Shorebirds, Gulls, and Terns in North America

Noting this now: Alcids are not included here, they were already done on their own thread.

Covered here are the rest of the Charadriidae, the sandpipers, plovers, dikkops, jacanas, stilts, avocets, oystercatchers, buttonquail, terns, gulls, skimmers, and allies.

This proved a very interesting one, as many species are very poorly represented on the forum at all apart from the big year posts. A large number of species so far I can find only one or two holders. Many of the shorebirds have no or very few photos at all in the gallery. I suspect holders are very much incomplete here, additional information much appreciated! As normal information used is two years or newer.

 

Thick-knees

Burhinus

Spotted Thick-Knee (Cape Thick-Knee) (15 holders)

Audubon
Fresno Chaffee
Jacksonville
Lincoln Park
Living Desert
Los Angeles
Milwaukee
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Riverbanks
Safari Niagara
Safari West
Seneca Park
St. Louis
Zoo Atlanta

Double-striped Thick-Knee (4 holders)

Jacksonville
Toledo
Toronto
Tulsa

Peruvian Thick-Knee (3 holders)

Gladys Porter
San Antonio
Sedgwick County

Bush Thick-knee (1 holder)

Sedgwick County


Egyptian Plover - Pluvianus (4-5 holders)

Fresno Chaffee?
Milwaukee
Philadelphia
San Diego
Toledo


Oystercatchers

Haematopus

Black Oystercatcher (5 holders)

Alaska Sealife Center
Living Coast Discovery Center
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Oregon Coast Aquarium
Seattle Aquarium

American Oystercatcher (3 holders)

Jacksonville
Milwaukee
Save Our Seabirds


Avocets, Stilts

Recurvirostra

Pied Avocet (2 holders)

Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy
Sylvan Heights Bird Park

American Avocet (4 holders)

Aquarium of the Pacific
Lincoln Park
Milwaukee
Monterey Bay Aquarium


Himantopus

Black-necked Stilt (8 holders)

Aquarium of the Pacific
Fort Worth
Lincoln Park
Los Angeles
Louisville
Milwaukee
N.E.W.
Sylvan Heights Bird Park

 

Plovers

Pluvialis

Black-bellied Plover (3 holders)

Aquarium of the Pacific
Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy
Monterey Bay Aquarium

Pacific Golden-Plover (1 holder)

Honolulu

American Golden-Plover (isn’t there one somewhere?)


Charadrius

Semipalmated Plover (1 holder)

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Wilson’s Plover (1 holder)

Zoo Tampa

Killdeer (6 holders)

Aquarium of the Pacific
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
Columbus
N.E.W.
Oklahoma City
Seattle Aquarium

Piping Plover (2 holders)

Lincoln Park
Toledo

Snowy Plover (3 holders)

Aquarium of the Pacific
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Seattle Aquarium


Vanellus

Long-toed Lapwing (2 holders)

San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Sylvan Heights Bird Park

Blacksmith Lapwing (5 holders)

Honolulu
Milwaukee
Omaha
St. Louis
Sylvan Heights Bird Park

Spur-winged Lapwing (16 holders)

Bronx
Cincinnati
Dallas
Detroit
Living Desert
Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy
Los Angeles
Maryland
Oregon
Sacramento
Safari West
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Toledo
Tulsa
Woodland Park
Zoo Miami

White-headed Lapwing (1 holder)

National Aviary

Wattled Lapwing (3 holders)

San Diego
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Sylvan Heights Bird Park

Masked Lapwing (24-25 holders)

Audubon
Brevard
Busch Gardens Tampa
Cincinnati
Columbus
Lincoln Park
Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy
Los Angeles
Milwaukee
National Aquarium
North Carolina
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Riverbanks
Salisbury
San Antonio
San Diego
Sedgwick County
Sylvan Heights Bird Park?
Toledo
Tracy Aviary
Woodland Park
Zoo Atlanta
Zoo Miami
Zoo Tampa

Southern Lapwing (5 holders)

Abilene
Buttonwood Park
Cincinnati
Sylvan Heights Bird Park


Painted-snipe

Rostratula

Greater Painted-snipe - breeding aviary somewhere?


