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Wandering Tattler
(Tringa [Heteroscelus] incana)
: "American Tattler"
Size: 26-30 cm; wing span 50-55 cm
Weight: 120-210 g
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Similar species |
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Physical description |
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Click here for a physical description
Wandering Tattlers are small waders.
Their plumage
is cryptic.
When seen in Australia, they are in eclipse
plumage.
During the
non-breeding season they have a light-grey throat patch,
grey chest and shoulders and light-grey belly, vent and undertail
coverts. The head, except for light-grey eyebrows and thin
light-grey eye-rings, is all-grey. The lores and the cap are
the darkest shade of grey, together with the back, including
the wings. In-flight they do not show a wing bar.
During the breeding season, the sides of the head and the entire
front are brownish-grey, with light-grey scalloping or barring
throughout.
The eyes have dark irises. The dark-grey bill is straight and
longer than the size of the head, with an olive-grey base of
the lower mandible. The legs and feet are yellow-olive.
The legs are relatively short and in flight do not protrude beyond
the tail.
Juveniles
roughly resemble
non-breeding
adults,
but are dark-grey, with some light-grey barring.
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Twitcher's tip |
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Compared with
Grey-tailed Tattlers,
they have more colour contrast between front and back and a darker-grey
appearance overall. Compared to other species of small
sandpipers and stints, both
species of tattlers have distinctive yellow legs.
The correct identification of waders ("shorebirds"), e.g. of the
Calidris, Tringa, Actitis and
related families or of the Charadrius, Pluvialis and related genera
in the field can be quite tricky. We have therefore made an attempt to
give some advice HERE.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Wandering
Tattler at Wikipedia .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
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The global distribution of the Wandering Tattler is available
HERE
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Wandering Tattlers are a strongly migratory species.
Their breeding grounds are located on both sides of the northern
Pacific, in far-eastern Russia, the Aleutian islands, Alaska,
north-western Canada and down the North American West coast.
They spend the northern winters farther South, either down
the American West coast, as far as Peru, Galapagos and Hanga Roa,
on any of the Pacific islands (including Papeete and Hawaii),
or down the East Asian coastline, via Japan, Taiwan and the
Philippines into eastern Indonesia, New Guinea, Oceania,
to Australia and northern New Zealand.
Wandering Tattlers are uncommon migrants to Australia from the
North. They are occasionally seen along the North-East coast of
the continent, from the tip of Cape York peninsula, all along
the QLD coastline, down to the NSW far North coast.
Wandering Tattlers have a strong preference for rocky habitats,
such as open reefs and coastal
rockfaces.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
M. Mearns reports spotting a Wandering Tattler on Lady
Elliot Island, off the QLD coast near Agnes Water, in January 2006
and again in January 2016.
H. Mouritsen reports spotting a Wandering Tattler on One Tree
Island, Capricornia Cays NP, near Rockhampton, QLD, in January 2011.
Two Wandering Tattlers in non-breeding were spotted by C. Hayne
at Flat Rock Beach, Skennars Head, 10 km North-East of Ballina,
NSW, in early January 2013.
M. Eaton reports finding Wandering Tattlers at Caloundra Headland,
QLD, in January 2018. Another was found at Flat Rock, Ballina, NSW,
in January 2023.
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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NON-BREEDING |
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Frontal view of a Wandering Tattler in non-breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Flat Rock, Ballina, NSW, January 2023]
Near-frontal view of a Wandering Tattler in non-breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Flat Rock, Ballina, NSW, January 2023]
Near-frontal view of a Wandering Tattler in non-breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Caloundra, QLD, January 2018]
Near-lateral view of a Wandering Tattler in non-breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of H. Mouritsen)
[One Tree Island, Capricornia Cays NP, QLD, January 2011]
Close-up lateral view of a Wandering Tattler in non-breeding
plumage
looking towards the observer
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Flat Rock, Ballina, NSW, January 2023]
Lateral view of a Wandering Tattler in non-breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Caloundra, QLD, January 2018]
Lateral view of a preening Wandering Tattler in non-breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]
Lateral/near-dorsal view of Wandering Tattlers in non-breeding
plumage
on a rockface
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Caloundra, QLD, January 2018]
Close-up near-dorsal view of a Wandering Tattler in non-breeding
plumage
looking sideways
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Flat Rock, Ballina, NSW, January 2023]
Close-up dorsal view of a Wandering Tattler in non-breeding
plumage
looking sideways
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Flat Rock, Ballina, NSW, January 2023]
Dorsal view of a Wandering Tattler in non-breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Caloundra, QLD, January 2018]
Dorsal view of a Wandering Tattler in non-breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]
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Food, Diet |
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Frontal view of a Wandering Tattler in non-breeding
plumage
gobbling up its prey
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Flat Rock, Ballina, NSW, January 2023]
Lateral view of a Wandering Tattler in non-breeding
plumage
with its prey
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Flat Rock, Ballina, NSW, January 2023]
Wandering Tattler in non-breeding
plumage
prying its prey from a tiny rock pool
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Caloundra, QLD, January 2018]
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors.
The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.