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ID-FRONTIERS for April 1-7, 2001
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Subject: Re: North American vs Eurasian Surf Scoter
From: Tony Leukering <GreatGrayO(AT)AOL.COM>
Date: 1 Apr 2001 9:18am
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Hi all:
The Dutch have, indeed, split _aprylfullsii_, but have gone one step further
and separated the barely clinal variation that is represented by
_gulliblensis_. This latter form was first described by Oberholser in
Bird-Life of Texas, but submerged into _aprylfullsii_ by all subsequent
authors (e.g., AOU 1983, AOU 1998, and Seuss year uncertain).
Oberholser separated _gulliblensis_ from other forms primarily due to its
longer third toe (mean=27.4mm SE 4.3 vs. 25.8 mm SE 3.6 in nominate and 26.2
mm SE 4.0 in _aprylfullsii_) and by the chicks have down feathers with
slightly longer dark bases. He theorized that these features helped the bird
in diving through denser, saltier water (typically found on inland, saline
lakes e.g., Great Salt Lake, Mono Lake) and in thermoregulation of the
chicks, respectively.
I don't see any valid reasoning behind these pronouncements, as the species
is quite rare on these inland, saline lakes. Ah, well, ain't science
wonderful.
Thanks to Angus for initiating this very interesting and foolish thread!
Enjoy the Day, all!
Tony Leukering
Brighton, CO
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Subject: Re: North American vs Eurasian Surf Scoter
From: Tony Leukering <GreatGrayO(AT)AOL.COM>
Date: 1 Apr 2001 9:24am
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Hi all:
I forgot to include the citations for my references in my recent post. They
are below.
Tony Leukering
Brighton, CO
American Ornithologists' Union. 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th
ed. Allen Press, Lawrence, KS.
American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. Check-list of North American Birds, 7th
ed. Allen Press, Lawrence, KS.
Oberholser, H.C. 1974. Bird-life of Texas. (I don't have the pub here, so...).
Seuss, Dr. Year uncertain. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. (ditto,
above).
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Subject: Common Black Hawk
From: Will Russell <russell(AT)RTD.COM>
Date: 1 Apr 2001 12:19pm
A few weeks ago, Steve Howell called my attention to a first winter
Common Black Hawk soaring over the ruins at Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico.
Looking up I was stunned to see a bird whose shape and plumage were so
close to that of first winter Red-tailed Hawk that I might well have
dismissed it as a Red-tail had I seen the bird in the colder months in
Arizona where an eye-opening array of first-winter Red-tail plumages
occur.
Common Black Hawk nests in Arizona, of course, and adults are regularly
seen as spring migrants and on their breeding grounds along certain
streams, but my known exposure to fledged young had always been on or
near the ground. Young Arizona-reared Common Black Hawks apparently
remain in Mexico during their first summer but I wonder why I've never
seen a young bird in the fall except low along streams and under the
canopy in flooded nut tree groves. Have I overlooked them overhead or
are their numbers just so small and their cross-country altitude so high
as to make detection unlikely?
It's dangerous to generalize from one bird but two things stuck me about
the Palenque individual. The inner primaries were more translucent than
in any Red-tail resulting in strikingly bright, pale pannels and the
background color of the tail was pale, contrasting with the narrow dark
transverse bands and, at least at moderate heights, producing a tail
pattern not seen on any(?) Red-tail..
I suspect a Red-tail specialist looking at the Palenque bird could have
given me a number of plumage features that singly or collectively were
unlikely to be present in any Red-tail but with the two exceptions noted
above, all my unprepared mind could record was similarities.
Will Russell
russell(AT)rtd.com
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Subject: First Kittlitz's Plover (Ch.pecuarius) for Spain
description online
From: Ricard Gutierrez <GUTARB(AT)terra.es>
Date: 1 Apr 2001 2:19pm
Hello:
In the RBS (Rare Birds in Spain) website I have put a description with
sketch drawings of th 1st Spanish record of Kittlitz's Plover (Charadrius
pecuarius) seen a few weeks ago in La Mancha, Toledo. The bird was in good
condition and there seems to be no doubt of its origin. Despite being a
largely sedentary (or thought to be) species in N Africa, there are some
records from Morocco and one from France which more or less fit the dates of
the current sighting.
Also all recent reports in the country
Thank you
Ricard Gutiérrez
http://www.terra.es/personal3/gutarb
1.4.2001
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Subject: Re: Common Black Hawk
From: Tony Leukering <GreatGrayO(AT)AOL.COM>
Date: 1 Apr 2001 4:33pm
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Hi all:
I would agree with Will's comments about the similarity between juv COBH and
RTHA. However, I would not agree that there are no Red-tail plumages with a
tail pattern matching that of a juv COBH. Some adult Harlan's Hawks have
eerily similar tail patterns, though they're usually not as strikingly
black-and-white as that of COBH. Of course, adult Harlan's should not show a
translucent wing panel, making separation much more obvious.
