Great Knot in Oregon
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SCIENCE seen the bird. The fear was that it had departedsouthward on the high tide. After considerableeffort, the bird was relocated on the mudflats at low GREATKNOT tide about five hours later. The ob- serverswere familiar with the spedes within its Asian and Australian ranges,and had no doubt of the iden- INOREGON tiffcation.Gilligan shot a rollof film on the bird,just before it flewsome distanceand out of sight.Fortunate- ly, the GreatKnot remainedat Ban- byNick Lethaby andJeff Gilligan donuntil September 19, 1990,when it waslast seen, and severalothers ob- tainedphotographs as well. Many birdersfrom across the country were able to seeit in those weeks. The speciesbreeds in Siberiaand migratesto theIndian subcontinent, southeast Asia and Australasia. It oc- A JUVENILE GREAT KNOT townof Bandon,Coos County, Ore- cursrarely in winterin NewZealand. (Calidristenuiwstris) was located by gon.He tookdetailed notes on the Vagrantshave been found in Moroc- Lethabyin a flock of Surfbirds bird in the next half hour, before coand Arabia (Hayman et al. 1986), (Aphrizavirgata) and BlackTurn- meetingwith other birders.Before andin GreatBritain. It migratesca- stones(Arenaria melanocephala) Sep- the otherscould verify the sighting suallyin springthrough southwest- tember1, 1990,on thenorth jetty of thebird flew off. No photographshad ernand western Alaska (Shemya Is- the CoquilleRiver estuary, near the beenobtained and only Lethaby had landand Adak Island),in thePribilof 46-AmericanBirds, Spring 1992 Islands (St. Paul Island), on St LawrenceIsland, and on the Seward Peninsula(American Ornithologists' Union 1983). In addition there are tworeports from the Pacificcoast of North America which we do not ana- lyzehere. The Bandonrecord repre- sentsthe first record in printfor North Americaaway from Alaska which is verifiedby photographic evidence. The specieswinters in largenum- bersin Australia,and is a powerful flier and long-distancemigrant. Its occurrence on the west coast of the UnitedStates is not surprising. ,l DESCRIPTION Sizeand build: A large,rather long- billedcalidrid. It wasslightly larger and bulkicr than Red Knots and Surfbirds,which were in direct com- parisonat times.It wasproportional- the rumpand the undertailcoverts. napeheavily streaked, white rump ly long-neckedfor a calidrid.Com- The rest of the underpartswere narrower and much less marked than binedwith verylong wings, which white.The upperpartswere very dis- on Red Knot,only a vagueimpres- projectedwell beyondthe tail, the tinctive. The mantle was heavily sionof a superciliumor noneat all, long-neckedlook gave the bird a gan- streakedgray-brown. The scapulars,mantle dark with distinct whitish gling,elongated appearance. covert.s,and tertials all had broad pale edges. edgings.When at rest,the bird some- We thankOwen Schmidtand Jim Softparts: The billwas very slighdy timesshowed a dark carpalpatch Johnsonfor theirhelpful comments &curved,and quite long by calidrid reminiscentof a winter-plumageregarding this note. standards. It was dark in color. The Sanderling(Calidris alba), which legswere greenish, and very similar in couldalso be seen in flight.There was Literature Cited colorto the smallgroup of juvenile a narrowwhite wingban The upper- AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' RedKnots with which it occasionallytail covertswere white, with much UNION. 1983. Check-list of associated. lessmarking than on a Red Knot. North American birds. 6thedition. This could be seen while the bird was A.O.U.Washington,D.C. Plumage: The forecrown, crown, in flight and at timeswhile it was HAYMAN, P., J. MARCHANT, nape, and hindneckwere marked preeningor stretching.The tail was AND T. PRATER. 1986. with heavydark streaking. With the darkwith a very thin white tip. Shorebirds,anidentification guide exceptionof a smalldark patchat This is very distinctivespecies to the waders of the world. the baseof the bill, the rest of the in juvenileplumage. However, this HoughtonMifflin Co. Boston. facewas pale and unmarked.This plumageis notwell described in any patchcaused the darkeye to stand of the standard North American field out prominently,giving a facialex- guides.An excellentdescription and pressionsomewhat reminiscent of illustr.ationare found in Shorebirds: Sprague'sPipit (Anthusspragueii) or Anidentification guide to the waders of Buff-breastedSandpiper (7•yngites the world, by Haymanet al (1986). subruficollis).The breastwas heavily The only significantdifference be- streakedgray-brown which tended tween the Bandon bird and the illus- towardblotching on the lower breast, tration is that our bird had a much and therewas a sharpdemarcation less prominent dark eyeline. --3280 S. W. 170th St., #1714 between the breast and the white In our view,a summarydescrip- Beaverton,Oregon 97006 (Lethaby), tion for the identificationof a juve- 26 N. E. 32nd Ave., belly.Dark blotchesand streaks con- Portland,Oregon 97232 (Gilligan) tinuedalong the flanks to thesides of nileGreat Knot might be: crown and Volume 46, Number 1 ß47 .