Birding Dude: Queens Semipalmated Sandpiper was banded in French Guiana...

On May 26th and 27th, while doing shorebird monitoring in the Jamaica Bay Queens NY area, I observed and photographed a banded Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) (see image below of an SESA with yellow band). Yesterday, David Mizrahi from NJ Audubon, Research and Monitoring, after receiving my photo from USGS (United States Geological Survey), confirmed that the bird was banded in French Guiana, on the 23rd of January 2011. The banding occurred in a large rice field plantation just east of a small town call Mana, which is in the western part of the country.

If you were wondering, where is French Guiana or how long of a distance it is from where I found the bird to where it was banded. Not to worry, I have mapped out the area and calculated the distance. As you will see in the image provided compliments of Google Maps, it shows French Guiana as a country in South America. The distance from French Guiana, to where I found the bird is approximately 2717.383 miles. Pretty long flight for such a little bird. Highlighting the incredible journey that some birds make on a yearly basis!

Note: The Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) breeds in northern Alaska and Canada south to the Hudson Bay. It migrates through the eastern and central states and winters in South America. The journey for this bird was not yet over at the time I documented the re-sighting.