Shorebirds
This seasonal glut of eggs one the shores of Delaware Bay has resulted in this area being the 2nd largest stopover location in the Western Hemisphere for migrating shorebirds. Many of these birds breed in arctic and sub-arctic regions and often arrive at their breeding grounds before it has warmed enough for food to be available to them. Shorebirds, furthemore, are long-distance flyers that often migrate directly with few stops. Red knots, for example migrate to the Arctic from southern Brazil (a distance of over 7000 miles). As a results they arrive at the Delaware Bay stopover with no fat reserves at all and need to restore their fat reserves before they continue to the uncertain weather of their breeding grounds. On the shores of the bay they can double their weight on Limulus eggs before continuing their journey north. Without this food source there is serious concern that the current shorebird population would drastically decline.
Shuster, C.N., Jr. 1950. Observations on the natural history of the American horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus. Third report investigations of methods of improving the shellfish resources of Massachusetts, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Control No. 564:18-23.