Josh,
It looks like an adult moulting from breeding into non-breeding plumage. A
juvenile would look much plainer but 'crisper'. Mark, is this the same bird
that you mentioned yesterday? If not, do you have photos of yesterday's bird?
Cheers,
Nikolas
----------------
Nikolas Haass
Brisbane, QLD
________________________________
From: Joshua Bergmark <>
To: Nikolas Haass <>;
Sent: Monday, October 7, 2013 11:31 AM
Subject: Oriental Plovers @ Long Reef
Unfortunately the rouge tennis-ball chasing dog only flushed the Orientals, and
this bird remained firmly on the ground - thus we didn't even see the armpits
and had no reason to question or initial Grey Plover ID until we got home, let
alone consider AGP. The 12 PGPs that Mark saw yesterday were gone, and it was
only the 3 birds (2 Oriental and this one). In the field, it didn't seem to
look or behave like a PGP, and we misinterpreted the size of the bill, which
lead to us being so confident on Grey. I completely agree now that it is a
golden plover, and yes, PGP of course much more probable. I have never seen
this plumage state before though - is it age related (eg: a young bird), or
just an a-typical moult?
Cheers,
Joshua Bergmark
On 7 October 2013 12:20, Nikolas Haass <> wrote:
Hi Josh et al.
>
>
>Your bird seems to have too long tertials and too short primaries and it looks
>too short-winged, too long-billed and too long-legged to me to be an AGP but
>I'd like to see more detailed photos to make a clear statement.
>
>
>From the sounds of it you had the opportunity to directly compare the bird in
>question with 12 PGPs and 2 (-3) Oriental Plovers to be able to judge size and
>structure. Here some field marks for the four tundra plovers (Pluvialis):
>
>
>Grey Plover is conspicuously larger/heavier than GPs; chunkier; large-headed;
>heavy-billed; black axillaries and white rump are diagnostic - any views of
>the axillaries/rump?
>
>
>EGP: Chunky (intermediate between Grey and AGP/PGP); rounder body; shorter
>legs; relatively even smaller bill; white axillaries are diagnostic.
>
>
>AGP has a longer primary projection than PGP (AGP: 4-5 primary tips visible
>beyond the tertials (sometimes difficult, when tertials are missing or when
>primaries are missing or growing): PGP: normally 3 primary tips visible (but
>sometimes 4 or even 5 depending on the caveats listed above)
>AGP has a longer wing projection than PGP (AGP: wings protrude conspicuously
>beyond tail, PGP's wings similar in length to tail or just longer than tail) -
>again: this is dependent on moult status
>Distance between P9 and P10 longer in AGP than PGP
>AGP has shorter tibiae than PGP
>AGP has shorter toe projection than PGP (AGP toes as long as tail in flight;
>PGP's toes protrude beyond tail)
>AGP has shorter, more conical bill than PGP.
>Colouration differences between the two species depend on age and seasonal
>plumage.
>
>
>Cheers,
>
>
>Nikolas
>
>
>----------------
>Nikolas Haass
>
>Brisbane, QLD
>
>
>
>________________________________
>
>From: Joshua Bergmark <>
>To:
>Sent: Monday, October 7, 2013 10:25 AM
>
>Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Oriental Plovers @ Long Reef
>
>
>Further to this, it has been pointed out that our "Grey Plover" is not so.
>General consensus seems to be PGP, however AGP has been raised. Does anyone
>more experienced than me have thoughts on this?
>
>
>http://imgur.com/a/KFYUd
>
>
>Cheers,
>Joshua Bergmark
>
>
>_______________________________
>
>
>
>On 7 October 2013 09:20, Joshua Bergmark <> wrote:
>
>> Glad you found them yesterday Mark, such great birds! Did you notice the
>> Grey Plover there with them?
>>
>> Oriental Plover 1: http://imgur.com/SEQoq7h
>> Oriental Plover 2: http://imgur.com/0Fmw8MZ
>> Grey Plover: http://imgur.com/BTiK7WU
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Joshua Bergmark
>>
>>
>>
>
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