Shorebirds, Gulls, and Terns in North America

Great Argus said:
I don't know times, they do still hold Eurasian Oystercatcher. (Photos in the gallery) The skimmer was apparently short-lived. @ThylacineAlive would have more information than I do I expect.
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I saw the skimmer once shortly after its arrival and it already looked dead apart from the labored breathing. It was a rescued animal but they simply do not fair well in captivity. Bronx has had an odd looking Eurasian Oystercatcher for a couple years now, as does Central Park. Bronx also has masked lapwing and I think CPZ still has Greater Black-Backed Gull but I'm not 100% sure.

Bronx's terns are a bit of a mystery. For a while I thought all of the Common Tern turned out to just be Forsten's but I've been told that they don't actually have any Forsten's anymore but actually all Common and one Arctic. It doesn't help that all three species are pretty identical looking. I've taken photos of every individual tern I could find in the enclosure to hopefully work it out, but I've not gotten around to uploading or searching through them yet.

Pinola keeps painted-snipes and Collared Pratincole.

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
I've taken photos of every individual tern I could find in the enclosure to hopefully work it out, but I've not gotten around to uploading or searching through them yet.
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If you do get round to it, for identification purposes it would be better to post them to a forum like Birdforum where there will be a lot more experienced people.
 
Spotted (Cape) Thick-knee is also kept by Birmingham, Boise, Central Florida, Chehaw Park, Micke Grove, National Aviary, and Tautphaus Park.

Peruvian Thick-knee is also kept by Assiniboine Park and Birmingham.

Spur-winged Lapwing is also kept by Detroit and Tautphaus Park.

Masked Lapwing is also kept by El Paso and Fort Wayne.

Inca Tern is also kept by Assiniboine Park, Boise, Cameron Park, El Paso, and Sedgwick County. I think Philadelphia had them when I visited in the past couple years, but someone else will need to confirm.
 
So Sylvan Heights is the only collection with Ruff, wow. They are such an amazing species to watch, especially in their breeding coloration. Wish more zoos would have them. At least Sylvan has a large group of them that seems to be growing in recent years.

Is the species more common in European zoos?
 
nczoofan said:
So Sylvan Heights is the only collection with Ruff, wow. They are such an amazing species to watch, especially in their breeding coloration. Wish more zoos would have them. At least Sylvan has a large group of them that seems to be growing in recent years.

Is the species more common in European zoos?
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Far as I am aware, Ruff is much more common in European collections. Given the species is native there it makes sense.
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Bronx's terns are a bit of a mystery. For a while I thought all of the Common Tern turned out to just be Forsten's but I've been told that they don't actually have any Forsten's anymore but actually all Common and one Arctic. It doesn't help that all three species are pretty identical looking. I've taken photos of every individual tern I could find in the enclosure to hopefully work it out, but I've not gotten around to uploading or searching through them yet.
Click to expand...

I've finally cracked the mystery! So going back only as far as 2011, the zoo has recently kept four kinds of Sterna tern:
  • 1.1 Forster's
  • 1.2 Common
  • 1.0 hybrid CommonXForster's
  • 1.0 Arctic
What I learned is that the pair of Forster's died in 2013 and 2014 respectively, leaving the zoo with only Common, the Arctic, and the hybrid. Why around this time the zoo removed the signage for Common and has kept the signage for Forster's I'll never know, but apparently the zoo knows which taxa they keep. Unfortunately, it seems as though the Arctic died late last year as well. This means the zoo currently has four terns left: 1.2 Common and 1.0 hybrid.

It seems I was lucky back in the day and somehow managed to always photograph their Forster's right up to about a week or so before the last one died. Due to this, I now know that I have photographed all four kinds of terns at the zoo:
Forster's Tern - ZooChat
Arctic Tern - ZooChat
Common Tern - ZooChat
CommonXForster's Tern - ZooChat

~Thylo
 
Thick-knees

Burhinus

Spotted Thick-Knee (Cape Thick-Knee) (21 holders)

Audubon
Birmingham
Boise
Central Florida
Chehaw Park
Fresno Chaffee
Idaho Falls
Jacksonville
Lincoln Park
Living Desert
Los Angeles
Micke Grove
Milwaukee
National Aviary
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 (6 holders)

Assiniboine Park
Birmingham
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 (2 holders)

Bronx
Central Park


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 (18 holders)

Aquarium of the Pacific
Busch Gardens Tampa
Fort Worth
Fresno Chaffee
Happy Hollow
Henry Vilas
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 (18 holders)

Bronx
Cincinnati
Dallas
Detroit
Idaho Falls
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 (27-29 holders)

Audubon
Brevard
Bronx
Busch Gardens Tampa
Cincinnati
Columbus
El Paso
Fort Wayne
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 (1 holder)

Pinola Aviary


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 (2 holders)

Aquarium of the Pacific
Denver Aquarium


Buttonquail

Turnix

Madagascar Buttonquail (4-5 holders)

Miller Park
Omaha
San Diego?
Toledo
Tulsa


Coursers & Pratincoles

Glareola

Collared Pratincole (2 holders)

Pinola Aviary
San Diego


Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Rynchops

Black Skimmer (any holders?)

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


Chroicocephalus

Bonaparte’s Gull (3 holders)

Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
Denver Aquarium
Santa Barbara

Leucophaeus

Silver Gull (3 holders)

Kansas City
National Aviary
Sunset

Gray Gull (3 holders)

Brookfield
Oregon
Sedgwick County

Franklin’s Gull (2 holders)

Abilene
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary

Laughing Gull (8 holders)

3 Palms
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 (24 holders)

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


Sterna

Common Tern (2-3 holders?)

Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary?
Bronx
New England Aquarium?


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
 
Last edited:
San Antonio has black-necked stilt, spur-winged lapwing, Inca tern, and American avocet.

Cameron Park has American herring gull, black-necked stilt, and Laughing gull.
 
Great Argus said:
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
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I don’t think Omaha or San Diego holds this species anymore, or at least not on public display.
 
Bronx still maintains a large flock of Pied Avocet, I believe Central Park holds some now as well.

I do not believe anybody holds buttonquail anymore. Tulsa and Omaha were the only holders when I visited them both in May 2019 but both had a single individual and at least Tulsa had plans to sent their bird out.

The Kansas Wildlife Exhibit keeps Franklin's Gull.

Bronx hasn't held gulls in some years now.

~Thylo
 
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