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Little Stint (<I>Calidris Minuta</I>) in North America and the Hawaiian

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Little Stint (<I>Calidris Minuta</I>) in North America and the Hawaiian MarshallJ, Iliff and Canadaas "peeps"and in the Old From June to August, breeding occurs World as stints. Membersof this group between northern Scandinaviathrough 246Fast 16th Street, 16th St., Unit B poseconsiderable field identificationchal- north-centralSiberia in tundra and taiga lenges,the most difficult of which arises habitats (dd Hoyo et al. ]996, A.O.U. CostaMesa, California 92627 amongthe foursinall, black-legged species: 1998); breedinghas also occasionallybeen Semipalmated(C. pusilia)and Western(C. documentedon the ChukotskiyPeninsula (email:[email protected]) mauri) Sandpipers,and Litde and Red- in eastern Siberia (Gibson and Kessel 1992). necked(C. ruficollis)Stints, which are sim- Litfie Stint wintersthroughout Africa and ilarin size,structure, and plumage_ Indeed, the Mediterraneanand east through the BrianL. Sullivan Red-necked and Little Stints can be so sim- Arabian Peninsulaand the PersianGulf, to fiat that even somespecimens have been India and Myanmar,in a wide varietyof PRBOConservation Science consideredunidentifiable. For instance, a wetlandhabitats (del Hoyoet al. 1996,Zim- second-year[SY] stint collectedat the mermanet al_1996, A.O.U. 1998, Grimmerr 4990Shoreline Highway SaltonSea, Imperial County, California, 17 et al. 1999). It wintersonly rarelyin the August1974 (Ericksonand Hamilton2001; United Kingdo•nand southeasternMada- StinsonBeach, California 94970 SDNHM#38887) was initially identified as gascar(dd Hoyoet al. 1996). a Red-neckedStint (McCaskie 1975), the Little Stint migrates widely through latter identificationalso supported by Veit Europeand westernAsia, typically moving ABSTRACT (1988). More recently,however, the indi- southward to southwestward from its Arctic This paperreviews the 91 reportsof Little vidual has been considered unidentifiable breedinggrounds. Recendy, it has been Stint (Calidris mimaa) in the Ne• World and by the CaliforniaBird RecordsCommittee foundto occurrarely but regularlyin Thai- providesinformation on geographicaland (C.B.R.C.) (Erickson and Hamilton 2001). land (J. L. Dunn,pers. comm.) and Hong seasonaldistribution of the speciesin these Simfiarly,Se]nipahnated and WesternSand- Kong (in springonly; Careyet al. 2001). areas,as wall as informationon agesof pipersare so si]nilarin basicplumage that Vagrantshave been documented in theCape vagrants.All New World springrecords of their respectivewinter rangeswere only VerdeIslands. Iceland. the Faroes,Spitsber- known-ageindividuals pertain to adults(25 recentlydetermined (Phillips 1975). gen,Bear Island, Japan, Brunei, Papua New April-10June), whereas New Wodd autumn Wallace(1974) gavethe first thorough Guinea,and Australia(Hay]nan et al. 1986, recordshave involved both adults (30 June0 treatmentof sinall Calidris. Jonssonand Brazil 1991); there are no documented September)and juveniles(6 August-21 Grant (1984) and Voit and Ionsson(1984) recordsfrom Greenland (Boertmann 1994). November).Seasonal distribution of age updatedand expanded upon the fieldiden- Fallmigration takes place from July through classes is similar on both North American nficationof thisgroup; the formertreats the November,and spring migration occurs coasts;however, all fall Alaskarecords (save issuefrom a Europeanperspective, the lat- from April to earlyJune (Haymanet al one)have involved juveniles. The lone South ter from a New World viewpoint. Identifi- 1986). Juvenilesbegin their migrationin Americanrecord is from winter, but there are cation criteria have changedlittle since the August,later than dre passageof most no definitewinter recordsin North America; early 1980s, and readersare referredto adults,which peaksduring July and early however,an interior California record from those two excellent sources. Other thor- August(Haylnan et al. 1986)_Solne juve- Novembermay have pertaincd to a wintering oughtreatments of thefield identification of nilesremain on winteringgrounds through- attempt.Although brecding in theNew World small Calidris are found in illustrated field out the firstyear (del Hoyoet al. 1996). has not yet been documentcd,summer guidesby Jonsson(1993), Mullarneyet al. Since 1075, Little Stint has been found recordsfrom Alaska's North Slope raise the (1999), andSihlcy (2000). with increasingregularity as a vagrantin the possibilityof Nearctichreeding. NewWorld, primaril) in Alaska.Herein we DISTRIBUTIONAND VAGRANCY consider91 recordsthrough 15 August2004 RESOURCESFOR FIELD IDENTIFICATION LittleStint is a long-distancemigrant breed- (I-able1, on pages322-323) and reviewpat- The Little Stint (Calid•is minuta:Figures ing in the High Arcticacross the northern ternsof seasonaldistribution in severalgeo- 1-5) is one of seven small, similarly