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Subj: RE: Help with shorebird ID?

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Date: Thu, 03 Nov 1994 09:48:20 -0500
From: DLANE at DREW.EDU
Subject: Re: Help with shorebird ID?
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In article <forest62006 at drew.edu>, lgorbet at MAIL.UNM.EDU writes:
> The bird had an apparently all-black bill that seemed typical in size and
> shape for a Dunlin. Our impression was that it was too thick and not
> evenly curved enough for Curlew Sandpiper (though I have no experience with
> that species---I just look at field guide paintings and photos). It also
> had dark, probably black legs. Overall size was a bit bigger than big
> peeps. Posture was fairly upright (as opposed to the more horizontal
> posture of, say, Baird's Sandpiper). We thought the legs were maybe a
> little long for a Dunlin.
> Our problem was the plumage. The face was very plain grayish except for a
> whitish supercilium. Definitely no bright colors or very dark crown. I
> didn't think there was a very dark lores. The back feathers and scapulars
> had what appeared to be dark brown (might have been black---definitely a
> cold-toned dark color) centers with fairly broad whitish edgings, giving a
> very un-winter-Dunlin contrasty look. The feathers *seemed* to be fairly
> rounded at the tips, though I am not *positive* from the looks I got. The
> underparts were mostly rather pristine white. No streaking at all that we
> could see. There was a buffy wash on the throat and upper breast. It
> stopped much higher than on a Pectoral or Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, and its
> lower margin was rather weakly defined.

Have you checked in the books (particularly "Shorebirds: an
identification guide", the "Facts on File Guide to North Atlantic
Shorebirds", or the "Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest") for the
juvenal plumage of the Dunlin? The illustration in the National
Geographic is pretty bad, I think the one in the new western
Peterson's is not very good either, and the photo in the Master Guide
to Birding showes a bird too far along into its molt to 1st basic
plumage to be a good representation, so don't depend on these. The bird
you describe seems to fit this plumage rather well. Juvenile Dunlins
are often not paid much attention because they pass through after the
real shorebird migration, and therefore are missed by many birders. If
you have a copy of one (or all) of these books, or can get your hands
on them, see if this is the bird you saw.
In this plumage, the back feathers and scapulars have large
balck centers with buff to rufous edges. The wing coverts have grayer
centers. The crown and cheek are streaky on a rich brown background,
and the breast can have a warm buffy color and variable amounts of
streaking. Some individuals (like the one in the Facts on File guide)
can have a concentration of dark spots on the sides of the belly
resembling the black "horse shoe" on the belly of the adult, but this
can be lacking, I believe.
>
> Larry Gorbet lgorbet at mail.unm.edu
> Anthropology & Linguistics Depts. (505) 883-7378
> University of New Mexico
> Albuquerque, NM, U.S.A.

Daniel Lane
Drew University
Madison, NJ
dlane at drew.edu