Habitat

Breeding areas in Quebec near a “major vegetational transition zone where the lichen woodlands of the northern part of the boreal forest are becoming interspersed with stretches of tundra” (Harris 1989: 6). Vegetation is diverse. Known nesting areas are in large sedge (Carex spp.) meadows (e.g., patterned fens or “string bogs”; REH) with interspersed black spruce (Picea mariana) and tamarack (Larix laricina). Similar habitat described for N. Twin I., Nunavut, James Bay (Manning 1981), and Winisk River, Ontario (Soulliere 1993). In Quebec, L. g. griseus shares nesting habitat with Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla), Common Snipe, Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria), and Greater Yellowlegs (T. melanoleuca; Harris 1989, R. C. Clement pers. comm.). Suspected of nesting commonly in string bogs in lake plateau region of Labrador (54°40´ 10°N, 65°19´ 45°W; R. I. Goudie pers. comm.; see also Todd 1963).

At Churchill, Manitoba, hendersoni nests in black-spruce bogs and muskegs (see Fig. 3), but also spills over slightly beyond treeline, where nests in wet sedge marshes, usually but not invariably with small scattered trees or shrubs (spruce, tamarack, willows [Salix spp.]) that are used as perches in display. Typical breeding associates in muskegs are Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes), Common Snipe, and Solitary Sandpiper; in sedge marshes at treeline, Stilt Sandpiper, Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica), Least Sandpiper, Dunlin (Calidris alpina), and Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus), all of which nest in much drier sites. Also nests in muskeg near Hudson Bay lowlands in n. Ontario (Harris 1987).

In Saskatchewan, Erskine (1974) described probable nesting of hendersoni near mossy boreal bog, where tamarack and dwarf birch (Betula sp.) are dominant trees; area bordered by black spruce and jack pine (Pinus banksiana) on dry ridges. Other associated waders: Greater and Lesser yellow-legs, Common Snipe, Solitary Sandpiper. In Alberta, Randall (1961: 158) described muskeg nesting habitat as “covered with a fairly heavy growth of white and black spruce and stunted larch. Hundreds of lakes, varying in size from tiny ponds to several square miles of water, are dotted over the entire area. The dry ridges are mostly covered by aspen poplar, white birch, willow, and alder, interspersed with white spruce and jackpine”; see also Rowan 1927 . Associated waders: Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, and Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor).

In British Columbia, caurinus in St. Elias Mtns. nests in “wet boggy muskeg in sub-alpine meadows, plateaus, and valleys with mixtures of sedges and sphagnum . . .” and on Queen Charlotte Is. “in a brackish estuarine marsh dominated by sphagnum, sedges, and rushes” (Campbell et al. 1990: 208).

In Alaska, nests also located in muskegs (Gabrielson and Lincoln 1959). On e. Copper River Delta, AK, most nests located in sedge meadow, sedge-hummock, and moss-grass. Eight of 21 nests were located in or within 30 m from a tern colony (Mickelson et al. 1980). In w. Alaska, nests most frequently in bogs in the floodplains of major rivers (B. McCaffery pers. comm.).

Prefers saltwater habitat, whereas Long-billed Dowitcher prefers freshwater ponds and marshes. Most common on tidal flats, beaches, salt marshes, sewage ponds, and flooded agricultural fields. In fall migration in New Jersey, daily bimodal pattern of abundance in coastal habitats, with one peak near midpoint of ebbing tide and a higher peak near midpoint of rising tide; rest in adjacent salt marshes at high tide (Burger et al. 1977).

Coastal mud flats and brackish lagoons in s. U.S. In Mexico, Costa Rica, Central America, flats often associated with mangrove coasts (Engilis et al. 1998, JRJ). In Panama, also uses salt and shrimp ponds (Morrison et al. 1998). In South America, almost exclusively on mangrove coasts and tidal flats, where shows strong preference for zone of sling mud near low-water level (Spaans 1978, Morrison and Ross 1989).