irs ' mencan ßecor0 o rea er an, p over

Sue Abbott Steve N.G. Howell Peter Pyle PointReyes Bird Observatory 4990 ShorelineHighway GreaterSandplover on BolinasLagoon, 5 February2001. SUnsonBeach, California 94970 Photographby PeterLaTourrette.

by sandspit. Its behaviorwas largely dependent on tidal cycles,and Observatory(P.R.B.O.) shorebird and waterfowlcensus, an unfa- therewere periods of up to a weekwhen it wasnot found. After initial nmiliarthe afternoon Charadrius ofplover 29January was discovered 2001,duringroosting aPointon the Reyes southern Bird debate,most opinion favored Greater Sandplover. For example,based shoreof BolinasLagoon, Marin County,California. At approximately on examinationof photosand observationson a birding website 1300Pacific Standard Time, Abbott and Howellwere finishing the cen- (http://fog.ccsf.org/-jmorlan/sandplover. htm), E. Hirschfeldand T. susat Seadrift,a gatedcommunity in StinsonBeach, when the bird was Hardaker(both versedin sandploveridentification) felt stronglythat spottedand initiallyidentified it asa SnowyPlover (Charadrius alexan- thiswas, indeed, a GreaterSandplover. drinus).When Howelllooked at it moreclosely, however, he knewthat On 15 March 2001, the bird was capturedon StinsonBeach by it wasnot a SnowyPlover. Its body size, long legs, large bill, andlack of P.R.B.O.biologist Doug George and was measured, photographed, and a whitehind collar suggested that it wasa sandplover. releasedwithout harm by Pyleand Howell. Basedon comparisonsof For about 15 minutes, while the bird roosted next to a Black-bellied thesemeasurements to thoseof museumspecimens (Table 1), we con- Plover(Pluvialis squatarola), Howell and Abbottobserved it in good firmedthe bird as a GreaterSandplover--the first recordfor North lightat about30-40 m through60x telescopes, made sketches, and took America.The lastcorroborated sighting of thebird wason 8 April 2001 notes. Abbottthen left to contactP.R.B.O. biologists, including Pyle, (Howelland Richard A. Erickson).Seadrift personnel received sightings who arrivedat about1400. Pyle'sinitial reaction when he sawthe bird by unknownobservers through 28 April,including reports that the bird throughbinoculars at about300 m rangewas that it wasa SnowyPlover; had"turned orange;' but theseremain as yet unconfirmed. but upon closerexamination, the largebill and pale legssuggested a Wilson'sPlover ( C. wilsonia). Howell noted, however,the lack of a white DESCRIPTION hind collar,the olive-coloredlegs, and turnstone-likecall, thus ruling Size,Structure, and Bare Parts:Howell and Abbott consideredthe bulk out Wilson'sPlover. Based mainly on bill si7eand leg color,both Pyle of the sandploverto be aboutone-third that of a Black-belliedPlover. and Howellagreed that it wasunlikely a MongolianPlover (= Lesser Comparedto Dunfin(Calidris alpina) present at thesame site, Pyle esti- Sandplover;C. mongolus)of the eastAsian mongolus subspecies group, matedthe bulk of the bird to be aboutone-and-one-half times greater. to which all North Americanrecords refer. Both observershad prior Thebird was approximately half the height of a Black-belliedPlover and field experiencewith GreaterSandplover (C. leschenaultii)and consid- slightlytaller than Dunfinand Sanderling(C. alba). When compared eredthat possibility,but neitherfelt confidentthat it wasnot a large- directlywith a SnowyPlover (on 1 April),the sandploverappeared at billed LesserSandplover of the west Asianatrifrons subspecies group leasttwice as large. When standing, the wing tips projected well beyond (seeHirschfeld et al. 2000for taxonomy). thetail, with thetail tip aboutequal to thetip of theeighth primary. The Due to the difficultyof distinguishingbetween Greater and Lesser sandploverappeared "flat headed;'similar to Snowyand Wilson's Sandplovers,the bird remainedunidentified for severalweeks. Birders Plovers,but its longerlegs gave a comparativelylanky appearance. Pyle arrivedat BolinasLagoon from across North America, beguiled by a bird estimated its tarsus to be about one-and-one-half to one-and-three- that evenexperts could not identifyin the field. It remainedfaithful to quartertimes that of a Sanderling.Leg color usually appeared medium- the site,most often seen alone, but at times,particularly when feeding, pale,dull yellowish olive (Frontispiece, Figures 1-2); in brightsun, the it associatedloosely with othershorebirds. Its preferred feeding habitat legslooked paler, while in overcastlighting they seemed duller and more was relativelysandy mud (N. Warnock,pers. comm.); when the tide grayish.A dull fleshor pinkishtone to the legswas apparent in low inundatedthis area, the bird roostedamong high tide debrison a near- anglesunlight and in the hand. The bill wasblack, heavy, and stout

