UAE first: Wilson's Phalarope (1 Viewer)

A Wilson's Phalarope was recently found and photographed in the UAE, where it constitutes the first record of this species. I will welcome any comments on the ageing of this individual from anyone with extensive experience of this species. Images here.

Any references on the ageing of Wilson's Phalarope (beyond BWP, The Guide to the Identification of Holarctic Waders, Shorebirds etc) will be really appreciated too.

Thanks,
Nick

Nick Moran said:

Any references on the ageing of Wilson's Phalarope (beyond BWP, The Guide to the Identification of Holarctic Waders, Shorebirds etc) will be really appreciated too.

Click to expand...

Peter Pyle's Identification Guide to North American Birds (part II from 2008) does contain some information, mostly related to moult differences. However, as both first winter and adult birds are actively moulting in January (like the UAE bird), many of the features are not usable in this case (especially as the postjuvenile moult can occasionally be complete). A first winter bird would probably still show some juvenile secondary coverts and/or tertials in early January, the juvenile ones having broad buffish or whitish fringes, and the adult ones having narrow pale fringes or lacking them completely. Based on the first picture the subject bird seems to show pale fringes on the secondary coverts, can't say if they should be described as broad or narrow.