AninfluxofCommon
RingedPlovers(Ohiushi t'cu )in southern

Newfoundlandin autumn 006
JARED
CLARKE* BASICMEDICALSCIENCES(NEUROSCIENCE),
FACULTY
OFMEDICINEß MEMORIAL
UNIVERSITYOFNEWFOUNDLAND* ST.JOHN'S,NEWFOUNDLAND
A1B
3V6ß (EMAIL:jared_jjc@hotmail.com)

DAVE
BROWN
ß 7JEFFERS
DRIVE
ß MOUNTPEARL,
NEWFOUNDLAND
A1N
2V9ß (BALL:dave.browneC_•gmail.com)

Abstract
Meadows (24-28 August 24 1980; B. oenanthe) in eastern Canada and the AtThe fall migrationof 2006 sawthe ap- Mactavish) and an adult at Bellevue lantic coast of North America--anotherpearance of four Common Ringed Beach(14-16 August 2001; E Linegar commonbreedingspeciesin Greenland
Plovers (Charadrius hiaticula) in New- and others). The only documented and Baffin Island.
foundland, Canada. This was twice the recordsof thespecies
fromtheLower48
previousnumberof sightingsfor the United Statesare from Maine, an adult on Field encountersprovinceand an unprecedented
influx the SouthLubecFlats26 August-5Sep- ThefirstCommonRingedPloverof 2006,
for eastern North America south of thetember 2003 (Ellison and Martin 2004)
an adult(probablymale),wasdiscoveredon 20 Aubreedingrange.This paperdocuments and from Massachusetts (Veit and Pe- on a tidalbeachat Trepasseygust(D. Brown,J. Harding);thisindividtheserecords
andhighlights
thefeatures tersen 1993).
usedto identifythiscrypticandprobabb
During a four-weekperiod(20 Au- ual continuedto be seensporadicallyoverlookedspecies.
gust-17September2006),fourCommon throughthefollowingninedays.ThesecRingedPloverswere observedat loca- ond individual,an adult male, was found
Introduction
tions in southeastern Newfoundland:
29 Augustat BearCove,near the com(K. Knowles,
S. DexCommonRingedPlover,thoughprimari- threeadultsin worn breedingplumage munityof Renews
ly a Eurasianspecies,
breedsin western andonejuvenile.All fourbirdswerewell tar). This bird was well photographed
Alaska, Greenland, and in Arctic Canada documented
with photographs,
and two and documented over the next hour but
on the northeastern coasts of Baffin andwere seenby eight or more observers. was not relocated. Almost three weeks
Ellesmere Islands (Alderfer 2006). In The prevailingweatherpatternsin the later,on 16 September,a thirdCommon
easternNorthAmerica,CommonRinged days and weeks leading up to these RingedPloverwasdiscovered
on a small(D. Brown,J.
Ploveris rarelyrecordedoutsideof its recordswere characterizedby strong boatslipwayat St. ShotCs
winds.Coincident
with the Clarke). This bird, an adult (and preknown breedingrange. Prior to 2006, northeasterly
bya totalof
therewereonlytworecords
fortheisland plover observationswere numerous sumedfemale),wasobservedof Newfoundland: an adult at 1LAnseaux
records of Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe eightbirdersoverthenextfewhours.
Juvenile(left)
andadultCommon
RingedPlovers,
St.Shotts,
Newfoundland,17September2006.
Photo•]raph
byJaredClarke.

170

NORTH

AMERICAN

BIRDSCOMMON
RINGEDPLOVERSINSOUTHERNNEWFOUNDLAN
1

All threeadult CommonRinged
Plovers
associatedwithSemipalmated Plovers(C. semipalmatus)
andimmediately
stoodout amongtheircongenersby virtueof their paler,sandierupperparts,thicker breast
bands,and distinctfacialpatterns,
with more extensive white behindtheeye.Onaverage,
thepsammodro'•ma subspeciesof CommonRinged
Plover, which breeds in eastern

North America,is largerand perhapspalerabovethanSiberiantundrae and Europeanhiatacula,and
these distinctions serve to set themapartstill morefromSemipalmatedPlover (Paulson 2005). The moststrikingfeatureof theadultplovers
was the thick, black breast band,
most notable when the birds werestandingand alert. While band
thickness is variable between indi-

