I.D. please?

[Crimson King]

If you can help with this, I'd appreciate it......have been getting a few differing opinions elsewhere, so I thought it'd be fun if you guys could help too.
Thanks!
Pinellas county, FL. 2/16/14




:Mark

[chrish]

Red Knot. What else has been suggested?

[Crimson King]

a few had said dunlin, one said stilt sandpiper, and another least sandpiper....
I lean towards red knot or dunlin.. I thought legs were wrong color for dunlin?
haha. I'm new to this!

:Mark

[cbernz]

Shorebirds - kind of the deep end of the pool as far as learning bird ID goes! All 4 birds you mention are superficially the same grayish-whitish curve-billed sandpiper. The differences seem very subtle until you really get used to them. This one looks like a Knot to me as well.

[Crimson King]

Thanks. Yeah, I'm finding out quickly that so many are quite similar, especially in non-breeding/juvenile colors etc.
I originally had red knot on the photo but like I said, had some other suggestions. Dunlin seemed closest of those. Like I said, I'm new to this (shorebird peeps) so..........

:Mark

[J-Miz]

Another Red Knot vote.

[chrish]

Dunlins have dark legs and aren't that "chunky" looking as Red Knots. They are also smaller.

Winter (basic) plumage Dunlin -



For comparison, a Dunlin is not much bigger than a Sanderling. It is a bit longer looking due to its long bill and slender build, but not much taller or heavier.

Here's a Red Knot compared to a sanderling. It is a noticeably bigger bird that either Dunlin or Sanderling.



The stocky bill is also more Knot like. Dunlin's bill tapers noticeably as it decurves.

Stilt Sandpiper is a tall thin species more remniscent of a yellowlegs in morph than a small sandpiper. Least Sandpipers are tinier than that.

I've always thought that Red Knots looked like they are big enough to be bother eating.
The others (Dunlins, peeps, White-rumpeds, Baird's, Sanderlings, etc) wouldn't be worth the trouble.

I know they intimidate people at first, but sandpipers are really not that hard if you just go somewhere, set up a scope and watch them. Unlike a lot of other bird species, if you put a scope on them from a distance, you can watch them for a long time and compare them with similar species since they feed together in multispecies groups. That's hard to do with Warblers.

You can learn to ID most species with just a quick glance when you learn their different gestalts. Some species that field guides make confusing (White-rumed/Baird's Sandpipers versus the Western/Least/Semipalmated group) are really pretty easy to separate at a glance once you get a feel for them.

Now sparrows,.....they suck. I know the sparrow people tell me the same thing I just said above, but I don't believe it!

[Crimson King]

Haha! I believe you Chris. And thanks for the help. In the short amount of time I've paid attn. to any of them, I have noticed small differences in their mannerisms, etc. I just need to i.d. which one is doing which!

and the warblers/sparrows??? Well maybe I'll get lucky enough to never have one hold still long enough for me to get a shot.....Then I won't have to worry about any of it....

:Mark