Identification of Long-toed Stint, Pintail Snipe and Asiatic Dowitcher Alan R. Kitson

These three Asiatic species are not on the British and Irish list ... yet

spent the 24 weeks from 9th February to 26th July 1977 watching birds I in Mongolia, on a scholarship awarded to me by the British Council under the Cultural Exchange Programme now existing between the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of Mongolia. I was based at Ulan Bator and made most of my observations in the Toal River valley there. In addition, I undertook two expeditions. The first, in April and May, was to Orok Nor, a lake which lies in the arid steppe region between the Gobian Altai and the Hangai mountains, approximately 750 km southwest of the capital. The second was to wetlands in the Hangai mountains themselves. All my observations were between 960 and io8°E, and 450 and 50°N. A full itinerary is given in Kitson (1978). Of some 360 species recorded in Mongolia, I saw 230, many of which are poorly or misleadingly described in the European literature. In this paper, I attempt to remedy this in the case of three non-passerine species; future papers will cover eight passerines. I must stress that my notes refer to birds in or approaching breeding plumage. Where relevant, I have included other notes derived from personal observations in Turkey and Canada.

Long-toed Stint Calidris subminuta I saw four in Mongolia: two in winter or transitional plumage at Orok Nor on 7th May and two in breeding plumage at Ulan Bator from 16th to 23rd May (Kitson 1978). The latter pair was intensively studied and I was also able to photograph one of them with Temminck's Stint C. temminckii and to compare them with that species and my memories of Least Sandpiper C. minutilla. Since typical birds of all three species exhibit pale yellow to brown or olive legs, their separation in trio from the other four Holarctic stints is not difficult, but their individual characters are still incompletely understood. To my eyes, Long-toed is the same size as Temminck's, although, when it stretches its neck (see below), it can seem to be fractionally larger. Certainly, it never appears as diminutive as Least. Conversely, in plumage • S«»8 \.DTU. Diras 71: 550-502, December I07HJ Long-toed Stint, Pintail Snipe and Asiatic Dowitcher 559 tones, Long-toed is—with Least—the darkest of all stints, far more re­ miniscent in breeding dress of Little Stint C. minuta than the relatively drab and uniform Temminck's. Thus, Long-toed in summer is essentially a bright, black-and-orange-spangled bird, with a strong, warmly coloured pattern to its head reminiscent of a Pectoral Sandpiper C. melanotos in autumn (fig. i). My description of the Ulan Bator birds contains the following greater detail: Forehead and crown dark brown, with (most obvious from behind). Scapulars chestnut tinge and heavy black flecking; black, with broad orange fringes and white supercilium white and prominent behind tips, the former forming conspicuous band eye, white, tinged rusty over and in front over folded wing. Tertials black, with of eye; cheeks rufous-brown; sides of neck broad rufous-orange fringes. Wing-coverts light rusty brown, this colour extending as also centrally black, with orange fringes a wash behind pectoral band of dark and white tips. Underparts below chest flecks. Mantle mainly black, bordered on pure white. both sides by single fine yellow-buff lines

Fig. i. Long-toed Stint Calidris subminuta in summer plumage, Mongolia, May 1977 (Alan R. Kitson)

Thus, the breeding plumage of Long-toed is close to that of Least except for a greater incidence of orange and rufous tones, which is responsible for its generally brighter, more fiery appearance. It should also be noted that my observations do not support an earlier indication by Wallace {1974) of sullied underparts on Long-toed. Judging from the individuals at Orok Nor, Long-toed in winter plumage takes on a more dun appearance. The red tones of breeding dress are replaced by brown, but retention of the black feather centres ensures that the pattern of spangled upperparts is not lost. Interestingly, both my birds showed pale lines on their mantles—a feature not noted on skins by Wallace (1974), but present on the Swedish immature of October 1977 (per P. J. Grant)—and had their breast markings reduced to more or less pectoral patches. 560 Long-toed Stint, Pintail Snipe and Asiatic Dowitcher All four called with an unvaried dry purring 'prrp' and never pro­ duced any of the variant calls or rapidly repeated notes described by Slater (1970) or Wallace (1974). To my ears, Least utters a high thin 'preet'. I also noted two behavioural points of interest. First, it seemed to me that the two at Ulan Bator, which frequently associated closely with larger waders such as Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola, were using them as watch-dogs. When the larger, longer-necked birds saw me, they invariably took flight and were instantly followed by the stints. Secondly, I can con­ firm that, as mentioned by Wallace (1974), Long-toed adopts an un­ usually pronounced alert posture when alarmed, as shown in my drawing (fig. 2). They were always quick to detect my presence and, long before

