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THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY • Vol. 124. No. 1. March 2012 
America (Morrison and Ross 1989. Azevedo- 
Junior and Larrazabal 1994. Azevedo-Junior et al. 
2004). This species in southern Brazil is only 
observed foraging in small numbers in Lagoa do 
Peixe (// < 8) (Lara-Resende and Leeuwenberg 
1987) and in the surrounding beaches. 
Solitary Sandpipers were observed sporadically 
and in small numbers along the beach, as reported 
by Costa and Sander (2008) on other beaches in 
Rio Grande do Sul. Greater Yellowlegs were 
observed regularly in both years as reported by 
Lara-Resende and Leeuwenberg (1987) with 
peaks of abundance in July and September, but 
was much rarer than Lesser Yellowlegs. Many 
non-migrating individuals of Greater Yellowlegs 
that winter in interior areas of the state, according 
to Belton (2000). concentrate on the beach during 
the austral winter. Lesser Yellowlegs are recorded 
in every month of the year in Rio Grande do Sul. 
appearing rarely during the austral winter and 
more commonly from September to March 
(Belton 2000). However, we found the species 
was more abundant between May and October 
and was rare between November and April. Those 
observed from May to July were likely flocks of 
juveniles that had wintered on the beaches and 
lakes in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul and then 
concentrated on the coast. The greatest abundance 
in October coincides with migration to South 
America with the species using beaches and lakes 
as either wintering or stopover areas. Lesser and 
Greater yellowlegs were observed foraging on the 
banks of small lakes near dunes and drainage 
sandbars of these lakes and. at times, in the wash 
zone. 
The Ruddy Turnstone is common along the 
coast of the Province of Buenos Aires (Myers and 
Myers 1979. Blanco et al. 2006) during the austral 
summer. We found low abundance of this species 
on the beaches from Balneario Pinhal to Mostar- 
das with greater frequencies occurring between 
April and July, and between September and 
December. This has also been reported in previous 
studies (Harrington et al. 1986, Lara-Resende and 
Leeuwenberg 1987. Voorcn and Chiaradia 1990). 
This indicates that small groups stop to feed and 
rest during migrations south and north between 
wintering and breeding areas in Argentina and the 
Northern Hemisphere, respectively. 
The pattern of occurrence of the Red Knot 
corroborates that observed at other sites in 
southern Brazil (Lara-Resende and Leeuwenberg 
1987, Vooren and Chiaradia 1990). The greater 
abundance in September indicates arrival of 
migrants from the Northern Hemisphere moving 
toward wintering areas in Patagonia and Tierradel 
Fuego. This species use the lakes and beaches of 
Rio Grande do Sul as stopover areas for feeding, 
resting, and molting. A few individuals remain in 
winter and join flocks that stopover in April on 
return to breeding areas in the Northern Hemi¬ 
sphere. The stopover period on the beaches from 
Balneario Pinhal to Mostardas is short, but of 
considerable importance to the migratory process 
between the extremes of the two hemispheres 
(Piersma 2007). This beach serves as one of the 
most important stopover sites during the molting 
process and for gain in body mass (Mormon and 
Ross 1989, Vooren and Chiaradia 1990). 
The regular frequency throughout the year and 
high abundance of Sanderlings confirms the bea¬ 
ches of Rio Grande do Sul are one of the mow 
important wintering areas for this species along 
the Atlantic Coast of South America (Harrington 
el al. 1986. Lara-Resende and Leeuwenberg 1987, 
Morrison and Ross 1989, Myers et al. 1990i. 
Large flocks begin to arrive in September with 
peak abundance in October and a decrease in 
the following month as the areas are used as a 
stopover site during migration farther south to 
wintering areas. The abundance of Sanderlings 
remains stable from November to February 
because of individuals that winter in the area, 
decreases from February to March, when these 
same individuals begin to migrate north, and 
reaches its largest peak in April, when those that 
wintered to the south (Argentina and Patagonia 1 
again use the site as a stopover, and declines in 
May. We found the species in greater densities 
than at other sites in southern Brazil (Vooren and 
Chiaradia 1990. Costa and Sander 2008). indicat¬ 
ing greater availability of food resources on these 
beaches and lower human impacts. 
White-rumped Sandpipers occurred in number* 
and pattern of occurrence similar to that of the 
Red Knot. This species is reported in Lagoa ck 
Peixe to be highly abundant between November 
and January, both on the lake and the beach (Lara- 
Resende and Leeuwenberg 1987). and part of the 
population uses the site as stopover and wintering 
areas (Morrison and Ross 1989). The greater 
abundance occurs at the beginning of the austr.il 
summer with arrival of migrants from !h< 
Northern Hemisphere to winter in Lagoa do Pci' 1 ' 
and Argentina, where they are abundant through 
out the austral summer (Myers and Myers 1979.1 
