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SHORT NOTE First Record of a Stilt Sandpiper

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SHORT NOTE First Record of a Stilt Sandpiper 320 Short Note 1948; Blackburn 1965). This has implications for Falla, R. A. 1948. Birds of the Solanders. New Zealand bird species such as mottled petrels (Pterodroma inexpec- notes 3: 52-55. tata) which nest in a small area of forest on Tauki- Hawke, D. J.; Holdaway, R. N. 2005. Avian assimilation hepa, or Westland petrels (Procellaria westlandica) in and dispersal of carbon and nitrogen brought ashore by breeding Westland petrels (Procellaria westlandica): Westland (Hawke & Holdaway 2005). a stable isotope study. Journal of zoology, London 266: 419-426. Jones, C. 2002. A model for the conservation manage- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ment of a ‘secondary’ prey: sooty shearwater (Puffinus This work is a contribution from the Kia Mau Te Titi Mo Ake griseus) colonies on mainland New Zealand as a case Tonu Atu (Keep the Titi Forever) research project, as part study. Biological conservation 108: 1-12. of a Foundation of Research, Science & Technology Post- Lyver, P, O’B.; Moller, H.; Robertson, C. J. R. 2000. Preda- Doctoral Fellowship (UOOX0232). Additional funding tion at sooty shearwater Puffinus griseus colonies on the was provided by the Ka Mate Nga Kiore Committee. The New Zealand mainland: is there safety in numbers? research was guided and permitted by the Rakiura Titi Pacific conservation biology :5 347-357. Islands Administering Board and the Rakiura Titi Islands Marchant, S.; Higgins, P. J. (ed.) 1993. Handbook of Austra- Committee. I am very grateful to the owners of the respec- lian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 2. Raptors to tive manu for allowing access and for their assistance, and Lapwings. Melbourne, Oxford University Press. to my co-workers, Rakoa Bull, Malcolm Austin, Malta Miskelly, C. M. 1987. The identity of the Hakawai. Notornis Barrett, Paul Barrett, Paul Bull, Francesca Cunninghamme, 34: 95-116. Liz Mackley, Sam McKechnie, and Malcolm Rutherford for St. Clair, C. C.; St. Clair, R. C. 1992. Weka predation on eggs and observations and collection of dead titi chicks. I especially chicks of Fiordland crested penguins. Notornis 39: 60-63. thank Ron Bull for providing excellent accommodation. Taylor G.A. 2000. Action plan for seabird conservation in The manuscript was improved by comments from James New Zealand, Part A: Threatened seabirds. Threatened Newman and Graeme Taylor. species occasional publication no. 16, Wellington, Depart- ment of Conservation. LITERATURE CITED Wilson, R. A. 1959. Bird islands of New Zealand. Christ- Blackburn, A. 1965. Muttonbird Islands diary. Notornis 12: church, Whitcombe & Tombs. 191-207. Brothers, N. P. 1984. Breeding, distribution and status of burrow-nesting seabirds at Macquarie Island. Keywords weka; Gallirallus australis; sooty shearwater; Australian wildlife research 11: 113-131. Puffinus griseus; predation; Titi Islands, New Zealand Notornis, 2006, Vol. 53: 320-321 0029-4470 © The Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Inc. SHORT NOTE First record of a stilt sandpiper (Micropalama himantopus) in New Zealand COLIN HILL Fenland House, Wolfes Road, Greenpark RD4, Christchurch, New Zealand On 9 Sep 1998, I visited Yarrs Bay, Lake Ellesmere, ferruginea) feeding/resting/roosting on the salt flats. to see if any additional migratory waders had I thought there was another curlew sandpiper arrived. The weather was fine and sunny, with a near the first ones, but this bird had yellow legs. I southeast breeze. I counted 7 bar-tailed godwits moved closer, and noticed that it had very long legs, (Limosa lapponica) and 9 curlew sandpipers (Calidris comparable in length to those of a pied stilt (Himan- topus leucocephalus). In body size, the bird was comparable to the curlew sandpipers nearby, but it Received 1 December 2004; accepted 31 March 2006 appeared larger because of its long yellow legs. Its Short Note 321 bill was long (c. 1.5× head length) and straight, but above in all plumages, with barred underparts; it drooped at the tip. all have medium-length straight bills (Paulson The colour of the mantle, tertials, and wing 1986). However, whereas tattlers also have yellow coverts was very similar to that of a curlew sand- legs, they are short, not long and stilt-like, and piper in winter plumage, but it had brown bars tattlers lack a white rump. In non-breeding beneath the tail. The bird was feeding, moving into plumage, it can be confused easily with the curlew the south-easterly