Spray runner
| Spray runner | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sea runner ( Aphriza virgata ), |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Calidris virgata | ||||||||||||
| ( Gmelin , 1789) |
The sea runner ( Calidris virgata , Syn . : Aphriza virgata ) is a medium-sized species of bird from the family of snipe birds (Scolopacidae).
It is a very peculiar sandpiper-like wader . The breeding plumage and breeding habitat are very similar to those of the Great Knut , but the diet and winter habitat correspond to the turnstone and the sandpiper , with which it also socializes and which it resembles especially in its simple dress. Despite the similarity, it is not very closely related to the Turnstone, but is more closely related to the sandpipers . It was previously placed in the monotypical genus Aphriza .
Its breeding areas are limited to Alaska and Yukon in northwestern Canada , while the wintering areas extend over 17,500 km of the American Pacific coast from Kodiak Island to the Strait of Magellan .
description
With a length of 23.5–25.5 cm, the sea runner is about the same size as a turnstone . The wing length is between 169 and 185 mm, the tail length between 63 and 69 mm. The weight is 133–230 g. The best distinguishing feature is the rather short, plover-like beak with 22-27 mm , which is rounded and slightly widened at the tip. It is predominantly dark brown, but at the base of the lower beak it has an orange-yellow color that extends to the upper beak. The relatively short legs are yellow or greenish yellow. The iris is brown. The sexes do not differ in their plumage, but the female is slightly larger. A geographical variation is not described.
In the brood plumage, the head, breast and underside are grayish black dashed and spotted on a white background, whereby the drawing becomes coarser from the lower breast, V-shaped on the flanks and teardrop-shaped on the lower abdomen and more open due to larger white components. On the vertex, the dotted lines are a little rusty brown in places. Shoulder and dorsal feathers are black with light-colored edges, the largest shoulder feathers having a cinnamon-brown central part with a dark shaft. After the breeding season, they quickly fade and are beige to whitish in the middle. The upper wing-coverts are brown-gray or blackish and sometimes have light hems. The white tips of the large arm covers and the white wings form a striking wing band. The wings are predominantly blackish, the inner hand wings, however, narrowly tipped with white; the wings of the arm have white tips and a narrow, white border on the outer flag, which widens towards the inner ones. The rear back is black, the upper tail-coverts are white. The otherwise white control feathers are black in the distal part, whereby this becomes narrower towards the outer part and a white lace border is added. The under wing coverts are white with gray tips on the hand coverts.
In the plain dress, the top is brown-gray with diffuse spots and dark shaft lines. There is a white spot on the forehead, which leads to a diffuse over-eye stripe that ends just behind the eye . The chin and throat are whitish, the front face is slightly lightened, the eye is surrounded by a white ring. The breast is a little lighter brownish gray than the top, the rest of the underside white with dark brownish arrowhead or V-shaped spots on the flanks. In some individuals, they also extend to the stomach. The upper tail-coverts and the tail base are white. Wing and rudder feathers correspond to the brood plumage.
The youth dress is similar to the plain dress, but is a bit more streaky on the head and chest. The gray-brown feathers on the top have beige hems and a dark subterminal stripe.
voice
During the breeding season, three different vocalizations of the sea runner can be heard: The song, which is uttered on various occasions, is a sharp-sounding series of calls made up of wicki-you or wik-you calls in quick succession . During the extended courtship flights performed at great altitude, rhythmic rows of five to nine short calls can be heard, followed by either a repetition, a longer interruption or the singing. There is also the excitement call , which is individually quite different, as tie tie tiet , krrrie krrie , tju tju or tju-it tju-it is described and which is also partially ranked.
Outside of the breeding season, the species is not very happy to call. High-pitched, plaintive-whistling cries are described that sound like ki-wi-oh .
distribution
The breeding grounds of the sea runner extend over the mountainous regions of Alaska and the Canadian territory of the Yukon. The distribution and frequency information is very sketchy, the species does not seem to be common anywhere. In central Alaska it occurs scattered in the Alaska range (e.g. in Denali National Park ), in the highlands near Tanana and in the White Mountains . Nothing specific is known from the Ray Mountains and the Kuskokwim Mountains . Possibly it breeds in the southwest of the Brooks Range in the Schwatka Mountains and the Waring Mountains , in the east it was found in the Romanzof Mountains , on the Hulahula River and on the Kongakut River . There are scattered occurrences in southern Alaska in the Chugach Mountains and Wrangell Mountains . Furthermore, the sea runner occurs westward to the Alaska Peninsula (e.g. Katmai National Park ), the Kilbuck Mountains and the Ahklun Mountains . There are other deposits in the Kusilvak Mountains , on Kodiak Island, in the southern Nulato Hills and in the north of the Seward Peninsula . Courting birds have been found at Cape Romanzof . In Yukon there is evidence and breeding season observations from the Richardson Mountains , the British Mountains , the Dawson Range and the southwestern Ruby Range . The species has not yet been detected in the mountains of British Columbia .
habitat
The sea runner breeds in exposed, dry places in the alpine tundra such as peaks or high slopes. Characteristic elements of its habitat are lichens , alpine dwarf shrub vegetation and Silberwurzen as well as broken rock and scree slopes; the species is rarely found in mossy or sedge- covered places. The height distribution varies locally depending on the availability of the habitat and sometimes extends up to 1800 m.
Outside of the breeding season, the species is found mainly on rocky coastlines, especially in heavily washed, rocky places in the intertidal zone. It also occurs less frequently in protected areas, sandy beaches with interspersed rocks and on muddy surfaces in the littoral .
literature
- Stanley E. Senner, Brian J. Mccaffery: Surfbird (Aphriza virgata) in A. Poole (Ed.): The Birds of North America Online , Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca 1997.
- Peter Hayman , John Marchant, Tony Prater: Shorebirds: An identification guide. , Houghton Mifflin Company , Boston 1986, ISBN 0-395-37903-2 .
- Edward H. Miller, William WH Gunn, Stephen F. MacLean Jr .: Breeding Vocalizations of the Surfbird , The Condor 89, 1987, pp. 406-412.
- Stephen Message, Don Taylor: Waders of Europe, Asia and North America , Helm Field Guides, Christopher Helm, London 2005 (corrected new edition 2007), ISBN 978-0-7136-5290-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Senner / Mccaffery (1997), section Systematics , see literature
- ↑ Allan J. Baker, Sergio L. Pereira, Tara A. Paton: Phylogenetic relationships and divergence times of Charadriiformes genera: multigene evidence for the Cretaceous origin of at least 14 clades of shorebirds , Biol. Lett. (2007) 3, pp. 205-209, doi : 10.1098 / rsbl.2006.0606
- ↑ Senner / Mccaffery (1997), section Introduction , see literature
- ↑ a b c d Hayman et al. (1986), p. 363, see literature
- ↑ Senner / Mccaffery (1997), section Measurements , see literature
- ↑ a b c Senner / Mccaffery (1997), section Appearance , see literature
- ↑ Miller et al. (1987) and Senner / Mccaffery (1997), section Sounds , see literature
- ↑ Senner / Mccaffery (1997), section Distribution , see literature
- ↑ a b Senner / Mccaffery (1997), Habitat section , see literature
Web links
- Calidris virgata in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2012. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2009. Accessed October 23, 2012th
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Aphriza virgata in the Internet Bird Collection