08/01/2025
Identification of Spoon-billed Sandpiper
Try find a Spoon-billed Sandpiper from 200 meters away 試著找出 200 公尺外的琵嘴鷸
Before I found the SBS by myself in the wild , I read many online articles and watched many videos of it ( most of the birders wanted to express the characteristics of the spoon , from a long distance differences in foraging behavior between SBS and other shorebirds are rarely expressed)
quote By David Sibley : One of the most distinctive birds in the world, the Spoon-billed Sandpiper (SBS) hardly seems like an identification problem, but to pick one out of a flock of stints is really more difficult than you would think. Overall shape and size, color, and behavior are very similar to the stints. The spoon shaped bill is surprisingly hard to see, and at a distance they just blend in.
Many online information show that most birdwatchers compare the SBS to other similar small shorebirds families. ( ex: Red-necked Stint )
I got a news is there have a SBS in Changhua Taiwan in the winter of 2017. (Because I missed this bird so many times), I went to see it immediately , and after I got it . I found that the SBS was together with a large number of Dunlin , when in 2018 , 2019 and 2020, I took groups , we are lucky to observed or take photos of SBS . Looking back now, it seems like that , forage with Dunlin (but I need some time to find and check out those photos)
In 2021 and 2022 , no guiding tour service due to my job change. After returning to guide work in 2023 apr , I had a strange feeling after I finding the SBS . I don’t know what kind of environmental factors affect , maybe water depth ? Or other factors, but I feel that the SBS seems to forage more often with the dunlin in Taiwan ?
In winter 2023 / spring 2024 (January), there is a SBS in Hsinchu, Taiwan, which is relatively stable and easy to observe. When I guiding groups , it took me few mins tried to record the video
At first I tried to record the video, but the bird often ran out of range (cellphone + telescope 30x, bird in 20~ 30m)
After several try , the bird left . After several more observations and try to record vedio
( lucky to catch the dunlin foraging with SBS )
After several observations and reading online information, I found an articl ：Identification: Spoon-billed Sandpiper or…? Part Two / Charlie Moores Considering the extreme rarity of SBS Eurynorhynchus pygmeus and the paucity of information on their identification at long-range
consider my gear , I thought that I should record different foraging movements from a distance
this vedio is by realme 9 + 3D-printed adaptor + telescope 30x , distance around 20m , second part is 200 ~ 250m ( by google earth )
compared to dunlin , SBS walking rapidly, changing direction frequently, while holding the bill down , ( sometimes it movement even feels like spinning in circles )
It should be pointed out that , It's a pity that , on the day this video was shot, the birds were only visible for a short time, and the time could be photographed from long distance was inadequate , and foraging place in Hsinchu, Taiwan ( I don’t have any other foraging videos from long distance in Hsinchu or Tainan to confirm this ) . and my observations involved only a few birds from different year at different place in Taiwan , this is just from my few times personal observation experience , and it seems only at the low tide roost and foraging , so this may not be typical foraging habitat or typical behavior for SBS.
I hope I can find SBS in the future , and catch more SBS foraging with other shorebirds like Sanderling or Red-necked Stint from long distance
Assist more observers to pick out possible SBS from long distance
琵嘴鷸的識別
在我自己在野外發現琵嘴鷸之前，我在網上看了很多文章，也看了很多關於琵嘴鷸的視頻（大多數觀鳥者都想表達勺子的特點，從遠處看琵嘴鷸和其他鴴鷸的覓食行為的差異是很少表達）
引述大衛‧西布利：琵嘴鷸( SBS ) 是世界上最獨特的鳥類之一，看起來幾乎不是什麼識別問題，但從一群鳥中挑選一隻確實比你想像的要困難。整體形狀、大小、顏色和行為與駐地非常相似。勺子狀的喙非常難以看見，而且在遠處它們就融為一體了。
許多線上資訊顯示，大多數觀鳥者將琵嘴鷸與其他類似的小型濱鳥科進行比較。 （例如：紅胸濱鷸）
我得到一個消息，2017年冬天，台灣彰化有一個琵嘴鷸。我發現琵嘴鷸與大量的黑腹濱鷸在一起，2018年、2019年、2020年我帶團的時候，我們有幸觀察到或拍到了琵嘴鷸。現在回想起來，好像都是這樣的（與黑腹濱鷸一起活動覓食，但我需要一些時間來尋找和查看那些照片）
2021年、2022年因工作變動，不再帶團。2023年4月重返帶團，找到琵嘴鷸後，我有一種奇怪的感覺。我不知道什麼樣的環境因素影響，也許水深？還是其他因素，但我感覺琵嘴鷸在台灣似乎更喜歡與黑腹濱鷸一起活動覓食？
2023年冬季/2024年春季（1月），台灣新竹有一隻琵嘴鷸，相對穩定，易於觀測。當我帶團時，我花了幾分鐘嘗試錄製影片
起初我嘗試錄製影片，但鳥經常跑出範圍（手機+望遠鏡30x，鳥在20~30m內）
經過幾次嘗試，小鳥離開了。經過多次觀察並嘗試錄製影片（有幸捕捉到琵嘴鷸與黑腹濱鷸一起覓食的影像）
經過多次觀察查閱網路資料，我找到一篇文章
辨識：勺嘴鷸還是…？第二部/查理摩爾斯
考慮到勺嘴鷸極為稀有，且遠距離識別資訊匱乏
考慮到我的裝備，我認為我應該從遠處記錄不同的覓食動作
影片由realme 9 + 3D列印適配器+ 30倍望遠鏡拍攝 距離約20m ，第二段約 200~250m（透過google Earth）
與黑腹濱鷸相比，琵嘴鷸走路速度很快，經常改變方向，嘴經常保持向下（有時動作甚至感覺像在轉圈）
需要指出的是，遺憾的事是，該影片拍攝當天，鳥兒只能出現很短的時間，從遠距離拍攝的時間遠遠不夠，且覓食地位於台灣新竹（我沒有任何其他在新竹或台南遠距離覓食的影片來證實這一點）。而我的觀察經驗只涉及台灣不同地方不同年份的少數鳥類，這只是我的幾次個人觀察經驗，而且琵嘴鷸似乎只在退潮時棲息和覓食，因此這可能不是典型的覓食棲息地或典型的活動方式。
我希望將來我能找到琵嘴鷸，並從遠處捕捉到更多琵嘴鷸與其他鴴鷸鳥如三趾鷸或紅胸濱鷸一起覓食
協助更多觀察者遠距離發現可能的琵嘴鷸
#琵嘴鷸
#台灣
#バードウォッチング
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Identification of Spoon-billed SandpiperBefore I found the SBS by myself in the wild , I read many online articles and watched many videos of it ( most of t...