Fig. 2. Long-toed Stint Calidris subminuta in summer plumage, Mongolia, May 1977, showing alert posture adopted when alarmed (Alan R. Kitson) any Temminck's showed unease, would cease feeding and stretch their necks up to a greater extent than I have seen done by other stints. I. J. Ferguson-Lees {in litt.) confirms that this neck stretching and generally elongated appearance was very characteristic of Long-toed in winter habitats in Sri Lanka. Pintail Snipe Gallinago stenura During May, I saw snipes which were certainly not Snipe G. gallinago, although of the same size. Since Pintail has been taken in Mongolia far more widely than Swinhoe's Snipe G. megala (Vaurie 1964) and the birds showed features not associated with Swinhoe's by Madge (1977), I assumed that they were the former. I agree with the points that Madge made. In comparison with Snipe, the blunter wing tips, barred underwing and paler; browner upperwing of Pintail Snipe were obvious. I was parti­ cularly struck by the similarity of the pale buff mottling on the upper- wing to that of Solitary Snipe G. solitaria. This character, and the lack of a prominent white trailing edge to the secondaries, makes Pintail Snipe look very different from Snipe. My birds rarely called, but, when they did, it was with a short, rasping 'squik' or 'squok'. The note had a rather more definite structure than the usually extended call of Snipe. Long-toed Stint, Pintail Snipe and Asiatic Dowitcher 561 Those that I saw were migrants. They frequented grassy areas around pools and dykes. Unlike the ever-present Snipe, which stood probing in mud or flooded grass at the water's edge, the Pintail Snipe consistently kept to higher, grassy ground and always sat. All members of a flock of 60 on 23rd, when the weather was inhospitable, with the temperature below freezing, behaved thus, sitting in grass up to their flanks, or behind tus­ socks, apparently not feeding.

Asiatic Dowitcher Limnodromus semipalmatus I came across a total of 14 in Mongolia, all in summer plumage: two at Ogii Nor on 17 th June and a flock of 12 at Hont Nor on 22 nd June (Kitson 1978). I have found the descriptions of this species in the literature, for example King et al. (1975), somewhat confusing and I consider it important to stress that the Asiatic Dowitcher differs distinctly from its two Nearctic congeners in size, plumage pattern and voice. But for its true dowitcher bill, it is more likely to be mistaken for a Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica. To my eyes, Asiatic is the same size as Bar-tailed Godwit, and not smaller than that species as stated by King et al. (1975). I was able to compare all 12 members of the flock at Hont Nor with a Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa, doubtless of the small eastern race melanuroides (Vaurie 1965). I judged that they stood practically as tall and were equal in bulk. In general appearance too, I saw a resemblance to Bar-tailed. My notes on structure and plumage may be summarised as follows:

Bill straight and thick with barely dis- and tertials dark brown. Inner primaries cernible bulb immediately behind tip; and all secondaries silvery, sullied white on bill length between 150 and 200% of head upper surface and palest on primaries and length. Leg length estimated to equal that trailing edge of secondaries; pattern of of Bar-tailed, with feet fully protruding silver on hindwing more pronounced than beyond tip of tail in flight and not partly on Nearctic dowitchers and Spotted Red- so, as in Long-billed Dowitcher L. scolo- shank Tringa erythropus. Underwing mainly paceus. On ground, large snipe-like head white, with contrasting dark point and and long, godwit-like neck striking; in sullied dusky (but not noticeably barred) flight, heavy body (and shallow wing coverts. Stripe up back, rump and tail beats) also noted. Both bill and legs black basically white, but heavily overlaid with (former ruling out confusion with godwits). black bars: back divide thus much less Head, throat, neck, breast and belly red, marked than on other dowitchers, which varying individually in tone from rusty to ejdiibit unmarked white blaze. Ventral orange-red and apparently unmarked. area white, probably lightly barred or Dark eye-stripe and paler supercilium. spotted, apparently the only marked part Mantle, upper forewing, outer primaries of underbody.

Thus, the Asiatic Dowitcher is bigger, more robust and longer-legged than either Long-billed or Short-billed L. griseus. Its plumage pattern is distinctive, with paler upper hindwing and wing linings (the latter lacking heavy barring) and in summer virtually unmarked underparts and a less obvious white blaze up the back. My drawing (fig. 3) shows the main characters in flight. The usual call of my birds was a soft moaning 'kiaow', but once I heard a soft 'kewik-kewik-kewik-ku', which may have been a song phrase. 562 Long-toed Stint, Pintail Snipe and Asiatic Dowitcher

Fig. 3. Asiatic Dowitcher Limnodromus semipalmatus in flight, Mongolia, June 1977 (Alan R. Kitson) Finally, it should be noted that I did not observe my birds using the 'sewing machine' feeding action considered characteristic of the genus Limnodromus. Acknowledgements I wish to thank members of the British Embassy in Ulan Bator for their assistance during my stay in Mongolia, members of the British Council who negotiated my study, and Mongolian colleagues at the State University: Otgon Tsagaan, Gaadan and Professor Dashdorj. I am also indebted to Tim Parmenter for photographic advice, to the British Museum staff for access to skins, and to Sally for enduring my absence in Mongolia. Summary Field characters of Long-toed Stint Calidris subminuta, Pintail Snipe Gallinago stenura and Asiatic Dowitcher Limnodromus semipalmatus are described, based on observations made in Mongolia in spring and summer 1977. References KING, B. F., DICKINSON, E. C, & WOODCOCK, M. W. 1976. A Field Guide to the Birds of South East Asia. London. KITSON, A, R, 1978. Notes on the waterfowl of Mongolia. Wildfowl 29: 33-30. MADGE, S. C. 1977. Field identification of Pintail Snipe. Brit. Birds 70: 146-152. SLATER, P. 1970. A Field Guide to Australian Birds. Non-passerines. Adelaide. VAURIE, C. 1964. A survey of the birds of Mongolia. Bull. Amer. Mus. Hat. Hist. 127: 105-143. —— 1965. The Birds of the Palearctk Fauna. Mon-passeriformes. London. WALLACE, D. I. M. 1974. Field identification of small species in the genus Calidris. Brit. Birds 67: 1-17. Alan R. Kitson, 45 Channel View Road, Woodingdean, Brighton, Sussex BN2 6DR