Shore birds key in on the diverse bait populations along the Rhode Island coast. If you watch them closely, you can find fish. Watching the birds and being able to identify them will help you determine the bait.

Black-backed gulls are trash-mongers, so watch when they dive. Oftentimes they simply pick up crabs in shallow water, but when the herring, menhaden, or mackerel are in, they concentrate on the big baitfish.

Gannets focus on herring. These birds spend their summers in Newfoundland and usually arrive in the fall, though they'll sometimes arrive on the Rhode Island coast earlier.

Rhode Island offers a dversity of habitats and species within a short drive or boat ride.

Shearwaters feed on mackerel and squid and look like smaller gulls. Petrels are mainly ocean birds that feed on squid, shrimp, and plankton.

Terns, due to their small size, dive for small baitfish--silversides, sand eels, or bay anchovies--and when they are mixed with gulls, they may feed on small chunks of larger baitfish that have been chopped by bluefish.

When terns fly swiftly along the water's surface, they are probably trying to keep up with bonito or albies. When they wing high and drop down they are probably working a school of stripers or blues.

Cormorants feed aggressively on baitfish. Look for large flocks on the water, and watch to determine how long they remain beneath. Short dives mean they are feeding on fish; long dives mean they're searching.

A good bird identification book, such as an Audubon or Peterson's field guide, will help you identify these bird species.