Wader Identification Challenge.Week 4

Week 4

The photos for the final week are not as easy as those for the preceding weeks. In fact, one image was considered to be incorrectly identified by the photographer and had the adjudicators heading for the reference books!

Image 4 – Wandering Tattler (Tringa incana)

Another bewildering Tattler from Queensland! Once again the clues are its slate grey colouration with a medium length straight bill and yellow legs. The question once again is which species – Grey-tailed Tattler or Wandering Tattler?

This bird is dark grey rather than soft grey, which initially suggests Wandering Tattler, but this difference is a slight one and identification is by no means straight forward. The key features which tend to confirm Wandering Tattler are:

· the supercilium (eye-brow) is most prominent in front of the eye, but it does not extend over and past the eye as it would in a Grey-tailed Tattler;

· the primaries extend well beyond the end of the tail, not just to the end as they would in Grey-tailed Tattler; and

· the bars on the flanks and on the breast (remnants of breeding plumage) are thicker (broader) than the finer grey bars of Grey-tailed Tattler.

Image 3 – Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus )

The upward curved bill with a dull orange base and bright orange legs make the identification of this bird a cinch.

The fine dark streaks on the head, neck and breast, the brightness of the legs, the dark bill and the heavily abraded scapulars may indicate this bird is moulting out of breeding plumage.

Image 2 – Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)

This is a less common wader that superficially resembles a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. The points of difference can be subtle and vary with different individuals. This bird is one that is reasonably straight forward to identify. The points to look for, not all of which are obvious in the photo, are:

• the heavily streaked neck and breast, with a sharp demarcation between the breast streaking and the white belly (Sharpies can have a heavily marked breast but it is more brownish arrow heads and spots than blackish streaks and in Sharpies these marks continue onto the sides of the belly);
• the bird generally looks darker brown with less rufous feathers than a Sharpie;
• the crown is browner than the more rufous Sharpie;
• the head usually appears smaller and rounder (the Sharpie usually looks flat-headed);
• the legs are brighter yellow than the yellowish-green of a Sharpie;
• the bill is usually longer; and
• the yellow at the base of the bill is also brighter than in a Sharpie.

All of these points vary in different individual and in different plumages but they are rarely more straight forward than in the bird pictured.

Image 1 – Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea)

The 2 birds in this picture are both Curlew Sandpipers. The long black decurved bill is the main clue to identify them. The grey upperparts with white fringes to the feathers indicates they have recently moulted into winter plumage. As the feathers wear the white edges abrade and the birds appear more evenly grey. The black legs are another clue to the identity. In the field they might fly to reveal white wing-bars and a white rump without a dark line down through the tail (as in Red-necked Stint and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper). The upperparts are similar to those of Red Knots, but a Knot is much heavier in its build and has a short straight bill.