breeze, and the sun was behind sandpiper, especially when feeding in deeper water. it, so I moved to get a better front view: it had a The flight pattern may suggest either lesser pale supercilium and a dark eye stripe, the lores yellowlegs or Wilson’s phalarope (Phalaropus were dark, and solidly marked from the base of the tricolor), but the yellowlegs is obviously larger, and bill to the eye. The crown was dark brown, and the the phalarope’s toes do not project as far beyond the rest of the head, hind neck, and the sides of neck tip of the tail. In flight, it shows a white patch on the were grey. The breast was off-white, streaked with lower rump and upper tail, as in curlew sandpiper, grey, and the belly was off white (“dirty white”); but almost no wing bar. Its pale greenish toes and part the sides were barred. The mantle and wing coverts of the legs projecting beyond the tail clearly separate were grey, and the tertials were brown, with what it from the curlew sandpiper (Hayman et al. 1986). seemed to be rufous buff edges with a white fringe. Its habit of feeding by constant probing, usually The bird was approachable, because I was riding in water, is distinctive. Of the medium-sized a 4-wheel-drive motorcycle. The curlew sandpipers sandpipers, only dowitchers feed similarly, but flew away when I approached too closely, but the stilt sandpipers are long-legged and short-billed new bird merely walked away. When alert it stood in comparison. Lesser yellowlegs are about the up, and its neck was longer than that of a curlew same size and proportions, but feed differently: sandpiper. I took several photographs in case the they move rapidly through the water, picking bird flew away. I had never seen the species before prey from on or below the surface (Paulson 1993). and, from the long, yellow legs, thought that it might The stilt sandpiper breeds in North America. have been a lesser yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes). Its normal migration autumn route is south across Later, I consulted 3 shorebird identification the plains of central North America to its main non- guides (Chandler 1989; Hayman et al. 1989; Paulson breeding area in central South America. A few stilt 1993) to try to identify the bird. The bill of the lesser sandpipers move down the Pacific coast. It is a rare yellowlegs was too fine and up-turned to match passage migrant in Japan, and has been recorded that of the Ellesmere bird, but a photograph of a in Taiwan. It has been recorded 4 times in Australia stilt sandpiper (Micropalama himantopus) in Chan- (3 sightings confirmed), all of which were of single dler (1989) showed it to be very similar. It was not birds (Higgins & Davies 1996). identical, because the photograph showed a stilt This bird may have reached New Zealand by sandpiper in winter plumage, and the bird I saw being attached to flocks of curlew sandpipers, was moulting and still showing some breeding which are regular visitors to Lake Ellesmere. plumage, with dark brown barring on the sides and beneath the tail. The plumage pattern and moult ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS showed that it was not a juvenile. I alerted other local observers: Steve Wratten I thank all members of the OSNZ who checked this saw the bird the same evening: N. Bither; Tony sighting, and Paul Sagar for helping to draft this report. Crocker; Don Hadden; Kathleen Harrison; and Sheila Petch saw the bird the next evening. From LITERATURE CITED their observations, they agreed with the identifica- Chandler, R. J.1989. The facts on file guide to North Atlantic tion. Ms Bitter commented that the bird fed like a shorebirds. New York, Oxford University Press. dowitcher (Limnodromus spp.) i.e. its bill probing Hayman, P; Marchant , J; Prater T. 1989. Shorebirds - an was sewing machine-like. Other features noted identification guide to the waders of the world. Boston, by these observers included that in flight the legs Houghton Mifflin. extended beyond the tail more than in curlew sand- Higgins, P.J.; Davies, S.J.J.F. 1996. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 3. Snipe to Pigeons. pipers, and the rump patch was not as white as that Melbourne, Oxford University Press. of a curlew sandpiper. Paulson, D. 1993. Shorebirds of the Pacific North West. The adult stilt sandpiper in (northern Vancouver, UBC Press. hemisphere) summer plumage is similar to the grey-tailed tattler (Tringa brevipes) and wandering Keywords stilt sandpiper; Macropalama himantopus; Lake tattler (T. incana), being medium-sized and grey Ellesmere; New Zealand; first record.
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