AN APPARENT LITTLE CURLEW AT COVEHEAD MARSH by Dwayne L. Sabine, J. Dan 
     
     McAskill and Bill Bowerbank 
     
    
   
   
    
     The salt marshes near Brackley Beach and Covehead Harbour in P.E.I. 
     
     National Park generally host a good variety and number of shorebirds during 
     
     summer and early fall and are regularly visited when we are birding in the 
     
     area. On September 12, 1992 we were scanning for shorebirds on these marshes 
     
     and noted fair numbers of the usual Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca), 
     
     Lesser Yellowlegs (T. flavipes), and Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis 
     
     squatarola), along with a few Red Knot (Calidris canutus), Semipalmated 
     
     Sandpiper (C. pusilla), Least Sandpiper (C. minutilla), Short-billed 
     
     Dowitchers (Limnodromus griseus), and Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus). 
     
    

    
     At approximately 1130 hours, Dan Mchskill 
     
     found a small buff- or sandy-coloured curlew 
     
     on a small clump of grass in a small pond 
     
     about 80 meters away surrounded by seven 
     
     Lesser Yellowlegs. This curlew was only 
     
     slightly larger than the adjacent Lesser 
     
     Yellowlegs, with a short, slender, decurved 
     
     bill about 1 1/2 times as long as the length 
     
     of the head. Both the small size of this 
     
     bird and its short bill suggested the bird 
     
     was not a Whimbrel, the curlew commonly 
     
     occurring on P.E.I. Our next thought was 
     
     that it might be an Eskimo Curlew (N. 
     
     borealis), a species which once migrated 
     
     though P.E.I. in large numbers during the 
     
     late summer and autumn, but which has not 
     
     been recorded here since 1904 (Godfrey, 
     
     1954) and is now almost extinct. 
     
    

    
     For the next 1/2 hour, the curlew stood quietly on its tuft of grass, as 
     
     the yellowlegs fed and loafed around it. We had ample opportunity to compare 
     
     its size with that of the Lesser Yellowlegs, as they moved behind, in front 
     
     of, and beside it. At all times, the curlew appeared only slightly larger 
     
     than the Lesser Yellowlegs. 
     
    

    
     After consulting Hayman et a1. (1986), we decided that the bird did not 
     
     seen to fit the descriptions of Eskimo Curlews. The most obvious discrepancy 
     
     was the head pattern. It was very boldly marked, much like that of the 
     
     Whimbrel, but not as diffuse as that of the Eskimo Curlew. 
     
    

    
     Finally, McAskill and Bowerbank decided to approach the bird more 
     
     closely to better view fieldmarks with a 20x Bushnel telescope while Sabine 
     
     watched with a zoom scope for.the underwing covert colour and other field 
     
     marks. They approached to approximately 30 meters before the curlew flushed 
     
     with the yellowlegs, and its unbarred primaries were noted, ruling out the 
     
     possibility that the bird might have been a very small Whimbrel. Pale, buff 
     
     coloured underwing coverts were also noted thus suggesting Little Curlew (N. 
     
     minutus) as Eskimo Curlews display cinnamon underwings. The bird landed 
     
     approximately 150 meters away. Shortly afterwards, most birds in the marsh 
     
     became rather 'flightly' and milled about, with some departing towards 
     
     Brackley. Despite a search of the area where the curlew moved to by Dwayne 
     
     Sabine and Ray Cooke, who had arrived with a camera and scope after the bird 
     
     moved, the curlew could not subsequently be relocated. An intense search of 
     
     the entire marsh the following day turned up only 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 2 
     
     Whimbrels, a few Least Sandpipers, and one Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Tryngites 
     
     subruficollis). 
     
    

    
     Having consulted Hayman et a1. (1986), we decided the bird seemed most 
     
     likely to be a Little Curlew, which is quite similar in appearance to the 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
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