252 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS (Figure1), the"nail" (the distal bulge of theupper mandible) appeared to compriseabout half of the bilt'slength, and the bill tip wasrelatively pointed(Figure 2). The largebill wasproportionally comparable to that of a Black-belliedPlover. When observed in flight,there was a slight,yet distinct,toe projectionbeyond the bird'stail (Figure3).

Plumage The plumagemarkings and colorof the sandplover(Figures 1-5) were remarkablysimilar to thoseof a SnowyPlover in basicplumage. Its crown,auriculars, upperparts,'and chest patches were sandy gray-brown, and itsnape was only slightly paler, sandy-buff brown, unlike the distinct whitehind collarshown by similarNorth AmericanCharadrius. As in SnowyPlover, there was a small patchof white just abovethe sand- plover'sbill and lores;the whitish superciliumappeared variable in extentand shape,depending on lightingand angleof viewing;and the throat and underpartswere entirelywhite. When seenalongside a female-plumagedSnowy Plover on I April,the sandplover'supperparts appearedslightly darker and grayer.The upperwingsshowed dark remigeswith a whitishwingstripe broadest across the inner primaries Figure1. GreaterSandplover roosting on StinsonBeach, 15 March2001. (Figure3); the underwingswere bright whitish overall, but theirappear- Notelarge bill with longnail and relativelypointed tip. Photographby S. ancevaried greatly with lighting. The uppertail coverts and tail basewere N. G. Howell. palesandy, contrasting with the darkbrown subterminal tail bandand sandygray-brown back and rump. In brightlight, however, the rump and uppertailoften appeared concolorous, while in overcastconditions the paleruppertail coverts and tail contrastednoticeably with the rump. In late January,the strikingcontrast between freshet (first basic) scapularsand worn,bleached (juvenal) upperwing coverts immediately identifiedthe bird asbeing in its first winter (Figure4); a scatteringof mantleand scapularfeathers were also juvenal. (Adults would showa moreuniform appearance at thistime of year.)The bird continuedto molt throughoutits stay,gradually replacing the juvenaltertials, tertial coverts,scapulars, and mostmedian and lesserupperwing coverts. The longestjuvenal tertial was retained on 29 January,when the innertertials had beenshed; on 13 Februarythe longestjuvenal tertial had been shed (Figure4), the new inner tertialswere mostlygrown, and someouter lesserand mediancoverts had beenshed. By 12 March,the longestnew tertialhad grown in, ashad the new, white-tipped subscapular, and many juvenalmedian and lesserupperwing coverts had beenreplaced, but a worn and fadedjuvenal covert panel remainedin the carpal region (Figure5). The juvenalprimaries, secondaries, and rectriceshad been retained. Figure2. GreaterSandplover on BolinasLagoon, 5 February2001. Note the heavy,black, stout bill. Compare this with otherphotographs pre- Vocalizations sentedhere: in variouspostures, against different backgrounds, and On 29 January(during windy conditions), Howell and Abbott heard the undervarious lighting conditions, the birdtook on ratherdifferent birdcall in flightand likened it to thecall of a BlackTurnstone (Arenaria appearances.Photograph by P.LaTourrette. melanocephala):a dry, rattled,three-syllable trr-i-rrt or tri-i-it. On later dates(in calm weather),the call sotrededreellower, more reminiscentof a RuddyTurnstone (A. interpres):a three-syllable, slightly sharp, rattled tu-tu-tuor teu-t-tu,in slightlydescending series or with themiddle note slightlyhigher (Figure 6). Thebird also gave simpler, two-note calls, such Figure3. GreaterSandplover as tu-tu,and lessfrequently a singletu or teu. in flightat BolinasLagoon, 1 February2001. Noteslight Measurements toe projectionbeyond tail tip With the bird in hand (Figures7-9), Pyle and Howell independently and shapeof wing stripe. measured(hence the range of values)and double-checkedvarious Photographby L. Sansone. parameters:exposed culmen length (24.0-24.7 mm; Figure7); bill nail length(12.2-12.9 mm); bill depthat base(7.3-7.4 mm); bill depthat deepestpoint of distalbulge (5.4-5.5 mm); wing chord (137.7-138.0 mm); andtarsus length (35.8-37.0 mm). In addition,Pyle measured the fiat wing (139.1mm) and tail length(48.3 mm).

