White-winged Sandpiper

The White-winged Sandpiper, Prosobonia leucoptera, is an extinct member of the large wader family Scolopacidae, that is endemic to the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia.

It was discovered on Tahiti in 1773 during Captain Cook’s voyage, but became extinct in the nineteenth century. Only one museum specimen is known to exist.

It was small mottled brown sandpiper with a short sharp black beak more like that of an insectivorous passerine than a wader. It was similar in size and structure to the endangered Tuamotu Sandpiper, but had unbarred reddish underparts, a white spot behind the eye, a white chin and a white wingbar.

The White-winged Sandpiper is believed to have occurred near small streams.

Reference

• Shorebirds by Hayman, Marchant and Prater ISBN 0-873403-19-4