[Birdnet] Another Pacific Golden-plover Convert

[Joel and Kathy Beyer]

Kathy and I arrived at the Causeway this evening and Paul Higgins kindly
pointed out the golden-plover.  After 2 hours of intense study, we're
leaning toward Pacific.  We concur with Kristin's description of the body
and tail.  We both managed to get a decent look at the primary tips
extending beyond the tertials.  Kathy counted three, as did I, only I
think the longest primary may actually have been two nearly equal in
length (very hard to discern).  The bill appeared thick, particularly at
the base, and fairly long.  The entire facial area was yellowish, with a
buffy supercillium.  The area around the eye was pale, and we observed a
very distinct postocular spot separate from the eye.   The undertail
coverts were an immaculate white. The leg length may favor American - the
tibia appeared short, bringing the knee closer to the body rather than
midway between the body and ground.  

Hopefully Paul's photos will help resolve this extremely tricky ID.

Joel 



On Sat, 2 Sep 2006 20:25:15 -0600 "Kristin Purdy"
<kristinpurdy at comcast.net> writes:
I'm in agreement with the party of birders that observed the Pluvialis
plover on Antelope Island Causeway this afternoon--that it's a PACIFIC
GOLDEN-PLOVER. Thanks to Buck and Cindy Russell for refinding the bird
and to Susan Saffle for calling me.

I visited the causeway later this afternoon and observed the bird for 2
1/2 hours. Paul Higgins was there in advance and took many superb
photographs. 

The bird is definitely an adult and has lots of black splotches on the
lower breast and belly and a few spots aft of the legs. Of course, that
also indicates the molt is incomplete. I noted several area of worn
feathers, including one tertial, the wing coverts below the scaps, and a
few scapular and back feathers sprinkled among many more that looked
fresh. I believe the remaining flight feathers are also worn because
they're a paler shade of brown than the base color of the scapular and
back feathers. The notches on those feathers were orange or deep buff
against dark brown centers.  

The wingtip projection past the tail is short--perhaps less than 1/4
inch. More importantly, the tertials appeared as long as the tip of the
tail. My best look at the primary tips projecting past the longest
tertial showed two. But this was very difficult to ascertain. I had
excellent light conditions and optics, but the color of the tips is
uniform and they blended together.  

By the time I left around 6 pm the bird was not quite a tenth of a mile
west of mile marker 5, north side of the causeway, where the rocky/weedy
slope of the causeway meets the mudflat. The distance from the pavement
was 90 feet according to the distance meter in Paul's lens. The bird
likes to rest next to clumps of vegetation and several times was barely
visible on the north side of a strip of ragweed. We would not have known
it was there had we not seen it walk there. 

Prior to my arrival, Paul saw the bird farther out and it difficult to
observe at that distance. Thank goodness it came in about as close as
possible to have its picture taken. 

Thanks to all who reported and have participated in the discussion. I was
much better prepared to observe the plover carefully due to your
contributions. As you know from the analyses this past week, the ID
challenges between the Pacific and American Golden-plovers is very
difficult. Take with you a healthy dose of skepticism and identify the
bird to your own satisfaction. All opinions welcome, including the ones
different than mine :^D. 

Kris
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