ML617434577
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Immature Unknown sex - 1
- Behaviors
- Foraging or eating
Media notes
Wings extend well beyond tail in a shorebird larger than small peeps, like the probable Least Sandpiper behind it -- though not showing yellow legs. (Features suggesting the Least Sandpiper ID are overall brownish plumage, markings on breast as opposed to clean white breast, and short, thin, decurved bill.) The Baird's in the foreground, in contrast, has a whiter face and a proportionally longer, straighter bill. The legs are dark, as they should be on Baird's, and the closer view, with more leg appearing out of the water, gives confidence it is not an artifact of lighting, as it may be on the peep in the background. Further confirmation of Baird's is the appearance of black spotting on the back and scapulars, and some whitish areas. This would appear to be an early stage of the breeding plumage of Baird's, which Sibley (2nd) describes as "silvery with black spots." The overall color is brown with apparently some buff (on breast). The scaly wing feathers are what would be expected in a Baird's almost a year old, retaining its juvenile scaly wing feathers until the post-breeding season full molt into adult basic plumage.
Observation details
In the foreground, with wings extending beyond the tail. Compare with peep in background.
Technical information
- Model
- DC-G9
- ISO
- 800
- Focal length
- 224 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire
- f-stop
- f/5.2
- Shutter speed
- 1/5000 sec
- Dimensions
- 560 pixels x 784 pixels
- Original file size
- 98.56 KB