Editing Surfbird

{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{About|the bird|the [[United States Navy]] [[Minesweeper (ship)|minesweeper]]|USS Surfbird (AM-383)}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Aphriza virgata Cayucos 2.jpg
| image_caption = In worn {{birdgloss|alternate plumage|breeding plumage}}
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Calidris virgata'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T22693356A93398351 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22693356A93398351.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>
| taxon = Calidris virgata
| authority = ([[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin, JF]], 1789)
| synonyms = 
''Aphriza virgata''
| range_map = Calidris virgata map.svg
| range_map_caption = {{leftlegend|#FF7F2A|Breeding}}{{leftlegend|#5F8DD3|Nonbreeding}}
}}

The '''surfbird''' ('''''Calidris virgata''''') is a small stocky [[wader]] in the family [[Scolopacidae]]. It was once considered to be allied to the [[turnstone]]s, and placed in the monotypic genus ''Aphriza'', but is now placed in the genus ''[[Calidris]]''.

This bird has a short dark [[beak|bill]], yellow legs and a black band at the end of the white rump. In breeding plumage, it has dark streaks on the brownish head and breast with dark spots on its white underparts; the upperparts are dark with rust colouring on the wings. Birds in winter [[plumage]] and immature birds are mainly grey on the upperparts and breast and white on the underparts with streaking.
Their breeding habitat is rocky [[tundra]] areas in [[Alaska]] and the [[Yukon]]. The female lays 4 eggs in a depression on the ground lined with vegetation. Both parents look after the young birds, who feed themselves.

These birds [[bird migration|migrate]] to the [[Pacific]] coasts of [[North America|North]] and [[South America]], from southern Alaska to [[Tierra del Fuego]].

On the nesting grounds, these birds mainly eat insects and some seeds. At other times of year, they eat [[mollusk]]s and [[crustacean]]s found along the surf line on rocky coasts and are usually found in small flocks, often with [[turnstone]]s.

The song is a whistled ''tee tee tee''.

==Taxonomy==
The surfbird was [[Species description|formally described]] in 1789 by the German naturalist [[Johann Friedrich Gmelin]] in his revised and expanded edition of [[Carl Linnaeus]]'s ''[[Systema Naturae]]''. He placed it with the other sandpipers in the [[genus]] ''[[Tringa]]'' and coined the [[binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] ''Tringa virgata''.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1789 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=13th | volume=1, Part 2 | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=674 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/25750052 }}</ref> Gmelin based his description on the "streaked sandpiper" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist [[John Latham (ornithologist)|John Latham]] from a specimen collected in 1778 from Sandwich Sound (now [[Prince William Sound]], Alaska) on [[James Cook]]'s [[Third voyage of James Cook|third voyage]] to the Pacific Ocean.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Latham | first=John | author-link=John Latham (ornithologist) | year=1785 | title=A General Synopsis of Birds | volume=3, Part 1 | publisher=Printed for Leigh and Sotheby | location=London | page=180, No. 26 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40078947 }}</ref> The species was moved to the monotypic genus ''Aphriza'' by [[John James Audubon]] in 1839.<ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts  | page=271 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483084 }}</ref> It is now one of 24 species placed in the genus ''[[Calidris]]'' that was introduced in 1804 by the German naturalist [[Blasius Merrem]].<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Merrem | first=Blasius | author-link=Blasius Merrem | date=8 June 1804 | title=Naturgeschichte | language=German | journal=Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung | volume=168 | at=Col. 542 | url=https://api.digitale-sammlungen.de/iiif/presentation/v2/bsb10502034/canvas/453/view }} Published anonymously.</ref><ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=August 2022 | title=Sandpipers, snipes, coursers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sandpipers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=5 November 2022}}</ref> The genus name is from [[Ancient Greek]] ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by [[Aristotle]] for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific epithet ''virgata'' is from [[Latin]] ''virgatus'' meaning "striped" or "streaked".<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n84/mode/1up 84], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n403/mode/1up 403]}}</ref> The species is treated as [[monotypic]]: no [[subspecies]] are recognised.<ref name=ioc/>

The species was long thought to be allied to the turnstones, and placed in the subfamily Arenariinae.<ref name="Jehl">{{cite journal|last1=Jehl|first1=Joseph R.|title=The Systematic Position of the Surfbird, Aphriza virgata|journal=The Condor|date=1968|volume=70|issue=3|pages=206–210|doi=10.2307/1366692|url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v070n03/p0206-p0210.pdf|jstor=1366692}}</ref><ref name="HBW">{{cite web |last1=Van Gils|first1=J.|last2=Wiersma|first2=P.|last3=Kirwan|first3=G. M.|editor1-last=del Hoyo |editor1-first=Josep |editor2-last=Elliott |editor2-first=Andrew |editor3-last=Sargatal |editor3-first=Jordi |editor4-last=Christie |editor4-first=David A. |editor5-last=de Juana |editor5-first=Eduardo |year=2017 |title=Surfbird (''Calidris virgata'')|work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive |url=http://www.hbw.com/species/surfbird-calidris-virgata |publisher=Lynx Edicions |location=Barcelona, Spain |access-date=23 July 2017 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> With the turnstones it has even been treated as its own family.<ref name="Jehl"/> More recent data suggests it is very close genetically to the [[Red knot|red]] and [[great knot]]s and should be included in ''Calidris''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Gavin H. |last2=Wills |first2=Matthew A. |name-list-style=amp |last3=Székely |first3=Tamás |year=2004 |title=A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny |journal=[[BMC Evolutionary Biology|BMC Evol. Biol.]] |volume=4 | page=28 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-4-28 |pmid=15329156 |pmc=515296 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{ cite journal | last=Banks | first=R.C. | year=2012 | title=Classification and nomenclature of the Sandpipers (Aves: Arenariinae) | journal=Zootaxa | volume=3513 | pages=86–88 | doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3513.1.6}}</ref><ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Gibson | first1=R. | last2=Baker | first2=A. | year=2012 | title=Multiple gene sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships in the shorebird suborder Scolopaci (Aves: Charadriiformes) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=64 | issue=1 | pages= 66–72 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2012.03.008 | pmid=22491071 | bibcode=2012MolPE..64...66G }}</ref> Indeed, the great knot looks very much like a larger, longer-billed, and somewhat darker surfbird.<ref name="HBW" />
[[File:Surfbird-26MAR2016.jpg|alt=Surfbird|right|thumb|286x286px|Surfbird in [[Humboldt County, California]].]]