Jacanas

Jacana

Wattled Jacana (2 holders)

Dallas World Aquarium
Shedd Aquarium


Actophilornis

African Jacana (7-8 holders)

Cleveland? (listed as Wattled, but photo is African)
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Houston
National Aviary
Omaha
Pinola Conservancy
San Diego
Sylvan Heights Bird Park

 

Sandpipers, Snipes, Phalaropes

Numenius

Long-billed Curlew (1 holder)

Seattle Aquarium


Limosa

Marbled Godwit (1 holder)

Monterey Bay Aquarium


Arenaria

Ruddy Turnstone (2 holders)

Monterey Bay Aquarium
National (supposedly, when bird house reopens)


Calidris

Red Knot (2 holders)

Monterey Bay Aquarium
National Zoo (not just yet, or bts)

Ruff (1 holder)

Sylvan Heights Bird Park

Sanderling (2 holders)

Monterey Bay Aquarium
National Zoo (not yet, or bts)

Dunlin (1 holder)

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Least Sandpiper (2 holders)

Monterey Bay Aquarium
New England Aquarium

Western Sandpiper (1 holder)

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Semipalmated Sandpiper (1 holder)

New England Aquarium


Limnodromus

Short-billed Dowitcher (1 holder)

Aquarium of the Pacific


Scolopax

American Woodcock (1 holder?)

Columbus?


Phalaropus

Red-necked Phalarope (1 holder)

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Red Phalarope (1 holder)

Monterey Bay Aquarium


Tringa

Willet (2 holder)

Aquarium of the Pacific
Monterey Bay Aquarium


Buttonquail

Turnix

Madagascar Buttonquail (4-5 holders)

Miller Park
Omaha
San Diego?
Toledo
Tulsa


Coursers & Pratincoles

Glareola

Collared Pratincole (1 holder)

San Diego

 

Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Rynchops

Black Skimmer (any holders?)

Bronx, Buttonwood Park, New England Aquarium recently but no longer?


Chroicocephalus

Bonaparte’s Gull (1 holder)

Santa Barbara


Leucophaeus

Silver Gull (1 holder)

National Aviary

Gray Gull (3 holders)

Brookfield
Oregon
Sedgwick County

Franklin’s Gull (2 holders)

Abilene
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary

Laughing Gull (6 holders)

Albuquerque Aquarium
Bronx
Dallas
Fort Worth
Honolulu
Houston


Larus

Ring-billed Gull (4 holders)

Abilene
Cincinnati
San Antonio
Tulsa

Great Black-backed Gull (1 holder)

Toledo


Hydroprogne

Caspian Tern (1-3 holders)

Denver Aquarium
Oklahoma City?
Tracy Aviary?


Larosterna

Inca Tern (20 holders)

Bronx
Brookfield
Cincinnati
Fresno Chaffee
Great Plains
Jacksonville
Lincoln Park
Louisville
Milwaukee
National Aviary
Omaha
Oregon
Rosamond Gifford
San Diego
Santa Barbara
Stone
Sylvan Heights Bird Park
Tulsa
Zoo Boise
Zoo Tampa


Sterna

Common Tern (1 holder?)

New England Aquarium?

Forster’s Tern (1 holder?)

Bronx?


Thalasseus

Sandwich Tern (1 holder)

Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science

Royal Tern (1 holder)

Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science


Skuas and Jaegers

Stercorarius

Pomarine Jaeger (1 holder)

Busch Wildlife Sanctuary

 

Does Bronx not have Eurasian oystercatcher anymore? Very interesting list otherwise, there is quite a difference between species held in Europe and species held in North America (which is understandable).

 

Bronx has Common Tern, Black oystercatcher, and Forster's tern. Sylvan Heights has Royal tern. Willowbrook Wildlife Center has Ring-billed gull. 3 Palms Zoo has Laughing gull. Sunset Zoo has Silver gull. Cape May Zoo has Ruddy turnstone. Flint RiverQuarium has Black-bellied plover. Miller Park Zoo has Peruvian thick-knee. Columbus Zoo has American golden plover.

 

There is one at Columbus.

I don't think they still hold.

No Piping Plover at Toledo this summer. I haven't been in the Lincoln Park bird house for several years, but I don't remember seeing any Piping Plovers in there ever (but maybe there are?)

 

Not when I visited in March of this year.

Knew this was too low so I did some searching around. They are also held at Busch Gardens Tampa, Riverbanks, Fresno, Jackson, Minnesota, Monterey Bay, Phoenix, Happy Hollow in San Jose, and Tracy Aviary.

 

Bronx does indeed, I had forgotten they did. It is added and will appear with the next update.

