cell, usually nonterritorial, long-distance migrant for which secure social associations haven’t any clear profit.”
(This jogs my memory of how as soon as when doing a postdoc at Berkeley, I discussed taking a bus house after enjoying soccer with some pals, one provided to drive me house, explaining “In the event you take a bus, it means you haven’t any pals”).
Again to our Dunlins, which regardless of not having pals not often take buses. Some extra semi-scientific info, sadly not all as relatable because the above.
One would assume that when feeding, Dunlins want these spots with the best density of prey. Certainly, that is the case for these people feeding by sight – however that’s solely a minority. Many of the Dunlins examined in a paper fed utilizing contact to find prey within the softest mud. As a consequence, they like areas with softer mud, which is extra simply penetrated by their invoice, making the prey simpler to catch. So, “wetter is healthier” appears to be their rule of thumb when looking for meals. A bit like looking for your misplaced keys the place the sunshine is nice, not the place you doubtless misplaced them.
One other paper – by the way researched at Chongming, Dongtan, additionally a part of Shanghai – ranked broader places by Dunlin desire. Tidal mudflats are finest adopted by aquaculture ponds, whereas agricultural croplands get a really low ranking by Dunlin influencers.
Worse than agricultural croplands are agricultural croplands containing wheat seeds handled with strychnine. 36 Dunlins died of strychnine poisoning in Yolo County, California in 1990 (supply).
It appears the title Dunlin itself is a little bit of an insult. In response to Allaboutbirds, “The title Dunlin comes from Dunling, the earliest recognized English title of the species, which dates again at the very least so far as 1531. Dunling is a compound of the English phrase dun (that means grey-brown) and the diminutive -ling. So the title Dunlin basically means ‘little brown job’.”
Or to place it in a really lame joke: “Who put the Duh in Dunlin?”
Regardless of this underappreciation, many Dunlins are nonetheless very able to having fun with their lives, as the following picture reveals (I’m penning this with the information that I should search for the spelling of the phrase “anthropomorphizing” proper afterward).
Lastly, researchers filmed flying flocks of Dunlins and recognized two principal maneuvers. One is a course-change motion during which your entire flock alters its course, and the opposite a rotation motion during which particular person birds rotate on their axes with out essentially altering path. Each could make a flock’s total look shift all of the sudden from mild to darkish because the birds orient completely different elements of their plumage towards the observer.
And the way lengthy does this take? On common, 196 milliseconds. With such a quick life-style, it isn’t shocking they don’t have pals.