==Description==
[[File:Black-Bellied Plover, Surfbirds, Black Turnstone, Ruddy Turnstone.jpg|thumb|Surfbirds in winter plumage with a ruddy turnstone (left), black-bellied plover (second from left) and black turnstones (back).]]
The surfbird is a large sandpiper, reminiscent of the turnstones or the great knot. It measures {{convert|23|to(-)|26|cm|in|abbr=on}} and weighs {{convert|133|-|251|g|abbr=on}}.<ref name="HBW" /> The sexes look the same, but the females are slightly larger than males on average.<ref name="BNA">{{cite journal|last1=Senner|first1=S.|last2=McCaffery|first2=B.|title=Surfbird (''Calidris virgata'')|url=https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/surfbi/introduction|journal=The Birds of North America Online|publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology|access-date=23 July 2017|location=Ithaca|doi=10.2173/bna.266|date=1997|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Surfbirds their breeding plumage from March through August, and have white heads, necks breast and belly which are streaked with black, except for the {{birdgloss|crown}} which are rusty.<ref name="BNA" /> The streaking becomes less prominent lower in the body.<ref name="HBW" />

==Distribution and habitat==
[[File:Surfbird Calidris virgata spray zone .jpg|thumb|Non-breeding surfbirds feed in the spray zone of rocky shores.]]
The surfbird has the longest and narrowest non-breeding distribution of any North American bird, being found from [[Kodiak Island]] in Alaska to the Straits of Magellan at the southern tip of South America. Along that range it is rarely found more than a few meters from the shore.<ref name="BNA" /> During the breeding season it is found on the mountains of Alaska and the western Yukon, from {{convert|150|–|1800|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="HBW" />

The surfbird starts leaving its breeding grounds from July (the last leaving in October), and begins reaching its main wintering grounds in Chile and Peru in mid August. On its return [[bird migration|migration]] it begins to leave South America in early March. Some birds remain on the wintering grounds year-round. Vagrant birds have been seen in the Falkland Islands, Florida, and Texas.<ref name="HBW" /> The migration routes are almost entirely coastal, a very small number of birds have been seen inland during migration.<ref name="BNA" />

Its breeding habitat is [[alpine tundra]], preferably rocky ridges dominated by scree, rock fields, lichens, dwarf shrubs and ''[[Dryas (plant)|Dryas]]'' (mountain avens), and less commonly in tundra with mosses and sedges. It is generally found away from suitable habitat that is close to forest. In the non breeding season, it is a rocky shore specialist, feeding on rocky shores, reefs, and ledges on the coast. It will feed from the spray zone on the water's edge to just above the tide line. In some circumstances, it will feed on sandy beaches and mudflats near rocky areas.<ref name="BNA" />

==Behavior==
===Diet and feeding===
The diet of breeding surfbirds is dominated by insects. On one study examining stomach contents, flies ([[Diptera]]), including eggs, pupae and adults, composed 55% of the food taken by surfbirds, and beetles [[Coleoptera]] 36%. Other insects taken include moths and butterflies ([[Lepidoptera]]) and bees and wasps ([[Hymenoptera]]). Seeds and snails are also taken, albeit rarely.<ref name="BNA" /><ref name="Dixon 1927">{{cite journal|last1=Dixon|first1=J.|title=The Surf-Bird's secret|journal=The Auk|date=1927|volume=29|issue=1|pages=3–16|url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v029n01/p0003-p0016.pdf}}</ref>

===Breeding===
[[File:Aphriza virgataUSFWSAK-RO-03080A.jpg|thumb|Surfbird on its nest]]
The breeding behavior of the surfbird is poorly known. The surfbird arrives in its breeding habitat in early May; due to high winds in their exposed nesting areas the snow has usually cleared by then. Nesting sites are typically on north or west facing slopes. Nests are exposed, and a re simple depressions lined with lichens and, sometimes, ''Dryas''.<ref name="BNA" /> The species is assumed to be territorial and monogamous. Clutch size is usually four eggs, although smaller clutches have been found.<ref name="HBW" />

The eggs are buff-colored with gray or purple markings, and measure {{convert|43|x|31|mm|abbr=on}}. Both sexes [[avian incubation|incubate]] the eggs and the incubation period is estimated to be between 22 and 24 days.<ref name="HBW" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird/surfbird Surfbird Information] Seattle Audubon Society's BirdWeb

{{Scolopacidae|1}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q1274741|from2=Q28070835}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Surfbird}}
[[Category:Native birds of Alaska]]
[[Category:Calidris]]
[[Category:Sandpipers]]
[[Category:Wading birds]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1789]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin]]