_Specimens examined._--Total number, 39 (11 males, 27 females, 1
unsexed), as follows: Mariana Islands, USNM--Guam, 16 (June 4, 6,
July 16, 24, Aug. 6, 27, Sept. 4, 6, 27, Oct. 23); AMNH--Saipan, 1
(Sept. 8),--Guam, 5 (Feb. 11, Mar. 4, 13, Sept. 14, Dec. 5); Palau
Islands, USNM--Peleliu, 7 (Sept. 6-8, 16); AMNH--exact locality not
given, 4 (Nov. 8); Caroline Islands, USNM--Truk, 1 (Dec. 13);
AMNH--Truk, 3 (Feb. 6, 26, Oct. 14),--Kusaie, 2 (Mar., April).
_Weights._--Weights of birds obtained by the NAMRU2 party were as
follows: three males from Guam, 90-104 (95); six females from Guam,
99-116 (104).
_Remarks._--It is not clear whether some of the accounts cited above
refer to this species or to the species, _Heteroscelus incanus_. Owing
to the fact that specimens used in some of these early reports have not
been examined by me, the identifications of the birds concerned cannot
be verified and consequently it is impossible to be certain to which
species some of the references pertain. In listing these accounts in the
literature, I am following Sharpe (1896:455) whenever possible.
Tattlers were among the first birds observed and taken in Micronesia.
Quoy and Gaimard found them in the Marianas, and Kittlitz and Kubary
recorded the species in the Carolines. Kubary also reported the birds at
the Palaus.
The Gray-tailed Tattler apparently does not reach the Marshall Islands
but visits only the western part of Micronesia. Stickney (1943:2) shows
a map of the known geographic range of this species in Micronesia. The
separation of _H. brevipes_ and _H. incanus_ in the field is not always
possible. For identification, the NAMRU2 party depended primarily on
specimens collected. At Guam, specimens of _H. brevipes_, thought to be
nonmigratory, were taken in early June. These were in winter plumage.
Beginning in mid-July there was an increase in the number of tattlers
seen; apparently fall migration had begun. At Peleliu in September,
1945, the NAMRU2 party found tattlers to be numerous. Apparently all
were of this species; no _H. incanus_ were taken there. On September 8,
approximately 75 individuals in small and large flocks were counted at
Akarakoro Point on the tidal flats. The birds remained apart from the
other shorebirds which were feeding at the same locality.
=Heteroscelus incanus= (Gmelin)
American Wandering Tattler
_Scolopax incana_ Gmelin, Syst. Nat., 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 658. (Type
locality, Eimeo = Moorea, Society Islands and Palmerton Islands.)
_Totanus oceanicus_ Lesson, Mamm. et Ois., 2, 1847, p. 244
(Kusaie); Hartlaub, Archiv f. Naturgesch., 1852, p. 135
(Carolinen); _idem_, Journ. f. Ornith., 1854, pp. 167, 168
(Carolinen, Mariannen).
_Tryanga glareola_ Kittlitz, Denkw. Reise russ. Amer. Micron. und
Kamchat., 1, 1858, p. 365, 2, pp. 55, 86 (Ualan).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account