Feature photo: Brandt’s Cormorant in courtship display
Read Time: 7 minutes
Ready to hit the coast with your binoculars but not sure if you’re looking at shorebirds or seabirds?
Don’t worry—we’re about to clear that up faster than a gull stealing your sandwich.
Here’s a quick explainer followed by some fast facts to help you distinguish between these two groups.
Then we’ll dive into details about some popular North American species.
Sanderlings zip along the surfline looking for nummies.
Quick Explainer: What’s the Difference?
At first glance, shorebirds and seabirds might seem like they’re cut from the same cloth—after all, both groups are typically found near water. But when you take a closer look, you’ll see that these avian relatives are quite distinct, not just in where they live, but also in how they live. Let’s break down the differences, and point out a few surprising overlaps along the way.
Shorebirds: The Coastal Wanderers (and Then Some)
Shorebirds are a diverse group of birds that generally prefer habitats like coastlines, mudflats, marshes, and sometimes even lakeshores and riversides. But here’s the twist: not all shorebirds stick close to the coast. Many species can also be found inland, in areas like grasslands, tundras, or even deserts during migration or breeding season. They’re the ones you’ll see wading in shallow waters, probing the mud with their specialized bills, or scurrying along sandy beaches searching for invertebrates.
Key Characteristics:
Habitat Variety: While coastal areas are common hotspots for shorebirds, they’re adaptable and can be found in a wide range of environments. For instance, species like the Mountain Plover breed in dry, inland prairies, far from any coastline.
Feeding Style: Shorebirds often have long, slender bills designed for probing mud and sand for invertebrates like worms, crustaceans, and insects. But not all shorebirds feed this way—some, like the Ruddy Turnstone, flip over rocks and debris to find their meals.
Migration: Shorebirds are some of the most accomplished long-distance migrants in the bird world. Many species travel from the Arctic to South America and back, with some like the Bar-tailed Godwit flying nonstop for thousands of miles.
A great frigatebird goes after a brown pelican, hoping to harass it enough that it’ll give up its latest catch.
Seabirds: The Oceanic Nomads (with a Few Land Lovers)
Seabirds, on the other hand, are the ultimate ocean-going adventurers. They spend most of their lives on the open sea, often far from land, and are specially adapted to life in a marine environment. These birds only come ashore to breed, usually on remote islands, rocky cliffs, or isolated beaches that offer safety from land predators. However, the seabird category is broad, and not all seabirds spend their lives far out at sea. For example, gulls and some species of cormorants are often seen along coastlines and even well inland.
Key Characteristics:
Ocean Life: Seabirds are adapted to the marine environment, with features like webbed feet for swimming, salt glands to excrete excess salt, and streamlined bodies for efficient flight over water. Albatrosses, with their massive wingspans, are built for gliding over vast oceanic expanses, while puffins are expert divers, catching fish with their specialized beaks.
Nesting Habits: Seabirds typically nest in large colonies on remote islands or cliffs, where they can safely raise their young away from most land predators. Some species, like the Marbled Murrelet, defy the usual seabird nesting behavior by nesting far inland in old-growth forests.
Feeding Style: Seabirds have a variety of feeding strategies depending on their environment and species. For instance, the Black Skimmer skims the ocean’s surface for fish, while the Brown Pelican performs dramatic plunge dives to catch its prey.
Notable Exceptions and Overlaps
While these descriptions cover the general differences between shorebirds and seabirds, there are always exceptions that blur the lines:
Gulls: Gulls are the great generalists of the bird world, often lumped in with seabirds, but they’re equally at home inland. They’re opportunistic feeders and can be found anywhere from the middle of a city to remote coastal cliffs.
Cormorants: While some cormorants are true seabirds, spending most of their time at sea, others, like the Double-crested Cormorant, are often found on inland lakes and rivers.
Phalaropes: These small shorebirds are unique because, while they breed on inland wetlands, they spend the rest of the year at sea, spinning on the water’s surface to create whirlpools that draw in tiny prey.
While many gull species can be found far inland, western gulls tend to stick relatively close to the coastline.
Key Similarities: Shorebirds and Seabirds
Shorebirds and seabirds might inhabit different realms—shorelines versus open oceans—but they share some remarkable traits that underscore their adaptability and resilience. Let’s explore some of these shared characteristics, with an eye on the intriguing nuances that make these birds so captivating.
Migration: Masters of the Skies and Seas
Both shorebirds and seabirds are renowned for their long migrations, showcasing extraordinary endurance and navigational abilities. But while both groups travel impressive distances, the nature of their migrations can differ significantly.
