SANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDSBY JESSICA FRIES-GAITHER

SANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDS SANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDS

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In the spring, the sanderlings leave the beaches and fly north to the Arctic. They travel thousands of miles. When they reach the Arctic, it is still cold.

Plants grow and flowers bloom in the Arctic summer. The birds feed on insects and butterflies.

Photo Courtesy of M.K. Peck via Project WILDSPACE(TM)

Photo Courtesy of madpai, Flickr

FEBRUARY 2009

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica taught at the elementary level (grades 4-6) and middle school (grades 5-8 math and science) in Memphis, TN and Anchorage, AK. Her work with Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears involves creating and managing content for the magazine and blog.

Jessica Fries-GaitherElementary Resource Specialist, The Ohio State University

Issue 11: Arctic and Antarctic Birds (February 2009) Copyright February 2009 - The Ohio State University

Supported by the National Science Foundation

Licensed Under a Creative Commons license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Flesch - Kincaid RL = 3.1

SANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDSSANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDS SANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDS

SANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDS

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Mother birds lay their eggs. The parents protect the eggs from the cold and from other animals.

Photo Courtesy of Macaulay Library, Cornell Lab of Omithology

Migration

Summer

Winter

LEGEND

Sanderling Migration

Photo copyright Gerrit Vyn.

Can you think of other animals that migrate?

SANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDSSANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDS

SANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDSSANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDS

Have you ever been to the beach? If you have, you’ve probably seen birds there.

They use leaves to build nests. There are no trees in the Arctic, so the birds build their nests on the soft ground.

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In the winter, the birds live in Florida and South America. They eat small crabs that live in the sand.

GLOSSARY

migrate: to travel as a group from one place to live in another

sanderling: a bird that lives on beaches in the fall and winter and in the Arctic in the spring and summer

tundra: a flat, treeless plainPhoto Courtesy of Macaulay Library, Cornell Lab of Omithology

Photo copyright Gerrit Vyn.

One type of bird that lives on the beach is the sanderling.

Chicks hatch after about 24 days. They leave the nest quickly and feed along the water’s edge. When they are two weeks old, they learn to f ly.

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SANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDSSANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDS

SANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDSSANDERLINGS: TRAVELING BIRDS

About one month later, the chicks are ready to fly south to warm, sunny beaches. After about a year, they will be strong enough to fly north again and lay their own eggs. The cycle will begin again. Photo Courtesy of Muchaxo, Flickr.

Photo Courtesy of Macaulay Library, Cornell Lab of Omithology

Sanderlings are special birds. They migrate, or travel from one place to live in another. They spend part of the year on warm, sunny beaches and part on the cold tundra.