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A Little-Known Species Reaches North America

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DISTRIBUTION A little-known species reaches North America Ageelas a juvenile.this Little Curlew went abnost a monthin theSanta Maria Valle•:Note the di.vtribution qf pinl• Oll the lower tnandlble Photo:Septenlber 18. 1984/AlanS. Hopkins At home on the tundra steppesoF eastern Paul Lehman and Jon L. Dunn Siberia,the Little Curlew (Numeniusminutus) t has been recorded in southern CaliFornia nicaL Solitary Sandpiper(Tringa soli- who remainedat the originalsite, hearda northcrnSanta Barbara County, tarre), Baird's Sandpiper(C. bairdii), somewhatplover-like "too-whit" call and T California,HFSANTA isMARIA well-knownVALLI:Y for the in and Pectoral Sandpipcr (C. melanotos), briefly noteda shorebirdof medium size largcnumbcrs and varietics of shorebirds are annuallysccn in fall. with unmarkcd•brownish upperparts fly foundthere. Sincc regular censusing be- On September16. 1984. Louis Bcvicr by to hisside and disappear into the pas- gan in 1978, the lush pastureland,sct- and Kelly Steelefound ajuvenilc Curlcw ture. Given the overall size of the bird, tling ponds, and Santa Maria River Sandpiper(C. Jkrruginea), in a partially thecall, andthe brief viewsof the upper- mouthhavc producednumerous raritics, Iloodcdpasture, several miles westof the parts,hc assumedit was a LesserGolden- includingsevcral rccords each of Sharp- city of SantaMaria. Having beennotified Plover, but was bothered that the bird tailed Sandpiper(CalMris acuminata), of this sighting,several other birders, in- wasnot goldenenough above and that its andRuff (PhilomachuspugtlaX). as well cludingLehman, Brad Schram,and Tom silhouetteshowed too much body for- assmall numbers of SemipalmatedSand- Wurster, arrived at the site within two ward of the wings. pipers(C. pusilia), each fall. A flock of hours but could not relocate the bird that "Pacific"Lesser Golden-Plovers (Pluvia- day. (It was subsequentlyseen at a near- •Ducm thisspecies' close taxonomic rela- lis dominica.fuh'a),regularly winters in by settlingpond over the following sever- lionshipx•ith the EskimoCurlcx• (NItlneniu.• borealisl, the authors herein use the name the valley, and moderatenumbers of such al days.) The group of birdersthen split l.ittlc Curlc• in prelbrenccIo l.ittlc Whim- uncommonwest coast species as "Ameri- up to searchlbr the Curlew Sandpiperat brel. the namecommonly used in Euro• and can" Lesser Golden-Plover (P. d. domi- other localities in the valley. Lehman, Australia. Volume 39, Number 3 247 birds flushed nearby. Some observers wereable to gel within 20-25 feet of the lone, feedingbird by sitting quietly and waitingfor it to approachthem. The cur- lew could not alwaysbe found, and on severaldays it was not seen at all. The followingdescription of the Santa Maria, California, Little Curlew, a juve- nile, is basedprimarily on the field notes of the authors,with some supplemental materialgleaned from the notesof Guy McCaskieand JosephMorlan. Addition- al detail was obtained from the examina- tionof photostaken by Alan Hopkinsand Arnold Small. SIZE -- The overall body size was close to afidva Lesser Golden-Plover. but the legswere longer. It stoodalmost as tall as nearbyGreater Yellowlegs but was slim- mer bodied. The bird was much smaller The distinctiveshape of the Little Curlew is readi.lyapparent -- slim body.long neck. small head and short. slightlydecurved bill. Photo: September18, 1984/AhotS. Haplyins thana Whimbrel and was literally dwarf- cd by a Long-billedCurlew. All species Shortlythereafter the bird appearedin cr than nearbyWhimbrcls and was abso- were presentfor size comparisonon a the flooded pasture close to Lehman. lutely dwarfedby Long-billed Curlews. number of occasions. who was stunnedto be looking at a bird That evening the literature was con- HEAD PATTERN- The crown was a that at first appearedto be an Upland sulted. and all field marks used to differ- darkblackish-brown with a verythin, but Sandpiper (Bartramia Iongicauda). entiateEskimo and Little curlewspointed conspicuous,pale mediancrown stripe. owing to its overall size and color, slim toward the bird being a Little Curlew. To the sides of the crown were very build, relatively long neck, small head, The news was quickly spread. broad, lateral blackish-brown crown and slim, rather short bill. However, it stripes that connected around the rear wasalmost immediately apparent that the portionof the crown. Behindthis, in the bird was a small curlew. as it showed A almostMAZINGI aY, month.TIlE BIRD being remained last seenfor occiput area, a pale circular spot was distinctiveblackish-brown head striping with certaintyOctober 14. During this completelysurrounded by a ring of dark and a noticeabledroop to the bill. period,it wasviewed by hundredsof ob- brown. A broad, pale