Wandering Tattler
Tringa incana
Medium-sized, gray shorebird with short yellow legs and straight bill. Elongated, horizontal posture. In breeding plumage, look for jaggedly barred underparts and thin white eyebrow; similar in winter but with plainer gray underparts. Usually found on rocks, where it typically forages independently while bobbing its tail up and down. Sometimes close to other rock-loving shorebirds like turnstones, Surfbird, and Rock Sandpiper. Compare with extremely similar Gray-tailed Tattler, which overlaps extensively in range in western Alaska, the South Pacific, Australia, and parts of Asia. Wandering is more closely associated with rocky habitats as opposed to beaches and mudflats, but this shouldn’t be used as a definitive field mark. Plumage differences are very subtle. In breeding plumage, Wandering averages coarser and more extensive barring on underparts, and juveniles usually have darker gray flanks. All ages have a longer groove on the upper mandible. Best characteristic is voice: Wandering typically gives a ringing trilled call, much different than Gray-tailed’s two- or three-noted “too-wee” call.
Identification
These birds have stocky bodies with gray upperparts, underwings, face and neck and a white belly. They have short dark yellow legs and a dark gray bill. Adults in breeding plumage are heavily barred underneath.<p>The call is a rapid trill of accelerating, staccato notes. They can consist of 3 or 4 beats, per call.
Taxonomy
The wandering tattler was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it in the genus Scolopax and coined the binomial name Scopolax incana. Gmelin based his description on the "ash-coloured snipe" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham's specimen had been supplied by the naturalist Joseph Banks. It had been collected in 1777 by William Anderson on the island of Mo'orea in the Society Islands during James Cook's third voyage to the Pacific Ocean. The wandering tattler was moved to the genus Heteroscelus which had been introduced by Spencer Fullerton Baird in 1858. and then in 2006 moved to the current genus Tringa based on a molecular phylogenetic study published the previous year. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin word given to the green sandpiper by the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1603 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific epithet incana is from the Latin incanus meany "light gray" or "hoary". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Tringa incana
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Tringa
Range and habitat
In summer, the wandering tattler is found in far-eastern Russia, Alaska, portions of the California coast and northwestern Canada. They nest in rocky areas along mountain streams. At other times, they are found on rocky islands in the southwest Pacific and on rocky Pacific coasts from California to South America and as far as Australia.<p>In the nonbreeding season it is well distributed throughout the Pacific, often seeking coastlines and isolated islands.
- Breeding range
- PAL, NA : subarctic montane tundra of far ne Palearctic and nw Nearctic: Chukotka (ne Siberia), Alaska mainland (except far n), Yukon, far NWT and nw British Columbia (nw Canada)
- Non-breeding range
- w USA and s PO islands : temperate to tropical, mainly rocky Pacific coasts: e Australia, se New Guinea satellites, Melanesia, Micronesia and all Polynesian groups including Hawaiian Is., isolated e Pacific islands including Clipperton (far sw of Mexico), del Coco (far sw of Costa Rica), Malpelo (w of Colombia) and Galápagos; sw Canada to Ecuador (e Pacific coast)
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
They feed on aquatic invertebrates such as crustaceans and marine worms. During breeding season, they also eat insects. While wading, they forage actively, making jerky bobbing movements.Feeding behaviors can include repeated returns to the same location over short periods of time. They can be seen flying low over a rocky coastline or along a jetty.<p>The female lays 4 olive-colored eggs in a shallow depression. Both parents incubate and help feed the young, who are soon able to forage for themselves.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Pogonotriccus eximius
Tiny and strikingly-plumaged flycatcher with a long tail and distinct face pattern. Has a gray crown, a broad white eyebrow with a vertical black crescent running behind the eyes. The body is olive-yellow above and bright yellow below. An uncommon and threatened inhabitant of the middle levels of montane forests and forest edges including Araucaria forests. The song is a high-pitched trill.
Swainson's Sparrow
Passer swainsonii
A drab sparrow of northeastern Africa. The head and underparts are gray, the wing and back are brown, and the rump is rufous. Generally common within its range in all habitats except closed-canopy forest. Fond of human habitation. Very similar to Northern Gray-headed Sparrow, but there is little overlap in range, and Swainson’s has darker underparts. Also very similar to Parrot-billed Sparrow, but slightly smaller and slimmer-billed, with paler underparts. The call is a ringing “churp.”
Zeledon's Antbird
Hafferia zeledoni
A nondescript antbird; male entirely black and female entirely dark brown. Only notable feature is the pale blue skin around the eye on both sexes. Listen for loud song, a series of even whistled notes. Rather large and chunky. Look for the tail being raised and lowered slowly. Typically found in pairs in the dark forest understory, sometimes following a mixed flock or ant swarm.
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