Existing comment:
Mono Lake: An International Reserve for Shorebirds
Tapestry of Life:
Mono Lake's vital role in preserving a corridor of shorebird habitats is recognized in its designation as an International Reserve in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. The Network coordinates the efforts of private and governmental organizations to protect shorebirds and the wetlands they depend on.
For nearly 2,000,000 waterbirds, including 35 species of shorebirds, Mono Lake is an "oasis in the desert." Shorebirds dependent on Mono Lake include the graceful avocets, skittish killdeer, perfectly camouflaged snowy plovers, and sandpipers, who you may see scurrying along Mono's shores.
Several species for frequent flyers visit Mono Lake on their yearly migrations, including over 1.5 million eared grebes and phalaropes. Both Wilson's and red-necked phalaropes depend on Mono's abundant food for their long distance journeys from the arctic tundra to the southern hemisphere.
Mono Lake is an essential thread in a "tapestry of life" that has endured for thousands of years. Currently many threads in these patterns are unraveling. Habitat damage is so extensive that California has lost over 90 percent of its wetlands. Several of the lakes and migratory stops in the Great Basin have been seriously compromised.
The network's cooperative efforts to protect millions of shorebirds unites countries in a global effort to maintain the earth's biodiversity and highlights Mono Lake's international responsibility.
Wilson's Philaropes:
Look for spectacular flocks of phalaropes gliding gracefully over the lake from July through September. Every summer tens of thousands of philaropes arrive at Mono Lake from their nesting grounds where the resplendent females have actively courted the males. After they lay the eggs, the females are on this wing toward South America, while the males are left behind to tend the nest. After raising the young, the males fly south, leaving the chicks to fend for themselves. Later, without the adults, the juveniles instinctively find their way to Mono Lake.
The phalaropes use Mono Lake's abundant food to prepare for their marathon flights lasting three days and two nights. These two-ounce birds fly non-stop across the ocean to the saline lakes of South America, such as our sister reserve in Argentina, Laguna Mar Chiquita. |