Wandering Tattler in breeding plumage

The Wandering Tattler (Tringa incana) is a migrant shorebird which breeds in Eastern Siberia, Alaska and NW Canada and migrates over the Pacific basin.  Most birds head south down the American west coast with some even reaching Peru in South America. 

Others migrate south and west across the vast Pacific Ocean to overwintering island destinations, including islands such as Hawaii and Fiji and, closer to home, the islands of Melanesia,  Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island and New Zealand with some birds reaching the Australian east coast. In Australia they winter on rocky ocean shores and islands in Queensland and NSW with a few rare birds found occasionally along the East Gippsland coast in Victoria. Their common name, Wandering, is derived from the widespread migration of this species.

In Australia they are mostly found in non-breeding plumage or partial breeding plumage when they are hard to differentiate from the Grey-tailed Tattler. 

On the 7th of May 2025 I found a solitary Wandering Tattler on the rocky headland of the Brunswick Heads Nature Reserve. I have found this species in this location before – links to two earlier posts are provided at the end of this post – however these birds were in non-breeding or partial breeding plumage whereas the subject of this post was in full breeding condition. Will this bird migrate or over-winter in Australia? Early May seems to be late to migrate?

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Non-breeding plumage Wandering Tattler (Brunswick Heads July 2021)

Subject Wandering Tattler in breeding plumage May 2025.

Front view.

It was late afternoon and the tide was nearly full, forcing the bird close to shore where it foraged across the rocks in the later afternoon light. I observed the bird from 4 to 4.30pm and took advantage of the ideal photo opportunity with the sun behind me.

The bird expertly avoided breaking waves.

The bird foraged across the rocks picking up and swallowing tiny food items which I could not see. 

Wandering Tattlers eat polychaete worms, molluscs and small crabs. In this case I suspect the bird was picking up very small molluscs.

The Australian Bird Guide (Menkhorst et al) points out a number of ID clues to help separate Grey-tailed and Wandering Tattlers including scaling of the tarsi and the nasal groove. However in the field these features are only visible up close. The following photos show both ID clues.

Scaling of tarsi in Wandering is reticulate and in Grey-tails overlapping rectangular.

The nasal groove is longer in the Wandering – about three quarters the length of the bill.

Other ID guides include differing flight calls and as it forages the Wandering often bobs its tail and teeters like a Common Sandpiper.

To finish the post the following is a selection of photos taken as the late afternoon light intensified.

Previous posts referred to above:

July 2021 Non breeding plumage WT 

https://avithera.blogspot.com/2021/07/wandering-tattler.html

May 2024 partial breeding plumage WT

https://avithera.blogspot.com/2024/05/wandering-tattler-at-brunswick-heads-nsw.html

In addition here is a link to a post featuring the Grey-tailed Tattler (Tringa brevipes), a closely related species.

https://avithera.blogspot.com/2019/01/grey-tailed-tattler.html

Silvereyes feeding on lerp

On a recent BirdLife East Gippsland Monday morning outing to Log Crossing in the Colquhoun Forest near Lakes Entrance a few of us came upon about six Silvereyes feeding on the common reed (Phragmities Australis) growing beside Mississippi Creek. The birds were very intent on gleaning something from the underside of the large leaves. 

Silvereyes have a broad diet including fruit, seeds, insects and nectar. We were intrigued to know exactly what these birds were feeding on which was not obvious as the birds were foraging on the underside of the leaves which were not visible to us.

After taking some photos we checked the underside of the Phragmities leaves and found large amounts of the telltale white sugary coating commonly called lerp (1). Under the coating we found small – not much larger than a pin head – green psyllid bugs (or their larvae?) which make the starchy protective coating. We could not tell if the Silvereyes were eating the sugar rich coating, the larvae or both. I suspect both, given both fit within the known diet of Silvereyes – a rich food source containing proteins and sugar.

Checking the photos later at home on my laptop I could see fragments of the white sugary coating on the bird’s bills and in one case, its back. Also one photo captured some of the lerp on the leaves. An indication of the value of this food source may have been displayed by an altercation between two birds over feeding access to a reed stem – see photo below.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

Note lerp on the tip of bill and the back in the next photo.

The white lerp is visible in the following photo. There were larger pieces forming protective coatings over psyllid bugs on the underside of many of the leaves.

The bird in the following photo is picking lerp off the underside of a leaf – a fragment of lerp is visible on its back.

A feeding area dispute.

There are about nine subspecies of Silvereye across their range in Australia. The birds we found were Zosterops lateralis lateralis (note the rich brown flanks), the Tasmanian sub species, many of which make seasonal migrations across Bass Strait to winter on the mainland. 

Note (1) The word lerp comes from the Wemba Wemba lerep. Lerps are a traditional food source for Indigenous people. 

Australian Hobby

The Australian Hobby(1) (Little Falcon) Falco longipennis can be found in many types of open habitat across Australia including Tasmania. This species has a well-earned reputation for being aggressive. The following description of the bird from my 1959 edition of Neville Cayley’s What Bird Is That (my first bird book), while perhaps somewhat anthropomorphic, captures the character of the Hobby, “It is more courageous in disposition and stronger on the wing in proportion to its size than any other Australian Hawk.”

The Hobby, a mostly solitary bird, can be found perching, but from my experience it is often sighted when engaged in high speed hunting forays. Hobbies capture aerial prey, mostly small birds and they also hawk insects and even take micro bats on or after dark.

While birding beside the Warrego River on the Riverwalk at Cunnamulla in outback Queensland, alarm calls from a number of small birds made me look for the cause which I knew would be a raptor. I soon spotted an Australian Hobby flying very fast along the treed riparian strip and out onto the open flood plain. The Hobby was clearly attempting to flush small bird prey.  However with no success the bird luckily ended its high energy run in a tree near where I was standing – birding and bird photography involves a significant amount of luck. 

I gave the bird a few minutes to settle and then moved a little closer for some photos. The Hobby moved position in the tree once and while it kept an eye on me it seemed comfortable with my presence. The light made photo exposure tricky as the bird was resting in deep shade with a bright sky background. After taking some photos I walked away leaving the Hobby to rest and recover its energy for another high speed hunting run.

 

Please click on photos to enlarge.

Note the long talons – good for catching aerial prey such as small birds and insects.

The long flight feathers extend to the end of the tail – its species name longipennis means long wing. 

The rather large eyes are no doubt helpful in low light – this falcon in known to hunt at dusk and after dark when micro bats are taken.

(1) The name Hobby … was adopted in Australia only recently and applied to this bird, long known simply as Little Falcon, because of its similarity to the Eurasian Hobby, refer Fraser and Gray, Australian Bird Names a Complete Guide, page 80.