ML59827971
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Adult, Unknown sex - X
Observation details
Due to my inexperience with May SBDO and a lack of clean calls from the bird, I sought help from Dave Shuford, a senior scientist at Point Blue. June 23 addition: I recently found time to add several videos to Youtube. The highest numbered videos are the best quality. In addition I asked Dave Shuford from Point Blue (formerly PRBO) for his opinion on the bird: "After looking at the video clips I too think this is a Short-billed Dowitcher by a combination of factors. For starters, in the higher numbered clips one at times can see the entire bill exposed, which looks relatively short to me. Also, there is some white on the belly, and flanks heavily spotted rather than barred, which both are typical of SBDO but not LBDO. Gather LBDO would have heavily spotted foreneck, and white fringes to scapulars, both of which seem to be lacking in the bird in clips. The National Geo has a good description of the ID of these two species, and discussed the plumage differences in the various subspecies of SBDO (with map of their occurrence in back; AZ an area of uncertainty). I also like calls, even when birds are in breeding plumage, but those are not always possible to get as in your case." Video clips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzVbC3vCQqU&index=1&list=UU2ArNUfHZuwANwH7O9VndEQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz_cdJzk7Sk&index=2&list=UU2ArNUfHZuwANwH7O9VndEQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQbbgFqU59I&list=UU2ArNUfHZuwANwH7O9VndEQ&index=4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4PbL2o9F4w&index=3&list=UU2ArNUfHZuwANwH7O9VndEQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4PbL2o9F4w&index=3&list=UU2ArNUfHZuwANwH7O9VndEQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0326t7gdpVY&index=6&list=UU2ArNUfHZuwANwH7O9VndEQ Plenty of footage and heard fluty, triple note call. Will add. Still am cautious on this ID and not certain, need to review and will add media and more notes--- I have not tried to call AZ May SBDO in the past, save one I heard flush in La Paz County and which gave its distinctive call at flush. I imagine I have missed a handful of spring SBDO on occasion in AZ, assuming they were much more common LBDO. This bird caught my attention because it twice gave flute-like, triple note calls, but the calls were brief (I never flushed it), and I was wary that I was fooling myself and that they were just gurgles that sounded SBDO-like. The bird was very confiding and I had unlimited time with it; I have multiple videos if desired, but the eBird platform does not take .mov files to my knowledge. I have included a photograph as well as screen shots of video. I referenced Cin-Ty Lee's Birding article for this identification, working on underscoring morphological and plumage traits that might separate this from a Long-billed Dowitcher. Forgive me if I have misinterpreted Lee's prose; at times it is difficult to tell what Lee meant. In each photograph the bird's relative short bill, drooping at its lower 1/3, is apparent. The bird's steep forehead and relatively higher-placed eye produce an arched supercilium and a more severe loral angle. The black-centered coverts and scapulars with white edging appear more triangular to me than squared, though I think Lee's article could use some work at better explaining this. The lower back does not look indented the way one would expect in a Long-billed Dowitcher. The degree of side-spotting matches other SBDO presented in the Lee article.
Technical information
- Model
- iPhone 7
- Lens
- iPhone 7 back camera 3.99mm f/1.8
- ISO
- 20
- Focal length
- 4 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire, auto
- f-stop
- f/1.8
- Shutter speed
- 1/580 sec
- Dimensions
- 571 pixels x 426 pixels
- Original file size
- 337.69 KB