2. Eared Grebe Podiceps nigricollis Information L – 13” WS – 16” WT – 11 oz Fun Fact: This bird loses so much muscle mass when not staging (mass eating for migration), it is flightless for 9-10 months a year, the longest period for any bird that is able to fly.

3. Forster’s Tern Sterna forsteri Information L – 13” WS – 31” WT – 6 oz Fun Fact: Sometimes Black Terns and Forster’s Terns accidently feed each others young due to the close proximity of their nesting sites.

4. Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus Information L – 14” WS – 29” WT – 6 oz Fun Fact: Stilts are second to only Flamingos in leg length to body proportion for all birds.

5. Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola Information L – 11.5” WS – 29” WT – 8 oz Fun Fact: This birds are very wary and often act as sentinels for mixed flocks of shorebirds.

6. Snowy Plover Charadrius alexandrinus Information L – 6.25” WS – 17” WT – 1.4 oz Fun Fact: When the chicks are about to hatch the female will often leave in an attempt to start another brood (clutch of eggs).

7. Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus Information L – 33” WS – 52” WT – 3.7 lb Fun Fact: Fishermen in SE Asia tie a string to these birds and have the cormorants catch the fish for them.

8. Franklin’s Gull Larus pipixcan Information L – 14.5” WS – 36” WT – 10 oz Fun Fact: This bird is the only gull that molts (sheds old feathers, so new ones can grow) twice in a year rather than the usual once.

9. White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi Information L – 23” WS – 36” WT – 1.3 lb Fun Fact: Very similar to the Glossy Ibis, differing only by a slight color variance in the face and legs.

10. Cinnamon Teal Anas cyanoptera Information L – 16” WS – 22” WT – 14 oz Fun Fact: This is the only duck with separate breeding populations in North and South America.

11. American Avocet Recurvirostra americana Information L – 18” WS – 31” WT – 11 oz Fun Fact: Some females are nest parasites, meaning they lay their eggs in other birds nests, so they won’t have to care for them.

12. Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis Information L – 46” WS – 77” WT – 10.6 lb Fun Fact: Cranes are well known for their mating ritual, during which they stretch their wings, pump their heads and leap gracefully into the air.

13. Wilson’s Phalarope Phalaropus tricolor Information L – 9.25” WS – 17” WT – 2.1 oz Fun Fact: This bird relies almost entirely on the Great Salt Lake as a staging ground on it’s migration trip to South America and back.

14. Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus Information L – 23” WS – 35” WT – 1.3 lb Fun Fact: The female’s bill is longer and flatter, the males is more curved at the tip, but both are specially adapted to catch shrimp and crabs that reside deep in burrows.

15. Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca Information L – 14” WS – 28” WT – 6 oz Fun Fact: It’s tendency to nest in inhospitable mosquito rich areas make it one of the least studied North American shorebirds.

16. Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa Information L – 18” WS – 33” WT – 1.2 lb Fun Fact: They are so concerned with protecting their eggs they won’t fly away, and can sometimes be picked up off of their nests.

17. Works Cited "All About Birds." Your Online Guide to Birds and Bird Watching. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. Kaufman, Kenn, Rick Bowers, Nora Bowers, and Lynn Hassler. Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2005. Print. Sibley, David. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. New York: Knopf, 2003. Print.