Totanus brevipes Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. d'Hist. Nat. (1816), 6, 410.
Heteractitis brevipes Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24,
549; Hand-List (1899), 1, 161; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 26.
Bantayan (McGregor); Batan (McGregor); Basilan (McGregor);
Bohol (Everett, McGregor); Cagayancillo (McGregor); Calayan
(McGregor); Cebu (Everett, McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Leyte
(Everett); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Whitehead); Malanipa (Murray);
Mindanao (Steere Exp., Goodfellow); Negros (Steere Exp., Bourns &
Worcester); Palawan (Platen, White); Siquijor (Steere Exp., Bourns
& Worcester); Ticao (McGregor). Eastern Siberia; in winter China
to Malay Archipelago and Australia.
"Adult male in winter plumage.--Above uniform ashy gray, with slightly
indicated light ashy margins; scapulars like the back; lower back,
rump, and upper tail-coverts purer gray than the back, with distinct
whitish edges; the long upper tail-coverts with subterminal dusky bars;
wing-coverts like back, with paler margins, greater series margined
with white; primary-coverts and quills blackish, externally washed
with ashy and fringed with white, inner secondaries ashy gray like the
back, fringed with whitish; tail-feathers uniform ashy, with narrow
whitish margins; head and neck like back; base of forehead and large
supra-loral spot white, extending in a narrow streak above the eye;
lores blackish; sides of face and ear-coverts white; the upper edge
of the latter ashy gray; cheeks and under surface of body pure white,
with a shade of ashy gray over the fore neck and chest; sides of
breast and flanks also ashy gray, as well as the outer aspect of the
thighs; under wing-coverts and axillars ashy gray, fringed with white
at the ends; quills below ashy, lighter along the inner edges. 'Bill
blackish gray, light brownish gray at base of lower mandible; feet
light ocher-yellow, joints with a faint greenish tinge; iris dark
brown.' (Stejneger.) Length, 223; wing, 162.
"Adult female in winter plumage.--Similar to the male. 'Bill
black, grayish yellow at base; feet dirty chrome-yellow; claws
black.' (Everett.) Length, 229; culmen, 37; wing, 157; tail, 71;
tarsus, 32.
"Young in winter plumage.--Differs from the winter plumage of the
adults in having the wing-coverts, scapulars, and back mottled with
white dots on the outer webs of the feathers.
"The adult birds appear to molt into winter plumage after quitting
their summer haunts for southern latitudes, arriving with worn and
abraded feathers, but with the barred under surface of the breeding
dress.
"Adult male in breeding plumage.--Resembles the winter plumage
as regards the upper surface of the body being entirely ashy
gray, but differs in the coloring of the lower surface, which is
profusely spotted and barred. The throat is white, but the cheeks,
lower throat, and fore neck are spotted and streaked with dusky
blackish; the chest and breast, as well as the sides of the body
and flanks, are also barred with dusky blackish, with a few bars on
the under tail-coverts. 'Bill brown; feet yellow-ocher; iris dark
brown.' (H. Whitely.) Length, 241; culmen, 38; wing, 155; tail, 66;
tarsus, 29.
"Adult female in breeding plumage.--Does not differ from the
male. Length, 241; culmen, 38; wing, 152; tail, 66; tarsus,
30." (Sharpe.)
This tattler occurs in great numbers during migration and may be
found feeding on tide-flats.
Genus ACTITIS Illiger, 1811.
Bill straight; culmen, tarsus, and middle toe with claw subequal; back
and rump uniform in color; secondaries nearly as long as primaries.