Page 430 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

WADERS
Family Scolopacidae Species Bartramia longicauda Family Scolopacidae Species Micropalama himantopus
Upland Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper
An unusual, slim-necked, long-tailed wader of dry In water, when its long green legs are hidden, this
ground, the Upland Sandpiper looks rather like a slim, species is often mistaken for a grey Ruff, Redshank
young Ruff (see p.200) with shorter legs, a thin bill, (see pp.200, 187), or some other medium/small wader
and a dark-capped crown.The dark eyes stand out in winter plumage. Its long, thick, slightly downcurved
well on its pale face.The Upland Sandpiper bill is a useful clue. In summer, the barred underparts
is all-dark on wings and tail, dark dark and a rusty cheek patch are obvious. Juveniles are
and the underwing is dark crown eye marked with rufous above, streaked on the flanks, and
and closely barred. show a dark cap and pale stripe over the eye (dowitcher-
OCCURRENCE Very rare in like).A square white rump shows in flight.
autumn, from North America. thin OCCURRENCE Rare vagrant long,
VOICE Whistling, bubbling bill to NW Europe from North pale stripe thick
over eye
note, quip-ip-ip-ip America. bill
in flight. VOICE Soft, chirrupy trrr-p.
ADULT (WINTER)
JUVENILE
long tail

Length 28–32cm (11–12 1 ⁄2in) Wingspan 50–55cm (20–22in) Length 18–23cm (7–9in) Wingspan 37–42cm (14 1 ⁄2 –16 1 ⁄2in)

Family Scolopacidae Species Limnodromus scolopaceus Family Scolopacidae Species Gallinago media
Long-billed Dowitcher Great Snipe
This wader looks something like a cross between a Difficult to identify when out of its usual range, the
Redshank and a Snipe (see pp.187, 196): it is typically Great Snipe is a big, dark, heavy snipe with a rather
quite pale and rather plain in autumn or winter, with thick bill and heavy, dark underpart barring.The closed
a dark cap edged by a bold white line over each eye wing shows lines of white feather tips.In flight,the adult
(an obvious “V” from the front).The bill is long, thick, shows big white tail sides, reduced on a juvenile.The
and snipe-like, the legs short and greenish. In flight, it upperwing is a better clue, with a central dark band,
reveals a white wedge or long oval on the back and a edged with white,right across to the outer edge.Its low,
whitish trailing edge to the wing. Good views reveal heavy, quiet flight is also a fair clue.
broad black and narrow white OCCURRENCE Breeds in Scandinavia, Baltic
long,
bars on the tail. thick area, and eastwards; rare migrant
OCCURRENCE Regular bill in E Europe, vagrant in W.
thick
but still rare vagrant to VOICE Occasional bill
W Europe from deep croaks.
North America. ADULT
white tips
VOICE Short, to coverts
sharp kik or dark
barring on
keek, often underparts
repeated in
series such as close dark relatively short,
kip-ip-ip-ip. bars on tail green legs
JUVENILE
Length 27–30cm (10 1 ⁄2 –12in) Wingspan 42–49cm (16 1 ⁄2 –19 1 ⁄2in) Length 26–30cm (10–12in) Wingspan 43–50cm (17–20in)
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