More about 'Sailed' Eiders

Several people have posted photos of Northern borealis Eiders online and as I find the subject stimulating, I try to keep track on information and gather links for future reference and comparison. Recently, new material have been posted including some beautiful individuals photographed in West Greenland by Rasmus Due Nielsen  in early April 2012, and some great photos taken by Henrik Haaning Nielsen and Søren Kristoffersen on Svalbard this summer. I would also like to highlight the photos Peter Adriaens and Leif Jonasson have taken in Iceland, and these from Svalbard and this individual in Massachusetts. 

There are also nice series of more or less 'Sailed' birds from sites south of the normal borealis range including photos from Scotland provided by Martin Reid and Chris Gibbins (here and here). On Birdguides and Birding the day away there are several individuals from UK and Martin Garner and Brydon Thomason have written about the subject as has Henrik Haaning Nielsen based on birds in museum collections.

In Denmark we have so far had five records in total and surprisingly all have been in 2012 indicating that ‘Sailed’ Eiders could be more regular now that we have started focusing on them then expected from the number of claims. The first in Denmark was seen in April in Hansthol Harbour (here and here); the second was in Skagen in June (unfortunately there are only online photos of this individual on Facebook: here, here, here, here and here); the third was seen near Aarhus Harbour in the beginning of October; and the fourth was seen in late October and November in Hanstholm Harbour (here, here and here) - could this be the first claim returning to the exact same site? Finally number five was seen on Læsø in November.

Whether they all five are true borealis or whether a bit of intebreeding could perhaps be clouding issues is difficult to determine with certainty. However, Henrik Haaning Nielsen has evaluated the proposed characters against individuals seen on Svalbard and online photos, and he suggests that the extension of white feathers on side of the bill could also be of importance. The character should be that on borealis the white feathers often end below the rear edge of the nostrils whereas in mollissima the white often end below the middle of the nostrils. Very exciting and certainly a character I will try to test on Danish mollissima this winter. When I scroll through the 'Sailed' Eiders from Ythan Estuary, the feather-to-nostril character seems to be highly variable, but that may not be the case within their core range, but only among individuals with mixed genes.

Whether the Hanstholm Harbour birds in the pictures below are a returning individual or a new bird is difficult to determine. However, I have the impression that it might well be the same. The small differences could be within the individual year-to-year variation. The scapular sails are slightly higher here in October and November compared to April, but that is only to be expected as such exposed feathers will become worn during winter and thus become smaller in spring.

April 2012, Hanstholm Harbour. Foto: John Kyed.

November 2012, Hanstholm Harbour. Foto: John Kyed.

November 2012, Hanstholm Harbour. Foto: John Kyed.

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This individual from Bønnerup Harbour in March 2006 is interesting for several reasons. It has small white scapular sails, a rather high forehead and colour full frontal lobes. However, the white feathers stop under the middle of the nostrils and not below the rear edge as in the first national claim from Hanstholm Harbour indicating that this bird could have mixed genes.

Tre Nordisk Lappedykkere sammen på Læsø

Lørdag den 3. november 2012 besøgte jeg Storedal på nordkysten af Læsø, da lokaliteten er kendt for at huse godt med havdykænder. Med stor fornøjelse kunne jeg her tjekke mindst 1000 Fløjsænder og et tilsvarende antal Sortænder under rigtig gode forhold både mht. afstand, lys og bølger. Pludselig poppede en klassisk Nordisk Lappedykker op i kikkertfeltet, hvor der hidtil kun havde været en del Gråstrubede Lappedykkere. Mens jeg filmede den ene fugl poppede yderligere to individer, så der kunne ses tre Nordiske Lappedykkere samtidig som det også fremgår af videoen.

'Sailed Eider', 3.11.2012, off Vesterø, Læsø

On November 3, 2012 I found another ‘Sailed Eider’ in Denmark. This is my third individual this year alone indicating that they are more regular than the number of records suggest. Whether they are true Northern 'borealis' Eiders or they represent intergrades between borealis and mollissima is yet undetermined. However, the characteristics of the Danish individuals are replicated within true borealis populations in the north Atlantic such as West Greenland, Northern Iceland (or are they hybrid populations?) and wintering Eiders at Svalbard.

Besides the white scapular sails several other characters indicate some degree of borealis influence, such as the head which had a high and steep forehead; the feathered white area on the side of the bill which was pointed and the black feathering below the frontal bill lobes which was very narrow; the frontal lobes on the forehead which were rather pointed and brightly coloured; and finally the white tertials which were very long and even obviously hanging down over the white rump patch.
   

