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Carol Horner | all galleries >> Birds of Ontario >> Sandpipers and Phalaropes > 2334 Is it a Spotted Sandpiper or a Solitary Sandpiper? Please add your comments!
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31-JUL-2010

2334 Is it a Spotted Sandpiper or a Solitary Sandpiper? Please add your comments!

Port Perry, Ontario

Actitis macularius or Tringa solitaria?
At the time I photograhed this bird I was quite certain it was a Spotted Sandpiper, based on the behaviour, however, Geoff suggests in his comment that this is not Spotted but rather Solitary, so I scoured my books and polled some birder friends and I now I just don't know!
Here is a summary of the characteristics in favour of Solitary Sandpiper:
Tail barring, eye, ring, slate gray back colour, fully dark bill (should be dull orange in Spotted in fall) and posture with neck extended.
Characteristics in favour of Spotted Sandpiper:
Long tail, white throat (Solitary shows streaking on throat and upper breast), white in front of the wing, lack of spotting on back and stripe through the eye.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS
1/1000s f/5.6 at 420.0mm iso200 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Carol Horner04-Dec-2010 12:56
Here's some coments I received from Burke:
I think photo 2334 is a (juvenile?) Spotted Sandpiper because it looks to me like the primary tips are shorter than the tail (not true in Solitary). The whitish area on the flank, in front of the folded wing, which has the darker smudge in front of it seems typical of Spotted too. The eye ring is pronounced, but seems to not have the whitish supercilium in the front of the eye, which a juv. Solitary should have
Geoff 30-Aug-2010 21:57
Hi Carol ... this looks like a Solitary Sandp. to me ...
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