The principal farm crops have many destructive beetle enemies also, and some of these are eagerly eaten by shorebirds.  The boll weevil and clover-leaf weevil are eaten by the upland plover and killdeer, the rice weevil by the killdeer, the cowpea weevil by the upland plover, and the clover-root curculio by the following species of shorebirds: 

Northern phalarope (Lobipes lobatus). 
White-rumped sandpiper (Pisobia fuscicollis). 
Pectoral sandpiper (Pisobia maculata). 
Upland plover (Bartramia longicauda). 
Baird sandpiper (Pisobia bairdi). 
Killdeer (Oxyechus vociferus).

The last two eat also other weevils which attack cotton, grapes and sugar beets.  Bill-bugs, which often do considerable damage to corn, seem to be favorite food of some of the shorebirds.  They are eaten by the Wilson phalarope, avocet, black-necked stilt, pectoral sandpiper, killdeer, and upland plover.  They are an important element of the latter bird’s diet, and no fewer than eight species of them have been found in its food.

Wireworms and their adult forms, click beetles, are devoured by the northern phalarope, woodcock, jacksnipe, pectoral sandpiper, killdeer, and upland plover.  The last three feed also on the southern corn leaf-beetle and the last two upon the grapevine colaspis.  Other shorebirds that eat leaf-beetles are the Wilson phalarope and dowitcher.

Crayfishes, which are a pest in rice and corn fields in the South and which injure levees, are favorite food of the black-necked stilt, and several other shorebirds feed upon them, notably the jacksnipe, robin snipe, spotted sandpiper, upland plover, and killdeer.

Thus it is evident that shorebirds render important aid by devouring the enemies of farm crops and in other ways, and their services are appreciated by those who have observed the birds in the field.  Thus W.A.  Clark, of Corpus Christi, Tex., reports that upland plovers are industrious in following the plow and in eating the grubs that destroy garden stuff, corn, and cotton crops.  H.W.  Tinkham, of Fall River, Mass., says of the spotted sandpiper:  “Three pairs nested in a young orchard behind my house and adjacent to my garden.  I did not see them once go to the shore for food (shore about 1,500 feet away), but I did see them many times make faithful search of my garden for cutworms, spotted squash bugs, and green flies.  Cutworms and cabbage worms were their special prey.  After the young could fly, they still kept at work in my garden, and showed no inclination to go to the shore until about August 15th.  They and a flock of quails just over the wall helped me wonderfully.”

In the uncultivated parts of their range also, shorebirds search out and destroy many creatures that are detrimental to man’s interest.  Several species prey upon the predaceous diving beetles (Dytiscidae), which are a nuisance in fish hatcheries and which destroy many insects, the natural food of fishes.  The birds now known to take these beetles are: