shorebirds Barbados today (1 Viewer)

[njlarsen]

Thank you in advance for the help. First image shows three dowitchers with relatively long bills. Image 2 and 3 are zooming in on two different ones of these. Image 4 and 5 are one or two different birds with very much shorter bills. I have these down as short-billed D while I am less certain whether I could have found a small group of long-billed D for the first three images? Shortbilled is by far the more common species. (and if I am completely off, please tell me that too).

Niels

 

[Butty]

It would be nice if all in 1-4 were ageable as juveniles, in which case all of them would be short-billed dowitcher (tertial pattern). But... are they all juveniles, just because they have spangly upperparts + no obvious rufous on upperparts (the bird in 2 actually does have a little)? That must depend on the moult-sequence, of which I know nothing. So I pass.

 

[THE_FERN]

It would be nice if all in 1-4 were ageable as juveniles, in which case all of them would be short-billed dowitcher (tertial pattern). But... are they all juveniles, just because they have spangly upperparts + no obvious rufous on upperparts (the bird in 2 actually does have a little)? That must depend on the moult-sequence, of which I know nothing. So I pass.

Tertial pattern makes these short-billed afaik. I don't think long-billed has equivalent plumage in any age (but happy to be corrected)

 

[njlarsen]

Thank you both. I looked back through some pictures to see if any showed something different for the first group. This one might?

 

[Butty]

This one might?

From feather details, one can tell that this is the individual shown in your original pics 1-2.

 

[Butty]

Tertial pattern makes these short-billed afaik. I don't think long-billed has equivalent plumage in any age (but happy to be corrected)

Adult breeding long-billed dowitcher has notched tertials (apparently) - which is why I gave that rider about having to be satisfied that they're juveniles (and not moulting adults that still have the breeding tertials).

 

[THE_FERN]

Adult breeding long-billed dowitcher has notched tertials (apparently) - which is why I gave that rider about having to be satisfied that they're juveniles (and not moulting adults that still have the breeding tertials).

Yes. I looked at the pictures in Sibley and hayman & ebird images. I think notching without rufous fringes might be possible, perhaps even some internal pattern, but I didn't see any as strongly marked as we see here. Here's an example. I don't think this is easily confused with the above:

Long-billed Dowitcher Macaulay Library ML198091921

I feel the (steep) forehead angle makes these clear-cut short-billed in most images anyway