Hi all,
Has anyone with experience of both red and great knot ever seen a
great knot with a narrow reddy-brown wash down the centre of the
breast and belly?
I have been observing a knot at the Ahuriri estuary here in Napier,
NZ, for several days now. It first struck me as being an unusual red
knot, however, it had a very long bill (1 1/4 times head length at
least) and long dark brown legs. The wings also extend slightly
(c.1cm) past the tail and it seems very long winged in flight. It
also seemed large, being proportionately larger than an accompanying
turnstone (of course the 12 red knot that were here last week have
all gone!), and waded about in water up to its belly often when
feeding. It's overall jizz just seems wrong for a red knot, and it
appears more 'sandpipery' like a pectoral (its not a curlew sand
though). It shows very strong spotting and 'arrow' marks on the
sides of the breast and down the flanks, and streaking on the crown,
nape and shoulders. It also shows a prominent supercilium which some
great knot apparenty do, though they don't usually.
However it does have a narrow band of reddy-brown colouring down the
breast and belly. Has anyone ever seen a great knot showing this
sort of plumage? According to the books (Hayman, etc.) they should
never show any trace of red on the breast or belly.
Any help woud much appreciated!
Cheers
Brent
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Brent Stephenson MSc (Hons)
PhD Candidate (Zoology)
Ecology Group, Institute of Natural Resources, Massey University,
Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Home address:
1A Onslow Road
Napier
New Zealand
Phone +06 8336931
Cellphone 025 GANNET (426 638)
Email
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