Kyle Driggers writes of the Lake Contrary
stint:
(1) I distinctively remember that the one at
Lake Contrary did have white on it's throat/chin that stopped abruptly at the
top of the breast. ...(2) Is this representative of a juvenile or
alternate plumage? (3) Is there any question as to the
identification?
(1) I do not recall seeing as much white on the
stint's chin as is depicted in the Sibley guide. At least, if it was there, it
did not contrast as much.
(2) My recollection is of a bird in alternate
plumage, which had begun to fade from red to pink. (The bird at www.oceanwanderers.com/RNS.NY.html had
not yet begun to fade). What Kyle may remember as "white" I may remember as
"pink."
(3) The Lake Contrary record,
including photos, which I understand have been taken, will be reviewed by the
Missouri Bird Records Committee. Although most people who saw the bird
(including myself) apparently believe it was a Red-necked Stint, the ID won't be
official until the records committee reviews the write-ups and photos. Personal
recollections are notoriously unreliable, so the committee will undoubtedly be
most influenced by the photos and by any contemporaneous field notes that were
taken. (I assumed that Roger McNeil and Chris Hobbs, who got there before me,
would both be making reports, so I did not take written notes. Shame on me!)
Anyone who took field notes while watching the bird
should submit them in a report to MBRC.
If you can't wait for the MBRC and want to
speculate now, I posted the following on the 29th. Since then, I have seen a
post that mentions gray primaries and lack of a slight droop to the tip of the
bill as additional marks favoring Red-necked Stint. (I did not know enough to
look for gray primaries or that Little Stint may have a slight droop to its
bill, but did note the apparent absence of orange wing coverts and
tertials.)
"Now for the
question, which stint is it?
The following features favor Red-necked
Stint:
Size: Significantly larger than Least, which I saw in direct
comparison.
(But still in the "small peep" category; not close to Sanderling
size)
Bill: Significantly thicker than Least's. Closer to Semi's, but
lacking
bulbous tip. (At one point, the stint was standing with a Least on
one side
and a Semi on the other!)
Throat: Throat and neck were
rufous. A Little Stint should have had a white
throat, which this stint
lacked.
Wings: Had long-winged look of R-N Stint.
Mantle: I did
not notice any "braces". The scapulars and mantle generally
had significant
amounts of rufous. I did not notice the orange wing coverts
and tertials the
Little Stint is supposed to have.
Color: Although the head and neck
color were somewhat faded compared to the
Sibley illustration, I definitely
thought the color was rufous, not orange.
Behavior: The bird fed slowly
and deliberately. It did not dart around, as
the Little Stint is supposed to
do.
The following feature may favor Little Stint:
Leg length: I
was expecting shorter legs.
For me the two most persuasive marks are the
bird's size (Little would be
close to Least, not larger) and completely
rufous neck."