Slender billed curlew

[andy22]

Just a quick question.. does any one know when and where the last confirmed sighting of a slender billed curlew was?

Andy

[Colin Key]

I think it was at the Danube Delta on 12th August 2004, with an unconfirmed sighting more recently in Albania 2007.

It is a Ghost!!!

Colin :err:

[john c]

I wonder what contitutes 'confirmed' for this species thee days? Good quailty video or 10 by 4 glossy photos plus sworn statements by the observers? Given the recent 'history' of records this species would the unsupported word of an observer, no matter how competent or experienced, be accepted? I know that if, by some miracle, I got excellent and extended views of the species, I'd hesitate to report it without photographic back-up or multiple observer support,
John

[Simon Wates]

I know that if, by some miracle, I got excellent and extended views of the species, I'd hesitate to report it without photographic back-up or multiple observer support,
John

John - if you or anyone gets "that miracle" or even seriously suspects one it must be reported immediately. I'd say "to hell with what they say!"

If anyone hasn't seen this they should:

http:// www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/projects/details.asp?id=tcm:9-198450

The identification download is well worth it!

Best wishes

Simon

[CAU]

"The last confirmed report of Slender-billed Curlew came from Oman in 1999"
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2008/12/sbc_launch.html

"no confirmed sightings since 1998"
http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/projects/details.asp?id=tcm:9-198450

The question is very difficult to answer as different organizations or rarities committees confirm reports based on different standards. For example the RSPB ignores the records from 1999 (Oman and Greece) in the main text, although their Excel-file claims them to be verified. To me the last 100% confirmed record is from Morocco (the known wintering 1-2 birds from the early/mid 90s of which there exist good photos), although the BBRC has accepted a record from 1998.

[MichaelF]

although the BBRC has accepted a record from 1998
Yep, and quite right, too! That one was certainly a good record. Photo here: http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=35

[CAU]

Yep, and quite right, too! That one was certainly a good record. Photo here: http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=35

I've seen that article. I would just hope that the pictures would contain enough details for even amateurs of my class to be able to id the bird with certainty (rule nr. 1: always id the birds yourself...). The id of the bird has been discussed pretty widely, see for example this for a starter:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Druridge_Bay_curlew

[GoneBirding]

although the BBRC has accepted a record from 1998.

Just a quick note for anyone that might be interested, following heated debate on "another forum" I posted up copies of my field notes on the Druridge Bay SBC and the Minsmere ECurlew (which from the moment I first saw to me never looked anything like!).

http://gonebirding.webs.com/curlewsketches.htm


All the best

Steph'

[john c]

John - if you or anyone gets "that miracle" or even seriously suspects one it must be reported immediately. I'd say "to hell with what they say!"
[/URL]

If I was confident of the ID, then I would certainly try to find people to confirm it asap so I suppose the cat would then be out of the bag, but that's not to say I wouldn't be very circumspect in doing so. These days it's a bit like claiming to have seen a UFO with all the baggage that comes with such claims. I think CAU has vocalised exactly what was in my mind when I made my original posting,

John

[AndyB]

Maybe this is old news but there is some very fine (and only known) video footage of the Moroccan birds 1994 here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOXpHnZIq8o)

[Brian S]

You might also like to know of this accepted record in Hungary in 2001

'Oláh, J. Jr. & Pigniczki, Cs. (2009): The first XXIst century record of Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris) in Hungary. Aquila, 114, p. ???

A summer plumaged adult male Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris Vieill. 1817) was observed near Apaj in the Kiskunság National Park on the 15th of April in 2001. The observation was accepted by the MME NB (Hungarian Checklist and Rarities Committee) as the first XXIst century observation of the species in Hungary. To our knowledge this record also represents the first documented and accepted observation anywhere in the World. The identification was made after a very thorough examination and was based mainly on the size, plumage details, colouration, bill, legs and body shape. The identification was also supplemented by a video recording made through the telescope. Detailed description of the this bird is given in this paper as well as describing the status of the species in Hungary. A copy of the documentary video was also deposited in the archive of the MME NB'

Nobody I know has seen the video. For such an important record, I believe that it should be placed in the public domain.

Brian S

[forktail]

The video of the Druridge bird has appeared on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XagoXUYRNE

Points of note: seems fairly similarly-sized to Curlews nearby. The bill is very short for Curlew and also fine-tipped but it does seem rather thick?. The legs of the bird appear to be rather similar to the Curlews, being greyish?

In a similar vein to the Minsmere bird, at choice times it looks quite S-bC but in the whole it doesn't. The Minsmere bird was eventually resolved with good photos / video but fooled a few for a while, including 'experts'. It was run through the BB criteria and found wanting but by then it was known to be a Curlew. The Druridge video isn't great though...

Although this has generated more heat than light, I thought it would useful to put the link up so that everyone interested can have a chance of seeing it.

I wonder how long it will be until the inevitable...

[SanderBruylants]

Hi everyone
I was just searching fot some info about the slender billed curlew in Hungary in 2001
when I bumped on this topic. So for everyone who is interested here's the link to the video of the slender billed curlew, you can't see much details but I thougt to see a pale tail and lighter secondaries.

http://www.sakertour.com/slender-billed_curlew.php

Sander B

[ampelinus]

I remember viewing this video last year sometime. It might as well be just the long grass in the video as there's know way you can id that bird as a SBC & this record has been excepted, unbelievable.