VOLUME 55 (2001), NUMBER 3 253 DISCUSSION involvingspectrographic comparisons, may duddate the fieldidentifica- Sandploversdiffer from superficiallysimilar North AmericanCharadrius tion potentialfor callsof thesespecies. (e.g.,Figure 10) by a combinationof their brownishnape, bill sizeand Measurementsand ratiosof the Sfinsonsandplover are dose to mean shape,leg color, and call. Field separationof Greaterversus Lesser valuesfor GreaterSandplover and fall outsideof the rangesfor Lesser Sandploverin basic plumage has long been a contentiousissue. Sandplover(Table 1). A comparisonof measurementsfor the Seadrift Identificationcriteria for thispair weredetailed by Taylor(1982), Shirihai bird to thoseof Hirschfeldet al. (2000) revealsslight a overlapin wing et al. (1996),and Hirschreid et al. (2000). Bill sizeand structure, leg color, and tarsus lengths with the maximum values recorded for Lesser toeprojection in flight,shape of thewing bar, and contrast of the subter- (althoughthis maybe duein part to differentmeasuring techniques). In minal tail bar havebeen considered characters of particularimportance eachcase, however, the valuesfor exposedculmen and bill nail, along in separatingthe two species. with ratiosor combinationsof measurements(e.g., wing length and bill The bill of Greateris morepointed than the relativelyblunt-tipped length),fall well outsidethe rangeof Lesserand confirm the Stinsonbird bill of Lesser,has a longernail, and, excepting the westernmost subspecies as a GreaterSandplover. of Greater( C. l. columbinus),isheavier and longer than that of Lesser.Leg For birdsin the field,Millington (1988) indicatedthat the tarsus-to- colorof Greateris characteristicallydull yellow-olive,paler than the dark bill-lengthratios calculated from photographscan be usefulfor separat- olive-grayto blackishlegs of Lesser.In flight, Greatershows noticeable ing thesespedes: 1.43-1.78 for Greaterversus 1.70-2.16 for Lesser(also projectionof toe tips beyondthe tail, whereasLesser shows little if any seeTable 1). Prior to the Stinsonbird's capture, Pyle and Howellinde- projection.The wingbar of Greaterbulges more along the primaries and pendentlytook measurementsfrom 12 differentphotos of the bird in narrowsalong the secondaries;that of Lesseris moreeven in width.The profileand calculated tarsus-to-bill-length ratios of 1.58-1.71(Pyle, from subterminaltail bandof Greateraverages darker, contrasting more with 8 photos), and 1.55-1.67 (Howell, from 4 photos),both indicating the rest of the tail. GreaterSandplover. Thus it appearsthis method can be helpful. On the Stinsonsandplover, we found bill sizeand structure(particu- larly nail length)and leg colorto be the mostuseful field identification features;these were typical of Greater(Table 1, Figures2, 7) and outside the