On 30 July two ABA Code-3 Curlew Sandpipers (Calidris ferruginea) were reported in southern California, one eBird report by Tina Greenawalt was from San Diego NWR and the other was reported from 7th St Pond in Imperial Beach by Jay Keller.
Curlew Sandpiper is a Eurasian species breeding in low areas in the high Arctic. Although no subspecies are recognized, females from northeastern Siberia are less darkly barred than females in the western parts of the sandpiper’s range. This long-distance migrant leaves its breeding grounds in July through September. Like many shorebird species, many one-year-old birds remain in their wintering areas throughout the summer (coastal sub-Saharan Africa, India, Australia, and southern Asia). Curlew Sandpipers are more frequently reported from the Atlantic than from the Pacific coast but they have bred in Alaska (The Shorebird Guide, O’Brien et al.).
Curlew Sandpiper has breed with other Calidrids producing some interesting hybrids. The recently discovered "Cox's Sandpiper" has been shown to be a hybrid between Curlew Sandpiper and most likely Pectoral Sandpiper (Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 3). Mitochondrial DNA of "Cox's Sandpiper" is identical to Curlew Sandpiper DNA and since mitochondrial DNA is inherited, the female parent was a Curlew Sandpiper. "Cooper's Sandpiper" is now thought to be a hybrid between Curlew Sandpiper and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. Curlew Sandpiper has also hybridized with White-rumped Sandpiper (HBW, Volume 3).
The Imperial Beach bird was originally found by Guy McCaskie on 24 July 2011. The Tina Greenawalt record is the same bird, but placed on the map erroneously to the east.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 01, 2011 at 02:56 PM