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Far Eastern Curlew in Canada

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Far Eastern Curlew in Canada EXTRALIMITAL RECORD Far Eastern Curlew in Canada Figure 1. TheFar EasternCurlew' s call. "cur-lee, cur-lee." wasrepeated in rapid coupletsat 4- 5 secondintervals, reminiscentof the call of the Eurasian Curlew. Photos/Ervio Sian. The sighting of this Siberian speciesin British thousandsof peepsand othersandpipers Columbia provides a first record for continental eachyear during August and September, North America. and has a reputationfor harboringrar- ities.At approximately1700 PDT, Kau- tesk and Ireland sighteda large curlew W. DouglasKragh, Brian M. Kautesk, John Ireland and flyingoverhead and calling "cur-lee. cur- Ervio Sian lee" in rapid couplets.Both, who were familiar with the typical calls of the Long-billed Curlew (Numeniusameri- canus), which is a regular transient in that had been first reportedSeptember small numbers in the Vancouver area ber 24, 1984, the authors and 22. Mud Bay is a well-known shorebird (Campbellet al. 1974),commented that NseveralTHE AF•FERNOON other birders OFSEPTEM- were stagingarea near the mouths of the Ser- the calls sounded odd but resumed the searchingthe intertidal mudflats of Mud pentineand Nicomekl Rivers, 35 kilome- search for the Bar-tailed Godwit as the Bay, DeltaDistrict Municipality, British ters southeast of Vancouver. This loca- curlewflew northand disappeared. Columbia (49ø04'N,122ø55'W), for a tion hosts up to 2000 Black-bellied About one-half hour later the authors, Bar-tailedGodwit (Limosa lapponica), Plover(Pluvialis squatarola)and many alongwith B. Macdonald,A. Lau, G. Volume 40, Number I 13 British Columbia Provincial Museum, Victoria, and the National Museum of Canada, Ottawa. At thecrest of the eveningtide, shortly after sunset, after the curlew had flown off, the Bar-tailed Godwit (fifth British Columbia record), and two Hudsonian Godwits (Limosa haemastica), were foundroosting on the mudflatsamong a largeflock of Black-belliedPlovers. Despitea thoroughsearch of the area onthe following evening by morethan 40 birders,and searchesof lesser intensity on severalsubsequent days. the Far East- ern Curlew was never sightedagain. We consideredthe bird a juvenile Far EasternCurlew, sinceit had a relatively shortbill, seemedless heavily streaked belowthan adults,and had white tips on the firstto eighthprimaries (see Prater et al. 1977). The Far EasternCurlew is a large cur- lew similar in size to the Eurasian Cur- lew, the Far Eastern Curlew averaging 53-61 centimeters(20.8-24 inches) and the Eurasian Curlew 50-60 centimeters Figure 2. Observerswere searching through a concentrationof shorebirdsfor a Bar-tailed (19.6-23.6 inches) (Pizzey 1980 and Godwit when the curlew landed nearby. Crampetal. 1983),which incidentally is Arisell and G. Thomson, were searching In additionto the featuresalready dis- largerthan the 43 centimeters(17 inches) througha large concentrationof shore- cussed,the following field marks were givenfor theFar EasternCurlew in Scott birds when the curlew landed along the noted and compiled from the authors' (1983).Kiyosu (1959) hasexcellent pho- margin of a sandy spit 40-50 meters field notes. The head was brown with no tographsof both of thesespecies. away. Sian approachedthe curlew to stripes. heavily streaked and rather The callsof thesetwo speciesare noted within 15-20 meters and began taking blackishbrown on the posteriorfacial in severalreferences as being virtually photographs(Figs. I and 2), while the area. The underpartswere buffy white identical,the descriptionsmatching the other observerscontinued searching for with brown streaking,the streakingon rapid,uninflected "cur-lee, cur-lee" giv- thegodwit. The curlewcontinued calling the breastcontinuing up and becoming en by the Vancouverbird. This couplet and Ireland commented that the call re- finer on the throat and sides of the neck, wasgiven in seriesat approximately4-5 minded him of the Eurasian Curlew (N. thestreaking on thesides continued down second intervals. arquata),with whichhe wasvery famil- onto the flanks and became coarser. The Copiesof the photographstaken by iar from yearsof birdingin England. tail, uppertailcoverts and rump were Sianand field notesby the authorswere After 15-20 minutes the bird flew east brown, the tail barred with darker brown. forwarded to Dennis Paulson of the alongthe mudflats,circled overhead and The bill was stronglydecurved over its BurkeMuseum, University of Washing- landedonly 10-15 metersaway from the entirelength, the basalone-half of the ton, who reviewedthe descriptionsand observers.It wasat this pointthat we saw lower mandible pinkish flesh colored, comparedthe photographs to a specimen thatthe wing liningswere white, densely with the remainingtip of the lower man- of a juvenileFar EasternCurlew in the cross-barredwith brown streaking,and dible. the uppermandible and the legs museum'scollection, and photographs of contrastedstrongly with the buffyflanks. grayish-blue.Most noticeableon the twojuveniles in his possession. The rump and lower back were brown, standingbird was the pattern on the scap- A setof thephotographs was also com- the samecolor