Semipalmated Sandpiper

Calidris pusilla (Linnaeus, 1766) (0, 1)

Photo © Gavin Chambers

STATUS

Nearctic. Monotypic.

OVERVIEW

The 1956 Fair Isle individual, as you can see by all the references, has caused quite an identification problem, which is still not resolved. Apparently there are Kodachrome slides, but where nobody knows.

---

1950-57 RECORD

1). 1953 Norfolk Arnold's Marsh, Cley-next-the-Sea, adult, 19th to 24th July, photo.

(A. H. Daukes, British Birds 47: 131-132, plates 27 & 28; Norfolk Bird Report 1953: photo; BOURC (1968), Ibis 113: 142; D. I. M. Wallace, British Birds 72: 264-274; British Birds 97: plate 110; Norfolk Bird & Mammal Report 2002: photo).

History A. H. Daukes (1954) in British Birds, Vol. XLVII. pp. 131-132, says: 'On July 19th, 1953, an unusual wader was observed on Arnold's Marsh, Cley, Norfolk, by P. R. Clarke, who pointed it out to P. D. Kirby, and R. A. Richardson. It was subsequently watched for some hours at a few yards range by these three observers, myself, Mrs. R. F. Meiklejohn, and W. F. Bishop, the official watcher of Cley Marsh.

We all came to the conclusion that it was a Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla). Attention was first drawn to the bird by its predominately grey colouring and its peculiarly leisurely method of feeding, rather after the manner of a Knot (Calidris canutus). In size the bird was slightly, but definitely, larger than a Little Stint (C. minuta), one of which was present for comparison, and in colour rather paler and more grey: the light backward pointing V mark on the back, which is a conspicuous feature of the Little Stint, was entirely lacking; the breast was streaked with grey and the under-parts were pure white. There was a noticeable black line from the top of the upper mandible to a point just behind the eye, where the line broadened into an irregular grey black band extending along the top of the ear-coverts, and there was a light superciliary stripe. The wing-coverts were much abraded, pointing to its being an adult bird in the last of its summer plumage. The bill was black, shorter and noticeably stouter than that of a Little Stint, and seemed to broaden at the end. The legs, when wet, appeared to be black, but when dry, were seen to be very dark olive green. The usual note was a husky, throaty "churup' and an occasional very faint "chit", the latter only audible at a few feet.

On the wing the bird looked very uniform grey, with an almost imperceptible wing bar: tail pattern much as Little Stint. Every endeavour was made to catch the bird, which was quite tame, and to identify its footprints, but the mud was too liquid for this to be done. A small hide was erected by R. P. Bagnall-Oakeley and 100 feet of colour cine-film were obtained at very short range, together with several "stills" down to a distance of six feet, two of which are reproduced here (plates 27 and 28). Copies of these were sent to Roger Tory Peterson, the well known American ornithologist, who wrote to say that the bird was quite definitely a Semipalmated Sandpiper.

The colour film has since been seen by many people including other New World ornithologists and all are agreed on the identification. This is apparently the third record for Europe, and the second for the British Isles.'

[We have also received a very full description and a sketch of the bird from R. A. Richardson. These provide more than adequate confirmation of the identification. - Eds.]

Admitted nationally as the first for Britain (BOURC (1968) Ibis, 113: 142).

Still accepted by D. I. M. Wallace (1979) in British Birds, Vol. LXXII. pp. 264-274, under 'Review of British records of Semipalmated Sandpipers and claimed Red-necked Stints'.

NOT PROVEN

0). 1907 Sussex Jury's Gap, immature, shot, 17th September.

(E. N. Bloomfield, Hastings & East Sussex Naturalist 1: 124-125; N. F. Ticehurst, British Birds 1: 223; Ticehurst, 1909; Walpole-Bond, 1938; Harrison, 1953).

[E. M. Nicholson & I. J. Ferguson-Lees, British Birds 55: 299-384 HR].

History E. N. Bloomfield (1907) in the Hastings & East Sussex Naturalist, Vol. I. pp. 124-125, says: 'I am again indebted to Messrs. N. F. Ticehurst, W. Ruskin Butterfield and Walter Field for the following notices of rare birds which have occurred in our own and in neighbouring districts. In the neighbouring districts - Ereunetes pusillus, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Littlestone, September 17th, 1907, here recorded for the first time as a British bird.'

