Dunlin in Toronto

First record for Toronto Christmas Bird Count

This Dunlin in first winter plumage is first record for the Toronto Christmas Bird Count. It took top honours at the Toronto Ornithological Club roundup. Found earlier by Paul Prior, our team saw it in the afternoon feeding along the beach on Peninsula B. Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto on 15 December 2019.

VIDEO: Dunlin at Tommy Thompson Park on 15 December 2019

Aged as in first winter plumage by its wide juvenile pale-edged wing coverts and pale and buffy-edged tertials. It has plain grey first winter scapulars. Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto on 15 December 2019.

Dunlin has a long black bill with a slight droop at the tip. In contrast to the Purple Sandpiper nearby amongst the wave-pounded algae-covered rocks, this Dunlin was feeding on the sand on the open beach. Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto on 15 December 2019.