Shorebirds: Shorebirds are among the most impressive long-distance migrants in the bird world. The Bar-tailed Godwit, for example, holds the record for the longest nonstop flight of any bird, covering over 7,000 miles from Alaska to New Zealand in a single stretch without a break. Other shorebirds, like the Red Knot, undertake marathon migrations from the Arctic to South America, relying on a network of stopover sites along the way to refuel. What’s remarkable about shorebird migration is the precision timing required to align with seasonal food availability at these critical stopover points.
Seabirds: Seabirds, too, are exceptional travelers, though their migrations often take them across vast oceanic expanses. The Arctic Tern is the undisputed migration champion, traveling an incredible 25,000 miles annually between its breeding grounds in the Arctic and its wintering areas in the Antarctic. Unlike shorebirds, which often depend on specific coastal habitats during migration, seabirds like the Arctic Tern are true ocean wanderers, covering immense distances over open water. Some seabirds, such as the Sooty Shearwater, engage in transequatorial migrations, looping around the entire Pacific Ocean.
Adaptations: Bills, Beaks, and Feeding Tactics
Both shorebirds and seabirds have evolved specialized bills and feeding behaviors that suit their specific environments, but the diversity within each group is where things get truly interesting.
Shorebirds: Shorebirds exhibit a fascinating range of bill shapes and sizes, each adapted to a specific feeding strategy. For instance, the American Avocet uses its long, upturned bill to sweep through shallow water and mud, filtering out small invertebrates. The Ruddy Turnstone, on the other hand, uses its short, robust bill to flip over stones, shells, and debris in search of hidden prey. These variations in bill design allow shorebirds to exploit different niches within the same habitat, reducing direct competition for food.
Seabirds: Seabirds, too, have a wide array of specialized beaks adapted to their oceanic diets. The Black Skimmer, for instance, has a uniquely elongated lower mandible that it uses to skim the surface of the water for fish—a feeding technique that’s almost as dramatic as it is effective. Meanwhile, the Brown Pelican’s large bill and expandable throat pouch are perfect for plunge-diving and scooping up fish. Other seabirds, like the albatross, have hooked bills designed for snatching fish and squid from the ocean’s surface, while shearwaters use their slender bills to catch prey in deeper waters.
The black-legged kittiwake is one of the more petite and adorbs species of gull in the Laridae family.
Adaptations: Bills, Beaks, and Feeding Tactics
Both shorebirds and seabirds have evolved specialized bills and feeding behaviors that suit their specific environments, but the diversity within each group is where things get truly interesting.
Shorebirds: Shorebirds exhibit a fascinating range of bill shapes and sizes, each adapted to a specific feeding strategy. For instance, the American Avocet uses its long, upturned bill to sweep through shallow water and mud, filtering out small invertebrates. The Ruddy Turnstone, on the other hand, uses its short, robust bill to flip over stones, shells, and debris in search of hidden prey. These variations in bill design allow shorebirds to exploit different niches within the same habitat, reducing direct competition for food.
Seabirds: Seabirds, too, have a wide array of specialized beaks adapted to their oceanic diets. The Black Skimmer, for instance, has a uniquely elongated lower mandible that it uses to skim the surface of the water for fish—a feeding technique that’s almost as dramatic as it is effective. Meanwhile, the Brown Pelican’s large bill and expandable throat pouch are perfect for plunge-diving and scooping up fish. Other seabirds, like the albatross, have hooked bills designed for snatching fish and squid from the ocean’s surface, while shearwaters use their slender bills to catch prey in deeper waters.
From short and stout to long and pokey, bird bills are impressively adapted for gathering a good meal, like this marbled godwit that can stab well into the sand with its long bill to snag mole crabs.
Overlapping Niches: Where Shore Meets Sea
While shorebirds and seabirds typically occupy distinct habitats, there are fascinating instances where their worlds overlap, blurring the lines between the two groups.
Gulls and Terns: Gulls and terns are the quintessential bridge between shorebirds and seabirds. While often classified as seabirds due to their strong association with marine environments, these birds are equally at home inland, along lakes, rivers, and even in urban areas. For example, the Ring-billed Gull is commonly seen foraging in plowed fields far from the sea, while the Common Tern can be spotted diving for fish in both freshwater and marine environments.
Phalaropes: Phalaropes are another example of birds that straddle the shorebird-seabird divide. These small, delicate birds are technically shorebirds, but they spend much of the year at sea. During migration, phalaropes are known to spin in tight circles on the water’s surface, creating whirlpools that bring small aquatic prey within reach. It’s a feeding technique more akin to seabirds, yet phalaropes retain the slim, wading bird profile typical of shorebirds.
Cormorants: Cormorants add to the complexity of the shorebird-seabird distinction. These birds are often associated with coastal areas, where they dive for fish in both marine and freshwater environments. Some species, like the Double-crested Cormorant, are just as likely to be seen on inland lakes and rivers as they are along the coast, drying their wings in the sun after a dive. This dual lifestyle exemplifies the adaptability that characterizes both shorebirds and seabirds.
