What kinds of food do shorebirds eat along coasts and mudflats?

Shorebirds within the order Charadriiformes employ diverse feeding strategies to exploit food sources along coasts and mudflats. Their diets primarily consist of invertebrates, though specific prey varies by species and foraging method.1

• Probing: Sandpipers and their relatives use slender, flexible bills to probe mud for hidden prey. Curlews utilize their long, downcurved bills to reach into crustacean and worm burrows.1
• Surface Foraging: Plovers rely on sight to locate invertebrates on open ground, often pausing between short runs to peck at prey. Turnstones flip over debris, stones, and vegetation to expose and consume the animal life underneath.1
• Specialized Feeding: Oystercatchers feed on mussels, oysters, and marine worms, using their knifelike bills to either hammer open shells or cut the adductor muscles of shellfish. Avocets and stilts sweep their bills through shallow water or across the bottom to capture prey.1

These birds are highly adapted for these environments, often possessing tactile sense organs at the tips of their bills to detect prey underground.2