rangeof Lesser.Toe projection was consistent with Greater,but this featureshows overlap between the two speciesin Australiaand can be dif- ficult to evaluatein the field (C. Corben,pers. comm.). While wing bar and tail pattern were alsoconsistent with thosereported for Greater (Figure9), examinationof birdsin the handin Bahrain(A. Forstenand A. Lindholm,pers. comm.) and published photos (pers. obs.) suggest that thesefeatures may not be diagnostic. Other field markswe found helpful includedupperpart color and posture.Greater Sandplover has relatively paler and sandierupperparts than the darker and browner upperpartsof Lesser(Taylor 1982; C. Corbenand D. I. Rogers,pers. comm.). In addition,the Stinsonbird characteristicallyheld a horizontalposture while standingand feeding (recallinga Black-belliedPlover), in contrastto the moreupright posture typicallyshown by Lesser(which recalls a PacificGolden-Plover, Pluvialis fulva) (Hirschfeld1991; Howell and Pyle,pets. ohs.). Figure4. Fieldsketch and notesof S.N.G.Howell. Many shorebirdsreplace upperwing coverts and tertialsin their first year,but over-wintermolt of thesefeathers occurs mainly in the tropics and southernhemisphere, not at the latitudeof centralCalifornia, where this molt usuallyoccurs before winter (Howell and Pyle,pers. obs.). In Australia,Greater Sandplovers complete this molt fromlate November to March (Marchantand Higgins1993), relativeto which the California bird exhibiteda slightlyretarded schedule--perhaps not surprisingfor a vagrant.Of note is that the tertial molt greatlyaffected the visiblepri- maryprojection: on 29 Januarythree primary tips projected beyond the longesttertial, which fell about equal with thetip of theseventh primary; on 13 February,four primary tips projectedbeyond the tertials,the longestof whichfell about equal with the tip of thesixth primary (Figure 4). By 12 March,with the new longesttertial fully grown,the primary projectionhad revertedto that of 29 January. Voiceof the two sandploverspecies has received variable treatment in the literature,with both species'calls often likenedto thoseof Ruddy Turnstone.Taylor (1982) reportedshorter, harder calls for Lesserand longer,trilling calls for Greater.This is the oppositeof theStinson Greater Sandplover(shorter calls) compared to LesserSandplovers (longer calls) Figure5. GreaterSandplover on SUnsonBeach, 12 March2001. Notethe in Alaska(Howell, pers. obs) and Australia(C. Corben,pers. comm.). relativelyuniform upperparts with mostlynew wingcoverts and tertials. Most recently,Hirschfeld et al. (2000) suggested"that voice is of virtual- Comparethis with Figures2 and4 andwith the frontispiecefor plumage ly no usewhen identifying vagrants." Critical attention to analogouscalls, andposture differences. Photograph by S.IV. G. Howell.

