Blackbrook Zoo (Closed) Wader species???

Waders (shorebirds in the USA) can be very difficult, particularly if they are changing plumage, as these might be. It's harder from a photo like this as there's no sign of scale.
If they were small, I'd say dunlin, because of the down-curved beak and general plumage. A black belly would confirm this ID.

Alan
 
They look like Dunlin to me too- except the plumage doesn't look quite right for late June- they should be more colourful at this time of year....:confused:
 
They are not purple sandpipers. I see purple sandpipers on the coast here and they are bulkier, with a darker plumage and shorter bill (which is a pale yellowy colour.) Purple Sands tend to have a turnstone-like jizz, unlike the birds in the photo.

They could be dunlin as mentioned. I see these very often when birding, and they are certainly very variable in plumage. They are the sort of bird that will often catch me out, but in this case I'll put my neck on the line and say that these look a lot like curlew sandpipers. Like Pertinax mentions, either way, these birds do not appear to be showing the breeding plumage you would expect to see in June. The bird in the left does appear to be a little redder though, and so could be a male curlew sand that is losing his red breeding plumage during a moult.
 
I'll say curlew sandpipers. The bill looks a little bit too downcurved for dunlin and the legs a little bit too long.
 
Curlew sandpipers moulting to winter plumage. Note remains of rusty-red breeding plumage on breast, long, thin and clearly curved bill and long black legs.

BTW, this is not difficult question to answer with decent bird book.
BTW2, it is not unusual that zoos have wrongly identified animals (of less typical species) in their collection.
BTW3 Don't have good bird book at hand to talk about CS specifically, but late June it is already time of autumn moult and migration for some high-arctic waders.
 
Jurek7 said:
Curlew sandpipers moulting to winter plumage. Note remains of rusty-red breeding plumage on breast, long, thin and clearly curved bill and long black legs.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm sure you're correct. I've looked again and all these characteristics fit Curlew Sandpiper, not Dunlin or Purple Sandpiper.

So I'd say.. Curlew Sandpiper labelled(incorrectly) as Purple Sandpiper
 
I don't disagree, it depends on their size as I said in my first post. Curlew sandpipers are about half a size larger than dunlin :p

Alan
 
Blackbrook seems to have a pretty big collection of waders. So are native waders that big over in Europe/UK in zoos and/or private collections that they can get a collection together quite easily, or do they come from the wild?
 
A few wader species are fairly common, though not really 'bog standard', as far as I know they are captive bred. One of the more common waders in zoos is the black-necked stilt, which I've seen at a number of collections. Chester has quite a few waders in it's Europe on the Edge exhibit, such as stone curlew and lapwing. I think that Paignton and Living coasts both have good wader collections but I have never visited. Other species I know of in captivity include ruff, whimbrel, and spotted redshank, some of which may originate from rescue centres, I am unsure. Avocets are also kept in some collections such as Birdland in Boughton-on-the-water. London's new project, Biota! may keep avocets, something I've assumed from the fact they are pictured on their website.

Other waders in the UK include non-natives like blacksmiths plovers and masked lapwings.
 
Chlidonias said:
So are native waders that big over in Europe/UK in zoos and/or private collections that they can get a collection together quite easily, or do they come from the wild?
Click to expand...

Oystercatcher, avocet, black-winged stilt, ruff, redshank and several sp. of lapwings and stone-curlews/thick-knees breed in small numbers.

Curlew sandpipers and other sandpipers, shanks, godwits and curlews are normally wild injured birds. Zoos receive injured native birds in incredible numbers and variety.
 
^Chris^ said:
A few wader species are fairly common, though not really 'bog standard', as far as I know they are captive bred.
Click to expand...

Avocets appear in a lot of wader aviaries in zoos. Maybe they are free breeders in captivity perhaps because they are not a nervous species- in the wild they are quite belligerent to other milder species when nesting...
Cotswold WP in Oxfordshire have Stone Curlew in their mixed waders/water bird aviary- I think these are probably rescued 'wild' birds as this park is within the UK range of this fascinating 'dryland wading' species. But again they may breed okay in captivity though they are much shier than Avocets.
 
Blackbrook has (at least) the following:

Curlew 'purple' sandpiper
Ruff
Redshank
Lapwing
southern lapwing
Blacksmith plover
crowned plover
Black tailed godwit
black winged stilt
European curlew
Spotted dikkop (African thick-knee)
 
Did you know male 'common' curlew have considerably shorter bills than the females? I've never seen this recorded in a book but its true....
 
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