Spotted or Common Sandpiper? (3 Viewers)

[Muratfaik]

Hi,

I took these photos yesterday on Dalaman Airport-Muğa-Turkey. No tail projetion, no notches on tertials, some very faint washes on rear flanks etc. suggest me a Spotted Sandpiper. Opinions please. Thanks.

 

[Butty]

Spotted sandpiper has a substantially projecting tail - common sandpiper has an even more substantially projecting tail. So this juvenile has - I guess - lost its tail.

 

[Bewick]

In pictures and my guide, the spotted tends to have a crooked bill with a pale (almost orangish) lower mandible and more yellowish legs while this bird has a straight bill, that's dark throughout and legs that are seemingly the typical green you see on common sands. Also spotted seems more pale compared to the darker common, with a face markings that look more washed. I believe this is a common, also- though this isn't infallible- the spotted is American vagrant to Europe- with only one E-bird record that I can find for Turkey which was in 1988.

 

[Muratfaik]

Spotted sandpiper has a substantially projecting tail - common sandpiper has an even more substantially projecting tail. So this juvenile has - I guess - lost its tail.

I don’t think so… because I took video while the bird Was preening and the short tail was clearly there..

 

[Bewick]

I don’t think so… because I took video while the bird Was preening and the short tail was clearly there..

Looks better for spotted sandpiper in the video than in the pics, still think common though for the reasons listed above.

 

[Muratfaik]

In pictures and my guide, the spotted tends to have a crooked bill with a pale (almost orangish) lower mandible and more yellowish legs while this bird has a straight bill, that's dark throughout and legs that are seemingly the typical green you see on common sands. Also spotted seems more pale compared to the darker common, with a face markings that look more washed. I believe this is a common, also- though this isn't infallible- the spotted is American vagrant to Europe- with only one E-bird record that I can find for Turkey which was in 1988.

Agree the color criteria but please consider that, the less than ideal lighting conditions. Also it was recorded in 2021 in Göksu Delta:

TRAKUS | Fotogaleri | Benekli düdükçün

TRAKUS Göksu Deltası'nda güzel bir tesadüf idi

www.trakus.org

 

[THE_FERN]

Bit difficult without the tail... I'd comment that the legs are actually pretty bright yellow. The neck sides accord better with the description of common's although the Sibley illustration of spotted is much like this

 

[Bewick]

Bit difficult without the tail... I'd comment that the legs are actually pretty bright yellow. The neck sides accord better with the description of common's although the Sibley illustration of spotted is much like this

That's what I meant by it looks better for spotted in the video then it does in the pictures. Though I the pictures they look more green to me. The images seem better quality, if you mean bright yellow on the pics than I personally disagree. Seems the correct greenish for an immature common sandpiper.

 

[Muratfaik]

Please note that I edited on photoshop hdr toning and auto color for boosting details.

That's what I meant by it looks better for spotted in the video then it does in the pictures. Though I the pictures they look more green to me. The images seem better quality, if you mean bright yellow on the pics than I personally disagree. Seems the correct greenish for an immature common sandpiper.

 

[Bewick]

Please note that I edited on photoshop hdr toning and auto color for boosting details.

Could you also attach the originals?

 

[Muratfaik]

As raw they are too large. But I will upload crop the bird and saved jpegs without editing..

 

[Butty]

In pictures and my guide, the spotted tends to have a crooked bill

I don't know what this means - but I don't think bill-shape is an ID feature.

I edited on photoshop hdr toning and auto color for boosting details

Oh dear

From the video, there's certainly something odd/missing about the tail (tail missing, tail-coverts present??) - because this bird's 'tail' isn't normal for either spotted sandpiper or common sandpiper - and thus, tail-wise, it's no more likely to be spotted sandpiper than it is to be common sandpiper. As a juvenile, it won't (I guess) be moulting its tail.

 

[Muratfaik]

As raw they are too large. But I will upload crop the bird and saved jpegs without editing..

 

[Andy Adcock]

Spotted sandpiper has a substantially projecting tail - common sandpiper has an even more substantially projecting tail. So this juvenile has - I guess - lost its tail.

Thought it was the other way around, short tail?

I think that Spotted, have brighter legs than Common?

 

[Muratfaik]

Anyone experienced on behavior of these two species (Feeding, walking differences?)

 

[Bewick]

View attachment 1530513View attachment 1530514

Looks better for common in these pictures.

 

[Muratfaik]

As seen on the guidebook, legg color is not the concrete criteria…

 

[Bewick]

As seen on the guidebook, legg color is not the concrete criteria…View attachment 1530519

It’s not just leg colour, pretty much what I mentioned in the first post.

 

[THE_FERN]

Ahh the Photoshopping had a big effect. Legs greenish for me now, more like Common. Given location, unless there's a compelling reason why not, I'd say "common". [Actually, I think we can see something of the tertials now too. They are not plain as they should be for Spotted I believe]

 

[Muratfaik]

It’s not just leg colour, pretty much what I mentioned in the first post.

The problem is; there are different illustrations and details for the american vagrant Such that according to owned guidebook anyone can judge this species differently. I can see two toned bill, slightly longer tail (tail projection), drab orange legs and especially bolder rear supercilium (a feature that said for spotted sp) on my pictures. That is why I guess instead of judging from book or internet, an observer who saw two species on the field is needed.