Sandplover - What to do with this pair?

Sandplovers have popped up this year on the East Coast with two notable sightings. These plovers breed in continental Asia and Eastern Europe wintering in Asia and Africa. Lesser and Greater Sandplover are like many other species pairs in that they have many plumage similarities and are generally separated by physical proportions. Thus it is necessary to have some knowledge of the species in comparison with not only one another but with shorebirds you are actually familiar with. The Lesser Sandplover has been identified several times before in the Lower 48 and actual has been documented breeding in Alaska. Nevertheless it is always exciting when a Lesser is found near to the bulk of the North American birding population! Such a bird was found this September in Virgina and was immediately given the tentative identification of Lesser Sandplover. And with good reason because Greater Sandplover is a MEGA for North America. In May a Greater Sandplover was found near Jacksonville, Florida. This bird represented the second record for North America the first was spotted at Bolinas Lagoon in Point Reyes, CA. This Florida bird was very birder friendly; it stayed several days and allowed photographers great shots like this one that my Brother took:

As I mentioned above; it is necessary to have some knowledge of the species in comparison with not only one another but with shorebirds you are actually familiar with. Fortunately there are great resources across the internet to link the Knowitalls with the people that need help. So now every digital-camera-toting-Sunday-afternoon-birder can wrangle a rarity without having to put in the homework that a WINGS tour guide needs. But I will bet that they guys that have found the Florida SP and the Virginia SP did know a good deal to spot it and properly document it. So even if you don't have the time to learn every shorebird in the world make the time to properly document a potential rarity with the same care you'd use to parse a Long-billed from a Short-billed Dowitcher. You may not be able to properly identify it in the field but you can gather enough info to ID when you get home and still impress your friends!

So If You think You've found a Sandplover....

1. Take pictures if possible from multiple angles and in flight
2. Watch it's behavior - How is it feeding, walking, does it call?
   
3. Remember proportions count: Sometimes this is the hardest thing to document effectively and it is often the single most important part of the ID. Try and measure parts of the body against each other; leg length vs. tibia length, bill length vs. head width, wing tip projection vs. tail length etc.
   
4. Writing all this down: it's just as important as getting a good picture. Chances are - and if you are anything like me - you'll think your pictures suck anyways

All this will help, so that when you are comparing your pictures you can actually find the important difference when you look back at a picture like this one taken by Allen Lamer.

Identification for either of these species will have to be documented with a camera to pass through state Rare Bird Committees. This is because they overlap in so many characters and there is no one surefire fieldmark. I should strongly caution this next section by saying that I have never done more than admire photos and read field guide entries on these two. Lesser Sandplover is the "cuter" of the pair with a more rounded head, smaller bill that has less of a point and the legs are shorter. Greater Sandplover has a bigger heavier bill, longer tibia and stronger facial markings and lighter colored legs. Both birds are similar in overall size to Semipalmated Plover and each lacks a white collar that wraps around the nape. Breeding plumaged birds, have a rich rufous breast and crown.



Above are your quiz birds. There is one of each and based on Bill Size, Head Shape and Leg Length maybe you can tell them apart too?