ID-FRONTIERS for December 1-6, 2003

Messages are displayed in the order they were received.  Subject  From  Date   Time   Rose-breasted or Black-headed Grosbeak?   Jean Iron    Tue, 2 Dec 2003   10:52am   Re: Rose-breasted or Black-headed Grosbeak?   Joseph Morlan    Tue, 2 Dec 2003   11:09am   "Prairie" Merlin   Joseph Morlan    Tue, 2 Dec 2003   11:23am   grosbeak ID   Paul Lehman    Tue, 2 Dec 2003   2:52pm   Re: Rose-breasted or Black-headed Grosbeak?   Les Chibana    Tue, 2 Dec 2003   5:55pm   Fw: Taxonomic Recommendations from the Association of European Records and Rartities Comittees   Jim Barton    Wed, 3 Dec 2003   12:45pm   Double glaucous   Alvaro Jaramillo    Thu, 4 Dec 2003   1:13am   Argentatus vs. hyperboreus: hybrid or not ?   Menotti Passarella    Thu, 4 Dec 2003   1:41am   Gnatcatcher   Joseph Morlan    Thu, 4 Dec 2003   9:07am   Re: Double glaucous   Stephen J. Davies   Thu, 4 Dec 2003   1:47pm   vegae vs smith x G-w   Phillip Pickering    Fri, 5 Dec 2003   8:22pm   Re: Gnatcatcher   Rich Hoyer    Fri, 5 Dec 2003   9:26pm   Re: vegae vs smith x G-w   Martin Reid    Sat, 6 Dec 2003   6:17am   Variation in Black Brant   Andrew Harrop    Sat, 6 Dec 2003   7:43am   Arizona Sphyrapicus   Mark Stevenson    Sat, 6 Dec 2003   8:06am   Re: Variation in Black Brant   Andy Guthrie    Sat, 6 Dec 2003   9:46am   Black Brant variation   Gary Felton    Sat, 6 Dec 2003   12:39pm

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Subject: Rose-breasted or Black-headed Grosbeak?
From: Jean Iron <jeaniron(AT)SYMPATICO.CA>
Date: 2 Dec 2003 10:52am

Dear ID-Frontiers,

There are three photos of an apparent first basic (first winter) male
Black-headed Grosbeak or Rose-breasted Grosbeak at a feeder near Ottawa,
Ontario. The upper mandible appears to be pale in two of the photos
suggesting a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. We would appreciate comments. Go to
the third item under 2003 to view photos http://www.ofo.ca/photos/

Ron Pittaway

Jean Iron
http://www3.sympatico.ca/jeaniron/
9 Lichen Place
Toronto ON  M3A 1X3
416-445-9297


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Subject: Re: Rose-breasted or Black-headed Grosbeak?
From: Joseph Morlan <jmorlan(AT)CCSF.ORG>
Date: 2 Dec 2003 11:09am

On Tue, 2 Dec 2003 12:51:51 -0500, Jean Iron <jeaniron(AT)SYMPATICO.CA> wrote:

>There are three photos of an apparent first basic (first winter) male
>Black-headed Grosbeak or Rose-breasted Grosbeak at a feeder near Ottawa,
>Ontario. The upper mandible appears to be pale in two of the photos
>suggesting a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. We would appreciate comments. Go to
>the third item under 2003 to view photos http://www.ofo.ca/photos/

This is a Black-headed Grosbeak.  Note the dark culmen on both photos.
Also the apparent pale horn coloration on the maxilla look to me like
highlights rather than the uniform pale ivory color of male Rose-breasted.

--
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044 jmorlan(AT)ccsf.org
California Birding & new rarities http://fog.ccsf.org/~jmorlan/
California Bird Records Committee http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/


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Subject: "Prairie" Merlin
From: Joseph Morlan <jmorlan(AT)CCSF.ORG>
Date: 2 Dec 2003 11:23am

I seek opinions on the racial identity of a Merlin I photographed in San
Diego this weekend.  Photo is at:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/95025754/102752926MEcvop

I felt it was F. c. richardsonii but this identification has been
questioned as not being pale enough.

