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Home , Common sandpiper, Sandpiper, Terek sandpiper, Tringa

PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIES OF SOME LESS FAMILIAR XCV. TEREK Photographs by ERIC HOSKING (Plates 13-20) Text by I. J. FERGUSON-LEES How MANY OF us, while turningf the pages of The Handbook, have not paused at the plate of the ( terek) and imagined seeing this ? For, more than most of the rarer on the British list, it seems to hold a special fascination.

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85 86 BRITISH BIRDS [VOL. LII

At the moment there is no great likelihood of coming across it in Britain or, indeed, in the western half of the Continent, and, though it has occurred in most European countries at one time or another, an indication of its rarity is given by the fact that there are only four Swedish records, while the first one to be reported from Denmark was not until 1951 (Poulsen, 1951). The three or four British records during the past 40 years are from Sussex and Suffolk in 1951 (Betts, 1952; Benson, 1952), from Co. Durham in 1952 (Evans, 1953) and probably from Norfolk in 1957. Yet Terek may eventually occur here with greater frequency, because this is one of the several primarily Asiatic which are pushing westwards at the present time (see Harber, 1955, quoting from Dementiev and Gladkov, 1951). The main range in Europe is in north and central Russia from within the Arctic Circle as far south as approximately the same latitude as East Anglia. Eastwards from there it extends the 10,000 miles right across to Anadyr and the shores of the Bering Sea; its northern limits reach almost to the mouths of the Pechora, Ob, Yenisei and Kolyma rivers, all of which flow directly or indirectly into the Arctic Ocean; and to the south the bird is found at Lake Baikal and along the more northerly parts of the Amur river (see map in Dementiev and Gladkov, 1951, p. 250). Its breeding range is thus almost entirely confined between latitudes 520 and 68°N., but like a number of other northern waders it is a species which travels vast distances and it winters in , southern Asia (particularly the Malay Archipelago) and South Africa. (It is not known to breed or winter on the Terek river, which flows from the Caucasus to the Caspian, but it gets its name because the type specimen was found there, probably on passage, in the 1770's.) Dementiev and Gladkov (1951) qualified their statement that the Terek Sandpiper was extending its range westwards (see above) by adding that it did not yet breed outside the Soviet Union. At that time this was correct, for, in spite of the fact that The Hand­ book includes the Bothnian coast of in the breeding range, it is only recently that the evidence has suggested regular nesting in that country. Up to 1955 only some half-dozen nests had been found in Finland (in 1884, 1894, 1895 and 1913), but in that year a pair was seen scolding on an islet in the Gulf of Bothnia near Oulu, and in 1957 a nest with four eggs was found there (Merikallio, 1958). Then in 1958 two pairs bred on this islet and it is these birds which appear in the accompanying plates. The two nests were thus probably only the eighth and ninth to be recorded outside the Soviet Union; and so the small party, including the writer, which was enabled to spend three days on the islet (17th, 28th and 29th June 1958), is particularly indebted to Nils Fritzen and J. Siira: it was they who found the nests in both 1957 and 1958, and they who introduced us to the birds. The (plate 19 lower) was rather different from that VOL. LII] TEREK SANDPIPER STUDIES 87 described in The Handbook and most other works of reference which, though mentioning small islands, lay the emphasis on the presence of scrub, particularly willow (Salix), and show that marshy grasslands and stunted tree-growth are the usual associations. Harber {1955), quoting from Dementiev and Gladkov, says that the species is very numerous in the Siberian —the high coniferous forest zone which is characteristic of the cool regions bordering the treeless tundra and of which narrow marshy valleys thickly strewn with boulders are often a feature. The Finnish islet, by contrast, had no scrub and the only dominant vegetation, apart from three birch trees (Betula) at one end (see plate 19 lower), was short or shortish grass and a thin and scattered growth of the rush Juncus balticus. The ground was sandy and dotted with many stones, large and small. The slight rise and fall of the sea was sufficient to cover and expose a fair expanse of mud and large boulders which provided a suitable feeding area for the Terek Sandpipers and also for the rest of the islet's considerable population of breeding birds. The bird population, in fact, was sufficiently heavy for it to have a bearing on the of the