tags: Black-Bellied Plover, Pluvialis squatarola, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Black-Bellied Plover, Pluvialis squatarola, photographed at Quintana, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 8 April 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/750s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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My best guess is a Semipalmated Sandpiper. The dark beak, dark red, and gray brown mottled look are the fieldmarks. I'm hesitating because Texas looks like way out of the breeding range, but for early april I guess it could still be in migratory.
Sea- and Shore- birds are hardly my forte, so this could easily be wrong!
It's a plover. That's all I'll say for now. Anybody else want to take a crack at it? (I do know what it is, by the way.)
I thought it looked like a plover yesterday, but couldn't get to comment then.
Black feathers just coming in below.
Largish bill, so going with black-bellied plover.
Would love to have the bird turn around to the left and raise its right wing...
Good call with Black-bellied Plover. In addition to the large bill, there's no yellow in the new feathers on the back and wing coverts. (you can actually see the contrast between spotted new feathers and brown older ones). Also, the crown is fairly pale, with distinct whitish edges on the feathers. Any Charadrius that "should" be in Texas would have a plain back, and all of the Golden Plovers would have some yellow in the back feathers, and a darker crown. In addition, if you look closely at the left foot you can see what looks like a hind toe. The only Plover in North America that actually has one is the Black-bellied. (Apparently, European Golden-Plover does as well, according to the illustration in Sibley's. Anyone have more info on this? Sibley's very good, but this is the sort of detail that would be easy to get wrong.)