Dunlin again - what do centralis really look like? (1 Viewer)

Jane Turner · May 24, 2013

Its the time of years again where the pathetically billed schinziis and arcticas start to get outnumbered by alpina types. (5000 today)

Within those larger brighter birds there are some that stand out as bigger and brighter still (though not as yes the brick red Curlew Sandpiper-sized birds that were here two years ago.)

That said two birds caught my eye today for being both rich red above (with very little black in the centres of the scaps) and with beautiful paired white tips to the rear scaps. The first was from the house and about 600m away - digiscoped through double glazing... so I went out and found a different bird. Both sleeping males and them photos don't do them justice.

centralis seems very poorly described, but I'm coming to the view that the pearl-like scap tips are helpful.

Jane Turner · May 24, 2013

Here is a first lash at mapping out the distribution of breeding Dunlin races - I couldn't find one online. Any improvement based on data rather than guesswork welcome. Mitochondrial DNA studies on European birds show that arctica and schinzii are the same and that alpina is an intergrade between schinzii and centralis The same paper says that there are only 5 races supportable by DNA. I'm assuming that hudsonia is one of them, which leaves two out of the rest.

Perhaps articola is an intergrade between hudsonia and pacifica, and sakhalina between pacifica and centralis.

1st draft map and DNA paper

Wizzle · May 26, 2013

Jane, your map suggests that there are no breeding alpina in Britain?

Jane Turner · May 26, 2013

its not literal.... but schinzii is the race that breeds here.

Tony Morris · May 26, 2013

Mitochondrial DNA studies on European birds show that arctica and schinzii are the same and that alpina is an intergrade between schinzii and centralis The same paper says that there are only 5 races supportable by DNA. I'm assuming that hudsonia is one of them, which leaves two out of the rest.

Hi Jane,
were was that paper paper published? HBW, now quite old, I know, gives 9 sub-species.
The latest Clements list also has nine as follows:
Calidris alpina arcticola:-NW Alaska and nw Canada; winters e China, Korea and Japan
Calidris alpina pacifica:- SW Alaska; winters in w US and w Mexico
Calidris alpina hudsonia:-Dunlin (Eastern) Central Canada; winters se US and e Mexico
Calidris alpina arctica:- Dunlin (Greenland) NE Greenland; winters mainly nw Africa
Calidris alpina schinzii:- Greenland and Iceland to s Scandinavia; winters to nw Africa
Calidris alpina alpina:- Scandinavia to e Russia; winters to Mediterranean and India
Calidris alpina sakhalina:-Russia to Chukotsk Pen.; winters China, Japan and Taiwan
Calidris alpina actites:- N Sakhalin; wintering grounds unknown

So do we know which are lumped together?

Jane Turner · May 26, 2013

2007 Tony

Of the 5 haplotypes 3 seem clear

European - schinzii & arctica

Siberian - centralis

Canadia - hudsonia

then guesswork

Alaskan = articola

Beiringian = actites

Leaving perhaps pacifica as an intergrade between articoloand actities, sakhalina intergrade between centralis and actities... can't find a paper looking at that end!

Jane Turner · May 26, 2013

So something like this

Jane Turner · May 26, 2013

This pair are from the Russian Side of the Bering straight

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aWrQXauUQ...Bering+Is+Commander+Islands+Russia+AR-042.JPG

The male has a very nice clean belly patch - clean flanks, reduced face and breast streaking, whilst the female is sporting reduced black centres to the scaps and those lovely white rear scap tips.

They are well endowed in the bill department too

Another Bering bird here

http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=2157296&postcount=32

The single bird is from Finnish Lapland -

http://www.tarsiger.com/images/aksu/Calalp_k_20100714_2010_10_9408.jpg

Extensive black centres to the scaps and a thin grey/white terminal fringe

Jane Turner · May 26, 2013

This left should be from the centre of centralis. It has the white spots, but still quite heavy black centres

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/files/imagecache/photo_940/pictures/IMG_8738.jpg

and right a Canadian hudsonia - with black streaking right down the flanks and tree patterns in the scaps

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Calidris-alpina-001_edit.jpg

Tony Morris · May 26, 2013

Thanks Jane,
I'll need to get my brain fully awake to digest those, quite heavy stuff!

Richard Klim · May 26, 2013

Parkin & Knox 2010

Jane Turner said:
The same paper says that there are only 5 races supportable by DNA. I'm assuming that hudsonia is one of them, which leaves two out of the rest.

Parkin & Knox 2010 (The Status of Birds in Britain & Ireland) includes a useful synthesis...

TAXONOMY ... A variable number of subspecies have been described, from five (Glutz von Blotzheim et al. 1975), to six (BWP), or even nine (HBW) or more. Greenwood (1986) attempted to clarify the situation through multivariate analysis of six metric traits and detected six groups that he proposed as subspecies (pacifica, alpina, arctica, schinzii, sakhalina, arcticola). Although birds breeding in the central Canadian Arctic could not be separated on morphology, they were geographically isolated and Greenwood proposed that these should also be accorded subspecific status (hudsonia). C Siberian 'centralis' recognised by some authorities (e.g. Tomkovich 1986).

