The painted snipe in NZ

[Finn Davey]

NZ birds online says that the bird that vagranted to NZ was not ID'd to a species or subspecies.

The painted snipe has since been split into separate species being Australain and Greater painted snipes.

Was the snipe ever ID'd or is it still unknown?
If it's still unknown what is it most likely to be?

[SomesBirder]

If it's still unknown what is it most likely to be?

Even if it was more likely to be the Australian Painted-snipe, it would be wrong to assume that the bird that arrived in NZ was of that species based on the proximity of Australia to NZ versus the proximity of the Greater Painted-snipe's range to NZ. I think that that was why the identity of vagrant cranes in New Zealand was changed from, 'brolga', to, 'unidentified crane'; the possibility that the cranes were sarus cranes was not properly ruled out for any of the records, even though it was much more likely that the cranes were brolgas.

[Paul Scofield]

You raise an interesting question here Finn.

The paper is freely available https://notornis.osnz.org.nz/system/files/Notornis_34_1.pdf

The description states:

"Its head markings were outstanding. Round each eye, a pale ring, extending back towards the nape. The crown was intersected by a buff stripe, which extended from the base of the bill to the nape. The upperparts were marbled mid-grey with a bronze tinge and an almost metallic sheen. A broad, creamy stripe extended down each side of the back and framed the upper wings to form a V over the rump. The wings were speckled black and white. Breast streaked grey, lighter in front, and forming a pectoral band. Rest of underparts brilliant white.

Bare parts: Bill yellowish horn, substantial and longer than the head. The decurved tip was darker and appeared slightly bulbous. Legs green and of
medium length. Feet not seen.

So OK I think we can be confident it is a Rostratula and probably an immature as the breast was "streaked grey, lighter in front" and the wings "were speckled black and white".

So how do you separate immature benghalensis from australis?

I would like to be able to compare this description to my field experience with australis but the Aussie Painted Snipe is so darn rare now that despite looking I haven't seen one for more than 25 years...

So there is one important paper:

Lane, B.A. and Rogers, D.I. (2000). The Australian Painted Snipe Rostratula (benghalensis) australis: an endangered species. The Stilt. 36(1): 26–34.https://awsg.org.au/stilt/Stilt-36.pdf

They state that male australis: Boldly spotted; spots of feathers broad and round, cleanly bordered black with a short bill.

And they state that male benghalensis: Look more barred, less spotted than in Australian males; spots of feathers smaller and ‘flatter’, only with black proximal border. with a much longer bill.

I feel that the description stating

1) The wings were speckled black and white
2) Bill yellowish horn, substantial and longer than the head. [but not much, much longer than the head]

and the fact that no benghalensis has been reported from Australia is probably enough evidence that the NZ record was Australian Painted Snipe

Cheers Paul

[Finn Davey]

Thank you for your replies, very helpful and interesting