Wader ID challenge Week 2

Week 2

The photos for week 2 are not as easy as those for week 1: one is a species the occurs annually, but not in huge numbers; one is a trans-Tasman migrant which arrives when the northern hemisphere migrants are leaving and leaves when they are arriving; one is an absolute rarity; and one is in a perhaps unfamiliar immature plumage.

Image 4 – Grey-tailed Tattler (Tringa brevipes)

These 4 birds are clearly Tattlers – slate grey colouration with a medium length straight bill and yellow legs. The question is which species – Grey-tailed Tattler, Wandering Tattler or a combination of both? The 2 species can be very difficult to separate in a photograph, but are not so difficult in the field because they have totally different calls (they usually call when they are flushed). If they do not call, they can even be difficult in the field.

The 2 birds at the back are pale grey, not as dark as we would expect in a Wandering Tattler, but with the other 2 birds this is not so apparent. The key feature seems to be the broad white supercilium (eye-brow) which extends over and past the eye and the contrast this provides with the dark loral line (the line from the bill to the eye). With Wandering Tattler, the white is most prominent in front of the eye, but it usually does not extend so prominently behind the eye and the contrast with the loral line is not so great. The bird on the left in the 2 birds at the back shows the primaries extending to the end of the tail. In Wandering Tattler, the primaries extend beyond the tail. Also in Wandering Tattler the dark crown extends to the base of the bill, which means the 2 supercilium lines do not meet over the bill. With a little imagination in the photos you can see they meet. Is everyone now sufficiently confused?

Image 3 – Double-banded Plover (Charadrius bicinctus)

This is a Plover based on its round head, large eye, short straight bill and short neck. The 2 dark lines (double-bands) extending onto the sides of the breast are a good clue as to its identity. It has the generally buffy head (particularly obvious in the supercilium, hind neck and throat) of an immature. The bird most closely similar to it is an immature Red-capped Plover, but it has black legs not yellow-green; it has only one blackish mark extending onto the sides of the breast; and it has a smaller head and finer bill. Of course, Red-capped is a lot smaller, but again size is difficult in a photo

Image 2 – Little Stint (Calidris minuta)

By its structure it appears to be a Stint – short black bill and legs in a bird the size of a hen’s egg (but remember size can be tricky with nothing to compare it with). You can immediately discount Long-toed Stint because they have yellowish legs. In Australia, the choice for black-legged Stints is between Red-necked Stint, which is common, and Little Stint, which is very rare. Usually, if you go with the commoner species you will be correct: but this is a tricky competition.

Little Stint is a notoriously difficult bird to identify in non-breeding plumage, but not so difficult if the bird is in full breeding plumage, as in this case. The first impression is of an orange-red, not a pinkish-red bird. In general colour it seems to be too orange to be a typical breeding plumaged Red-necked Stint. This alerts you to look a bit closer.

It has a longish (for a stint) fine dagger-like bill (Red-necked is more blunt) and has a very noticeable white line down the mantle. In the field (not in the photo) you would see 2 lines through the mantle making an obvious white V. It has a whitish throat and dark streaks and spots over the orange which extends onto the side of the breast. Importantly, the orange extends over the entire upper surface of the wing, where in Red-necked the colour is on the scapulars, with most of the coverts (not all) a plain grey-brown. The legs are slightly longer (you need lots of imagination here) and the wings slightly shorter (more imagination please). The calls are also different. I think you get the idea that they are not that easy.

Image 1 – Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)

The enormously long upturned bill with a pink base is usually enough to identify a Bar-tailed Godwit. The barred tail which gives the bird its name is also evident. This is an immature bird with its chequered upperparts (which are unique amongst Godwits) and orange flush to the breast and flanks. By the enormous length of its bill, it is probably a female (males are shorter).