What's your source on MBA? I know they used to have them, but during my visit in March there was a pair of avocet but no stilts. Watching the aviary cam to see if any turn up.

EDIT: A pair of stilts are on the aviary cam at present, but so far no avocet. Opposite of what I saw in March. Do they swap them out seasonally anyone know?

 

Black-necked stilt, Coastal Wetlands, Birds, Himantopus mexicanus at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Also: Aviary Live Web Cam at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
"Marvel at the long legs of our black-necked stilts..."

Also: there is a black-necked stilt standing in front of the webcam right now

 

Their stilt page still says not on exhibit.

And yes, watching the pair of stilts currently. No sign of the avocet though so far.

 

You're right, didn't notice that. Guess they need to update their website, since we're both currently seeing them!

 

Avocet pair seen on the cam, looks like both are indeed on exhibit.

 

Also kept by Minnesota.

 

Not seen or signed this summer. Where did you get this info from?

 

When searching ZooChat for woodcock, I ran across a post mentioning them signed but unseen at Columbus, that did fall within the time range. However as there were no farther references, I listed with a question mark as I suspected it was probably gone.

 

More surprises from Bay Beach! On my visit today I saw Bonaparte's Gull, Caspian Tern, and a Common/Forster's Tern. I assume they are all new additions.

 

Minor update with a few things since the original posting:

Thick-knees

Burhinus

Spotted Thick-Knee (Cape Thick-Knee) (15 holders)

Audubon
Fresno Chaffee
Jacksonville
Lincoln Park
Living Desert
Los Angeles
Milwaukee
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Riverbanks
Safari Niagara
Safari West
Seneca Park
St. Louis
Zoo Atlanta

Double-striped Thick-Knee (4 holders)

Jacksonville
Toledo
Toronto
Tulsa

Peruvian Thick-Knee (4 holders)

Gladys Porter
Miller Park
San Antonio
Sedgwick County

Bush Thick-knee (1 holder)

Sedgwick County


Egyptian Plover - Pluvianus (4 holders)

Milwaukee
Philadelphia
San Diego
Toledo


Oystercatchers

Haematopus

Black Oystercatcher (6 holders)

Alaska Sealife Center
Bronx
Living Coast Discovery Center
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Oregon Coast Aquarium
Seattle Aquarium

American Oystercatcher (3 holders)

Jacksonville
Milwaukee
Save Our Seabirds

Eurasian Oystercatcher (1 holder)

Bronx


Avocets, Stilts

Recurvirostra

Pied Avocet (2 holders)

Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy
Sylvan Heights Bird Park

American Avocet (4 holders)

Aquarium of the Pacific
Lincoln Park
Milwaukee
Monterey Bay Aquarium


Himantopus

Black-necked Stilt (17 holders)

Aquarium of the Pacific
Busch Gardens Tampa
Fort Worth
Fresno Chaffee
Happy Hollow
Jackson
Lincoln Park
Los Angeles
Louisville
Milwaukee
Minnesota
Monterey Bay Aquarium
N.E.W.
Phoenix
Riverbanks
Sylvan Heights Bird Park
Tracy Aviary


Plovers

Pluvialis

Black-bellied Plover (4 holders)

Aquarium of the Pacific
Flint RiverQuarium
Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy
Monterey Bay Aquarium

Pacific Golden-Plover (1 holder)

Honolulu

American Golden-Plover (1 holder)

Columbus


Charadrius

Semipalmated Plover (1 holder)

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Wilson’s Plover (1 holder)

Zoo Tampa

Killdeer (6 holders)
Aquarium of the Pacific
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
Columbus
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Oklahoma City
Seattle Aquarium

Piping Plover (1 holder)

Lincoln Park

Snowy Plover (3 holders)

Aquarium of the Pacific
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Seattle Aquarium


Vanellus

Long-toed Lapwing (2 holders)

San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Sylvan Heights Bird Park

Blacksmith Lapwing (5 holders)

Honolulu
Milwaukee
Omaha
St. Louis
Sylvan Heights Bird Park

Spur-winged Lapwing (17 holders)

Bronx
Cincinnati
Dallas
Detroit
Living Desert
Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy
Los Angeles
Maryland
Minnesota
Oregon
Sacramento
Safari West
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Toledo
Tulsa
Woodland Park
Zoo Miami

White-headed Lapwing (1 holder)

