Shorebirds

(Photo credit: Delaware Museum of Natural History)

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP/WBOC)- Delaware officials are celebrating a new film that documents the important ecological relationship between horseshoe crabs and migratory shorebirds.

Gov. John Carney is among those scheduled to get a preview Tuesday of the film Feast on the Beach: The Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crab Shorebird Connection, at the Delaware Museum of Natural History in Wilmington.  The film will premiere to the general public on Saturday. March 11 as part of a Shorebirds and Horseshoe Crabs day at the museum.

Every spring, hundreds of thousands of birds stop along the shores of the Delaware Bay as they migrate from areas as far as southern South America to summer breeding grounds in the Arctic.

During the stopover, the birds gorge on horseshoe crab eggs to build up their fat reserves before continuing their journey northward.

During Saturday’s event, the museum’s curator of birds, Jean Woods, Ph.D., will be on hand to discuss the film and her research on the shorebirds.

For more information call 302-658-9111.