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NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 55:3 255 Figure7 GreaterSandplover on StinsonBeach, 15 March2001, to show exposedculmen length of >24 mm.Ruler stop is heldeven with base of Figure6. Twoexamples of flightcall of the GreaterSandplover, Bolinas exposedculmen. The palearea acrossthe culmenbase was scaly,kerati- Lagoon,1 March2001. Three-notecalls, such as these,were most nousmaterial, and not featbering; this feature is loston museumspeci- commonlygiven either with the middlenote higher (on left),or with notes mens.Photograph by S. N. G. Howell. in slightlydescending series (on right). Recorded by S. N. G.Howell.

There are three subspeciesof Greater Sandplover: nominate leschenaultiibreeds in Mongoliaand north-centralChina; crassirostris in southwesternRussia and Afghanistan; and colurnbinus in theMiddle East. In winter, leschenaultiiranges from southeasternAfrica to Australasia (with migrantsrare but regularas far eastas lapan); crassirostris from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Oman; and columbinus from the southeastern Mediterraneanto the PersianGulf (Brazil 1991,Marchant and Higgins 1993,Hirschfeld et al. 2000). Measurementsof the Stinsonsandplover agreewith thoseof the nominatesubspecies (Hirschfeld et al. 2000), whichbreeds the farthesteast and is the longest-distancemigrant. We will never know how this bird reached California, but the follow- ing scenarioseems as plausible as any. A GreatCircle line drawnfrom the wintering groundsof nominateGreater Sandploversin southeastern Africato BolinasLagoon passes through the regionof thistaxon's breed- ing grounds,which lie aroundthe half-way point of thisGreat Circle dis- tance.It hasbeen suggested that circannual("built-in") clockspredeter- mine for how longa youngbird fliesin its first fall migrationwhich, in conjunctionwith a correctcompass course, would take it to the species's Figure8. GreaterSandplover on SUnsonBeach, 15 March2001. winteringgrounds (review by Gwinner 1996). Thus a youngbird that Comparisonwith in-hand photos of Greater(left) and Lesser (right) sand- flew for the predestinedtime periodfrom its nestinggrounds, but in a ploversfrom Hirschreid et al. (2001).Photograph by P.Pyle. 180ø misorientedcourse, could end up in centralCalifornia, with its routepassing through southwest Alaska in fallwhere refueling could have occurred.It is unlikelythat the bird arrivedat BolinasLagoon on 29 January,and we suspectthat it wasoverlooked through the fall andearly winter. The GreaterSandplover has beenrecorded as a vagranta! least66 times in Europe (Hirschfeldet al. 2000) but never before in North America (A.O.U. 1998). The LesserSandplover (mongolus subspecies group)is casualin NorthAmerica south of Alaska,where it is a rarebut annualmigrant that hasbred on occasion(A.O.U. 1998).In California therehave been eight records of LesserSandplover, all from 12 Julyto 3 October,including one from Marin County (Ericksonand Hamilton 2001). No confirmed North American records exist for Lesser Sandploversof the atrifronsgroup.

Acknowledgments Foremost, we thank the personnel at Seadrift Association (Dick Kamieniecki,Bob Stevens,Jim O'Miela, Kiren Niederberger,and TommyeJarvis) for theirremarkable hospitality and tolerance in accom- modatingalmost 2500 visitors seeking the sandplover.Without the skill Figure9. GreaterSandplover on SUnsonBeach, 15 March2001. and patienceof Gary Pageand especiallyDoug George, we mightnever Noteupperwing and tail patterns.Photograph by R Pyle.

256 NORTH AMERICAN B1RDS GreaterSandplover

have confirmed the identification. At the National Museum of Natural History (U.S.N.M.), SmithsonianInstitute, Washington, D.C., James Dean and ChristinaGebhard facilitated Pyle's examination of plover specimens.Joe Morlan's website provided a forum for opinionsfrom aroundthe world; Maya Decker, Roger Hatshaw, Peter LaTourrette, Les andCindy Lieurance, Larry Sansone, and David Seay kindly contributed photographsfor study; Chris Corben, Annika Forsten, Antero Lindholm,and Danny I. Rogershelped with discussionsrelating to field identification;Corben and DianaStralberg produced the sonogramsin Figure6. Amongmany others who assistedin variousways, we would like to acknowledgeKeith Hansen, Guy McCaskie,Jackie Miller, Sandy Scoggin,Lynne Stenzel, and NilsWamock. The manuscriptbenefited from commentsby ThomasGardali, Erik Hirschfeld,Gary Page,and Nils Warnock.

