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Mystery Wader (Shorebird) (1 Viewer)

Larry Lade

Moderator
I am unhappy with an identification I made of a wader (shorebird, in the states) last winter. I saw this bird on January 1 at the muddy edge of a lake in Saint Joseph, Missouri, USA.

How many waders (shorebirds) do you know of which have a bi-colored bill which is black at the distal (far end) and bright red at the basal end and legs which are uniformly bright red. The bill was approximately 1/2 black and 1/2 bright red.

Remember that this bird was seen in January when it would NOT be in its alternate or breeding plumage.

I am looking for a list of waders (shorebirds) which would show this bright red coloration of bare parts (bill and legs) when they are in non-breeding plumage.

I have been looking though many field guides and done quite a bit of searching on the internet and still have not satisfied my own mind as to the identity of the bird I observed.

Recently this "mystery bird" has really been on my mind and I would like to settle on at least a probable identification.

(I will post more concerning this bird later.)
 
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Hi Larry,
How big was it, and what was the structure like? I have an idea or two myself, but would hesitate to comment until I hear more. Feel free to send me a PM about it.
Harry
 
January should rule out young birds, where bill color is more variable.

I'm pretty useless with shorebirds, less than 10 on my list so far. Including Killdeer.
 
Larry Lade said:
I am unhappy with an identification I made of a wader (shorebird, in the states) last winter. I saw this bird on January 1 at the muddy edge of a lake in Saint Joseph, Missouri, USA.
How many waders (shorebirds) do you know of which have a bi-colored bill which is black at the distal (far end) and bright red at the basal end and legs which are uniformly bright red. The bill was approximately 1/2 black and 1/2 bright red.
Remember that this bird was seen in January when it would NOT be in its alternate or breeding plumage.

Hi Larry, try the Spotted Redshank in winter plumage:
http://www.birdingzeeland.nl/images/trineryt221003PrunjeGerardb.JPG :eek!:
http://www.kolkatabirds.com/saldino/scredshank1.jpg :eek!:

Cheers
Menotti Passarella
www.birdingitaly.net
 
Chris, I believe there has never been an "accepted" record of Common Redshank in the United States. There may be a record(s) for Alaska/Canada though.

Menotti, the Spotted Redshank (which HAS been recorded in the states) has a bill which is to long for the bird I saw. The bill on the bird I saw was perhaps the same distance as the width of the head (front to back), maybe the bill was just a little more than that.

Tero, keep looking, we should be getting numerous species of shorebirds moving through our area now!
 
Larry Lade said:
Chris, I believe there has never been an "accepted" record of Common Redshank in the United States. There may be a record(s) for Alaska/Canada though.

Peterson alludes to one in Newfoundland,so why not in Missouri ?
 
Grousemore said:
Peterson alludes to one in Newfoundland,so why not in Missouri ?

Maybe that's equivalent to the difference between a rare neararctic wader showing up in the Scillies or in e.g. the Czech Republic??
 
Trevor and James, I suppose a Redshank could show up in Missouri. After all I did observe that stint in the summer of 2002 here in Missouri, although the "experts" were divided on whether it was a Little Stint or a Red-necked Stint.

And in the winter months I have seen Pectoral Sandpiper and Wilson's Snipe in Missouri.

Ciao, Menotti, thanks for the links. Those are looking more and more like the bird I saw, except that the birds appear to be more in breeding plumage rather than in their basic (non-breeding) attire. I suppose that most photos are taken of birds when they are in their alternate or breeding plumage.

Just maybe, the bird I saw was a ................
 
Hi Jane,

The bird I saw was not long legged and did not have a thin bill. Its legs were "average" lenght and the bill was as described above and rather stout. I have "more or less" ruled out yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper, Ruff and Spotshank (Spotted Redshank) because of the various differences these species exhibit with regards to the bird I saw (post #1 and #6).
 
Hi Larry,

Upon reading your initial post, I too immediately thought of redshank or spotted redshank both seemingly rare in your neck of the woods. You have commented at length on bill colour/structure but what about plumage detail, primary projection etc?
Maybe we could have a clearer picture with a bit of info on these features.