Terek Sandpipers and so is worthy of brief review. Not more than 300 yards long, less than 250 yards wide and only some 10 acres in extent, the islet never­ theless had about 100 pairs of 21 species nesting on it in mid-June 1958. These included 4 species of ducks (10 pairs), 3 of (11 pairs), 2 of terns (about 14 pairs), 4 of Passerines (14 pairs) and 8 of waders (about 52 pairs). Apart from the Tereks, the last group included Ringed ( hiaticula) and Red­ shanks (Tringa totanus), smaller numbers of (Armaria interpres). Ruffs (Philomachus pugnax), Temminck's ( temminckii) and Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus), and one pair of (C. alpina). Friction was frequent between the Terek Sandpipers and some of the other waders nesting near-by (see below). One of the two Terek nests was near the middle of the islet, over 100 yards from the water's edge; the other was near the southern shore and only some 25 yards from the high water mark. Both were in areas of short grass among stones and the similarity of the two sites can be seen from a comparison between plates 16 and 17, while one gets a fuller impression of the surroundings from plate 20. The nests themselves were quite open and (see plate 15) were simply hollows lined with a few bits of birch bark and dead vegetation (grass in one case, tide-wrack in the other) together with a number of small pebbles. The clutches consisted of three and two eggs respectively, but four is generally considered to be the normal and the nest found by Fritzen and Siira on this islet in 1957 did indeed contain four eggs. The eggs are illustrated and described on plate 15. On incubation, The Handbook has: "Incubation-patches only recorded from males and birds shot from nests by H. L. Popham were all males". On the other hand, Harber (1955) translated 88 BRITISH BIRDS [VOL. LII from Dementiev and Gladkov (1951) as follows: "Probably only the female incubates, but the male keeps near the nest all the time and is usually first to fly up when it is approached, while the female feigns injury. The female has one incubation-patch". At No. 2 nest in Finland in 1958 it seemed that only one adult was sitting on 17th and 29th June. The same applied at No. 1 nest on the 17th, but there on the 28th the two birds were covering the eggs in turn, and plate 20 shows the change-over about to take place. Perhaps the second adult sits on the eggs only in the last stages of incubation: this is the time when nest-relief most often occurs in certain other waders. The change-over was continuously accompanied by a soft and sweet warbling noise that sounded more like the sub-song of a Passerine than the call of a : the sitting bird would begin to utter this sound when its mate was still some distance away and it would be continued throughout the period (sometimes up to a minute) that the pair were together in the vicinity of the nest. Like a number of other sounds used in similar circumstances— from the secondary songs of some Passerines to the bill-clattering of the White Stork (Ciconia ciconid)—this warble was essentially an expression of excitement, for it served not only as a greeting- call, but was also used when the young were being brooded and, more significantly, during threat-displays at other birds, particularly Ringed Plovers and Turnstones, which came too close to the nest. Whenever another wader came too near, one of the Terek Sandpipers would make a series of rapid darts at the intruder—with tail spread and head down and forward (almost touching the ground) but wings at sides, uttering the warble continuously. Ringed Plovers had nests only a few feet away from each of the Terek sites, and Turnstones and Temminck's Stints were breeding within a matter of yards of No. 1 nest, so that threats of this kind were frequent; at times actual fighting took place with a flurry of wings, and tails. The normal alarm-note, used when humans were near the nest, was a particularly distinctive rolling trill and a lower intensity alternative was a liquid double "turrr-lip"—both quite different from the common flight-notes which were a soft and melodious "tutututu" or "tiihu-tuhu-tuhu" and a quiet trill. When we first visited the islet, on 17th June, the Tereks were not particularly demonstrative when one was near the nest: in fact, they usually retired to the shore or at most they perched', bobbing, some 30-50 yards from the nest. But by our second visit, eleven days later, they were much more aggressive as the time of hatch­ ing drew near. In fact, at 09.00 hours (local time) on this day two of the eggs in No. 1 nest were "starred" and the third had a distinct hole through which the chick could be seen; two eggs had hatched by 18.30 that evening, and the third chick was out by 08.20 next morning (the 29th) though still wet. At No. 2 nest the eggs were "starred" on 29th June and presumably hatched' at some time on the 30th. Neither of these nests was found until after incubation had started, which is unfortunate as the incubation-period of this species does not appear to be known, VOL. LII] TEREK SANDPIPER STUDIES 89 though Harber (1955) quotes Dementiev and Gladkov as giving it as "apparently 21 days". After the hatch at No. r nest, on 29th June, the young remained in the scrape and were brooded by one of the adults (plate 18) until the sun was high and they had all dried out. They were then called away by their parents and in a matter of a few hours had been taken to the sand and mud on the northern shore of the island, a distance of about 140 yards through fairly short rough grass. There, both adults remained with the young for the rest of the day, our last on the islet—but one was very much more demonstrative than the other, coming within a few yards if any of us approached, while its mate remained more quietly at a distance of 30-50 yards. Although The Handbook describes the Terek Sandpiper as "usually tame and approachable", we found them rather shy except when the eggs were hatching or when they had young. They would tend to leave the nest when anyone came within about a hundred yards—but, conversely, they usually returned to it within two or three minutes of an observer's being left in the hide. In this connection Browne (1949) found that some of the birds in winter at Aden were tame, but "on another occasion a single bird flew off at 200 yards". The nestling is shown and described on plate 18, and in any case there is a detailed account in The Handbook, but it might be added here that the three young from nest No. 1, when less than twenty-four hours old, had short straight bills of a greyish-black colour, while their legs and feet were pinkish-grey on the upper sides and orange at the rear of the tarsi and on the soles of the feet. The legends beneath the photographs on plates 13-20 draw attention to most of the main features of the adult Terek Sandpiper, but it is worth enlarging on the general field impression and emphasizing certain points where our experience differed from statements in The Handbook. In brief, the species is an exaggeration of the (Tringa hypoleucos): it is larger and paler, and has of course a much longer bill, but the long body and shortish legs are essentially on the same pattern (see plate 13); it has a similar (though more deliberate) way of moving the hind part of its body up and down; and it has a comparable shallow flicking action in flight. The Redshank-like flight-pattern produced by the white tips of the secondaries and the wholly off-white tail has been commented on in The Handbook, but this feature can be over-emphasized: owing to its ashy back and only slightly browner wings, all very pale, the Terek does not have anything like the same contrast between light and dark. The orange legs and feet, which varied in the four Finnish birds from a deep and almost dirty orange to a bright orange-yellow, were conspicuous at considerable distances and the upturn on the bill was always quite noticeable, but somehow the bill never seemed quite so long, so slender or even so upturned as we had expected. The shape of the bill is well brought out in plates 13, 14, 16 and 17, though from the angle at which all these photographs were 90 BRITISH BIRDS [VOL. LII taken, looking down on the bird, a little of the upturn is perhaps lost (compare plate 14 with antea, vol. xlv, plate 12, which shows a Terek Sandpiper trapped at Ottenby, Sweden). In all four birds the bill was completely dark (see plate 13 and cf. Handbook): in this connection it is worth noting- that published descriptions of individual birds (e.g. Betts, 1952; Evans, 1953) refer to their having black bills, though Benson (1952) mentions that at close range it was possible to see that the "base of bill (was) rather lighter than remainder": perhaps there is some seasonal or age variation here. REFERENCES BENSON, G. B. G. (1952): "Terek Sandpiper in Suffolk". Brit, Birds, xlv: 36-37- BETTS, A. H. (1952): "Terek Sandpiper in Sussex". Brit. Birds, xlv: 36. BROWNE, P. W. P. (1949): "Notes on Broad-billed and Terek Sandpipers at Aden". Brit. Birds, xlii: 333-334. DEMENTIEV, G. P. and GLADKOV, N. A. (1951): The Birds of the Soviet Union. Moscow. Vol. Ill, pp. 249-255, EVANS, P. (1953): "Terek Sandpiper in Co. Durham". Brit. Birds, xlvi: 188. HARBER, D. D. {1955): Special Review of The Birds of the Soviet Union. Brit. Birds, xlviii: 318. MERIKALLIO, E. (1958): Finnish Birds: Their Distribution and Numbers. Helsinki, p. 75. POULSEN, H. (1951): "Terekklire (Xenus cinereus (Giild.)) ny for Danmark". Dansk Orn. Foren. Tidsskr., 45: 223-225. SVARDSON, G. (1951): "Verksamheten vid Ottenby fagelstation 1950". Var F&gelvarld, 10: 97-124. PLATE 13

