I went back to the the Thornside wader roost [Brisbane] yesterday.
The BT godwits in breeding plumage that were present there last week
seemed to have disappeared, and in their place, there were a large
number of terek sandpipers, a horde of GT tattlers and a few redwashed
curlew sandipers. There were also a number of golden plovers moulting
into their breeding plumage - some were well advanced.
The default assumption here in Oz is that any golden plovers seen are
almost certainly Pluvialis fluva [pacific gold] rather than apricaria
[eurasian gold] or dominica [american gold].
I suspect you probably have to get a good view of the birds in flight
to get a definitive ID, as there is a fair bit of variation in plumage
as the birds are moulting into their breeding colours. [Some of the
birds had a fair bit of gold on their faces and looked like the
eurasians pictured in Pizzey & Knight].
Are there any reliable diagnostic keys when the birds are on the
ground? The field guides indicate that pacifics are the smallest golds
[23-26 cm] and are in the same size range as a grey-tailed tattler
[24-27 cm]. It is hard to compare the two when the plovers stand so
much taller than the tattlers and appear to the similar in bulk to a
great knot [26-28 cm]. The eurasians, on the other hand are listed as
being 26-29 cm.
Pizzey & Knight also suggest that the eurasians have shorter / stouter
bills than the pacifics.
My other question is whether any eurasians or americans that lob onto
Oz beaches are likely to be in the company of other golden plovers [as
the Bribie Is laughing gull keeps the company of other gulls and terns,
and the Penrice hudwit sticks around with the local godwits]?
I have posted a number of shots on Ozbirdpix [
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ozbirdpix/ ] for those of you who are
interested.
Regards, Laurie.
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
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