Please ID (Shorebird)

[Mariano Mavila]

I took this photo 123Km south Lima, is a medium size bird, in groups of 4 or 5 next to sea in the shore. Is not as good photo but maybe someone can help me to ID this shorebird, I have no idea. Thanks.

[M Cowming]

Hi Mariano,

There doesn't appear to be any photo attached.

[M Cowming]

Scratch that last post,

It appears my computer isn't recognising thumbs..sorry

[Mariano Mavila]

I uploaded the photo one more time, sorry I dont know what was wrong.

[M Cowming]

It's ok...I think there's a problem with my PC...I can't see any thumbs on any of the other threads either....not your fault.

[John Butler]

I took this photo 123Km south Lima, is a medium size bird, in groups of 4 or 5 next to sea in the shore. Is not as good photo but maybe someone can help me to ID this shorebird, I have no idea. Thanks.

Hi Mariano.

It looks like a Red Knot to me.

Regards from Donana.

John.

[Jane Turner]

I think its a Surfbird... but no little if anything whether they occur in Peru! If they don;t then I'm probably long... my only other thought would be Wandering tattler.. but the structure looks wrong.

[Bluetail]

Bill's far too long for Surfbird. Can't place that face pattern at all - weird. Looks most like Great Knot to me - which seems highly improbable!

[Rhion]

The face pattern looks like Wandering Tattler, and the legs look about right. I assume that the bill is actually quite long.

However I don't know whether you would get a group of them in Peru, so I'm probably wrong.

[BirdsPeru]

Why couldn't this be a Pectoral Sandpiper or , the legs looks a yellow. The bill as for me (maybe I am wrong) looks large enough for Pectoral Sandpiper and the dark chest and upper parts looks brown; the belly seems white or light creamy.

Alejandro

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Not sure but would favour a Tattler. Doesn't look right for anything else I can think of.

[Alastair Rae]

I would say juvenile Wandering Tattler Heteroscelus incanus.

[Rasmus Boegh]

Yes, Wandering Tattler, regular but uncommon migrant along the Peruvian coast. This bird is a typical ad. winter seen "down there", even through - from this rather dark photo - it would be hard to rule out juvenile. Juv. and ad. winter are quite similar, but juv. has rather vague white edgings to the scapulars, coverst & tertials. Furthermore, they often (but not always) appear more mottled below (but even ad. winter sometimes has this feature aswell).

[Mariano Mavila]

Thanks to everyone, I think this is a Red Knot, after I was looking for information this bird can occur in Peru, and Red Knot matchs with the bird I photograph. Thanks one more time to all.

[Larry Lade]

I agree with the Wandering Tattler being the most probable identification. Would not the tattler be the more expected species to be seen on a rocky shoreline as opposed to the alternate suggestion of Red Knot. I would think the knots would more likely be on a sandy beach or less rugged shoreline.

[prairiemerlin]

Definetly NOT a Red Knot. Red Knot would not have so much barring on the breast. Here's a link to a photo of some Red Knots:

http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/33040/sort/1/cat/500/page/1

If I had to gues the bird's ID, I would guess Wandering Tattler.

[tomjenner]

I agree with the bird being a Wandering Tattler. According to 'Shorebirds' this is a vagrant in Peru. If its a major rarity in the area, then you may have to start considering separating it from Grey-tailed Tattler, which is a far more difficult problem.
Tom

[Rasmus Boegh]

I agree with the bird being a Wandering Tattler. According to 'Shorebirds' this is a vagrant in Peru. If its a major rarity in the area, then you may have to start considering separating it from Grey-tailed Tattler, which is a far more difficult problem.
Tom

Just to make sure there is no confusion here on the status of Wandering Tattler in Peru. No, it is not a huge rarity in Peru, but can actually be considered a regular (North Hemisphere) winter visitor along the coast (there's even a single record from ~4000 m. asl in the Puno zone!). Uncommon; yes. Rare; no. I myself have seen a few "down there". On the other hand Grey-tailed Tattler has not been recorded in Peru (or infact anywhere in South America) and must be considered very unlikely. - And no, I have not changed my mind, I still believe this is a Wandering Tattler...

[Mariano Mavila]

I dont know much about shorebirds, I promise to go one more time to that beach and take a good photo of that bird probably Wandering Tattler. Thanks.

[BirdsPeru]

Mariano, si estas pensando ir un sabado por alla, si quieres pasame la voz y vamos los dos o nos encontramos por alla cosa que asi tenemos mayores posibilidades de identificarlo mejor.

Alejandro

[Rasmus Boegh]

Mariano, si estas pensando ir un sabado por alla, si quieres pasame la voz y vamos los dos o nos encontramos por alla cosa que asi tenemos mayores posibilidades de identificarlo mejor.

Yes, only thing that could make me change my mind in terms of the ID is a photo that showed some clearly different signs. Admittedly, I seriously doubt any new photos or observations of this individual would lead us in a different direction. This individual looks very typical Wandering Tattler, just a bit darked than usual and bill appears shorter, presumeably due to angle. In any case, if you choose to go for it, good luck with the birding, many other great possibilities out there aswell - as I am fairly sure you already know...