According to the literature, the key features of adult male Northern Eider in relation to European Eider are:

• Two stiffer modified long scapulars creates presence of white sails on the back
• Colour on the bill base, many have orange tones over the bill base
• Legs and feet colour match the bright yellowish orange tones of the bill base
• The feathered black stripe running down the side of the bill lobe is very narrow
• The feathered white area on the side of the bill is more pointed and lack the rounded tip
• The feathered white area on the side of the bill ends below the rear edge of the nostril
• The lobes differ in shape being more pointed
• Bill shape differ structurally tending to be more elongated and drooping towards tip
• Black cap often has a straight lower edge
• Head shape tend to be squarer with steeper forehead
• Breast can be richer, deeper salmon colour
• White tertials are were very long and obviously hanging down over the white rump patch

However, one has to acknowledge that between borealis and mollissima there is a high degree of variation and overlap in these characters; thus most characters are not to be considered diagnostic, but only indicative.

Head shape was rather squarer with steep forehead

The feathered black stripe running down the side of the bill lobe was very narrow

The feathered white area on the side of the bill was rather pointed and seemed to end below the rear edge of the nostril

Note the slightly orange tones over the bill base

2012 er allerede et historik år i Østjylland

Med hensyn til forekomsten af sjældne og fåtallige fugle i Østjylland kan 2012 vist allerede kaldes et historisk godt år. Alene blandt de fugle jeg har set skal Gråvinget Måge og Hvidvinget Måge rastende igennem længere tid ved søerne i Universitetsparken i januar fremhæves. Dernæst fra april 10 Hvidnæbbede Lommer nordvest for Anholt, en 2K han Brilleand ved Grenå, en Bjergpiber i sommerdragt ved Kolindbro Enge og en Vendehals i baghaven. Maj bød på min første Gulhovedet Gul Vipstjert i Østjylland og dagen efter så jeg sammen med Alex Sand Frich en trækkende hun Hedehøg ved Gjerrild kort efter en Pirol havde lavet trækforsøg samme sted. Maj bød også på to Hvidskæggede Terne i Brabrand Sø, mens juni overraskede med en han Blåvinget And ved Egå Engsø og en Lille Skrigeørn nord for Ebeltoft på samme dag foruden en syngende Perleugle kunne nydes i Gludsted Plantage natten efter. Efter en lidt stille sommer slog efteråret i oktober til med landets 3. fund af en 'Sailed' Eider ved Århus Østhavn, en ringmærket Steppegærdesanger (Sylvia [curruca] halimodendri) ved Totten på Anholt efterfulgt af en Amerikansk Pibeand han ved Hornbæk Enge ved Randers og senest landets andet fund af Brun Tornskade ved Årslev Engsø. Intet mindre end imponerende.

Siberian Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia [curruca] blythi) on Anholt in Denmark

UPDATE: The result of the genetic analysis confirms what we had always thought - that this was a Central Asian Lesser Whitethroat somewhere on the blythi—halimodendri spectrum and based on cytokrom b the bird falls into the blythi clade as defined in the recent paper by Olsson et al (2013).

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Hej Kent, 

Jag har kollat fågeln från Anholt, och sekvensen hamnar i exakt samma klad som holotypen av blythi. Så baserat på cytokrom b är den helt klart blythi.

Bästa hälsningar

Urban

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I have now posted a feather of the Lesser Whitethroat from Anholt to Urban Olsson who kindly promised to analyse its DNA in order to specify geographical origin.

I am so very pleased that both Lars Svensson and Urban Olsson so kindly spend time on evaluating this Danish record and the whole Lesser Whitethroat complex in general. It’s very exciting and inspiring.

Second record of Brown Shrike in Denmark

This 2cy+ Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) was found on November 4, 2012 at Årslev Engsø near Aarhus in Denmark.

The long, rufous-toned tail is strongly graduated (note in other photos the particularly short outermost tail feather), and the wing appeares relatively short (with only five-six primaries clearly visible beyond the tertials). It sported a strong grey- and pink-based, black-tipped, bill and could look rather bull-headed which, along with the well-defined facial pattern (including a bold dark mask and broad pale supercillium), the earthy brown upperparts and the strongly contrasting tertial fringes, are all supportive characters.  

Relatively large head and strong bill with deep base and strong curved culmen.

Note the rounded tail shape due to difference between t6 and t5. Rather short primaryprojection (c. 60%).

Amerikanske Pibeand ved Hornbæk Enge er første fund i Østjylland nogensinde

Den 30. oktober 2013 fandt Lars Tom Petersen (LTP) en Amerikansk Pibeand han ved Hornbæk Enge i sydvesthjørnet af Randers. Det er første fund af arten i Østjylland og den har således været længe ventet. Som det fremgår af billederne er fuglen på vej i pragtdragt og har kun få rester af eklipsedragten hist og her. Fuglen raster sammen med 1000 Europæiske Pibeænder, der har været i området i en måned og såfremt den bliver liggende er der god mulighed for at følge den resterende fældning til pragtdragt foruden bræmmefældningen, der gerne skulle gøre ansigtsmasken tydeligere grøn og pandeblissen mere hvidlig elfenbensfarvet og veldefineret.

