Home » Birds of Morocco » Pectoral Sandpiper and American Golden Plover

American waders at Dar Bouazza, Morocco

Two Nearctic waders reported at Dayet Dar Bouazza, near Casablanca, during the last few days.

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)

Benoît Maire and his colleagues found this bird on 29 September 2019. The bird stayed at the site at least until 5 October (photo below).

This would be the 17th record for Morocco if accepted by the Moroccan Rare Birds Committee (MRBC).

The Pectoral Sandpiper breeds in North America and also in Northern Siberia. So, how do we know birds we see here in North Africa (and Western Europe for that matter) are of American or Siberian origin?

This question is probably as old as the occurrence of the species in this part of the world. For example, it was discussed in a news article published in the journal Nature more than 70 years ago (Anonymous 1949). More recently, it was dealt with in more details by Lees and Gilroy (2004).

Here is a quote from the latter article:

“The annual influx of Pectoral Sandpipers into Europe may, therefore, consist of transatlantic vagrants caught up in severe weather systems, and also birds from both North America and Siberia which have developed an alternative migratory strategy, and now overwinter in Africa”.

Because the bird reported here was with another American species (see below), it’s more likely to be also of American origin (hence the title of this page!).

Anonymous, 1949. American Pectoral Sandpipers in Britain. Nature 164 (4170): 561–561. doi:10.1038/164561a0

Lees, A.C. & Gilroy, J.J. 2004. Pectoral sandpipers in Europe. British Birds 97: 638-646.

Pectoral Sandpiper / Bécasseau tacheté (Calidris melanotos), Dayet Dar Bouazza, Morocco, 5 Oct. 2019 (Benoît Maire).
Pectoral Sandpiper / Bécasseau tacheté (Calidris melanotos), Dayet Dar Bouazza, Morocco, 5 Oct. 2019 (Benoît Maire).

American Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica)

While birding in Morocco, Shaun Robson and his group heard the news about the Pectoral Sandpiper and decided to twitch it next day (see Shaun’s tweet here). The group not only found their target, but was rewarded by finding another ‘much rarer bird’: an American Golden Plover.

This would be the 6th record for Morocco if accepted by the MRBC. The 5th record was photographed at Zemamra (inland from Oualidia) in autumn 2016.

American Golden Plover / Pluvier bronzé (Pluvialis dominica), Dayet Dar Bouazza, Morocco, 30 Sep. 2019 (Shaun Robson).
American Golden Plover / Pluvier bronzé (Pluvialis dominica), Dayet Dar Bouazza, Morocco, 30 Sep. 2019 (Shaun Robson).

The bird stayed at the site at least until 13 October.

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