Palearcticand wintering primarily in Africa graphicregions. Included in Table1 areall plumaged,Arctic-breeding sco/opacids that and India. The world populationis esti- recordsreviewed and acceptedby appropri- are knowncollectively in the UnitedStates matedat 1,434,000(dd Hoyoet al. ] 996). atestate and provincial records committees, NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS as well as severalunreviewed and pending records.An unsubstantiatedreport from Antiguaon 16November 1975 (Holland and Williams 1978) is not included here, nor is a subsequentreport from Antigua on 23July 1976 (Morrison1980); to our knowledge, neither individual was documented. Althoughsome reports excluded from Table 1 maywell pertain to correcfiyidentified Lit- tle Stints,at least23 reportsof the species have been reviewedand not acceptedby state and provincialrecords committees: Nova Scotia(1); Connecticut(2); Pennsyl- vania (1); Delaware(3); New Jersey(3); Maryland(1); California(11). Of Califor- nia's18 reports,the C.B.R.C.has accepted only seven,all of whichare supportedby photographsor a specimen.(Note that one reportincluded in Tablel wasreviewed and rejectedby theC.B.R.C.; we haveindepend- enfiy reviewedthe written documentation andconsider the report acceptable.) Figure1. UttleStint, Estero Punta Banda, Baja California, Mexico, 22 October 2002. Side profile showing straight bill All New Worldrecords pertain to single structure,bold head pattern, scapulars, tertials, and upperwing covert pattems. Allphotographs byBrian L. Sullivan. birds, with the exceptionof two Alaska records:one to twojuveniles at St.Matthew (92%) are from coastal sites and oceanic Lawrence(four recordseach), and Attu and Islandin Augusl1986; and two to three islands, a few inland occurrences--in Shemya(two recordseach), accountfor juvenilesat Attu Islandin September1983. Ontario, California,the Yukon,Washing- nearlyall Alaskarecords. In Alaska,spring Thirty-sevenper cent of the New World ton, and North Dakota have been docu- migrant Little Stints (12 records)have records come from Alaska, with most of the mented.Overall, New Worldrecords span occurredfrom 19 May to 28 Juneand have remaindersplit betweenthe East Coast the dates25 April to 21 November,with invariably involved alternate-plumaged (Newfoundland to North Carolina; 24%) most occurring during peak spring adults(Figure 6). Springrecords have been and the West Coast (British Columbia to (May-June)or fall (July-September)shore- from St. LawrenceIsland (four records),the Baja California; 20%). There are four birdmigration periods (Figures 6, 7, 8). Aleutians (three records), the Pribilofs (one recordsfrom Barbados,three recordsfrom Alaska's 34 Little Stint records (of 37 record), Barrow (four records), and Prud- the HawaiianIslands, two recordseach from birds)have all comefrom islands or penin- hoeBay (one record). Notably, the records Ontario and inland California,and single sulas, most of them well-known locations at Barrowand PrudhoeBay havefallen in records from the Yukon the periodfrom mid- to lateJune, and the Territory, North Dakota, mostrecent, present from 10 June through Bermuda, Montserrat, and 23 June 2002, involvedan adult tl•al wasat SouthGeorgia Island. In timesengaged in courtshipdisplay flights Canada and the Lower 48 (B. R. Zimmer,pers. comm.). Fall migrants States,California has the (22 records) have occurred between 6 most recordswith eight, August and 10 September(Figure 6); British Columbia has twenty-oneout of twenty-twofall records seven,followed by Massa- dassifiedto agein Alaskahave been juve- chusetts (six), Oregon niles. In contrast to records elsewhere in the (four), New York (four), New World,Alaska has just a singlerecord New Jersey (three), and of a fall migrantadult, which explains the Delaware (three). Almost lack of recordsfrom July (Figure 6). Fall all records have come from records have come from the Aleutians (six well-known coastal shore- records) and remote St. Matthew lsland bird stagingareas thai are (one record), but the Pribilofshave hosted systematicallycovered by the majorityof fall records(14 records). birders seeking unusual Alongthe PacificCoast of North Amer- shorebirdsduring migra- ica, thereis but one springrecord, of an tion (e.g., Monomoy adult in British Columbia (Table 1). Records Island, Massachusetts; of fall migrant adults have occurred9 JamaicaBay Refuge,New July-6 September(ten records),with seven Figure2. JuvenileLittle Stint, Estero Punta Banda, Baja California, Mexico, York; Bombay Hook 22October 2002. Feeding posture ernphasizing long, straight bill, in the window 9-28 July, Nine juveniles National Wildlife Refuge palemantle braces, flared tertials, and long rear-ended look. have been found l0 August-30 October and Little Creek Wildlife Recordsof juvenilesare mostconcentrated Area, Delaware;San Joaquin Marsh, Moss for viewingmigrants and vagrantsfrom
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