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.