White-faced Plover

[Brian S]

Dave Bakewell is still seeing White-faced Plovers in Malaysia. In recent posts he mentions six, with images of an ad male and a juvenile here

http://digdeep1962.blogspot.com/2008/10/15th-october-2008-tanjung-tokong.html

and most recently, in early Nov here

http://digdeep1962.blogspot.com/2008/11/11th-and-13th-november-2008-tanjung.html

You need to scroll down on both

Brian S

[jamesg]

The status of this form has recently been resolved (at least partially). Not entirely "new", but it was lost for a very long time owing to some early confusion... Full story below.

You've got to wonder how many other species lie overlooked in drawers of Asian birds - and how many will go extinct before we realise they exist...?

Kennerley, P. R. Bakewell, D. N., Round, P. D. (2008) Rediscovery of a long-lost Charadrius plover from South-East Asia. Forktail 24: 63-79

Abstract:
Observations involving several pale Charadrius plovers associating with Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrines in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, which do not resemble any known taxon, are discussed. Evidence is presented which establishes that these birds are Aegialites [Charadrius] dealbatus, described by Robert Swinhoe in 1870 as a species distinct from Kentish Plover. Subsequent confusion has resulted in this name being applied to the form of Kentish Plover that occurs in abundance in East and South-East Asia, while the true taxon dealbatus has been overlooked by almost all subsequent taxonomists, and mistakenly described and illustrated as Kentish Plover in all studies of this taxon. This paper suggests that this confusion arose, in part, due to misconceptions over the appearance of dealbatus, which resulted in many museum specimens of Kentish Plover from East Asia being incorrectly identified and erroneously labeled as dealbatus. Swinhoe did not designate a type specimen when he described dealbatus, and this was only done in 1896, from a composite series of Swinhoe’s specimens held at BM(NH) that comprised two taxa. Here, we formally select and describe a lectotype of Aegialites [Charadrius] dealbatus from Swinhoe’s pre-1870 specimens, list all known Swinhoe specimens of the composite taxa as paralectotypes of Aegialites [Charadrius] dealbatus and establish which specimens represent this taxon and which are Kentish Plover. Comparison with other small Charadrius plovers occurring in South-East Asia establishes the diagnosibilty of dealbatus as a distinct taxon that differs in aspects of plumage, behaviour, habitat preference and breeding distribution from the commonly occurring Kentish Plover in East and South-East Asia. Consistent morphological differences from Kentish Plover include a larger and heavier bill with a pale base to the lower mandible, pale pinkish-grey legs, light sandy-brown upperparts and a longer and more conspicuous wing bar, particularly across the primaries. We describe plumages differences between sexes and age classes, and compare dealbatus with Kentish and Malaysian Plover C. peronii. The breeding range remains uncertain but probably lies in coastal South China, and evidence suggests that dealbatus is allopatric with Kentish Plover, which breeds in northern China. An investigation to establish the phylogenetic relationship between dealbatus and other small Charadrius plovers is currently in progress. If dealbatus proves to be distinct at the species level, we recommend that the name Charadrius dealbatus with the English name ‘White-faced Plover’ is adopted. The name Charadrius alexandrinus nihonensis is available for the larger billed form of Kentish Plover breeding in north-eastern Asia. The true taxon dealbatus is believed to be rare but probably under-recorded.

[Brian S]

It would be good if observers could list their sightings, in an attempt to continue to clarify status. I know that Peter Kennerley is still gathering data on occurrence, so if anybody who sees them could list them here it would be great.

Brian S

[forktail]

You've got to wonder how many other species lie overlooked in drawers of Asian birds - and how many will go extinct before we realise they exist...?


People may be interested in this:

http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/cns26/NJC/Papers/How%20many%20Asian%20birds.PDF

it's a pdf of an article by Nigel Collar on the overlumping in the Asian avifuana (from an OBC Bulletin from 2001)

If you do go on a visit to the region you may want to take note of as many differing forms as you can, as armchair ticks will abound over the next few years and not necessarily the skulky lesser-known birds

F

[Brian S]

Forgot to post these relatively recent images from Dave B.

http://digdeep1962.blogspot.com/2010/11/5th-november-2010-tanjung-tokong-and.html

Interesting images next to Kentish.

Brian S

[Brian S]

A great image on World Rarities page by Peter Ericsson, showing how distinct the plumage can be. I will try to persuade someone to update on the current work being done on this (sub-) species.

http://www.surfbirds.com/media/gallery_photos/20110106033316.jpg

'White-faced Plover, Thailand, Lampakbia, Petburi 3JAN11 © Peter Ericsson
Finally a handsome male has established his whereabouts at the sandbar.'

Brian S

[pete]

Certainly an interesting and distinctive form. What may be of interest, and perhaps less well known, is that the plumage becomes worn in the early Spring, making the birds far less striking and white-faced. The birds here (http://orientalbirdimages.org/birdimages.php?p=7&action=birdspecies&Bird_ID=2840&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1), here (http://orientalbirdimages.org/birdimages.php?p=6&action=birdspecies&Bird_ID=2840&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1), here (http://orientalbirdimages.org/birdimages.php?p=5&action=birdspecies&Bird_ID=2840&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1) and here (http://orientalbirdimages.org/birdimages.php?p=4&action=birdspecies&Bird_ID=2840&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1) are breeding individuals and were taken in Southern China in May last year (migrant Kentish Plovers were also present). The immaculate white-faced males are probably only in that stunning plumage for a few months (Jan-Mar), and this may to some degree explain why the form has been overlooked for so long.

Cheers

Pete

[Brian S]

Good photos here by Dominic Mitchell

http://www.birdingetc.com/2011/02/red-hot-plovers.html

Brian S