Painted

1910

Published

1930

Volume

4

Plate

282

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Surfbird

Aphriza virgata

DESCRIPTION

A literal translation of this bird's classic name — "I am striped and live by the sea foam" — is an epitome of their lives.

Many ornithologists never are lucky enuf to catch the time, the place and the bird in conjunction. There are some favored bits of the Pacific coast where SURFBIRDS tend but even the most persistent enthusiasts might miss their coming for uncertainty is their middle name.

For romantic perseverance in running down the mystery of where they nested, the palm goes to Dixon. Five pilgrimages in seventeen years he made to Alaska on this quest. By elimination he decided the birds must breed somewhere in the mountains of central Alaska. In the Spring of 1926, accompanied by Wright, he took up the trail again. They sought thru McKinley National Park along the river bars unsuccessfully and then ascended past timber line.

On May 28, 1926, Wright found the first nest ever discovered, with four eggs buffy with chestnut spots and splashes. Dixon and Wright spent hours in observation and found the male does most of the incubating, perhaps all of it. Intruders — men, wild sheep or other animals — were allowed a close approach, then frightened off by a sudden eruption of the bird right in the face, like an exploding fire cracker. When it rained or snowed the sitting bird spread its feathers into a canopy that effectually shed water into adjacent moss. The nesting site was on dry rocky ground, not on the wet tundra nearby.

The call notes are tee-tee-teet and their flight swift and ploverlike. On alighting they frequently raise both wings over their backs until they almost touch.

BREEDING

RANGE

Western North and South America.

surfbird
king-rail
King Rail
208
belding-rail
Belding Rail, Lightfoot Rail
209-210.1
california-clapper-rail
California Clapper Rail
210
clapper-rail
Clapper Rail
211
louisiana-clapper-rail
Louisiana Clapper Rail
211a
florida-clapper-rail
Florida Clapper Rail, Wayne Clapper Rail
211b-211c
caribbean-clapper-rail
Caribbean Clapper Rail
211.2
virginia-rail
Virginia Rail
212
sora
Sora
214
yellow-rail
Yellow Rail
215
black-rail
Black Rail
216
purple-gallinule
Purple Gallinule
218
gray-gallinule
Gray Gallinule
219
coot
Coot
221
red-phalarope
Red Phalarope
222
northern-phalarope
Northern Phalarope
223
wilson-phalarope
Wilson Phalarope
224
avocet
Avocet
225
blackneck-stilt
Blackneck Stilt
226
woodcock
Woodcock
228
wilson-snipe
Wilson Snipe
230
brownback-snipe
Brownback Snipe
231
western-brownback-snipe
Western Brownback Snipe
231a
stilt-sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
233
knot
Knot
234
purple-sandpiper
Purple Sandpiper
235
aleutian-sandpiper
Aleutian Sandpiper
235a
pribilof-sandpiper
Pribilof Sandpiper
235b
sharptail-sandpiper
Sharptail Sandpiper
238
pectoral-sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
239
whiterump-sandpiper
Whiterump Sandpiper
240
baird-sandpiper
Baird Sandpiper
241
least-sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
242
redback-sandpiper
Redback Sandpiper
243a
curlew-sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
244
spoonbill-sandpiper
Spoonbill Sandpiper
245
semipalmated-sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
246
western-sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
247
sanderling
Sanderling
248
marbled-godwit
Marbled Godwit
249
pacific-godwit
Pacific Godwit
250
hudsonian-godwit
Hudsonian Godwit
251
greater-yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
254
yellowlegs
Yellowlegs
255
solitary-sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
256
western-solitary-sandpiper
Western Solitary Sandpiper
256a
willet
Willet
258
western-willet
Western Willet
258a
wandering-tattler
Wandering Tattler
259
upland-plover
Upland Plover
261
buffbreast-sandpiper
Buffbreast Sandpiper
262
spotted-sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
263
longbill-curlew
Longbill Curlew
264
hudsonian-curlew
Hudsonian Curlew
265
eskimo-curlew
Eskimo Curlew
266
bristlethigh-curlew
Bristlethigh Curlew
268
blackbelly-plover
Blackbelly Plover
270
golden-plover
Golden Plover
272
pacific-golden-plover
Pacific Golden Plover
272a
kildee
Kildee
273
semipalmated-plover
Semipalmated Plover
274
ring-plover
Ring Plover
275
piping-plover
Piping Plover
277
snowy-plover
Snowy Plover
278
wilson-plover
Wilson Plover
280
mountain-plover
Mountain Plover
281
surfbird
Surfbird
282
turnstone
Turnstone
283
ruddy-turnstone
Ruddy Turnstone
283a
black-turnstone
Black Turnstone
284
oystercatcher
Oystercatcher
286
frazar-oystercatcher
Frazar Oystercatcher
286.1
black-oystercatcher
Black Oystercatcher
287
mexican-jacana
Mexican Jacana
288