N. F. Ticehurst (1907) in British Birds, Vol. I. p. 223, says: 'On September 19th last I had the opportunity, through the kindness of Mr. Bristow, of examining a small wader which he had just received for preservation. He at first thought it was a Little Stint, but on taking it up to skin he noticed the webbing at the base of the toes and, as soon as he had finished stuffing it, he brought it up to me to identify. Having compared it with skins of the Little, Temminck's, and American Stints, and with descriptions, we made out that it was, without doubt, a specimen of the American Semipalmated Sandpiper (Ereunetes pusillus). It was an immature bird in autumn plumage, and had been shot two days previously by a shore-shooter at Jury Gap in Romney Marsh, not far from the Sussex and Kent boundary.

Of the three Stints mentioned above, the present specimen is most like the Little Stint (Tringa minuta) in a similar stage of plumage, but is paler on the back, and the edges of the long scapular feathers are of a paler sandy white. It is also more easily distinguished from any of them by its comparatively larger and stouter bill and the characteristic webbing between the bases of the three anterior toes.

In Eastern North America this is a widely distributed species in the summer, migrating south in the autumn through the West Indian Islands to the coasts of South America. So far as I have been able to ascertain this is the first occurrence of this bird in Europe. As with all additions to the British Avifauna it is highly desirable that this bird should have been submitted for examination to a meeting of the British Ornithologists' Club, and the record first made public through the official "Bulletin", and it is with great regret that I have had to depart from this custom in the present instance.

The gentleman, in whose possession the bird is at present, has declined to allow it to be exhibited, and in order that the record may not be lost it is here published.'

Accepted locally for Kent (Ticehurst 1909: 467).

Walpole-Bond (1938 (3): 177) says: '...shot on the Sussex-Kent boundary, at Jury's Gap, on September 17th, 1907, Unfortunately, however, it was just the wrong side of the divide, as affects us, when it came to grief.'

Comment Locality is in Sussex (Sussex Bird Report 1953: 5). Hastings rarity. Not acceptable.

0). 1956 Fair Isle Kirki Geo, 27th May to 3rd June, trapped 29th May.

(K. Williamson, Fair Isle Bird Observatory Bulletin 3: 111; K. Williamson, Fair Isle Bird Observatory Report 1955/56: 21; K. Williamson & H. G. Alexander, British Birds 50: 350-351; K. Williamson & H. G. Alexander, Scottish Naturalist 69: 145-147; E. V. Baxter, Scottish Birds 1: 30; I. C. T. Nisbet, British Birds 56: 55-58; S. Marchant, British Birds 56: 382-383; D. G. Andrew, Scottish Birds 2: 342; I. C. T. Nisbet, British Birds 56: 383; BOURC (1963), Ibis 105: 289; Thom, 1986; M. Garner, British Birds 98: 356-364; A. D. Prowse, British Birds 99: 149-151).

[P. A. Fraser and the Rarities Committee, British Birds 100: 713].

History K. Williamson & H. G. Alexander (1957) in British Birds, Vol. L. pp. 350-351, say: 'That there might be considerable difficulty in separating these two North American waders in the field did not occur to us until we found it necessary to make a decision in favour of one or the other with a small greyish wader at Fair Isle at the end of May 1956 (Williamson and Alexander, in press). This bird, first thought possibly to be a Baird's (Calidris bairdii), was in company with a group of Dunlins (C. alpina).

After watching for some time we provisionally identified it as either a Semipalmated (C. pusilla) or a Western Sandpiper (C. maurii) when it was seen through a telescope that the toes were partially webbed. Identification as the former was confirmed later by trapping. There are plumage-differences given for Baird's and Semi-palmated, but they appear to be slight, and plumage is notoriously difficult in waders when in change from winter to summer-dress and vice versa. Rowan (1926), Witherby et al. (1944) and others have discussed the difficulties: in both, the mantle-pattern could be described as "scaly" (Peterson, 1947), the wing- and tail-patterns are almost identical, and both have legs which appear to be black at short distance, but are in reality dark olive-green at close quarters.

