Daniel R Ruthrauff, Ph.D. (Former Employee)

Bar-tailed Godwits - photo taken on mudflats near Cape Avinof, Alaska, while doing avian influenza sampling.

Bar-tailed Godwit flock flying over the mudflats on Cape Avinof, western Alaska.

Bar-tailed Godwits - photo taken on mudflats near Cape Avinof, Alaska. USGS and USFWS recently found ​that almost the entire population of ​Alaska-breeding bar-tailed godwits feed along sand bars near the mouth of the Kuskokwim River in autumn.  ​These godwits spend the nonbreeding season primarily in eastern Australia an

Bob Gill spreading the wing of a Marbled godwit on the Alaska Peninsula near Ugashik.

Marbled Godwit near Ugashik, Alaska.

Lee Tibbitts pointing to a Marbled godwit nest on the Alaska Peninsula near Ugashik.

A small flock of Rock Sandpipers roosts near the splash zone along the shore of upper Cook Inlet.  Numerous individuals exhibit  ice encasing their lower legs and adhering to their feathers.

Rock Sandpipers huddle together on the icy mudflats near Kasilof, AK.

Rock Sandpipers huddle together on the ice near Kasilof, Alaska.

Rock Sandpiper flock on the mudlfats near Kasilof, AK in the winter.

Image of a Rock Sandpiper with its lower left leg encased in ice.

Bar-tailed Godwit tagged Z0 near Naknek, Alaska

Bar-tailed godwit "Z0" instrumented with an implanted Argos satellite transmitter (note dorsally exposed antenna) to facilitate aerodynamics during the species non-stop flights across the Pacific Ocean.

Marbled Godwit on a nest near Ugashik, Alaska.

Dunlin flock near Egegik, Alaska.

Bristle-thighed Curlews (Numenius tahitiensis) are large shorebirds that breed in Alaska and spend the nonbreeding season on atolls and small islands throughout Oceania. This life history pattern requires curlews to migrate long distances each year.

Curlews migrate long distances each year. Captured birds are quickly removed from mist nets and transported to the care of a veterinarian, who performs the implant surgeries to outfit the bird with a tracking device. In June 2007, USGS scientists tagged 13 curlews with satellite transmitters at their southern breeding area in Alaska.

Curlew Chicks hatch in late June and are almost immediately ready to leave the nest. The coloring and pattern of the downy chicks provides camouflage to protect them from avian and mammalian predators. Chicks follow their parents on long hikes to feeding areas. Curlews also migrate long distances each year.

In general, Whimbrels (like the one in this photo) are brown and grey in appearance in contrast to the brown and cinnamon tones of curlews. In addition, these two species can always be distinguished by their vocalizations.

A distinctive feature of the Bristle-thighed Curlew is its cinnamon-colored rump and tail. This feature helps distinguish curlews from similar species like the Whimbrel (N. phaeopus), particularly in places where the two species overlap in Alaska and Oceania. These curlews migrate long distances each year.