Posted by Gary Potter (38.171.0.200) on October 26, 2000 at 14:34:38:
In Reply to: Vancouver's Mystery Shorebird posted by Steven Mlodinow on October 24, 2000 at 15:30:00:
I've been wondering if the dark appearance of the legs is an artifact of the overcast conditions under which the photograph was taken. The leg on the right seems to have a lighter area showing, Could they really be the yellowish-green typical of Pectoral and Least Sandpiper. I agree that the bill does not look quite right, but everything else adds up to a brightly colored immature Pectoral Sandpiper.
: Greetings All
: Certainly, at first glance, this bird appears to be a Pectoral Sandpiper. The dull crown, split and dull supercilium, lack of buff on chest, and lack of eyering all point away from Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. The streaking seems to form a band across the chest, perhaps with a bit of a belly-ward extension at mid-breast, as many Pecs show.
: The dark appearing legs are a bit baffling though. A Pectoral Sand (or Sharp-tailed, or Least, or Long-toed) should have yellow to green legs. This made me think of Little Stint. Little Stints can be similarly patterned above (bright chestnut feather edges, white mantle lines) plus have a split supercilium, streaky chest, and would have DARK legs, as the photo seems to show. They also tend to have longer primary projection than Least and Western Sandpipers, at least approaching what is shown in the photo. The bill, however, seems very wrong for Little Stint, being too long and too thick at the base. And though the bill seems a bit odd for a Pec, it seems within the range of that species.
: Soooo, I'd say the mystery bird is a Pectoral Sandpiper.
: Cheers
: Steven Mlodinow