1.Adult(probablemale)
CommonRingedPIover,Trepassey,
20-29(here20)August2006.
Notethepale
brown
upperparts,
viduals,and its apparentthickness Figure
very
thick
black
breast
band,
broad
white
supercilium
extendingwellbehindtheeye,andlack
ofpaleorbitalring(observedasblackincanchange
with posturein all beltThelower
edge
ofthedark"mask"
meetsthebillprecisely
atthegape.
PhotographbyKengnowles.
ed ploverspecies(Sibley2000), a thefield).
typical Common Ringed Plovershowsa notablythickerbandthanatypicalSemipalmatedPlover.Finally, comparedto the adjacentSemipalmatedPlovers,theseadultCommon RingedPlovershad a more
contrasting
darkface"mask,"offset
by an extensivewhite forehead
patchand supercilium(the useof"supercilium"
hereindicateseitheracompleteor a partial supercilium,
one that extendsonly posteriorly
fromabovetheeye).
The features noted above weremore
thanenoughtomeritfurther•scrutiny,
but theywerenot enoughto confirm an identification of Com-monRingedPlover(seeDunn1993,Lakin and Rylands1997, Alderfer2006).Fortunately,closerinspectionof the birdsand excellentphotographsallowedfor confirmationofthree additional characteristics: de-Figure
2.Adult
male
CommonRingedPlover,Bear
Cove,
Newfoundland,
29August2006.
Note
thevery
thickblackbreastband.

facialpatternincludes
broad
black
auriculars,
offsetting
anextensive
whitesupercilium.
The
darkorbitalringandtailsof thefacialpattern,orbitalring Thedistinctive
taperedbillarealso
typicalofCommon
RingedPlover.
PhotographbyKenI(nowles.
color,andlackof webbingbetween long,the inner toes.All threeploversexhibiteda more contrastingmaskthan the white of the throat extended to a maleSemipalmatedPloverstypicallyhave
adultSemipalmatedPlovers,includinga pointabovethegapeandthejunctionof a faintwhitishmarkbehindtheeye;adultbroadearpatch(auricular)andadjacent the black lores with the bill was thus al- females
mayhavea moreextensive
postarea of black in the lower lores. This area
waysabovethe gape--a subtlebut im- ocularmark(or partialsupercilium)
thanof blackremained
evenlywidetowardthe portantdistinctionfromCommon
Ringed males, but the auriculars are browner,bill, so thatthe loweredgeof theblack in all plumages.
A thickwhitesupereili- creatingless contrastthan seen in an
terminatedpreciselyat thegape.Bycon- um extended
prominently
behindtheeye adult CommonRingedPlover.On eachtrast, the dark in the lower lores of the (and in mostcasesalsoabovethe eye), bird,thewhiteforehead
patchwaslarge
SemipalmatedPloversappearedinvari- borderingthe black auriculars,in all and taperedto a prominentpoint below
ablymore"pinchedtogether,"suchthat adult CommonRingedPlovers.Adult the eye.This featureis typicalof ComVOLUME

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COMMONRINGEDPLOVERSIN SOUTHERNNEWFOUNDLAND

Photographs
andscopeviewsshowed rings.Moreimportantly,
it wasconfirmed
man RingedPloverbut not of Semidocumented)
thatpalmated
Plover,whichgenerallyshows
a thatall threebirdshadveryinconspicu- (andphotographicallysmallerforehead
patchwith a straighter ousdarkorbitalrings;adultSemipalmat- all threebirdshadveryminimalwebbing
rear border.
ed Plovershave yellow-orangeorbital between the inner toes and none at all
between the outer toes. The most reli-ablecharacteristic
for distinguishing
betweenCommonRingedandSemipalmatedPloversisprobably
themoreextensive
webbing(palmation)betweenthe front
toesof Semipalmated(but especiallytheouter toes),which lendsthe speciesits
name.Twoof theadultCommonRinged
Plovers
wereheardto givethediagnostic
tODD-Illcall on several occasions,a callthatis moredrawnout,melancholy;
andflutelikethan the risingchu-wee
call ofSemipalmatedPlover.
Upon returningto studyand photographtheadultCommonRingedPloverat St. Shottgon 17 September,the authors discovereda juvenile--thus afourth bird. The identification of Com-

mon RingedPloveris juvenalplumage
has only recently been illuminated(Mullarney1991),but it is nowconsidered feasible and is treated in most

North Americanfieldguidesthat treat
CommonRingedPlover(e.g., Sibley
2000,Brinkley2007).Thebird'sslightly
largersize,palerupperparts,and thickbroken breast band first drew our atten-lion. We were able to gel extremely
closelooksat the feet(60x scopeviews
at less than 5 m), which confirmed thevirtuallackof webbtngbetweentheouter toes and thus identification of the in-dividualas a CommonRingedPlover.
Unobstructed
viewsof thefeetwerepossiblebecause
thebirdwasstanding
on awoodenslipway,asopposed
to a muddy
or sandyterrain.Closeinspection
andnumerousphotographsalso showed
thatthe loweredgeof the maskwasnot"pinched"and did indeed meet thegape,a featureindicativeof Common
Ringed in both juvenal and adultplumages.
Whereasall thenearbyjuvenile SemipalmatedPloverswere foundto have pale or orange-yellow
orbitalrings, this individualhad a uniformly
black ring visible onl), at very close
rangewith telescopes.
Thisbirdwaslater seen in close association with

