VOL. 16 (5) MARCH 1996 Pin-tailed Snipe, W.A. 217

Pin-tailed Snipe stenura, Anna Plains Station, north-western Western Australia, Plate 42 23 April 1994 Photo: Clive Minton

A Record of the Pin-tailed Snipe Gallinago stenura at Anna Plains Station, North-western Western Australia

During March and April 1994 we were members of the Australasian Studies Group (A WSG) expedition to north-western Western Australia and had the opportunity to observe and catch both passerines and . AUSTRALIAN 218 COLLINS, JESSOP & MINTON WATCHER

On 22 April, while assessing the potential of an artesian bore at Anna Plains Station (19 °14 'S, 121 °29 'E) for passerine banding, PC flushed a snipe Gallinago sp. that defied specific identification. Other wader species present were Common Greenshank nebularia, Red-kneed Dotterel Erythrogonys cinctus and Black-fronted Dotterel Elseyomis melanops. Vegetation at the bore consisted of dense stands of ]uncus sp. and Typha sp. at the margins of the deeper water and Mitchell grass Astrebla sp. in areas where the bore had overflowed. Woodland around the bore was dominated by eucalypts and Bauhinia. Very little understorey remained, owing to trampling by cattle. On the following evening, 23 April, after a successful session netting (4 x . four­ shelf mist-nets) Diamond Doves Geopelia cuneata, Zebra Finches Taeniopygia guttata and an Australian Hobby Falco longipennis, a final net round revealed a snipe that made a series of throaty noises when extracted. The tail was in heavy moult and only 22 tail feathers were evident (24-28 expected). Six pin-shaped outer tail feathers on each side were clearly visible (range for Pin-tailed Snipe Gallinago stenura is six to eight) and measured less than two millimetres wide. The number of tail feathers in pin-like condition readily separates this species from all other snipe (Johnsgard 1981). They also matched the description in Slater et al. (1992) and Hayman et al. (1986) for Pin-tailed Snipe. The measurements for this individual were as follows: weight 113 g, head-bill length 92.4 mm, wing length 136 mm, bill length (culmen) 60.3 mm. All primary wing feathers were old (0 10) . The moult score therefore suggested it was a first-year bird, as an adult would have moulted in preparation for migration. Pin-tailed Snipe breed in Siberia and depart on their northward migration in March/April. Consequently should be heavier than 'normal' at this time of year. The bird's weight at 113 g was light when compared with the average weights of 123 g for males (106-137 g, n=3) and 136 g for females (124-155 g, n=3) (Johnsgard 1981). However, the winter weight of 472 specimens (males and females) was 113 g (Johnsgard 1981), again suggesting that the bird was a first-year bird overwintering in Australia, as do many migratory waders. Bill length is significantly different for the sexes, averaging 60.1 mm (55-64 mm, n=59) in males and 63 .7 mm (59-'/0 mm, n=63) in females (Johnsgard 1981, Cramp & Simmons 1983). Other measurements, apart from tarsus and toe lengths, are similar for males and females. The combination of light weight and short bill suggests that the bird was probably a male. In addition, a series of photographs including head, body, underwing and tail were taken. Plate 42 (upper) shows the tail and pin-like feathers and Plate 42 (lower) the short tail, back and wing. Snipe have been recorded on a regular basis (mostly as singles) in the Broome area between December and April (Collins 1995). A Swinhoe's Snipe Gallinago megala was caught at Lake Eda on Roebuck Plains by the AWSG in April 1990, but positive identifications a~;e few due to the difficulty of distinguishing snipe species in the field. No records for the south-west of the Kimberley were reported by Storr (1980) or Blakers et al . (1984) but a bird found sick near the Derby Leprosarium in late December 1987 is held in the Western Australian Museum (R. Jasper in Jaensch 1989). The current record represents only the second documented record of a Pin­ tailed Snipe from this area. Pin-tailed Snipe were first positively identified in Australia in the Pilbara region south of Broome (Storr & Johnstone 1977). VOL. 16 (5) MARCH 1996 SCAMBLER: Nocturnal Foraging by Magpie 219

References Blakers, M., Davies, S.J.J.F. & Reilly , P.N. (1984), The Atlas of Australian Birds, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne. Collins, P. (1995), The Birds of Broome- An Annotated list, Broome Bird Observatory, Broome. Cramp, S. & Simmons, K.E.L. (1983), Handbook ofthe Birds ofEurope , the Middle East and North Africa: the birds of the Western Palearctic, vol. 3, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Hayman, P., Marchant, J., & Prater, T. (1986), Shorebirds, Helm, London. Jaensch, R.P. (1989), Birds of Wetlands and Grasslands in the Kimberley Division, Western Australia. Some Records of Interest 1981-88, RAOU Report 61. Johnsgard, P.A. (1981), The Plovers, and Snipes of the World, University of Nebraska Press, London. Slater, P. Slater, P. & Slater, R. (1992), The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds, Weldon Publishing, Sydney. Storr, G.M. (1980) , 'Birds of the Kimberley Division, Western Australia', Spec. Pub/. West. Aust. Mus. 11, 1-117. --& Johnstone, R.E. (1977), 'First Australian Record of the Pintail Snipe (Gallinago stenura)', W. Aust. Nat. 13, 207-208. By PETER COLLINS', ROSALIND JESSOP2 and CLIVE MINTONJ

1Broome Bird Observatory, Box 1313, Broome, WA. 6275 2P.O. Box 97, Cowes, Victoria 3922 3165 Dalgetty Road, Beaumaris, Victoria 3193

Received 9 October 1995 •