Vi brugte naturligvis en del tid på at udelukke en hybrid og med forbehold for at en 2. eller 3. generations hybrid måske ikke kan udelukkes, så er fuglen helt igennem perfekt og indenfor den velbeskrevne variation hos Amerikansk Pibeand. Bemærk således den sort indramnings af næbbasis, der trods varierende bredde er meget fremtrædende, den hvidgule pandeblis, der strækker sig langt op på issen og afsluttes som en kile bag øjnene og kun forlænges som en hestehale hele vejen ned over det bagerste af isse, nakken og det bagerste af halsen i en anden mørk grålig farve. Den har således en smal distinkt nakkekam, hvilket er meget karakteristisk. Det lykkedes andre at se de hvide undervinger, men jeg har ikke selv haft mulighed for at vurdere undervinger og armhulefjer. Som pluskarakterer er fuglen marginalt større end Europæiske Pibeand og ligger lidt højere i vandet, har højere og stejlere pande, længere centrale halefjer, bredere hvidt felt på gumpsider (kun venstre side pga. manglende eklipsefældning på højre side).

Der er ingen ringe på benene.

Siberian Lesser Whitethroat (blythi) in Denmark

UPDATE: The result of the genetic analysis confirms what we had always thought - that this was a Central Asian Lesser Whitethroat somewhere on the blythi—halimodendri spectrum and based on cytokrom b the bird falls into the blythi clade as defined in the recent paper by Olsson et al (2013).

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On Saturday the 20 October 2012 I found a Lesser Whitethroat which was seen briefly in the garden at Fyrgården near Totten on the easternmost tip of the island Anholt. It was striking and called for immediate attention due to its short primary projection; fine and short bill; warm underparts suffused with peachy-buff and less contrasting against the upperparts compared to a typical curruca; and sandy brown upperparts with a warm hue extending onto the head.

The sun was about to set, so my mist-net in the garden were opened right away and by the use of playback the bird was easily caught within 20 minutes. I immediately checked the wing-formula and noticed a very rounded wing, with a short P2 falling almost even with P8 and P3-P4-P5 of equal length and creating the wing tip. As the sun had just gone down during the netting process, the bird was taken to the house for carefully examination and ringed (9R 88 331) before it was left for the night in a bag. At first daylight the following day the bird was released in the garden from where it quickly moved on to never be seen again.

As the identification of vagrant Lesser Whitethroat in Europe is highly complex a small blood sample and an outermost tail-feather, a central secondary and a few coverts were sampled for genetic analysis.

Field characteristics: • Brown on nape • Lack of contrast between crown and mantle • White throat contrasting with peachy or buffy flanks and breast • Lack of clear dark mask • Lores paler than usual • Sandy or pale to mid-brown upperparts • Short-winged/long-tailed jizz.

Throat white, breast dull buffish-white, sides of breast and flanks pinkish-buff.

Medium brown flight-feathers, with slightly paler fringes. Primaries tipped buffish-white. The longest tertial rather dark brown with indistinct narrow pale fringes; the two shorter tertials pale sandy-brown, slightly darker around the shaft. Outer five greater secondary coverts with gingery-reddish fringes, inner five darker and longer. The large alula-feather dark sepia, rather contrasting.

Mantle and rump rather pale sand-brown with a slight reddish tone. Hind-crown grey admixed with the same colour as the mantle. Legs dark blue-grey.

P3-P4-P5 create wingtip

Short primary projection with only six primaries visible beyond longest tertial.

Plumage tones on the upperparts were sandy / pale in good light, but appeared a more rich buff-brown in shadow. Perhaps most importantly, there was very little contrast anywhere except the forecrown and ear coverts. Note how the buff-brown tones extend right up the nape and onto the crown (areas that would be greyer on western Lesserthroat). At most angles the ear coverts also looked similar in tone to the crown and mantle, with darker grey tones only appearing at certain postures.

The bird was aged as a first-year. It had a moult limit between five outer juvenile greater coverts with warm sand-coloured fringes and five inner, which were longer, less worn, darker brown and with less distinct pale fringes.

I've occasionally seen similar mantle tones to this bird on 'standard' autumn Lesserthroats, but they have always been combined with both grey crown and gleaming white underparts. This bird had distinctly sandy-buff tones to the entire underparts away from the throat.

Biometrics: Wing: 64.0 mm; Tail: 58.2 mm; Tail/wing ratio (x100): 90.9; Bill to skull: 12.2 mm.

P2 fall between pp 7 & 8 and almost completely on level with p8.

Emarginated pp 3, 4 & 5.

Tail (from above): Dark grey except for the central pair, which was brownish. The outermost tail-feathers had a juvenile pattern. The second outermost tail-feathers were only narrowly fringed white.

Under tail-coverts white with a faint buff tone.

Ear-coverts brown and grey, only slightly darker than the crow. Iris pale grey-brown with a hint of warmer brown tinge and with slightly paler and greyer upper half. Bill with a rather pale, turqouise green-blue patch on the mid part of the lower mandible and a dark tip. Upper mandible blackish with pale bluish-grey cutting edges.