Figure3.Adult(probablefemale)
CommonRingedPlover,St.Short's,
Newfoundland,
16-17
September
2006.
(3A)This
individual
wasnotably
largerandpalerthannearby
SemipalmatedPlovers.
Notethelack
ofvisible
orbitalringandhow
theloweredge
ofthemask(broaddar•lower
Ioralarea)
meets
thebillprecisely
atthegape.
The
white
foreheadpatch(orftonUet)
extends
below
theeyeinaprominent
point,
typicalofthisspecies.
Photograph
byPaulLmegar.
(3B)While
often
difficulttoobserve
inthefield,
thevirtuallack
ofwebbing
betweentheoutertoes
isdiagnostic
ofCommonRingedPlover.
PhotographbyDaveBrown.

172

theadult CommonRingedPlover,the twoeven posingtogetherfor photographs(perhaps
a firstforeasternNorthAmerica away from the breedinggrounds:Frontispiece).
Neitherof the St. Shottg
ploverswasseenagain.

NORTH AMERICANBIRDSCOMMON
RINGEDPLOVERSINSOUTHERNNEWFOUNDLAN
J

Discussion
Mullarney,K. 1991. Identificationof
New Jersey.
Despitethe few reportsof the species SemipaimatedPlover:a new feature. Sible):D. A. 2000. TheSibleyGuideto
awayfrom its North Americanbreeding BirdingWorld4: 254-258.
Bi•ds.Knopf,NewYork,New York.
range,CommonRingedPlovercertainly Paulson,D. 2005. Shorebirdsof No•th Veit, R. R., and W. R. Petersen. 1993.
occurson the continentas a vagrant,
America: The PhotographicGuide.
Bi•ls of Massachusetts.
Massachusetts
Audubon, Lincoln, Massachusetts.
andit seemsverylikely that thiscryptic
PrincetonUniversityPress,Princeton,species
occursmorefrequentlythanthe
few extralimitairecordswouldsuggest.
Amongflocksof SemipalmatedPlover,adult CommonRinged Ploversappear
paleraboveand largeroverall,with remarkablythick breastbandsand distinctive facial patterns.Such "candidates" should then be investigatedfurther for a dark orbital ring (rarelyfaintlyyellow[Aiderfer2006]) and thepatternof the lore-gapejunction.Juveniles may also be identified by this"mask"patternat the gape,by upperpart coloration,and by orbitalring coloration.The lack of webbingbetween
the outer toesand uniquecall are diagnosticfor CommonRingedPloverof
anyage.All of thesefeatures
shouldbe
documentedwith photographsand
videofootageand/oraudio-recordings,
astheyaresubtleenoughthattheymerit re-evaluationafter the field encounter,both by the observer(s) and local
records committees.

Acknowledgments
We aregratefulto KenKnowlesandPaulkinegatforgenerously
allowingusto use
their photographs,
and to BruceMacravish for his invaluable comments onthemanuscript
andphotographs.

Literature cited
Alderfer,J., ed.2006.NationalGeographicComplete
BirdsofNorthAmerica.
National Geographic
Society,Washing-\ton, D.C.

Brinkley,E. S. 2007. The National
WildlifeFederation
FieldGuidetoBirds
of NorthAmerica.Sterling,NewYork,New York.

Dunn, J. L. 1993. The identificationof

Semipalmatedand CommonRinged
Ploversin alternateplumage.Birding
25: 238-243.

Ellison, W. G., and N. L. Martin. 2004.

Thefallmigration2003:NewEngland
Region.NorthAmerican
Birds58: 3641.

Figure4.Juvenile
CommonRingedPlover,St.Short's,
Newfoundland
17September
2006.
(4A)Notethelack
ofvisiblering(deadyobserved
tobeblackinthefield)
andthelore-gapejunction(theloweredge
ofthedark"mask"
terLakin, I., and K. Rylands1997. The orbital
minatesatthegape).
Thechid(broken
breastbandis!•picalofCommon
RingedPlover.
PhotographbyJared
Clarke.
(4B)
SemipaimatedPloverin Devon:thethethicker
yellowlegs,
broader
chest,
blockierhead
andoverallbulky
appearance
oftheCommon
RingedPloversecondBritishrecord.BirdingWorld Note(rear)comparedtoSemipalmatedPlover(front).
PhotographbyDaveBrawn.

10: 212-216.

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