A red-necked phalarope in breeding plumage gives a good stretch while feeding.
Conservation Challenges: Shared Struggles in a Changing World
Despite their different lifestyles, shorebirds and seabirds face many of the same conservation challenges, from habitat loss to climate change.
Shorebirds: Shorebirds are particularly vulnerable to habitat loss, especially in critical stopover sites and breeding grounds. Coastal development, pollution, and rising sea levels threaten the wetlands and mudflats that shorebirds rely on during migration. For species like the Red Knot, the loss of key food sources, such as horseshoe crab eggs in the Delaware Bay, can have devastating effects on their populations.
Seabirds: Seabirds face their own set of challenges, particularly from overfishing, bycatch, and pollution. The Atlantic Puffin, for example, has seen its populations decline due to changes in fish availability linked to climate change. Plastic pollution in the oceans is another significant threat, with seabirds often ingesting or becoming entangled in debris. Conservation efforts for seabirds often focus on protecting breeding colonies, managing fisheries to reduce bycatch, and addressing pollution in marine environments.
A dowitcher enjoys searching for food in a peaceful coastal marsh.
Popular North American Shorebirds
Let’s take a closer look at some of the most popular shorebirds you might spot while strolling along the shore—or perhaps even far from it.
Sandpipers
Examples: Western Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper
Description: These little guys are all legs and bills, perfect for their scurrying lifestyle along mudflats and beaches. They’re small, quick, and always on the move.
Plovers
Examples: Killdeer, Piping Plover
Description: Medium-sized with short bills and those distinctive black bands that make them look like they’re wearing tiny bird tuxedos. Known for their ‘broken-wing’ act to fool predators—a bit of avian drama to protect their nests.
Oystercatchers
Examples: American Oystercatcher
Description: Large, loud, and flashy, with striking black and white plumage and a bright orange beak that’s hard to miss. These birds are the shellfish experts, prying open mussels with ease.
Dowitchers
Examples: Long-billed Dowitcher, Short-billed Dowitcher
Description: Medium-sized, with impressively long bills they use like sewing machines to probe mudflats for food. Watching them feed is like seeing a bird version of “Whack-a-Mole.”
Avocets and Stilts
Examples: American Avocet, Black-necked Stilt
Description: Avocets have those elegant, upturned bills that they sweep through water to catch small invertebrates. Stilts live up to their name with those long, stilt-like legs that keep them high above the water.
A marbled murrelet is held in the hands of a researcher after being fitted with a radio tag. Knowing where this murrelet will go to nest is helpful in guiding habitat preservation decisions.
Popular North American Seabirds
And now, let’s sail into the world of seabirds—those oceanic wanderers that are just as comfortable soaring over waves as they are nesting on remote cliffs.
Albatrosses
Examples: Black-footed Albatross, Laysan Albatross
Description: These are the kings of the sky, with massive wingspans that let them glide over the ocean for hours without flapping. They’re the long-distance champions of the bird world, making epic migrations across the Pacific.
Puffins
Examples: Atlantic Puffin, Horned Puffin
Description: With their colorful beaks and clown-like faces, puffins are the comedians of the seabird world. But don’t be fooled by their looks—these birds are skilled divers, catching fish with surprising speed and agility.
Gannets
Examples: Northern Gannet
Description: These large, striking birds are the daredevils of the sea, plunging from great heights into the ocean to catch fish. Their white plumage and black-tipped wings make them easy to spot as they dive with precision.
Marbled Murrelet
Description: A small, chunky seabird with cryptic plumage that makes it hard to spot on land. What’s fascinating about them? They break the seabird mold by nesting in old-growth forests far inland—a unique trait among their ocean-loving kin.
Gulls
Examples: Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull
Description: Gulls are the opportunists of the seabird world, often seen hanging out at beaches, piers, or anywhere they can scavenge a meal. With stout bodies and long wings, they’re built for versatility.
Terns
Examples: Common Tern, Least Tern
Description: Sleek, with forked tails and sharp beaks, terns are the acrobats of the seabird world. They’re known for their graceful diving and incredible aerial agility, making them a delight to watch.
Pelicans
Examples: Brown Pelican, American White Pelican
Description: These large, unmistakable birds are best known for their long beaks and throat pouches, perfect for scooping up fish. You’ll often see them gliding low over the waves or making dramatic dives into the water.
Cormorants
Examples: Double-crested Cormorant, Brandt’s Cormorant
Description: Medium-sized, dark-plumed birds with long necks and a penchant for drying their wings in the sun after a dive. These birds are built for underwater hunting, using their powerful legs to chase fish.
