Tom Fiore is right to point out that access to the photos of the Dune Road sandpiper would greatly enhance the current discussion and I'm sure the photographers are planning to post them in the near future. With respect to Lloyd's comment, I think Kevin Karlson's recent posts to ID-Frontiers refer only to mystery sandpipers from Ohio and Illinois, which were initially touted as being Little Stints but have since been rethought somewhat. The discussions are interesting and show the complexities of the identifications. I initially thought the Ohio bird was a juv. Red-necked Stint but newer photographs indicate that it is more likely to be a Semipalmated Sandpiper. Live and learn!
If anyone is confused about the difference between a stint and a sandpiper, the answer is there isn't one. Stint is used by English speakers outside of the Americas in reference to the smallest sandpipers (Red-necked, Little, Temminck's and Long-toed) and in my opinion could be usefully applied to at least three North American species; Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper and Western Sandpiper. The advantage would be in differentiating these tiny and quite similar birds from other larger sandpipers (e.g. Pectoral Sandpiper). Baird's and White-rumped are in the gray area and perhaps are best kept as sandpipers unless you wanted to call them Greater-Stints :)) . I think one reason North American birders enjoy the distinction is that the word 'stint' automatically implies something special. Witness the effectiveness of adding the word 'STINT' to any email subject line! Lastly, 'peep' is a vague term, rarely used outside of the America, that refers to small sandpipers in general. The origins are murky, and to me the name sounds more like a small plover than the chirp of a sandpiper. I guess you could use peep to refer to a mixed flock of small sandpipers AND small plovers.... Angus Wilson New York City & The Springs, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES Temporary archive: http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
