Subject: [Tweeters] Westport Godwit
Date: Sep 22 16:29:49 2005
From: Wayne C. Weber - contopus at telus.net
Larry,
I applaud the amount of effort you have expended trying to nail down
the identity of the mystery Westport Godwit. However, it seems to me
that your desire to show that this bird is a Black-tailed, and not the
much more likely Hudsonian, may be affecting your objectivity.
I quote from an earlier message of yours:
"I'm in agreement with Gina Sheridan that size and probability make this
a Hudsonian, but that's no fun. Let us try to make it a juvenile
Black-tailed."
The photo to which you just posted a link does appear to show primaries
whose tips extend barely, if at all, beyond the tail. As you indicate, this
would tend to point toward a Black-tailed. However, it's hard to tell from
the photo just what the angle of the bird is to the observer. The bird
seems to be not in direct side view, but somewhat turned toward the
observer, which would make the apparent shortness of the primaries
misleading.
In any case, as I'm sure you'll agree, identification of a bird as rare as
a Black-tailed Godwit in Washington should be based on more than one
field mark. You do not seem to have conclusively observed that
the underwing is white, rather than blackish. (Please correct me if I'm
wrong about this). Also, you do not seem to have at a good look at the
upperwing pattern (Black-tailed has a wider, more conspicuous white
wing-stripe).
I agree that a bird that has been seen as many times in Alaska
as Black-tailed Godwit ought to show up once in a while in Washington
and southward. However, I'm afraid that I'm not at all convinced that
your bird is a Black-tailed. I would be glad to hear opinions from
others in the group.
Keep trying Larry, and maybe you or someone else can nail down the ID
of this bird for certain very soon!
Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry Schwitters" <lpatters at ix.netcom.com>
To: "tweeters message" <Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2005 3:32 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Godwit ID
Tweeters,
Here is one of the 68 photos that I took at Westport Marina that, in my
ignorance, did not share. Please direct your attention to the
posterior of the bird in front of the square washer.
http://homepage.mac.com/l.schwitters/PhotoAlbum4.html
Got my hands on Dennis Paulson's 2005 "Shorebirds of North America".
Great book. Page 177 under Black-tailed Godwit-identification.
"Nonbreeding adult much like comparable plumage of Hudsonian, but
difference in wing length allows identification. In Hudsonian, wing
tips project well beyond tail and primary projection obviously longer
than bill-to-eye distance; in Black-tailed, wings project just beyond
tail and primary projection no longer that bill-to-eye distance."
Check it out.
Larry Schwitters
Issaquah