fneil 14/11/2008 21:47
Unknown wader
Photographed this bird in flight yesterday. Looks like a dowitcher but I'm not sure which one. Help? Neil
Nikon D3 plus Nikon 500/4 G ED AFS VR
Mai Po Nature Reserve,
Hong Kong,
China.
November 2008
gary 14/11/2008 22:13
looks like long-billed Dowitcher.
It seems quite rare for this sp. in autumn.
cgeoff 15/11/2008 15:10
It's probably almost impossible to say for sure that this is Long-billed, as opposed to Short-billed. But Gary is correct to say Long-billed, as the Records Committee treats all records of non-Asian dowitchers as Long-billed. It's much more likely to occur and based on breeding plumage birds and a couple of juveniles, it's the only one that's been proven to occur.
Geoff