Eric Hosking TEREK SANDPIPER (Tringa terek) ON BREEDING ISLAND: FINLAND, 28TH JUNE 1958 This gives a good impression of the general shape—long upturned bill, long body and shortish legs—and it also illustrates, by the contrast in shade between the pale (yellow-orange) legs and the all-dark bill, the fact that none of the four birds on this island (plate 19 lower) had any orange colour at the bases of their beaks (cf. Handbook and see page 90). As the Terek runs about, it recalls a large Common Sandpiper (T. hypoleucos) and has the same bobbing actions. PLATE 14

Eric Hosking INCUBATING TEREK SANDPIPER (Tringa terek) PANTING IN SUN : FINLAND, 28TH JUNE 1958 In winter the bird is mainly grey-brown above and white below, with inconspicuous dark streaks on the upper-parts and breast. In summer, however, after a moult during February/May, the feathers of crown, nape and mantle have broader shaft-streaks of dark brown and some of the scapulars have very broad central markings of blackish-brown: the resulting pattern is well shown here where the wing is drooped, but these markings and the ground colour are rather variable (see plates 16 and 17). PLATE 15

Eric Hosking TEREK SANDPIPER (Tringa terek) RETURNING TO NEST: FINLAND, 28TII JUNE 1958 The eggs are stone-coloured, unevenly and rather sparingly marked with dark brown, reddish-brown and ashy-grey: 4 is the normal clutch, but the two nests on this island had 2 and 3 eggs. The egg nearest the camera here is chipped (dark hole in upper surface): all three had hatched 24 hours later. Note the bird's pure white under-parts, brown-streaked on the throat and sides of breast (see also plate 19 upper). The short web between the toes is more marked than jn most other species of Tringa. PLATE 16

Eric Hosking TEREK SANDPIPER (Tringa terek) ON NO. I NEST: FINLAND, 28TH JUNE 1958 This is the nest shown in all these photographs except plate 17. The two sites were similar: both were completely open in short grass among large stones; both were slight hollows lined with bits of bark (see plate 15) and dead grasses or tide-wrack. The bird's bill is nearly twice as long as its head, but is neither as long nor as thin as is sometimes depicted; it is very wide at the base and perhaps more upturned than it seems in these photographs (see page 89). PLATE 17

Eric Hosking TEREK SANDPIPER (Tringa terek) ON NO. 2 NEST: FINLAND, 29TH JUNE 1958 A comparison between this photograph and the one on plate 16 illustrates the variation which may be found in this species: apart from being paler and greyer with, therefore, more contrasting dark marks, this bird at No. 2 nest was much shyer and more conscious of the hide. Here one can see especially well the shaft-streaks on the mantle and the black stripes formed by the dark-centred scapulars. PLATE 18

Eric Hosking TEREK SANDPIPER (Tringa terek) AND CHICKS : FINLAND, 29TH JUNE 1958 The newly-hatched chick is pure white below; above, the down varies from buff to golden and is flecked with grey as a result of blackish bases and tips; there is also a striking dorsal stripe of brownish-black from bill to tail, and a narrow line of the same colour through the eye (see also page 89). Note the white eye-rim of the adult: at close range this was more marked than the streaky white forehead and short pale superciliary which can be seen in most of these plates. PLATE 19

Eric Hosking TEREK SANDPIPER (Tringa terek) AND CHICKS : FINLAND, 29TH JUNE 1958

Eric Hosking FINNISH HABITAT OF TEREK SANDPIPERS (Tringa terek): 17TH JUNE 1958 The island where Tereks nested in 1957 and 1958, and probably 1955, is only ten acres in extent, some 300 yards long and less than 250 yards across at its widest point. Yet 21 species of birds, totalling over a hundred pairs, were breeding there in June 1958. Sandy soil, large stones and a broad surround of wet mud are features of this flat island on which the main vegetation, apart from three birches (Betula), consists of short grasses and the low rush Juncus balticus (see pages 86-87). PLATE 20

Eric Hosking PAIR OF TEREK SANDPIPERS (Tringa terek) CHANGING OVER AT THE NEST: FINLAND, 28TH JUNE 1958 Both sexes will sit on the eggs (page 88 and cf. Handbook). Observations at these nests were mainly during the last two days of incubation and, as is then usual with many waders, the change-over was frequent. During these periods of up to a minute when the pair were together in the vicinity of the nest, they uttered a soft and most unwaderlike warble (see page 88). Note here the effect of the wing being outlined with blackish, which was sometimes very noticeable.