While waiting for an Air Niugini flight from Hoskins airfield, West New Britain Province, on 27 September 1998, I passed the time by bird-watching around the airport terminal. Up to 20 Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva, one Large Sand-Plover Charadrius leschenaultii and one Whimbel Numenius phaeopus foraged or roosted on the short grass bordering the airports runway and taxi-way. Among these waders was a sandpiper, which at first I thought was a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Calidris acuminata. Fortuitously, it flew closer to the terminal so that I could observe it from a distance of about 30 m, without the problems of heat haze, and could see that it was a Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotus.
It was smaller than the Pacific Golden Plover; the Large Sand-Plover was too distant for direct comparison. It had a relatively short, straight, dark bill, yellowish at the base. There was no hint of rufous in its brownish crown. It had a pale supercilium. The streaked breast was a ‘cold’ brown with none of the buff or rufous tones of a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. The breast streaking was cleanly demarcated from the white of the belly. Its legs were yellowish-green. In flight it showed a faint, pale wing bar while the rump had a dark central bar with white sides.
Pectoral Sandpiper is a regular but uncommon non-breeding visitor to PNG with the great majority of records (as for most migrant species visiting PNG) from the Port Moresby area (Coates 1985). The only records away from Port Moresby are from Higaturu, Northern Province and Bougainville, North Solomons Province (Coates 1985), which is more indicative of observer coverage than species occurrence. This is the first record of Pectoral Sandpiper for the island of New Britain and for the province of West New Britain.
Coates, B.J. 1985. Birds of Papua New Guinea, Volume 1. Dove.
It was smaller than the Pacific Golden Plover; the Large Sand-Plover was too distant for direct comparison. It had a relatively short, straight, dark bill, yellowish at the base. There was no hint of rufous in its brownish crown. It had a pale supercilium. The streaked breast was a ‘cold’ brown with none of the buff or rufous tones of a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. The breast streaking was cleanly demarcated from the white of the belly. Its legs were yellowish-green. In flight it showed a faint, pale wing bar while the rump had a dark central bar with white sides.
Pectoral Sandpiper is a regular but uncommon non-breeding visitor to PNG with the great majority of records (as for most migrant species visiting PNG) from the Port Moresby area (Coates 1985). The only records away from Port Moresby are from Higaturu, Northern Province and Bougainville, North Solomons Province (Coates 1985), which is more indicative of observer coverage than species occurrence. This is the first record of Pectoral Sandpiper for the island of New Britain and for the province of West New Britain.
Coates, B.J. 1985. Birds of Papua New Guinea, Volume 1. Dove.
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