[tonymitra]

We had seen a sharp tailed sandpiper at Reifel in September. Others had seen one at Boundary Bay too.

Then, yesterday, Rob told us in the evening, or a sharp tailed sandpiper hanging out among the log poles before the mansion. It was late in the evening, at around six, when I reached there, soon to be joined by Floyd. We found the bird. But, it did not look like a juvenile to me, so need it to be confirmed.

Is this a juvenile?

More importantly, it looked fat to me - almost bloated. As if, upon arriving on these shores, it has been exposed to the famous North American junk food industry. I had seen this bird in Asia, but my recollection was a slender bird, not a mini-balloon.

There are experts out here that have been birding for years, and have seen many sharp tailed sandpipers that end up on these shores over the years. Here is are two question to them -
does this bird appear to be a juvenile, and
Is it too fat or not ?

The bird was barely 60 ft from us at the dyke, long after the tide had receded. Our meeting came to an abrupt halt when a harrier glided by and the bird immediately took flight, and went straight towards the distant shore line.


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Thanks a lot
Tony

[miketabak]

Good find, this is indeed a juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpiper!

Unlike people, shorebirds cannot be too fat. This bird's shape is a result of it's posture and its feathers which can be fluffed creating the plump look.

[russellcannings]

Very interesting question, and I'm not sure if I really know enough to answer. Although I agree that this is probably a case of feather-fluffing, it should be recognized that birds (like humans) can indeed gain 'fat' which helps with insulation but more importantly is critical fuel for migration. Therefore a bird like this Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, with a long journey to Australia ahead (although no one really knows what happens to the juveniles that turn up on our coast), will be actively stocking up on fat. That would mean that the bird is fatter than it would be at the end of the journey. Can a large accumulation of fat be visible on a shorebird? Or can one notice a difference between that and a starving sandpiper? I'm not sure.

I DO know that this is easily visible in waterfowl. Biologists monitoring migrating Brant (geese) for instance have a criteria for measuring fat deposits, based on observable 'pot-belliedness' in the field. I'm sure we've all seen those fat mallards at Reifel!

Neat photo, certainly a rounder Sharpie than I've seen!

Russ Cannings