Subject: [Tweeters] Possible Temminck's Stint, Ocean Shores
Date: Aug 10 13:39:27 2011
From: Dennis Paulson - dennispaulson at comcast.net


Brian,

The bird you photographed looks like a pretty typical basic (winter) plumaged Least Sandpiper to me. I think the white outer feathers on the tail are actually the long upper tail coverts that cover a good part of the tail in these sandpipers. They are usually covered and perhaps pushed inward by the wings. The darker part that you see is presumably the tip of one of the tail feathers and represents the actual color. You can see the difference when they fly, with pure white outer rectrices in Temminck's and light brownish-gray in Least. It's amazing how hard it is to find photos of this. I was unable to find a photo to compare with yours in a Google Image Search of both species, nor do I have any such photos. I have to add, though, that only the outermost two pairs of tail feathers are white in Temminck's; the next pairs of feathers in are gray, so a Temminck's tail could look mostly gray when not spread.

Indeed your bird does have the plumage of a Least Sandpiper molting into nonbreeding; in fact, I would say it was just about there. The back and breast coloration is quite typical of basic-plumaged Leasts, and Temminck's in that plumage are usually plainer, with even less indication of streaks or blotches.

Identifying shorebirds by shape is often useful but is fraught with pitfalls. The "typical" shape of a species often depends on how it forages or the air temperature at the moment, and other similar species can assume the same shape, in my experience. I think Least and Temminck's often forage very similarly. Temminck's does have a long shape because of its long tail, but I think your bird falls within the normal shape variation of Least, and the tail doesn't seem especially long. Both of them have very short primary projection, and I wonder if your bird might be molting its wings and is missing its longest tertials. The configuration of feathers on the back makes me wonder about that.

That's a great Bar-tailed Godwit!

Dennis

On Aug 10, 2011, at 12:00 PM, tweeters-request at mailman1.u.washington.edu wrote:

> Message: 13
> Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2011 10:59:53 -0700
> From: Brian Uher-Koch <buherkoc at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Tweeters] Possible Temminck's Stint, Ocean Shores
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Message-ID:
> <CAPkDJX8rBmvoFfD1TOegwupeKfvWVjQ6UFR7zcGrf_1iEWUY8w at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hi All,
>
> My apologies for the tardiness of this e-mail however I have been reluctant
> to post anything due to the complicated nature of the ID and I have been
> waiting to hear back from some more experienced birders.
>
> At 8:45am on Monday (8/8) I was birding with my mom who was visiting from
> Wisconsin and found a potential Temminck's Stint at the base of Damon Point
> in Ocean Shores. The bird was foraging completely by itself less than a
> quarter mile west (right) of the pilings at the base of the point. It
> caught our attention because it seemed to have a horizontal posture and long
> shape despite having the plumage of a Least Sandpiper molting into
> nonbreeding plumage. After further inspection we noticed it had very
> obvious white outer tail feathers. Unfortunately it was silent the entire
> time we watched it and we never got to see it fly but it was still present
> when we left. There were many peeps present in the Oyhut Wildlife Area and
> perhaps it is still in the area. To my knowledge Temminck's are rather
> solitary in nature. Regardless, hopefully it can be relocated.
>
> A few experts have taken a look at the pictures I have taken and the jury is
> still out. Some believe it is a Least due to the face pattern and body
> shape and others a Temminck's based on the mantle, bill and white outer tail
> feathers. Any thoughts on the ID would be greatly appreciated and can be
> directly e-mailed to me or sent to the entire Tweeters group if folks think
> it would beneficial to have an open discussion.
>
> Pictures can be found at:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/66227382 at N06/
>
> Cheers and good birding,
> Brian Uher-Koch
> Vancouver, BC
>
> Below is my initial write-up concerning the individual:
> Yellow legs, not greenish at all. Fine streaking on grayish breast. Slight
> buffy patch behind eye. Faint white supercilium. White, prominent eye-ring.
> Lightly streaked tan/buff crown. Black central vein with some buff or gray
> (some feathers buff edged, some gray) edging on scapulars, median and
> greater coverts. Scapulars slightly more buff, coverts more gray. Dark
> tertials edged in buff. Clean, white belly and undertail coverts. Long
> primary projection at least to the tip of the tail. White outer tail
> feathers with dark central stripe. Some tail feathers tipped with slight
> buff. Appeared to give horizontal, crouching posture. It was foraging
> completely by itself as we did not see any other shorebirds on the entire
> beach. Initially it was foraging in the sand about 15-20 feet from the
> water's edge and then went and foraged within 5 feet or so of the water. I
> would guess a worn postbreeding adult individual.
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-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net



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