What are Shorebirds?
Not all these waterbirds are shorebirds.
It’s a simple question without a simple answer! Perhaps a good place to start is to say what are NOT shorebirds’. Ducks and Grebes; Storks, Herons and Egrets; Gulls and Terns; Darters and Cormorants; Crakes and Rails are all types of waterbirds which live near or on shorelines, but they are NOT shorebirds.
Scientifically, shorebirds belong to the order Charadriiformes, which is divided into 16 families worldwide. There are over 240 shorebird species in the world, of which 70 have been recorded in Malaysia.
Shorebirds (also known as waders) are a group of small to medium-sized (12-66cm) wading birds with a wide variety of bill sizes and shapes.
Many are long-distance migrants.
Some gather in huge flocks outside the breeding season.
Most (but not all) spend much of their lives in wetland areas.