Enjoy,
Tony Leukering
Brighton, CO
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Subject: RFI Hybrid Black-headed X Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
From: Tom & Heather <THLALLY(AT)EMAIL.MSN.COM>
Date: 1 Apr 2001 8:57pm
Hi all,
I am hoping that someone can direct me to photos of presumed hybrid
Black-headed (Pheucticus Melanocephalus) X Rose-breasted (P. Ludovicianus)
Grosbeaks . What I really am interested in are photos of hybrid females or
aberrant plumages of the above species.
Thanks in advance.
Tom Lally
Edison Park, Chicago, IL
thlally(AT)msn.com
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Subject: Mystery vireo in Miami
From: John H Boyd III <boydj(AT)FIU.EDU>
Date: 2 Apr 2001 4:43am
There's a vireo in Miami that has us somewhat puzzled. Structure and
plumage strongly suggest Warbling Vireo, but the song sounds a lot more
like Bell's. Bell's is a rare occasional wintering bird, while this bird
was at least 3 weeks earlier than any accepted report of Warbling.
Any tips on nailing this one down would be appreciated. Is there some
field mark we missed? Can Bell's really look so much like Warbling?
Could it be Warbling with an aberrant song?
Here's the description:
Vireo seen at A.D. Barnes Park, Miami, on March 31 and April 1, 2001
Observed briefly on March 31, 2001 @ about 2pm.
Observed on-and-off from 8am to 1pm on April 1, 2001 with about a dozen
other birders. Weather ranged from post-rain overcast to blue skies.
The bird was mostly seen inside the canopy and overhead, but we did see it
some in full sunlight, and not far above eye-level.
References and tapes were consulted several times during the 5-hour
viewing period on April 1, as well as in the evening of March 31 and
April 1. They include Sibley, Kaufman photo + advanced birding, Audubon
master, Stokes, NGS III, Peterson, Pyle, and Stokes & Peterson CDs.
Appearance: Gray cap (darker than face), white supercilium, short gray
eyeline, not extending to bill, no eye-ring, pale area beneath eye
(contrasting with eyeline) almost as thick as supercilium, eye dark.
Vireo-type bill, but pointy, lower mandible flesh colored, upper
mandible color not clearly noted. Gray head (darker on top), back with
olive tones in the gray. No hint of wing bars. A white feather edge is
visible at the bend of the folded wing. Underparts light, yellow wash
on flanks and breast (flank yellow was brightest), also pale yellowish
wash on undertail coverts. Some of the yellow wash on the underparts
was only visible in good light. Tail was medium length, and dusky gray
underneath. Overall shape of bird from underneath similar to Red-eyed
Vireo. The bird appeared larger than nearby Prairie Warblers, about the
same size as nearby Black-and-white Warblers. Definitely smaller than a
Red-eyed Vireo (which was not present). Compared to a Blue-headed Vireo,
(which was present) it was more lightly-built, but maybe not shorter.
Behavior: The vireo was extremely active early on Apr 1, moreso than
nearby warblers. Later in the day its activity level was comparable
to nearby warblers. When we saw in the hot afternoon on March 31,
it was not particularly active.
Song: I would describe the song as similar to Bell's Vireo. It sang
quite a bit, but I would not describe it as full song...some sort of
subsong, or whatever you call it. The song was slower than Bell's
examples on tapes, paced more like Warbling. The bird's voice had a bit
of a buzzy to burry tone, unlike the clear whistles of (Eastern) Warbling,
or the more Grosbeak-like tones of (Western) Warbling, but very similar to
the tone of Bell's. The song was quite busy, with occasional scold notes
or other noises. It often had an ending quite like Bell's. (Larry
Manfredi recorded some examples of its song on his new digital recorder.)
The scold call was similar to Warbling...I don't know Bell's scold call.
Other comments: If I saw the bird without hearing it, I would consider
it an obvious Warbling Vireo. If I heard it without seeing it, I
would take it for a Bell's Vireo (but an unusual song).
--
John H. Boyd III boydj(AT)fiu.edu
Dept. of Economics Phone: 305-348-3287
Florida International University Fax: 305-348-1524
Miami, FL 33199 http://ecojb.fiu.edu/
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Subject: Mystery vireo in Miami-a possible solution
From: Glenn A dEntremont <gdentremont(AT)JUNO.COM>
Date: 3 Apr 2001 6:54pm
No doubt this bird was probably reared within sound of a Bell's Vireo.
I suggest that anyone interested read a recent article which appeared in
Bird Observer, Volume 28, number 5 (October 2000) which documents a
Philadelphia Vireo which learned a Warbling Vireo Song. The article is
entitled "The Oxbird [National Wildlife Refuge in Harvard Massachusetts]
Philadelphia Vireo" written by Ron Lockwood. Bird Observer is a
bi-monthly journal of eastern Massachusetts complete with sight reports
of MA birds. It has peer reviewed articles which are useful in other
parts of North America as the above article shows.
Glenn
On Mon, 2 Apr 2001 07:43:00 -0400 John H Boyd III <boydj(AT)FIU.EDU> writes:
> There's a vireo in Miami that has us somewhat puzzled. Structure and
> plumage strongly suggest Warbling Vireo, but the song sounds a lot
> more
> like Bell's.
Glenn d'Entremont
gdentremont(AT)juno.com
Stoughton, MA
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