Hi all,
There have been a couple darker coloured / breeding plumage stints at the Spit
at the Western Treatment Plant, Victoria. (One birds has an injured leg.) After
careful analysis it's been concluded that both birds are Red-necked Stint, not
Little Stint. One bird in particular has stood out because it is a brightly
coloured bird (for a photograph see Birdline Victoria at
http://www.eremaea.com/BirdlineRecentSightings.aspx?Birdline=1). This is
because it is an adult Red-necked Stint that has not migrated, while nearly all
the companion birds are first-year Red-necked Stint whch lack significant
breeding plumage. Thanks Danny Rogers for his expertise in this area and
careful analysis. The diagnostic Red-necked Stint features are:
1. LOTS of red on the face and throat. It does have a white chin, but this
isn't unusual in breeding plumage RNS. Little Stint has a much bigger white
area on the throat.
2. BAND of dark speckling below the red of the throat and upper breast. Little
Stint lack this, they have dark streaking within the buffy rufous of their
upper breast.
3. WHITE edges to tertials - Little Stint usually have very broad rufous outer
edges to most or all of their tertials.
4. SIMPLE white supercilium - Little Stint adults usually (not always) show a
split supercilium.
5. NO WHITE mantle V - usually present in breeding plumage Little Stint.
6. GENERAL long-bodied, short-legged appearance - Little Stints are slightly
longer-legged and shorter-bodied, though it would be brave to ID them on that
alone.
Unless another Little Stint turns up I'd suggest that previous reports are
erroneous.
On a lighter side this means that I'm now one bird down in terms of my 2009
Victorian list, currently sittin at 311 for the year. These things happen,
c'est la vie. I might have to chase the Brown Honeyeater in Kamarooka again,
again. See http://tim-dolby.blogspot.com/ Once again thanks Danny Rogers for
his assistance.
Cheers,
Tim Dolby
==============================www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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