Page Index

posted June 22nd, 2011; last edited June 22nd, 2011 –– David Sibley

An apparent hybrid Yellow-billed x Common Loon

On 9 Jun 1987 I was leading a WINGS tour group at Churchill, Manitoba, and we chartered a small boat to go out on the river for an hour or so to see Belugas and look for birds. During this trip I spotted a distant loon on the water, which struck me as being large [...]

posted January 10th, 2011; last edited January 11th, 2011 –– David Sibley

Possible hybrid sandpiper in Kenya

In December 2010 I had the privilege of birding in Kenya with the incomparable Brian Finch, and on 14 December we stumbled upon an interesting small sandpiper at Lake Nakuru. We had talked about the possibility of Dunlin (only a few Kenya records) and were looking through the many Ruffs, Curlew Sandpipers, and Little Stints [...]

posted February 24th, 2010; last edited April 9th, 2010 –– David Sibley

A second odd sandpiper from Thailand

I recently posted about an apparent hybrid sandpiper in Thailand. A few days earlier on the same trip (7 Feb 2010) I had seen another odd sandpiper that didn’t fit any known species. As I’ve worked on this post I feel safe ruling out Curlew Sandpiper, and the only things wrong for Dunlin are the [...]

posted February 23rd, 2010; last edited April 9th, 2010 –– David Sibley

An apparent hybrid sandpiper in Thailand

On 14 Feb, 2010, while watching Spoon-billed Sandpipers at Pak Thale, Thailand, I observed a small sandpiper that did not fit any known species. I assume it is a hybrid, but I don’t know what species might be involved. It was in view twice for a total of only about 10 minutes, and I was [...]

posted January 3rd, 2008; last edited April 20th, 2011 –– David Sibley

Parula Hybrids?

I have had two inquiries about Tropical Parula in the last 24 hours, prompted by a bird currently in Austin, Texas. You can check out that bird in photos by Andy Balinsky and photos and some background by Martin Reid. It has the throat pattern and extensively yellow underparts of Tropical Parula, but the pale [...]