Sandgrouse - Golden Plover in Jordan

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The first European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria in Jordan

PETE M. ELLIS, KHALDOUN AL OMARI AND ANWAR EL HALAH

DURING EARLY AFTERNOON OF 3 December 2000, we were undertaking a wildfowl count at Qa al Azraq, Jordan, as part of a programme of wildfowl surveys organised by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN). While counting waders on the mud flats at the north end of the qa, two European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria were located feeding among 135 Lapwing Vanellus vanellus. They were c. 400 metres away, but we watched them through telescopes for approximately an hour before they took off with the Lapwings and flew south until they were lost from sight. The record has been accepted by the Jordan Bird Records Committee.

DESCRIPTION

Typical plovers, with small heads, short bills and long legs. Slightly smaller, slimmer and proportionately longer legged and smaller headed than nearby Lapwings, but distinctly larger than Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva, with a shorter less, broad-based bill. Legs proportionately longer than in Lapwing, but not as long as in Pacific Golden Plover and clearly did not project beyond the tail in flight. The relatively long range prevented us acquiring any detail on relative tertial and primary lengths.

Both had rather plain faces, lacking any prominent pale supercilia. Lores pale and they only had a faint eye-stripe and slightly darker ear-covert spot. Upperparts with dark-centred feathers, neatly spangled golden-yellow. No contrast between upperwing-coverts and scapulars/mantle, which is sometimes evident in Pacific Golden Plover. Underparts paler than upperparts, with whitish belly clearly contrasting with darker mottled breast. Pacific Golden Plover usually has more uniform underparts. In flight, upperwing had a clear whitish wingbar on the primaries and outer secondaries. Axillaries and underwing-coverts seen well when they flew and were pure white, very different from the grey axillaries and underwing-coverts of Pacific Golden Plover. They had dark eyes and dark grey bills and legs. They fed on the mudflats in typical plover fashion, by running, then stopping suddenly and picking food from the surface.

DISTRIBUTION

European Golden Plover breeds from Iceland across northern Europe, north of 50°, to just over 100° east. It winters south and west, particularly in the British Isles, France, Belgium and Holland, with some reaching as far south as North Africa and western Morocco (Cramp & Simmons 1983). In Israel, it is fairly common in winter, with flocks of up to 300 recorded, and a rare passage migrant at Eilat in August-November (Shirihai 1996). The lack of previous records in Jordan is relatively surprising.

Pacific Golden Plover has been recorded in Jordan. Two were at Al Khirba Samra sewage works on 17 August 1990, with another or the same there on 24 August (Andrews 1995). An unidentified golden plover sp. (either P. fulva or P. apricaria) was at Aqaba sewage works on 26-27 April 2000 (I. J. Andrews pers. comm.).

REFERENCES

ANDREWS, I. J. (1995) The birds of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Andrews, Musselburgh.
CRAMP, S AND SIMMONS, K. E. L. (eds.) (1983) The birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. 3. Oxford University Press.
SHIRIHAI, H. (1996) The birds of Israel. Academic Press, London.

Pete M. Ellis, Seaview, Sandwich, Shetland ZE2 9 HP, U. K.
Khaldoun Al Omari and Anwar El Halah, Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, P.O. Box 6354, Amman 11183, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

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	DURING EARLY AFTERNOON OF 3 December 2000, we were undertaking a wildfowl count at Qa al Azraq, Jordan, as part of a programme of wildfowl surveys organised by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN). While counting waders on the mud flats at the north end of the qa, two European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria were located feeding among 135 Lapwing Vanellus vanellus. They were c. 400 metres away, but we watched them through telescopes for approximately an hour before they took off with the Lapwings and flew south until they were lost from sight. The record has been accepted by the Jordan Bird Records Committee.
DESCRIPTION
	Typical plovers, with small heads, short bills and long legs. Slightly smaller, slimmer and proportionately longer legged and smaller headed than nearby Lapwings, but distinctly larger than Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva, with a shorter less, broad-based bill. Legs proportionately longer than in Lapwing, but not as long as in Pacific Golden Plover and clearly did not project beyond the tail in flight. The relatively long range prevented us acquiring any detail on relative tertial and primary lengths. Both had rather plain faces, lacking any prominent pale supercilia. Lores pale and they only had a faint eye-stripe and slightly darker ear-covert spot. Upperparts with dark-centred feathers, neatly spangled golden-yellow. No contrast between upperwing-coverts and scapulars/mantle, which is sometimes evident in Pacific Golden Plover. Underparts paler than upperparts, with whitish belly clearly contrasting with darker mottled breast. Pacific Golden Plover usually has more uniform underparts. In flight, upperwing had a clear whitish wingbar on the primaries and outer secondaries. Axillaries and underwing-coverts seen well when they flew and were pure white, very different from the grey axillaries and underwing-coverts of Pacific Golden Plover. They had dark eyes and dark grey bills and legs. They fed on the mudflats in typical plover fashion, by running, then stopping suddenly and picking food from the surface.
DISTRIBUTION
	European Golden Plover breeds from Iceland across northern Europe, north of 50°, to just over 100° east. It winters south and west, particularly in the British Isles, France, Belgium and Holland, with some reaching as far south as North Africa and western Morocco (Cramp & Simmons 1983). In Israel, it is fairly common in winter, with flocks of up to 300 recorded, and a rare passage migrant at Eilat in August-November (Shirihai 1996). The lack of previous records in Jordan is relatively surprising. Pacific Golden Plover has been recorded in Jordan. Two were at Al Khirba Samra sewage works on 17 August 1990, with another or the same there on 24 August (Andrews 1995). An unidentified golden plover sp. (either P. fulva or P. apricaria) was at Aqaba sewage works on 26-27 April 2000 (I. J. Andrews pers. comm.).
REFERENCES
	ANDREWS, I. J. (1995) The birds of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Andrews, Musselburgh. CRAMP, S AND SIMMONS, K. E. L. (eds.) (1983) The birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. SHIRIHAI, H. (1996) The birds of Israel. Academic Press, London. Pete M. Ellis, Seaview, Sandwich, Shetland ZE2 9 HP, U. K. Khaldoun Al Omari and Anwar El Halah, Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, P.O. Box 6354, Amman 11183, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.