Thisis contributionnumber 890 of the PointReyes Bird Observatory.

Literature Cited AmericanOrnithologists' Union (A.O.U.). 1998.Check-list of North AmericanBirds, 7th ed.American Ornithologists' Union, Washington,D.C. Rgum10. Comparisonof (topto bottom)a typicalSnowy Plover (USNM Brazil,M. 1991.The Birds of Japan. Helm, London. 342132;female; C. a. tenuirostris),Lesser Sandplover (USNM 172914; Engelmoer,M., andC. S.Roselaar. 1998. Geographical variation in female;exposed culmen 19.8 ram),Greater Sandplover (USNM 179026; waders.Kluwer Academic Publishers,Boston. female;exposed culmen 24.5 ram),and Wilson's Plover (USNM 460599; Erickson,R.A. and R.A. Hamilton. 2001. Report of the CaliforniaBird female;C. vv.belding•. Note relative bill sizes and body size differences. Records Committee: 1998 records. Western Birds 32: 13-49. Dueto specimenpreparation, hind collar differences cannot be discerned. Gwinner,E. 1996.Circannual docks in avianreproduction and Photographby P.Pyle. migration.Ibis 138:47-63. Hirschreid, E. 1991. Further comments on the identification of sand Millington,R. 1988.Greater Sand Plover in Cumbria.Birding plovers.Birding World 4: 399. World 1: 250-252. Hirschreid, E., C. S. Roselaar,and H. Shirihai. 2000. Identification, Shirihai, H., D. Christie, and A. Harris. 1996. The Macmillan Birder's taxonomyand distributionof Greaterand LesserSand Plovers. Guideto Europeanand Middle Eastern Birds. Macmillan Press, British Birds 93: 162-189. London. Marchant,S. and P. J. Higgins, eds. 1993. Handbook of Australian, Taylor,P. B. 1982.Field identification of sandplovers in EastAfrica. NewZealand, and Antarctic Birds. Volume 2. OxfordUniversity DutchBirding 4:113-130. Press,Melbourne. --Received25June 2001;accepted 21 August 2001•

Table1. Measurements(mm) of the StinsonBeach Greater Sandplover compared to thoseof specimensof GreaterSandplover and LesserSandplover. GreaterSandplover 1 Stinsonbird LesserSandplover 1 Mean Range Mean2 Mean (_+S.D.) Range(_+S.D.) ExposedCulmen 23.8 (1.09) 22.0-26.9 24.53 17.6 (1.08) 16.3-19.8

WingChord 135.9(3.18) 132-142 137.9 126.7 (4.18) 118-133

Culmen/Nail 1.98 (0.07) 1.78-2.11 1.94 2.26 (0.13) 2.07-2.53

WingJCulmen 5.71 (027) 4.91-6.28 5.63 7.22 (0.57) 6.26-8.10

I Measurementstakenby Pyle ot 20 Greater bandplover and19 Lesser bandplover specimens atthe USblM. All were first-year birds collected onthe wintering grounds, most in Southeast Asia(and, therefore, likely represent the nominate subspecies of both taxa); however, some were collected elsewhere in Asiaand Africa. We use the international name Lesser Sandplover ratherthan the name "Mongolian Plover" for C. mongolusfor the sakeof convenience. 2Measurements ofthe Stinson bird taken by Pyle and Howell on 15 March 2001. The value reported here is the mean of 3-4 measures taken with both ruler and calipers. Foreach meas- urethe rangewas <5.6% of the mean(see text). 3Exposed culmen measures aresubject toshrinkage between livebirds and specimens; e.g.,Engelmoer andRoselaar (1998) found 2.84.25% shrinkage inplovers. Applying these values to the Stinsonbird wouldresult in specimenculmen length of 23.5-23.8mm.

VOLUME 55 (2001), NUMBER 3 257