A Mongolian Plover in Louisiana

by J. ChesterLittlefield, David IV. Doubledayand Ellen L. Doubleday

Figure 1. MongolianPlover at Grand Isle, Louisiana.Dunlins in foreground.Reproduced from a colorslide taken by D. N. Doubledayusing a Nikkomat camera hand held, 1/15 second,f. 1.4, througha Bauschand Lomb telescopewith a 20x eyepiece.

140 AmericanBirds, March, 1977 On April 22, 1975 a red-breastedplover was rufousbreast showed a verydistinct black band seenby the authorsat Grand Isle, Louisiana, separatingthe rufous breast from the white on flats besidethe pond at the Coast Guard belly. Specimensof C. leschenaulti• were Station. By using Birds of North America appreciably larger, with a much narrower (Robbins et al., 1966) we identified the bird at breastband and a longerbill. All specimensof once as a Mongolian Plover (Charadriusmon- C. veredushad long yellow legs and were con- golus). Severalcolor photographswere taken, sistentlymuch larger. Of all the specimensof one of which is reproducedin black and white the four red-breastedplovers, only the male of (Figure 1). Conditionsfor viewingwere excel- C. mongolusin breedingplumage had a wide lent, with bright sunlight,no heat waves,and rufous breast band togetherwith a complete no wind. The bird was under observation for chestnut nape, a white forehead and throat, one and one-half hours and was still there with and a thin black line (sometimesfaint) sep- Dunlins (Calidris alpins) and Semipalmated aratingthe white throat from the rufousbreast Plovers (Charadrius sernipalrnatus)when we Basedupon our researchit is evidentthat the left. We immediately telephonedJoseph C. bird seenand photographedat Grand Isle was Kennedy, Jr., one of the few birders whose a male Mongolian Ploverin nearly full breed- name we knew in New Orleans, to alert com- ing plumage. petent observersin the area. Others were As far as we can determine this is the first notified later. appearanceof a Mongolian Plover in North The bird had a light chestnut,almost rufous, America outside of Alaska. Eight sightings breastband; with the chestnutcolor extending have been reported from Alaska (Gabrielson completely around the nape. A buff stripe and Lincoln 1959, Kenyonand Phillips 1965, encircledthe crown just above the black eye Thompsonand DeLong 1969).No recordswere line and white forehead. The most striking found that would indicate that it ever occurred features were the brilliant white throat and the elsewhere in North America. rufousband. The color changedto buff on the LITERATURE CITED lower breastand to white on the belly. The bill Falla, R. A., R. B. Sibson,and E.G. Turbott. 1966. A and the legswere black. Its posturewas that of field guideto the birds of New Zealand.London, a SemipalmatedPlover, its sizeslightly larger. Collins. There are four speciesof Asiatic plover Gabrielson, I. N., and F. C. Lincoln. 1959. B•rds of which are red-breasted:Mongolian Plover, Alaska. Harrisburg and Washington,D.C, The Caspian Plover (C. asiaticus), Greater Sand StackpoleCo. and Wildlife Management Institute Plover (C. leschenaultii), and Oriental Plover Gooders,J. (Ed.).1969. Heads of 'ringed'plovers of (C. veredus)(Nielson 1971). Comparisons were the genusCharadrius. p. 840 in Birdsof the World made with descriptionsand picturesin several Part 6, Vol. 3. London,I.P.C. Magazines,Ltd. Heinzel, H., R. Fitter, and J. Parslow. 1972. The birds other field guides,particularly those by Koba- of Britain and Europe.Philadelphia, •. B Lip- yaski (1956), Falla et al. (1966), Gooders(1969), pincottCo. Slater (1970), and Heinzel et al. (1972).' All of Kenyon,K. W., and R. E. Phillips. 1%5. Birds from theseconfirmed the originalidentification. The the PribilofIslandsandvicinity. Auk, 82:624-635. conclusive evidence that the bird was C. Kobayaski,K. 1956. Birds of Japanin natural col- mongoluswas providedby examinationof sev- ours. Osaka, Hoikusha. eral dozen specimens of each of the four Nielson,B. P. 1971. Migration and relationshipsof plovers in widely varying plumages at the four Asiatic plovers. Charadriinae. Ornis Scan- Museum of ComparativeZoology at Harvard dinavica, 2:137-142. University,with the assistanceof the Curator of Robbins,C. S., B. Bruun, and H. S. Zim. 1966 Bncds of North America. New York, Golden Press Birds, Dr. RaymondA. Payntor,Jr., and Peter Slater, P. 1970. A field guide to Australian bncds: Alden of the MassachusettsAudubon Society non-passerine.Adelaide, Australia, Rigby, Ltd staff. Thompson,M. C., and R. L. DeLong. 1%9 Birds When comparedwith our notesand photo- new to North America and the Pribilof Islands, graphs every specimenof C. asiaticuswith a Alaska. Auk, 86:747-749. Volume31, Number2 141