Tuamotu sandpiper
| Tuamotu sandpiper | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Scolopacidae |
| Genus: | Prosobonia |
| Species: | P. parvirostris |
| Binomial name | |
|
Prosobonia parvirostris (Peale, 1848) |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Tringa cancellata Gmelin, 1789 |
|
Tringa cancellata Gmelin, 1789
Tringa parvirostris Peale, 1848
Aechmorhynchus cancellatus
Aechmorhynchus parvirostris
Prosobonia parvirostris
Prosobonia cancellatus Collar and Andrew, 1988
Prosobonia cancellata
The Tuamotu sandpiper (Prosobonia parvirostris) is an endangered member of the large wader family Scolopacidae, that is endemic to the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It is sometimes placed in the monotypic genus Aechmorhynchus. A native name, apparently in the Tuamotuan language, is kivi-kivi.
The 15.5–16.5 cm long Tuamotu sandpiper is a small, short-winged, mottled brown bird with more or less barred underparts. Its short sharp beak is more like that of an insectivorous passerine than a wader. There are two colour morphs which intergrade. Pale birds are medium brown above and white below, with light barring or spotting on the breast and whitish streaking on the head. The bold supercilium and the chin are also white. The rectrices are brown with white tips and white triangular markings on the outer webs. Dark phase birds replace medium with darker brown and white with light buff or tawny white. The flanks are brown, and the entire underparts are heavily barred that colour.
The iris is brown, the beak is blackish and the legs and feet are dirty yellow to dark olive grey; the toes are not webbed.
Females and males are alike, the former having a tendency to be slightly larger and paler on average.
The species has been recorded in modern times from the following atolls, listed from northwest to southeast:
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Wikipedia