Submission No 236: Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius; Tinaroo Dam, Atherton Shire, QLD. 12-October 1997 to 25-November 1997. Submitted by G. Holmes.

Verdict: Accepted

This case relates to a bird sighted on the shores of a fresh water dam situated on the Atherton Tablelands, North Queensland. Observations were made periodically from 12 October 1997 to 25 November 1997. Interestingly, other sightings were made at the same locality during the spring of 1996 and 1995 which may well have been the same individual, although this cannot be confirmed. One of the observers did state that he felt the bird in 1995 was a juvenile. A photograph and some brief notes were supplied to the committee by two observers that depict a bird in non-breeding plumage. The notes although very light on detail do point out several key features such as the lack of an apparent wing bar, uniform upperparts, white collar, yellow orbital-ring and dark bill. The photograph although distant does serve to authenticate this claim.

Committee members commented that the combination of uniform upperparts, white collar, lack of a notable wing-bar, yellow orbital-ring and the long-winged / long-tailed appearance eliminates likely contenders including: Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula , Semi-palmated Plover C. semipalmatus and Juvenile Black-fronted Dotterel Elseyornis melanops. Acknowledging that the bird was in non-breeding plumage (but of uncertain age) and therefore referring to the race Charadrius dubius curonicus rather than the resident nominate form Charadrius dubius dubius in Papua New Guinea and other parts of South East Asia. curonicus differs in the smaller amount of yellow at the base of the lower mandible, narrower yellow eye-ring, distinct black bar in outer tail feathers (reduced or absent in dubius) and very different juvenile and winter plumage, dubius lacking a distinct non breeding plumage.

The committee accepts this record as Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius. Although other reports exist this is only the fourth record of this species to be accepted by the committee.

References and Bibliography

• Carter, M. & Rogers, D. 1998. Little Ringed Plover Caladrius dubius: A Kimberly record with comments on morphological and vocal aspects of Eastern populations. Australian Birdwatcher. June 1998 (in press).
• Coates, B.J. 1985. The Birds of Papua New Guinea. Vol 1, Dove Publications.
• Cramp, S & Simmons, K.. 1983. Birds of the Western Palearctic, Vol 3 Waders to Gulls. Oxford University Press.
• Dunn, J.L. 1993. The identification of Semi-palmated and Common Ringed Plovers in alternate plumage. Birding 25: 238-243.
• Hayman, P, Marchant, J. & Prater, T. 1986. Shorebirds: an Identification Guide to the Waders of the World. Beckingham.

Tony Palliser
Chairman Birds Australia Rarities Committee (BARC)