Curlew sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea )and Sharp-tailed sandpipers (Calidris acuminata)
The sharpies are the more speckled birds, the curlews have the whiter cleaner breasts and a slightly downcurved bill.
Photographed at Te Waihora / Lake Ellesmere, Canterbury New Zealand.
The Calidris sandpipers are a bewildering group of small to medium-sized waders, many of which are very similar to each other. Almost all are long-distance migrants, and so are capable of crossing the vast expanses of ocean required to get to New Zealand. Four members of the genus visit New Zealand often enough to be considered regular migrants, but another 12 species have been identified in New Zealand on at least one occasion.
The curlew sandpiper is a small slender sandpiper about the size of a wrybill, which is also the species it usually associates with at high tide in New Zealand. It is a regular summer visitor to New Zealand, but in declining numbers. The global population is thought to be increasing but the East Asian-Australasian Flyway population is in decline. Probably fewer than 40 birds now reach New Zealand each summer.
The sharp-tailed sandpiper is one of the regulars, along with lesser knot, red-necked stint and curlew sandpiper. Until the 1990s, up to 200 sharp-tailed sandpipers visited New Zealand each summer, and could be found in flocks of 5-10 birds at favoured estuaries and wetlands scattered throughout the country. Their numbers have since plummeted, and perhaps as few as 30 birds are now reaching New Zealand each year. Because New Zealand is on the edge of the sharp-tailed sandpiper range, it is unclear whether the large decline in the number of birds arriving here mirrors overall population trends, or whether it reflects a change in migration patterns, with a lower proportion of birds crossing the Tasman Sea.
Both the common name and the scientific name (acuminata) refer to the individually sharply-pointed tail feathers, a feature only apparent if the bird is in the hand. (Info source: www.nzbirdsonlione.org.nz)
Curlew sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea )and Sharp-tailed sandpipers (Calidris acuminata)
The sharpies are the more speckled birds, the curlews have the whiter cleaner breasts and a slightly downcurved bill.
Photographed at Te Waihora / Lake Ellesmere, Canterbury New Zealand.
The Calidris sandpipers are a bewildering group of small to medium-sized waders, many of which are very similar to each other. Almost all are long-distance migrants, and so are capable of crossing the vast expanses of ocean required to get to New Zealand. Four members of the genus visit New Zealand often enough to be considered regular migrants, but another 12 species have been identified in New Zealand on at least one occasion.
The curlew sandpiper is a small slender sandpiper about the size of a wrybill, which is also the species it usually associates with at high tide in New Zealand. It is a regular summer visitor to New Zealand, but in declining numbers. The global population is thought to be increasing but the East Asian-Australasian Flyway population is in decline. Probably fewer than 40 birds now reach New Zealand each summer.
The sharp-tailed sandpiper is one of the regulars, along with lesser knot, red-necked stint and curlew sandpiper. Until the 1990s, up to 200 sharp-tailed sandpipers visited New Zealand each summer, and could be found in flocks of 5-10 birds at favoured estuaries and wetlands scattered throughout the country. Their numbers have since plummeted, and perhaps as few as 30 birds are now reaching New Zealand each year. Because New Zealand is on the edge of the sharp-tailed sandpiper range, it is unclear whether the large decline in the number of birds arriving here mirrors overall population trends, or whether it reflects a change in migration patterns, with a lower proportion of birds crossing the Tasman Sea.
Both the common name and the scientific name (acuminata) refer to the individually sharply-pointed tail feathers, a feature only apparent if the bird is in the hand. (Info source: www.nzbirdsonlione.org.nz)