In the case of the Fair Isle example we rejected Baird's because the bird was obviously smaller than a Dunlin, and we felt from a glance at the measurements given by Witherby (op. cit., pp. 238, 240, 268) that this ought not to be so (Baird's, male wing 116.5-127.5 mm., female 113-132mm.; Southern Dunlin schinzii, male 106-112mm., female 110-120mm.; Northern Dunlin alpina, male 111-116mm., female 111-117mm. with up to 122 mm. recorded). However, those who have recorded undoubted Baird's Sandpipers in this country in recent years have all stressed that their specimens were smaller than Dunlins (White, 1951; Fluke, 1953; Boyd, 1955). It would be highly dangerous, therefore, to attempt to discriminate between these two Americans on the basis of size-comparison with a Dunlin. Clearly this disparity is due to Baird's having a proportionately longer wing, and it has in fact been remarked that the wing-tip overlaps the tail-tip and gives the bird a pronounced "horizontal" stance (Fluke, 1953; Wallace, 1957). Moreover, one observer has commented that Baird's is proportionately shorter in the leg than a Dunlin (Boyd, 1955).

The Semipalmated at Fair Isle struck us as being a rather "upright" bird, due partly to the fact that the wings did not overlap the tail-end, and partly to its proportionately longer legs when it stood alongside a Dunlin. It seems to us that this difference in "jizz" may well be the most valuable field-character for distinguishing between these critical American species, especially on this side of the Atlantic where the Dunlin is their most likely company. The projection of the wing beyond the tail in Baird's is well seen in the excellent photographs of the Sussex-Kent example taken by G. des Forges (antea, Vol. XLVI. plates 44-45). Those of the Norfolk Semipalmated taken by R. P. Bagnall-Oakeley and published in British Birds (Vol. XLVII. plates 27-28) do not depict this bird in the same advantageous position; but other photographs taken at the same time, and which Mr. Bagnall-Oakeley kindly sent to us at Fair Isle, do indicate a wing-tip which falls short of the end of the tail by several millimetres.'

Accepted by E. V. Baxter (1958) in the Scottish Birds, Vol. I. p. 30, under 'Review of Ornithological Changes in Scotland in 1957', stating the date erroneously as 28th May 1957.

D. G. Andrew (1963) in Scottish Birds, Vol. II. p. 342, states that the 1956 Fair Isle record that was accepted by this Committee as the first for Scotland has now been proven to be a Western Sandpiper (Brit. Birds, 56: 55).

Not included by P. A. Fraser and the Rarities Committee (2007) in British Birds, Vol. C. p. 713, in his graph of previous records.

Comment Misidentified - unknown species. Not acceptable.

0). 1957 Fife Isle of May, 19th September.

(M. F. M. Meiklejohn, Scottish Birds 1: 35-37; W. J. Eggeling, Edinburgh Bird Bulletin 8: 41; E. V. Baxter, Scottish Birds 1: 118; D. G. Andrew, Scottish Birds 2: 342; Eggeling, 1985).

[D. I. M. Wallace, British Birds 72: 264-274].

History M. F. M. Meiklejohn (1958) in Scottish Birds, Vol. I. pp. 35-37, says: 'On 19th September 1957 on the Isle of May the wind was in the north-west and there had been north-westerly gales on the second and third days before that. In the afternoon I flushed a tiny wader from a small pool among the rocks of the South Ness. It flew towering into the air and, on account of this, I took it at first for a Temminck's Stint Erolia temmincki, but it uttered a call-note different from that of that bird. It had probably only just reached the island since it had not been at the place at which I flushed it half an hour before and, when it alighted again at another pool, it went to sleep. I managed to approach within ten yards, and watched it for about twenty minutes with 12 x 50 binoculars, before it became alarmed and flew off to the North Ness. Here brief views of it were obtained by N. G. Campbell, Miss W. U. Flower, M. E. French, A. C. Geddes and J. E. King, who were at least able to hear the bird's distinctive note and see its distinctive back pattern. It was not found again.

