tags: Upland Plover, Bartram's Sandpiper, Upland Sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Upland Sandpiper, also known as the Upland Plover or as Bartram's Sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda, photographed in Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, Angelton, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 23 March 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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Here in Illinois there's only a scattered few breeding pairs -- and in the Prairie State, no less!
It took me a full day to see one of these in Canada, and the view wasn't as good as this superb picture.
Hm. This one is actually kind of tricky for me. The barring on the flanks and the color, shape, and size of the beak push me in one direction, but the bird's silhouette is totally wrong for that ID. But I can't make anything else work particularly well with the aforementioned flanks and beak.
So I'm going to assume this bird is hunching just to throw me off, and go with the bird whose specific epithet reminds me of a 2004 article in Wired magazine that talked about the unique feature of the Amazon and Netflix business model.
The bird I first thought of works for bill size and shape but it should have a long neck. I don't know if it could "scrunch" down as far as the bird in the picture. The bird I am thinking of would have a specific epithet meaning "long tail."
It's basically oblong, so it must be a brick. Looks a bit weathered.
It does have a long tail. I noticed that on the only one I have ever seen in overhead flight, which was very high above us and making overlapping loops as it flew toward the south.