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Lubbock, TX Sandpipers (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter rylirk
- Start date
Sorry, no –you've got a Stilt Sandpiper in front of Dunlins.
The background birds are definitely not dowitchers or yellowlegs. Dowitchers would be substantially larger than the stilts, and they don't have streaks on the sides in winter plumage. Yellowlegs are also noticeably bigger than Stilt Sandpipers - even the Lesser Yellowlegs – and again, don't have streaks on the sides. Dunlins, on the other hand, are about the same size as Stilt Sandpipers, and show the exact pattern on the underparts that at least the left-hand background bird does - a fairly solid grey breast with several streaks stretching back from the breast along the sides. The only likely alternative is that, despite their rounder, dumpier, shorter-necked appearance than the Stilt Sandpiper in front, these are Stilt Sandpipers as well. Having taken a closer look at a brightened version of your picture in Photoshop, I find that it's actually quite hard to tell if the legs of the background birds are black, as on a Dunlin, or dull yellow (but in shadow) as on a Stilt Sandpiper.
rylirk
Well-known member
In the field, the legs on all the bird were a dull yellow, so I think it is far more likely that, if the front bird is a stilt sand, the rest also are. I have a fair bit of experience with dunlin in the UK, and all the birds in that pic seemed larger than I'd expect dunlin to be? If stilt sand are dunlin sized, then I'd say they seemed larger than stilt sand too. Still, with that downcurved bill, I don't know what else they could be?
For comparison, do you agree the other pic is a dowitcher? I still have a lot to learn with NAmerican sandpipers!
For comparison, do you agree the other pic is a dowitcher? I still have a lot to learn with NAmerican sandpipers!
If the legs on all the birds were dull yellow, then that eliminates Dunlin (and anything else I can think of that the birds could be) so they must all be Stilt Sandpipers. And yes, the bird in the other picture is a dowitcher, but distinguishing the dowitcher species in winter plumage is above my skill level.
tom baxter
Well-known member
I agree with all Stilt Sandpipers. The foraging posture alone can confirm Stilt Sandpiper for the background birds, particularly on the right side of the frame.
The dowitcher is probably long-billed on bill and head structure and by the apparent length of the femur and it standing in deep water. The pieces are there but being 100% sure from this photo is beyond me as well. I’m not 100% sure but I’m sure enough that I’d be comfortable calling it long billed because from experience, I’d be right to trust these impressions a very high percentage of the time. I personally don’t find the flight feather plumage details anywhere near as helpful as the subtleties of the giss when identifying dowitchers. Every once in awhile though there is one that just ends up somehow tricking my dowitcher ID protocol. They are head scratchers.
The dowitcher is probably long-billed on bill and head structure and by the apparent length of the femur and it standing in deep water. The pieces are there but being 100% sure from this photo is beyond me as well. I’m not 100% sure but I’m sure enough that I’d be comfortable calling it long billed because from experience, I’d be right to trust these impressions a very high percentage of the time. I personally don’t find the flight feather plumage details anywhere near as helpful as the subtleties of the giss when identifying dowitchers. Every once in awhile though there is one that just ends up somehow tricking my dowitcher ID protocol. They are head scratchers.
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