The eggs have been laid, incubated, hatched, and now the juveniles have been left to fatten up so that they, too, can make the journey in October. Scientists don't know how they accomplish this amazing feat of navigation, particularly since they have never made the flight before. And if, after that long journey, the young arriving in the fall cannot establish their own territory, it may mean an additional leg of the journey further south. Though they are shorebirds, kolea occupy a variety of territories, as long as they are open and have low vegetation: golf courses, parks, fields, and marshes will do. Once settled, they will spend the winter poking around for moths, caterpillars, cockroaches, and the like. They patrol their territories with both caution and a bit of daring, strutting quickly, then abruptly stopping and watching, rarely intimidated enough to fly off. In the spring, their diet will expand to include berries, seeds and leaves prior to their return trip in late April to May. Just before they embark on that return journey, they'll sport a gorgeous summer breeding plumage: a dark underbelly and face piped with a racing stripe of white. I for one am inspired by the fortitude of this delicate little bird.
When you spot your first Kolea this August, stop to consider the journey it has just completed. Unable to soar or rest on the water, this remarkable bird has just pumped its wings up and down for perhaps three thousand miles in its epic non-stop journey from the arctic tundra to the very patch of land you find it. It is likely the very same patch it patrolled during its previous winters here. Take a moment to marvel.
The eggs have been laid, incubated, hatched, and now the juveniles have been left to fatten up so that they, too, can make the journey in October. Scientists don't know how they accomplish this amazing feat of navigation, particularly since they have never made the flight before. And if, after that long journey, the young arriving in the fall cannot establish their own territory, it may mean an additional leg of the journey further south. Though they are shorebirds, kolea occupy a variety of territories, as long as they are open and have low vegetation: golf courses, parks, fields, and marshes will do. Once settled, they will spend the winter poking around for moths, caterpillars, cockroaches, and the like. They patrol their territories with both caution and a bit of daring, strutting quickly, then abruptly stopping and watching, rarely intimidated enough to fly off. In the spring, their diet will expand to include berries, seeds and leaves prior to their return trip in late April to May. Just before they embark on that return journey, they'll sport a gorgeous summer breeding plumage: a dark underbelly and face piped with a racing stripe of white. I for one am inspired by the fortitude of this delicate little bird.
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