Dunlins have now been analysed using rapidly evolving mt control region sequences, and five separate lineages have been identified closely related to the morphological subspecies (Wenink et al. 1993, 1996). These lineages are European: arctica, schinzii, alpina; C Siberian: 'centralis'; Beringian: sakhalina; Alaskan: arcticola, pacifica; Canadian: hudsonia. Buehler & Baker (2005) extended this analysis, confiirming that Canadian Dunlins are the most divergent (supporting Greenwood's view that they should be recognised as a distinct subspecies); European birds are differentiated from Siberian, Beringian and Alaskan, and these last from each other (supporting the recognition of 'centralis'). Buehler & Baker (2005) relate these differences to evolutionary time and suggest that Dunlins went through a bottleneck some 200,000 yrs BP but that since then the populations have been larger and the major lineages have diverged through restricted gene flow due to their fidelity to both breeding and wintering areas. Wenink & Baker (1996) and Wennerberg (2001) have shown the potential of these differences for determining the composition of flocks at stopover or wintering sites, although there is overlap between European and Siberian phylogroups – perhaps due to continuing hybridisation.

Jane Turner · May 26, 2013

This paper helps a bit with pinning the former subspecies on the haplotype game.

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2410803?uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102256615271

They have renamed schinzii/arctica as alpina for European birds, reinstated centralis for Central Siberian birds, called all the Bering Strait/NE Siberian birds sakhalina and merged articola and pacifica into pacifica for Alaskaa birds. Only for Canadian hudsonia is it a case of as you were!

Jane Turner · May 26, 2013

Richard Klim said:
Parkin & Knox 2010 (The Status of Birds in Britain & Ireland) includes a useful synthesis...

Cheers Richard! That would have saved me the last hour... but then again i did enjoy it!

Richard Klim · May 26, 2013

Nomenclature

Jane Turner said:
Mitochondrial DNA studies on European birds show that arctica and schinzii are the same and that alpina is an intergrade between schinzii and centralis.

So Marthinsen et al 2007 concludes that alpina represents an overlap zone between schinzii and centralis (and therefore between the European and Central Siberian lineages). But, as the nominate subspecies, it's impossible for alpina (Linnaeus, 1758, type locality Lapland) to be suppressed. Schinzii could be synonymised with alpina (given that alpina consists of mainly European haplotypes), but that's unnecessary and undesirable if they're morphologically differentiated. And even if the notional geographic boundary between alpina and centralis were to be adjusted, it wouldn't alter the reality of an extensive intergrade zone between the two lineages. Unfortunately parapatric/clinal subspecies rarely map neatly onto the underlying phylogeography.

Jane Turner · May 26, 2013

Richard Klim said:
But, as the nominate subspecies, it's impossible for alpina (Linnaeus, 1758, type locality Lapland) to be suppressed.

I think that is why schinzii/arctica/alpina have been subsumed into alpina, in the phylogeography I posted above,even though the birds we happily call alpina because they stand out from schinzii are the ones with a large dollop of central Siberian genes.

Jane Turner · May 26, 2013

These are from the Solovetsky - so you'd expect them to belong to the type previous known as alpina - and the outer two birds look just like the ones I call alpina when they turn up here. The middle bird looks like it might have a higher % of central Siberian in it - but perhaps that is because its a white-faced male

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/polar_bear_lk/33302334/7502/7502_original.jpg

Jane Turner · May 27, 2013

These are from Tomsk - and listed in the Dunlin site as sakhalina?? or centralis, but should be Central Siberian centralis

http://www.dunlin.se/figurmapp/tomsk.jpg from http://www.dunlin.se/

with those Sanderling-like lacy white fringes.

and a bird from India (which should be centralis) and is an absolute ringer for the birds this week.
http://speciesguide.delhibird.net/internal/35/images/dunlin_04.jpg

Jane Turner · May 27, 2013

Spent a couple of hours (mostly sat on my arse on a wet beach) looking at Dunlin. 3 birds today stood out from the mostly alpina crowd. One was a spectacular looking bird, with almost solid chestnut mantle, a massive solid belly patch.

Very strong contrast between completely un-moulted coverts and the brighter than bright mantle . small white paired spots on the tips of the rear scaps... and something I've never seen before small grey spots on the under tail coverts - almost like a dowitcher! (they seemed rounder than flank streaks)

Its also had a huge wing bar (though like two years ago, I couldn't be sure there were no missing coverts.)

Jane Turner · May 27, 2013

and a few more of the big one, plus a second bird (called 1) that wasn't as massive, had a less solid belly but more prominent white spots and a very white face - I expect it was one of the birds from earlier in the week

Tony Morris · May 27, 2013

Jane, Should we all come up to the Wirral for a Dunlin Master Class?

Dunlin again - what do centralis really look like? (1 Viewer)

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