ABSTRACT
Summary of Upland Sandpiper banding is presented. There have been only 11 recoveries of 1484 sandpipers banded. Details of these recoveries are presented.
863 University Drive
Saskatoon, SK S7N 0J8
1405 Wilson Road
Boyne City, MI 49712
Canadian Wildlife Service
#210, 4999 98 Avenue
Edmonton, AB T6B 2X3
DISCUSSION
The Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia Iongicauda) has
received relatively little attention from bird
banders. Before computerization, 1923-1954, 241
Upland Sandpipers were banded, including a high
of 28 in 1943 (Bird Banding Notes, 1922-1965).
Prior to 1955, the Banding Office provided no
breakdowns for states and provinces, nor for
individual banders. Beginning in 1955, through
1996, another 1243 individuals were banded in 21
states, four provinces, and one sandpiper each in
Panama and British West Indies. Jurisdictions with
highest numbers banded were: New York, 452;
Michigan, 186; Minnesota, 111; Kansas, 86; and
Saskatchewan, 55. Banders with highest totals
were M.O. Chevalier (New York), 317; S.C. Drury
(Michigan), 138; V. Meig (Wisconsin), 110; A.H.
Grewe, Jr. (Minnesota), 106; and J.R. Cohen (New
York), 93.
Recovery rates were three of 241 (1.2%) for the
pre-1955 bandings, and eight of 1243 (0.6%) for
1955-1996 bandings. Nine banders shared a total
of 11 recoveries from 1484 birds banded (0.7%)
(Table 1). Only M.O. Chevalier, whose sandpiper
holds the banding longevity record at 8 years, 11
months, has published his results (Garber et al.
1997). Nine of the recoveries were locals
(flightless young) at the time of banding, while two
were adults. Seven recoveries were beyond the
10-minute block of latitude and longitude where
banded, and four were in a different state, province
or country. An adult banded by George Wagner in
Wisconsin was found injured in Mississippi, 1115
km distant. A local banded in North Dakota by
Michael Johnson was shot in Texas, 1730 km
distant.
There was a single recovery from the winter range,
which extends from Surinam to Central Argentina
and Uruguay (Amer. Ornith. Union 1998). An adult
female trapped on a nest with three nestlings by
Geoff Holroyd at Alexandria, in the extreme
eastern corner of Ontario, was shot by the noted
ornithologist Helmut Sick near Quixada, Brazil,
5650 km to the south.
The most interesting recovery of all added a new
species to the list of Spanish birds. No. 1163-
19030 (with a colored plastic band on the opposite
leg) was banded on thc Koutsky farm near Pellston
in Emmet County, Michigan, near the northern tip
of the lower peninsula, by Sid Drury on 5 July 1988.
The flightless young bird was about 17 days of age
and weighed 57.8 g. It was shot (with a plastic
reed!), in the municipality of Los Palacios, on the
east bank of the Guadaliquivir River delta, about
25 km south of Sevilla, Spain (37ø10'N, 5ø50'W), on
2 December 1988. The finder read "USA" on the
band and turned it in. The minimal distance
traveled, in a direct line, was 6385 km. Bent (1929)
reported that there had been six sightings of the
Upland Sandpiper in England, 1851-1879,
together with single sightings from Denmark,
Holland, Italy, and Malta. Later European sightings
include the British Isles (35 more), Italy (6 more),
France (4), Iceland (3), Azores (2), and one each
from Germany, Sicily, Malta, and Portugal (cited in
Alstrom and Colston 1991).
Table 1. Details of Recoveries of 11 Upland Sandpiper.
Banding Location
Bander Lat/ Date How
Long
Wagner 430-892 22 May 1942 Injured
Johnson 470-983 12 Jul 1951
Ms.A.H. Kelley 424-832 17 Jul 1954
EA. Clinch 435-755 06 Jul 1958
Holroyd 451-743 07 Jun 1968
J.R. Cohen 403-734 13 Jun 1974
J.R. Cohen 403-734 06 Jul 1976
M. Chevalier 403-734 12 Jun 1981
M. Chevalier 403-734 10 Jun 1984
S. Postupalsky 405-833 06 Jul 1987
S. Drury 453-844 05 Jul 1988
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Found dead
Struck object
Found dead
Airplane
Auto
Found dead
Auto
We thank M. Kathleen Klimkiewicz for details of the
band recovery in Spain, and Keith Russell for
copying the European sightings summarized in
Alstrom and Colston. Mary Whitmore provided
guidance to SCD in the Michigan banding study,
1988-1991. Anne Demers, Banding Office,
Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, provided
computer files of all North American bandings and
recoveries, as well as banders' current addresses.
Janet Hinshaw helped in our sleuthing. Elisabeth
Bantjes explained the confusing term, translated
into English as municipal terminal, which simply
means municipality. We would also like to
acknowledge permission received from Kelley's
estate, Cohen, Chevalier, and Postupalsky for the
use of their records.
LITERATURE CITED
Alstrom, P. and P. Colston. 1991. A field guide to
the rare birds of Britain and Europe. Harper
Collins, London.
American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. Check-list
of North American birds, h ed. American
Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC.
Bent, A.C. 1929. Life histories of North American
shorebirds, part 2. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull.
#146.
Recovery Location
Lat/ Date
Long
330-883 29 Aug 1946
313-965 10 Apr 1953
424-832 01 Jul 1956
430-753 10 May 1959
Page 2
-45-391 21 Feb 1969
404-733 -- Jul 1974
403-734 08 May 1978
403-734 11 Jul 1984
450-832 20 May 1991
371-055 02 Dec 1988
Bird Banding Notes, Volumes 1-5. 1922-1965.
United States Bureau of Biological Survey
and Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington,
DC.
Garber, S.D., S. Chevalier, and J.R. Cohen. 1997.
Twenty-eight year study of Upland Sand-
piper breeding population in New York. N.
Am. Bird Bander 22:109-113.