I don't see why the photos aren't Hudsonian... Typical of Hudsonian, the birds are quite different in plumage, a feature more pronounced in Huds while MAGO are more uniform between birds in a group. The contrasting dark underparts and paler head, esp on the right bird, typical of Hud. The upperparts don't look particularly pale and spangled IMHO in this photo. Size can be tough to judge from a single photo, but even in this photo, these birds look roughly the same size as the Willet... if you imagine the Willet were turned sideways in profile view and with its head up, its not any smaller than the godwits. Also I don't see how one can accurately assess molt pattern from this one poor resolution photo. Overall the color and jizz look OK for Hudsonian. Spent years in a region where Hudsonian was the much more numerous and expected species, and I just get the Hudsonian vibe from this pic, though looking on a small low quality monitor right now. Did anyone else see the birds in person? Derek Hill Fort Collins
RE: https://ebird.org/checklist/S68290924 <https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Febird.org%2Fchecklist%2FS68290924&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGgf2g8irDBOt3oIynBqKNGkAIyVg> On Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 8:52:41 PM UTC-6, Bryan Guarente wrote: > > My wife and I had a chance encounter this evening with two Hudsonian > Godwits on the NW side of Lagerman Reservoir. Poor photos can be found in > the eBird checklist below. Light was getting poor and the rains were > starting to build in, so hopefully the photos can prove something. If the > photos can't prove anything, here is my description for good measure. > > Two godwits actively feeding with Willets. Godwits were larger than the > willets by a couple of inches (made me wonder about the other godwit > species which are larger). Strongly bi-colored, slightly upturned beak > (orange at the base, black halfway down and until tip; upturned beak rules > out Black-tailed Godwit). Black legs. Male had a strong white supercilium > and malar area which contrasted greatly with the grey-brown face. > > The female of the pair was strongly marked on the back (dark grey-brown > circles on an off-white background). Female also had strong face pattern > with white supercilium and malar (ruling our Bar-tailed... but I sure > tried) that contrasted with the rest of gray/beige face. Female had some > slightly darker rufous tones to the belly. > > Other shorebirds at the reservoir were: > 32 Long-billed Dowitchers > 3 Willets (Western) > 20 American Avocets > 3 Semi-palmated Sandpipers > 1 Greater Yellowlegs > 9 Wilson's Phalaropes > 4 Killdeer > > Full checklist and poor photos below. > https://ebird.org/checklist/S68290924 > <https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Febird.org%2Fchecklist%2FS68290924&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGgf2g8irDBOt3oIynBqKNGkAIyVg> > > Hopefully they stick around through the night and someone can get better > photos. You are going to ask me what the winds say about whether this bird > will stick around... another email might be coming out in a minute about > that. > > Thanks > Bryan > > Bryan Guarente > Meteorologist/Instructional Designer > UCAR/The COMET Program > Boulder, CO > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/e860448e-0589-4849-87b0-e4c82b792104%40googlegroups.com.