as the upperback. Since ulars and tertials. The feather centres paredwith specimens of FarEastern Cur- the Long-billed Curlew has cinnamon weredark blackishbrown, scallopedand lewand other curlew species at the Brit- wing liningsin all plumagesthis species notchedalong the edges,with the feather ish Museum by Frank Walker and was discounted, and the Eurasian Curlew edgesbright reddishbuff. The coverts reviewedby FredT. H. Smithand Robert waseliminated owing to the absenceof a had a similarpattern. but were whitish- Swindleyof Melbourne,Australia. Paul- white rump, lower back and wing lin- edged and noticeablylighter in colour son noted that "the short bill, unworn ings.Since the bird was largeand had no (•f. Kobayashi1956, Prateret al. 1977). plumageand relatively light stripedven- distincthead stripes, we concludedthat it The bird wasobserved for approximately tral surface,"indicated juvenal plumage was not a Whimbrel (Numeniusphaeo- 15-20 minutes at distances as close as l0 andpresumed the bird to be a maleowing pus), Bristle-thighedCurlew (N. tahi- metersbefore it finally flew off to the to the very shortbill thislate in the sea- tiensis),or any of the othersmaller cur- southeast. son. Smith stated that the bill was the lews, but that it was a Far Eastern Curlew Copiesof the field notesand photo- shortesthe had ever seenon a juvenile (N. rnadagascariensis). graphshave beenplaced on file at the Far EasternCurlew, almostcertainly due 14 AmericanBirds, Spring 1986 to the fact that he had apparentlynever ACKNOWLEDGMENTS KING, B., M. WOODCOCK and E. C. observedone so young. DICKINSON. 1975. A Field Guide to the The Far Eastern Curlew's breeding We would like to thank Dennis Paul- Birds of South-East Asia. Collins, Glas- range,like thatof manySiberian species, son, Frank Walker, Fred T.H. Smith, gow. KIYOSU, Y. 1959. Birds' Life in Japan,Vol. is imperfectlyknown but seemsto en- and Robert Swindley for their time and II. Birds of the Waterside. Hoikusha, l- compasseastern Siberia from the Olju- assistancein reviewingthe photographs ChomeUemcnmachi, Higashiku, Osaka. torski Peninsula west, to include the and written descriptionsof the sighting KOBAYASHI, K. 1956. Birds of Japanin Kamchatka Peninsula and the northern and comments on the identification. Also Natural Colours. Hoikusha, Osaka. shore of the Sea of Okhotsk, north to specialthanks to RichardJ. Canningsand PIZZEY, G. 1980. Field Guide to the Birds of about latitude 63øN, and west to the Ol- WayneC. Weber who revieweda draft of Australia. Princeton University Press, Princeton,New Jersey. jokma River, then south to northern the manuscript. PRATER, A. J., J. H. MARCHANT and J. Mongoliaand southeastto SachalinIs- VUORINEN. 1977. Guide to the Identifi- land and the northern Sea of Japan LITERATURE CITED cation and Ageing of Holarctic Waders. BTO Field Guide 17. British Trust for Or- (AmericanOrnithologists' Union 1983, AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION. Dement'evet al. 1959). The speciesis 1983. Checklist of North American Birds. nithology, BeechGrove. ROBERSON, D. 1980. Rare Birds of the notedas a long-distancemigrant to east- 6th Edition. American Ornithologists' West Coast of North America. Woodcock Union, Lawrence, Kansas. ernChina, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Philli- Publications, Pacific Grove, California. pines,Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Aus- CAMPBELL, R. W., M. G. SHEPARD, B. A. MACDONALD and W. C. WEBER. SCOTF, S. L. (Ed.) 1983. Field Guide to the Birds of North America. National Geo- tralia and New Zealand (Pizzey 1980, 1974. Vancouver Birds in 1972. Vancou- Kinget al. 1975). In North AmericaRo- ver NaturalHistory Society, Vancouver. graphicSociety, Washington, DC. SLATER, P. 1970. A Field Guide to Austra- berson(1980) listed eleven Alaskan rec- CRAMP, S., andK. E. L. SIMMONS (Eds.). ordsinvolving fourteen individuals dur- 1983. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. lian Birds. Vol. I. Non-passerines.Rigby Ltd., Sydney. ing spring migration on Adak and Vol. lII. Oxford University Press, Ox- Amchitka (Aleutian Islands), St. Paul ford.. andSt. George(Pribilof Islands)and at DEMENT'EV, G. P. and N. A. GLADKOV (Eds.). 1959. Birds of the Soviet Union. Waleson the mainland,plus a probable Vol lIl. Israel Program for Scientific record for St. Michael, Norton Sound. Translations, Jerusalem.. From 1981 to 1984 there have been an GIBSON, D. D. 1981. The nestingseason: --2695 W. 2nd Ave., Vancouver, additionalsix sightingsduring May to AlaskaRegion. Am. Birds 35:969-970. B.C. V6K IKI (Kragh), 6-1661 E. loth mid-June in the western Aleutian Islands __. 1982. The nestingseason: Alaska Re- Ave., Vancouver, B.C. V5N IX6 gion. Am. Birds 36:1007-1009. (Gibson 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984). (Kautesk), 103-1545 Trafalgar St., __. 1983.The springmigration: Alaska Re- Our sightingis thereforethe first non- gion. Am. Birds 37:902-903. Vancouver,B.C. V6K 3R4 (Ireland), Alaskan,and apparently first fall record, __. 1984. The springmigration: Alaska Re- 545 Amess St., New Westminster, B.C. for North America. gion. Am. Birds 38:947-948. V3L 4A8 (Sian). Volume 40, Number I 15 .
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