There used to be a running joke on the Peanuts cartoon strip, where Lucy
would hold the football for Charlie Brown to kick, and at the last
minute she would pull it away, leaving Charlie to fall flat on his back.
So here I am, playing Charlie Brown to Ted Floyd's Lucy. I have been
trying again to ID the three unknowns in "Birding" magazine on and off
for months now, and so far at least one of them has tripped me up. Let's
see if I can kick the football this time.

In the May/June issue of Birding, Quiz Bird A is a side view of a
shorebird standing on one leg. The upper parts are dark, with crisp
white spotting. The head is gray, with a dark streaked cap and a lighter
supercillium. The bill is short (for a shorebird) black, and straight.
The breast is dark and the flanks are gray, both with spotting. The
belly is white, the single leg the bird is standing on is dark.
Just based on the above we can rule out the great majority of
shorebirds, including Calidris sandpipers, turnstones, phalaropes,
curlews, godwits, and dowitchers. The coloration of the upperparts
suggests some of the Tringa species, but the bill is far too short. The
combination of features leads us to the plovers.
Without going through the details, all the Charadrius plovers have
features that would not fit with our bird. That leaves us with the
Pluvialis species: Black-bellied Plover, and American, Pacific, and
European Golden-plover, either non-breeding adults or juveniles. The
lack of any brown on the upperparts rules out European and Pacific
species, leaving us with Black-bellied and American Golden-plover. The
brightness of the bird and the amount of spotting on the upperparts
indicates that our bird is a juvenile.
Juvenile American Golden-plover (AMGP) and Black-bellied Plover (BBPL)
can look very similar. Differentiating factors include:
Size. Our bird is hunched down, which could make it look heavier than it
is. Even allowing for this, it looks fairly heavy-bodied. One vote for
BBPL.
Supercillium. Not a field mark that is often mentioned, but all my
references show the supercillium of AMGP as brighter and more distinct
than BBPL. Another vote for BBPL.
Bill. BBPL has a heavier, larger bill than AMGP. Looking at page 102 of
Paulson's Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest, sometimes this is obvious
(the left hand birds on this page). But sometimes it is not so obvious
(the right hand birds on the same page). This one I just can't call one
way or the other. It is a draw between the two possibles.
Flanks. According to the Nat Geo guide, they are streaked in BBPL,
barred in AMGP, our bird looks spotted to me. Another draw.
Belly. White in BBPL, gray in AMGP, our bird's is white, a vote for
BBPL.
Primary projection. Short in BBPL, long in AMGP, short in our bird,
another vote for BBPL
Upperparts. Darker in BBPL, lighter in AMGP, and our bird is fairly
dark.
In summary, I call Quiz bird A a juvenile Black-bellied Plover, which
would fit for the late September sighting. Any further thoughts,
comments, or conflicting opinions welcome.

Jack Stephens
Edmonds, WA
jstephens62 at comcast.net