Size. Certainly smaller than a Dunlin Erolia alpina. Seemed larger than Little Stint Erolia minuta, with longer bill and legs in proportion. This may be illusory with regard to the legs, since the bird was standing On dry land, whereas the Little Stint is nearly always seen wading. The Handbook gives the same length for the tarsus in the Little Stint and the Semipalmated Sandpiper (which I believe the Isle of May bird to be).

Shape. A rather stout and upright little sandpiper. The wings looked slender in flight.

Voice. An abrupt chip constantly uttered in flight. This description, written in my notebook at the time, has almost precisely similar wording to that in The Handbook. Mr. James Anton, who knows the Semipalmated Sandpiper in Bermuda, tells me that the note is the feature by which the species is most readily identified.

Habits. On the Isle of May frequented shallow pools of fresh water among rocks. When flushed towered like a Temminck's Stint.

Plumage. Crown and nape grey, flecked darker, crown being darker than nape. Paler buffish feathers on sides of crown, forming faint line visible when head lowered to preen. Face pale buffish grey. White eyestripe, broader behind eye. White patch under eye. Chin whitish. Neck and throat pale grey on sides, whiter in centre. Grey suffusion on upper breast ("young birds have greyish buff suffusion right across", I. C. T. Nisbet in litt. See also Short and Snyder, Arctic Birds of America). Buff patch at side of breast. Back not seen so well as bird was consistently trying to sleep until frightened away by some unknown agent, but predominantly blackish, with very conspicuous V-the most noticeable plumage character- meeting on rump: this V was white at the shoulders, yellowish lower down. The white feathers were raised by the sleeping bird's bill, being then very conspicuous. Underparts white. Dark colouring at bend of wing (see Handbook IV, 249). Wing coverts scaly looking and black with greyish-buff edgings, becoming greyer lower down, not so yellow as in the Little Stint. The visible part of the primary coverts, when wing closed, white, so that line of demarcation between them and flanks difficult to perceive. Primaries black, about same length as tail, but probably a little longer ("the extension of the wings beyond the tail is a better character than I first thought, always conspicuous in Baird's, and only rarely so in Semipalmated, though sufficient often to make it unreliable as a clinching character". I. C. T. Nisbet in litt.). Secondaries dark with buff edgings. Tail black, outer feathers edged whitish. No prominent wing bar. Bill and legs black; bill slightly swollen at tip. Eye dark. The feet were unfortunately not seen, being concealed by a rise in the rock on which the bird was standing.

Identity. I believe the bird to have been a Semipalmated Sandpiper Erolia pusilla, probably, from the colouring of the secondaries and breast, a juvenile. Especially in the colour of the breast, a feature not mentioned in The Handbook, information from I. C. T. Nisbet supports my identification. There is one previous record of the species from Scotland. Similar species. I am too familiar with Erolia minuta and temmincki to confuse the Isle of May bird with either. From other American species of Erolia with which it is liable to be confused (minutilla, bairdii and mauri) it seems to be distinguished by the call-note and swollen tip to the bill. In addition from the American Stint minutilla by leg colour, lack of streaking on breast, buff breast colouring only on sides, and white feathering in dorsal V. From Baird's Sandpiper bairdii by greyish, rather than buffy, head back pattern, size and lack of streaking on breast. The Western Sandpiper mauri is rather a harder problem, but, in addition to the bill shape and call-note mentioned above, it lacked the warm brown nape and chestnut in the scapulars mentioned as diagnostic by Nisbet. I would like to express my gratitude to I. C. T. Nisbet for the use of his field notes on American "peeps".

Accepted by E. V. Baxter (1958) in the Scottish Birds, Vol. I. p. 118, under 'Review of Ornithological Changes in Scotland in 1958' as the first for the Isle of May. However, it is now accepted as the first for Scotland after the removal of the 1956 Fair Isle record under 'Review of Ornithological Changes in Scotland in 1962' (see D. G. Andrew, Scottish Birds 2: 342).

D. I. M. Wallace (1979) in British Birds, Vol. LXXII. pp. 264-274, under 'Review of British records of Semipalmated Sandpipers and claimed Red-necked Stints' rejected this record because the description did not suggest the species.

Eggeling (1985, 2nd ed.) however, accepted it even after Wallace (1979) had rejected it.