Regards,
 
I was just looking in Sibleys and it shows that the Redshank has been recorded in Kansas, so why not in Missouri
 
At the beginning of this thread I asked for information concerning how many species of waders you were aware of that had a 1/2 black and 1/2 red bill and red legs. I purposely did not go into much detail about the bird I saw because I thought by inquiring in such a general way it would help me to make some sort of determination of the bird's identity. Perhaps I errored in approaching the matter in this way.

Below is a more complete compilation of the facts concerning my facinating, although very brief encounter with this bird.

On January 1, 2003, I observed a bird on the lake shore of Browning Lake, Rosecrans Airport, Saint Joseph, Missouri. I only got to see it for perhaps ten seconds. I pulled my vehicle over as far as I dared on the causeway and had to move because of the traffic and “No Parking” restriction. I pulled to the end of the causeway where there was more shoulder area beside the road and walked the short distance back to get a better look at the bird. It was gone and I could not refind it.

My initial look at the bird was a “shock”. Its two toned bill (tip half was black and the basal half was bright red. The average length legs were red, the same color as the basal half of the bill. I had never seen a bird quite like this before. My immediate reaction was, Redshank! But then I thought it cannot be a Redshank, it must be a Pectoral Sandpiper with very unusual bill and leg coloration. I had never seen a Redshank before so how could I know if this was really a Redshank. Looking in my National Geographic Birds of North American, 2nd Ed., I could not find an illustration of a Common Redshank, in fact, it was not even listed in the index. [I have since checked the National Geographic Birds of North America, 3rd Ed. And it does have the Common Redshank included in that edition.] Both of these editions do show a Spotted Redshank, but this was not the bird I saw. The only other bird in the vicinity of the bird was a Killdeer. The “mystery” bird was a little larger than the Killdeer. It was rather nondescript, brownish above and whitish below. It had some streaking or brownish coloration on the breast. The belly was white. The head was also brownish, it may have had a white eye-ring - (with that quick of a look, I cannot be certain). The thing which really “jumped out” at me was the bright red bill and legs. I sent an email to a knowledgeable friend of mine indicating that I may have seen a Purple Sandpiper (it just could not be a Common Redshank) he emailed back to me that he thought I had probably seen a Pectoral Sandpiper with extra bright bill and legs. I have seen hundreds of Pectoral Sandpipers and though their bare parts do show different intensities of color, I have never seen one whose bill and legs even approach the red color of the bird I saw that January morning. I however dismissed the bird as being a Common Redshank at that time and for sometime thereafter because it was not shown in my field guides as occurring in the United States, and to my knowledge has never been reported as occuring in the United States. (I believe it is listed for the 49 contigunous states and Canada though). I did not think the bird was a Spotted Redshank (that bird has been seen in the United States). The bird I saw was of the wrong size, its bill was not long enough and the plumage was all wrong for a Spotted Redshank. It did have red legs like a Ruff, but the bi-colored bill was unlike that of the Ruff. Also the Ruff’s plumage is different from the bird I saw which had rather plain brown plumage above and whitish below. The plumage of the bird I saw was consistent with a Redshank in basic or winter plumage. The bird I saw was not a Greater or Lesser Yellowlegs. The legs of the yellowlegs are much longer than the legs of the bird I saw and my bird had that bi-colored bill. And again, I have never seen a yellowlegs with bi-colored, black/red bill and red legs.

Even though the report(s) of Common Redshank occurring in the 48 states has/have never been accepted , subsequent studing of various field guides and internet sites for a year and half have convinced me that I may have had on that day seen a Common Redshank.

 
Fifebirder said:
It's a bit more orangey than red on the legs and bill but what about Purple Sandpiper.
Andrew, that is kind of what I settled on initially, but I could not reconcile in my mind that that was really the identity of the bird I saw. It seems to me now that the bird was actually a Common Redshank, incredulous as that sounds, as it has never (to my knowledge) been seen in the 48 states.
 
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