buff supercilium Lehman was unaware of the field char- servers and extensively photographed extended forward to the base of the bill actersused to differentiatethe two spe- (FiguresI-5), thanksto the kindnessand and appearedto connectvery narrowly cies, but he believed the bird was either patienceof Gone and Glcnna Mahoney, across the forehead. Below this was a an Eskimo Curlew (Numenius borealis), the farmerswho ownedthe propertythe darkstripe thai wentfrom behindthe eye, or Little Curlew (N. minutus). However, bird frequented.Not only did they wel- extending forward under the eye and asthe bird raisedits wings he then noted come the hundreds of birders who vis- stoppingjust shortof the baseof the bill. that it had sandy wing linings with fine ited, but even moved their cows from the The anteriorportion of the lores were a dark barring. He knew that the Eskimo Little Curlcw'sfavored pasture for sever- very pale and unmarkedbuff color. The Curlew shows rich cinnamon-buff un- al daysso that observers could more easi- eye itself was dark and appearedmoder- derwinglinings, and so believedthe bird ly enterthe property. The bird's preferred ately large in the rather small head. The was a Little Curlew. habitatwas in and aroundpools of stand- areajust below and behindthe eye was The bird was seenbriefly by Wurster ing irrigation water in the pastures,al- pale with a very conspicuouswhite eye before it flew well to the south. With the thoughdrier pasturewas also utilized. It ring, especiallybehind the eye. The re- assistance of the other observers it was primarilyvisited pastureland an addition- mainderof the thee was a pale buff, es- relocatedin extensivepastureland ap- al 0.25 miles farther south from the last sentiallyunmarked, except for a narrow, proximately1.5 milesaway, whereit re- site of observationSeptember 16, and dark brown slash line in the lower rear of mained until dusk. Excellent views were wasonly rarely notedat the two localities theauriculars, just below the rear portion obtained here as the bird fed in close at which it was seenon that first day. of the dark eye line. proximityto numbersof LesserGolden- The Little Curlew did not directlyas- Plovers,Long-billed Curlews (N. ameri- sociatewith any particular species,al- UPPERPARTS -- There was a thin and canus), Whimbrels (N. phaeopus), and thoughit was usuallyclose to Black-bel- diffusedark stripe down the rear of the Greater Yellowlegs (T. melanoleuca). lied Plovers(P. squatarola),Long-billed neck. The entire upperparts(mantle, The bird's body size was closeto that of Curlews,Greater Yellowlegs, European scapulars,tcrtials, and wing coverts•ap- the nearby golden-plovers, although Starlings (Sturnus vtdgaris), or Red- peareda dark brown, but there were nu- slightly slimmer. and its longer legs winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeni- merousmarkings of light buff alongthe made it stand a little taller. It stood al- ceus). When flushed, it often flew off edgesof these feathers.Upon close in- mostas tall asthe Greater Yellowlegs but alone. It was not especiallywary; but it spectionof the tertialsand the greater and with a slimmerbody. It was muchsmall- usuallytook flight whenthe othershore- median wing coverts, these pale edge 248 AmericanBirds, Fall 1985 markingsappeared as serrationsor little trianglesthat penetratedinto the dark- basedcenters. The rump and uppertail coverts were barred with dark brown on a lightbuff groundcolor. The uppersideof the tail was barredjust like the upper- tail coverts; but, there was a darker sub- terminal band which set off a broader, pale buff terminal band. The barring in theseareas was rather fine. The primaries wereblackish with a narrowpale whitish edge extendingaround the tip of each visible primary. There was noticeable primarytip extensionpast the longestter- tial. The long tail extendedjust barely pastthe longestpoint of extensionof the primaries. UNDERPARTS- The overall ground color of the underpartswas a dirty white, with a veryslight grayish tinge. The chin was whitish and unmarked. Much of the A somewhatatypical hunehedpositbm clear_ly shows the plumage detail of the Little Curlew.Note ritefacial pattern and overall coloration.Photo: Oetol•er 6. 1984/ArnoldSmall underpartswas finely markedwith darker brown.The front portionof the neck was IN FLIGHT WITH WINGS SPREAD -- very finely streakedwith vertical brown lines. On the sides of the breast the brown !n looking at the spread wings from above,the primaticsand the primaryco- streakswere cros•d at right angles by verts contrasted a darker blackish-brown thindark brownhorizontal bars that pen- etrated a short distance out towards the to most of the rest of the paler brown wing, althoughthe secondariesand par- upper belly. The vertical neck streaks ticularlythe smallerleading rows of less stoppedfairly
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