Rock Sandpipers in Alaska

— Alaska is home to many millions of breeding shorebirds during the summer; typically they leave in the winter. Scientists at USGS Alaska Science Center learned there were birds spending the winter at high latitudes. Despite freezing winter temperatures, rock sandpipers endure and thrive in upper Cook Inlet, Alaska. Scientists investigate how the birds’ phenotypic flexibility allows them to adjust body composition to survive radically different environmental conditions.