[obol] Re: Eurasian Whimbrel wannabe
- From: "Robert O'Brien" <baro@xxxxxxx>
- To: "5hats@xxxxxxxx" <5hats@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2016 09:29:44 -0700
Good to know. Then there's always the chance of a Bristle thighed. Gotta
check those curlews out carefully. Bob obrien
On Saturday, July 30, 2016, <5hats@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
It needs to be noted that a pronounced white rump is not necessarily
evident on what is (yet) the Siberian form of Whimbrel. Sibley illustrates
that form with a white rump, but Hayman, Marchant, and Prater in
"Shorebirds" do not, Their illustration shows a bird with a whitish rump,
barred with brown. The comment corresponding to the illustration is,
"Often little contrast between back and rump". Some years ago I saw a bird
of this form (species?) at Yaquina Bay. The markings on its rump more
closely matched those in "Shorebirds" than the one shown by Sibley. The
white was evident, but not pronounced, as it was mixed with grayish
barring. That bird, however, was immediately distinct from hundsonicus,
even at a distance, by its overall grayish tone, and further distinguished
by distinctly grayish barred underwings. The recent Siberian Whimbrel at
New River was a bit intriguing, as the clear white rump and the amount of
white on the underwings shown in Dave's photo appeared to me to almost
suggest a bird which had some traits of the more western races. But I'm
only speculating on that point. Other than what I see in the books I have
no knowledge of these things. And I'm not sure that the white shown on the
underwing of the bird in Dave's photo was not an artifact of lighting.
Darrel
________________________________
From: "Robert O'Brien" <baro@xxxxxxx>
To: "obol" <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2016 10:55:13 PM
Subject: [obol] Eurasian Whimbrel wannabe
When I started birding, the American 'whimbrel' was the Hudsonian Curlew;
(Numenius hudsonicus, a full species) probably based upon it's first
discovery in the
New World in the vicinity of Hudson's Bay. Apparently forces are now
working
to change back, back from curlew to whimbrel. Whatever.
A couple of weeks ago I had a brief excitement at the SJCR. I knew Jeff
Gilligan & others
had seen the Eurasian subspecies many years ago on Sunset Beach, and when
a flock of
nine curlews aka whimbrels decided on a brief stopover (from the
whirlwinds) at the 'ponds',
I was ready with my camera. Through the viewfinder, one appeared to have
a white rump!
Alas, viewing the photos later on the computer screen showed the white to
be the underside,
not the rump.
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