Sight records of Wilson's , Ruff, and other shorebirds from Venezuela

Allen Altman and Chris Parrish

Phalaropein California.The superficially NAltmanNOVEMBER observed5,1977 ata aboutWilson's 11:30 Phala-a.m. resembled a Lesser Yellowlegs, especially rope (Steganopustricolor) in the Refugiode the back pattern in flight, but the cleanwhite Fauna Silvestre de Cuare near Chichiriviche, underpartsand face, the dark postocular,the Estado Falc6n, Venezuela. This apparently very narrow bill and the general shape serve represents the first record of this American to distinguish the two easily. The back shorebird from Venezuela. It first attracted pattern and bill shaperuled out the other two his attentionby landingnear the edge of a . large brackish lagoon about five m from NNOVEMBER 18,1977, thirteen days after shore and immediately began swimming. the initial sighting of the phalarope, For a short time it made quick dartingmove- both authors returned together in hopes of mentswith its bill at the water's surface,pre- obtaining a further sighting.Less than two sumablycatching flies or minute aquaticlife, km distant,we discovereda Ruff(Philomachus but it was not observed swimmingin small pugnax) feeding with a large flock of Lesser circles phalarope-style. Later it walked and ( melanoleuca) ashore where it continued feeding near a in a small, recently formed, freshwaterpool small group of Least and SemipalmatedSand- The following descriptionis condensedfrom pipers ( minutilla and C. pusilia) and our field notes: Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa fiavipes). Subse- Size and proportions those of Greater Yellow- quently it entered the water and resumed legs. Bill black longer than head and about as swimmingand feeding. long as the bills of nearby Lesser Yellowlegs, Parrish rediscovered the bird in the same hence much shorter (and rather thicker) than •n area two days later and watched it swim and Greater Yellowlegs. Crown feathers brown, walk along the shorelinein one cm of water, rather plush, giving a "capped" appearance Eyestripe present but inconspicuous.Throat catching flies on nearby Salicornia.The fol- and undertail coverts white. Face, forehead and lowing is condensedfrom our field notes: flanks whitish, washedwith light brown. Fore- neck and breast buffy. Back brown, lightly scal- Body size and proportions(except for smaller loped with buffy whitish. Wings brown, every head and shorter legs) rather close to those of covert and tertial sharply marginedwith a thin, Lesser Yellowlegs but a little smaller overall. light border. Primaries long and broad; quills Bill black, longerthan head, exceedinglythin white, givingthe folded wing a stripedappear- and straight. Crown, hindneck and back ance. Rump blackish, bordered laterally by uniform light brownish gray. Wings darker, long, broad, white, oval patches which join darkest on the primaries, without light wing- towards the rear to form a broad V- or U-shaped stripe. Thin eyestripe and postocular sooty. rump patch. Tail dark. Underwing liningspure Forehead, face, throat, foreneck, breast and white, contrasting with brownish underparts undertail coverts white. Flanks washed with when the bird is in flight. Legs dull yellowish light brownishgray. Rump white. Tail with a light grayishterminal area. Legs yellowish. Altman is familiar with the Ruff in both breeding and winter plumage in Norway and Both authors were familiar with Wilson's Denmark, and with one individual in winter

Volume 32, Number 3 309 plumage studied at length in California. The two observations for Trinidad, Blake tml pattern, size, scaly appearance,straight, surmises that "accidental occurrences on the medium-lengthbill, and buffy foreneck and SouthAmerican mainland are likely." breast rule out all other shorebirds. Wilson's Phalarope breeds in the interior of North America and winters in southern NVenezuela,ArmtTtON To themE series^Bovœ ofnew fallrecords shorebird for South America. It is recorded in transit in censusescarried out by the authors in 1975, western Ecuador and Colombia, and in 1976 and 1977 at the Refugio de Fauna Sll- Central America. Phelps and Phelps (Lista vestre de Cuare has resulted in observations de las Aves de Venezuela con su Distribu- of severalother shorebirdspecies only rarely ct6n, Tomo II, Parte 1, Caracas, 1957) recorded in Venezuela. Hudsonian opined that Wilson's Phalarope(p. 16) would (Limosa haemastica),a speciespreviously probably be found in Venezuela, but they known in Venezuela from only two speci- apparently could not state positively that it mens (Phelps and Phelps, op. cit.) was had occurred. Moreover, vagrantshave been sightedOct. 18, 1975and Nov. 1, 1975.Red observedin Jamaica,Guadeloupe, Martinique Knot (Calidris canutus),known in Venezuela and Barbados (Bond, of the West from onlyone specimen (op. cit.) wasrecorded Indies, 1974) and in interior Brazil in Mato Sept. 28, 1975 (two individuals), Sept. 10, Grosso (de Schauensee,The Speciesof Birds 1977 (two individuals) and Sept. 17, 1977 of South America with their Distribution, (one individual). Snowy Plover (Charadrms 1966). alexandrinus),not previouslyreported from The Ruff is, of course, a Eurasian bird, but the Venezuelanmainland, (although reported it has been reported frequently from North resident in the Dutch and Venezuelan islands America. Antillean recordswere sufficiently of the southernCaribbean), has been found numerous for Bond (op. cit.) to include the to be regular in small numbers(up to seven species in the main text rather than in his individuals)in Septemberand October of all "List of Vagrants." Indeed, he notes it as "a three years. frequent visitor to Barbados." The only pre- The authors would like to thank E. R vious South American record is from Colom- Blake and E. Eisenmannfor commentingon bia, but, accordingto Blake (Manual of Neo- this manuscript. tropical Birds, p. 592, 1977), it is "based solely on a skin of 'Bogot•i'make and is ques- --Departamento de Matematicas, Univer- tionable." However, after mentioning one sMad Simon Bolivar, Apartado Postal 5354, record each for Guatemala and Panama and Caracas, Venezuela.

Eurasian (Numeniusarquata) on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

George G. Daniels

east. Through binoculars we could discern HIScolleaguesNOTE ISSUBMITTEDAllan R. Keith,onbehalf Charlesof myW. that the bird wasa curlew,and the expecta- Lincoln, Richard M. Sargent,E. Manning tion was that it wouldbe a Whimbrel,which Sears -- and myself. would have beenunusual enough at this time At approximately 10 a.m. on February 18, of year. However,the firstlook through our 1978, we arrived at the northwest comer of scopes-- ranging from 20x to 40x -- made it Menemsha Pond preparatory to birding the clear that here was no Whimbrel. The bill area. Manning Sears was the first to spot a was too long and the bird appearedto be large shorebird standingamong gulls on a plain-headed, lacking the Whimbrel's bold sandspitapproximately one-half mile to the stripes. The bird, also, was immense- 310 AmericanBirds, May 1978