National Aviary

Wattled Lapwing (3 holders)

San Diego
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Sylvan Heights Bird Park

Masked Lapwing (24-25 holders)

Audubon
Brevard
Busch Gardens Tampa
Cincinnati
Columbus
Lincoln Park
Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy
Los Angeles
Milwaukee
National Aquarium
North Carolina
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Riverbanks
Salisbury
San Antonio
San Diego
Sedgwick County
Sylvan Heights Bird Park?
Toledo
Tracy Aviary
Woodland Park
Zoo Atlanta
Zoo Miami
Zoo Tampa

Southern Lapwing (5 holders)

Abilene
Buttonwood Park
Cincinnati
Sylvan Heights Bird Park


Painted-snipe

Rostratula

Greater Painted-snipe - breeding aviary somewhere?


Jacanas

Jacana

Wattled Jacana (2 holders)

Dallas World Aquarium
Shedd Aquarium


Actophilornis

African Jacana (7-8 holders)

Cleveland? (listed as Wattled, but photo is African)
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Houston
National Aviary
Omaha
Pinola Conservancy
San Diego
Sylvan Heights Bird Park


Sandpipers, Snipes, Phalaropes

Numenius

Long-billed Curlew (1 holder)

Seattle Aquarium


Limosa

Marbled Godwit (1 holder)

Monterey Bay Aquarium


Arenaria

Ruddy Turnstone (3 holders)

Cape May
Monterey Bay Aquarium
National (supposedly, when bird house reopens)


Calidris

Red Knot (2 holders)

Monterey Bay Aquarium
National Zoo (not just yet, or bts)

Ruff (1 holder)

Sylvan Heights Bird Park

Sanderling (2 holders)

Monterey Bay Aquarium
National Zoo (not yet, or bts)

Dunlin (1 holder)

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Least Sandpiper (2 holders)

Monterey Bay Aquarium
New England Aquarium

Western Sandpiper (1 holder)

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Semipalmated Sandpiper (1 holder)

New England Aquarium


Limnodromus

Short-billed Dowitcher (1 holder)

Aquarium of the Pacific


Phalaropus

Red-necked Phalarope (1 holder)

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Red Phalarope (1 holder)

Monterey Bay Aquarium


Tringa

Willet (1 holder)

Aquarium of the Pacific


Buttonquail

Turnix

Madagascar Buttonquail (4-5 holders)

Miller Park
Omaha
San Diego?
Toledo
Tulsa


Coursers & Pratincoles

Glareola

Collared Pratincole (1 holder)

San Diego


Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Rynchops

Black Skimmer (any holders?)

Bronx, Buttonwood Park, New England Aquarium recently but no longer?


Chroicocephalus

Bonaparte’s Gull (2 holders)

Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
Santa Barbara


Leucophaeus

Silver Gull (2 holders)

National Aviary
Sunset

Gray Gull (3 holders)

Brookfield
Oregon
Sedgwick County

Franklin’s Gull (2 holders)

Abilene
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary

Laughing Gull (7 holders)

Albuquerque Aquarium
Bronx
Dallas
Fort Worth
Honolulu
Houston
Three Palms


Larus

Ring-billed Gull (5 holders)

Abilene
Cincinnati
San Antonio
Tulsa
Willowbrook Wildlife Center

Great Black-backed Gull (1 holder)

Toledo


Hydroprogne

Caspian Tern (2-4 holders)

Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
Denver Aquarium
Oklahoma City?
Tracy Aviary?


Larosterna

Inca Tern (20 holders)

Bronx
Brookfield
Cincinnati
Fresno Chaffee
Great Plains
Jacksonville
Lincoln Park
Louisville
Milwaukee
National Aviary
Omaha
Oregon
Rosamond Gifford
San Diego
Santa Barbara
Stone
Sylvan Heights Bird Park
Tulsa
Zoo Boise
Zoo Tampa


Sterna

Common Tern (1-2 holders?)

Bronx
New England Aquarium?

Forster’s Tern (1 holder)

Bronx


Thalasseus

Sandwich Tern (1 holder)

Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science

Royal Tern (2 holders)

Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science
Sylvan Heights Bird Park


Skuas and Jaegers

Stercorarius

Pomarine Jaeger (1 holder)

Busch Wildlife Sanctuary

 

Since when has Bronx exhibited Black skimmers and European oystercatchers? In the Aquatic Bird House?