Friday's Foto

The Purple Sandpiper gets its name from the (rarely seen) purple sheen on its feathers. This arctic breeding species prefers rocky, tidal habitats during the non-breeding season. Around Brooklyn they can be found during the Winter along Gravesend Bay and the boulder jetties of Coney Island. They seem to find an abundance of food in Brooklyn and I've always wondered what they were eating. According to Birdlife International, during non-breeding along the coast "the species feeds predominantly upon molluscs (especially gastropods Littorina spp. and mussels Mytilus spp.) as well as insects (e.g. beetles and Diptera), small crustaceans (e.g. amphipods), annelid worms (del Hoyo et al. 1996), small fish (Johnsgard 1981) and algae (Enteromorpha spp.) (del Hoyo et al. 1996)."