In the field, I thought the upperparts were pale brownish-blue and the
white tail bands seemed about the same width as the dark (except for the
terminal dark bar).  The thin eyeline and faint malar also seemed to me to
be a better match for the richardsonii on pages 454-455 of Wheeler's new
"Raptors of Western North America."

--
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044 jmorlan(AT)ccsf.org
California Birding & new rarities http://fog.ccsf.org/~jmorlan/
California Bird Records Committee http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/


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Subject: grosbeak ID
From: Paul Lehman <lehman.paul(AT)VERIZON.NET>
Date: 2 Dec 2003 2:52pm

IDFrontiers:

I agree with Joe that the bird is certainly a Black-headed Grosbeak.
Bill color looks OK. Also, the breast color and pattern, and black
flight feathers, would suggest that it is older than in its first
fall/winter.

--Paul Lehman


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Subject: Re: Rose-breasted or Black-headed Grosbeak?
From: Les Chibana <les(AT)BIRDNUTZ.COM>
Date: 2 Dec 2003 5:55pm

This is not as easy for me, who doesn't have enough field experience
with
Rose-breasted in various seasonal plumage. I looked at a few guides, NGS
and Sibley, and read through Pyle. It was nice to see that these
references
noted the difficulty of IDing this plumage. I should probably just be
silent but
perhaps I can at least muddy the waters a bit.

BHGR = Black-headed Grosbeak
RBGR = Rose-breasted Grosbeak
HY = hatch-year (immature plumage)
      (SY = second year, a hatch year bird after Jan. 1 and before a pre-
       alternate molt, which is questionable in these species)
AHY = after hatch-year (adult plumage)
rects = rectrices, tail feathers

AGE

In photo 1, the rects appear brownish, and to my eye, tapered, which is
a
HY characteristic. However, judging tapered vs. truncate shapes can be
tough in a photo on the web. Also, the brownishness could be a factor of
the way the image was prepared for the web. The high contrast background
snow could have affected the overall contrast in the bird's plumage. I
CAN
see subtle differences in the darkness of the tail and the crown and
wings.
Another possible HY feature is contrast between replaced and retained
rects, where the central rects (R1) are darker & blacker than the
outers.
This apparently shows up in a only a small percentage of individuals,
but is
useful if present. While this contrast can show up in an image of
unknown processing, it doesn't appear to be the case with this bird.
This is probably
an inconclusive image for ageing.

Photo 2 doesn't seem to have anything that I could use for ageing.

The 3rd photo shows the primary coverts fairly well. These look dark and
even in tone with the greater coverts and primaries. This tips the age
scale
to AHY.

Another feature showing in photo 3 are the white bases of the primaries
that form that white panel below the lower wingbar. I'm not clear on how
this patch should be measured. Pyle notes measurements for this feature,
stating that one measures the white beyond the tip of the longest
primary
covert. But I can't find any clarification if this means measuring
along the
primary right below the longest covert [P8?], or if you measure across
two
primaries to the widest point of the white patch on P6[?]. If anyone
knows,
please educate me. For Rose-breasted: HY females should have -2 to +2
mm of white (minus values don't show); HY males 4 to 14 mm. AHY females
should be 0 to 4 mm; AHY males 14 - 24 mm. For Black-headed: HY females
should have -5 to +2 mm of white; HY males 4 to 9 mm. AHY females should
be 0 to 6 mm; AHY males 11 - 19 mm. Since it's unclear how to measure
this,
and since this bird wasn't measured, this may be a moot point. Age
doesn't
seem to be conclusive by this feature (but see sex).

SEX

The white panel showing at the base of the primaries in photos 1 & 3
might
be useful if the measurements fall in the extreme ends of the range of
possibilities. The uncertainty was noted in the previous paragraph. One
might guess that this bird is a male because the extent of white seems
to
at least exceed the 4 to 6 mm maximum for AHY female.

Something that I'm seeing in photo 3, that could be my imagination, is a
bit of a rosy wash on the mid to upper breast and at the bend of the
wing
below the covering breast flank feathers, as well as on the flanks of
the
breast. I see this on both of my CRT monitors (Sony Trinitron Multiscan
and Hitachi SuperScan hooked up to a G4 Mac). This weighs in favor of
male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. However, this is not apparent in photo 2,
which I would expect to show more clearly because of the orientation of
and lighting on the bird. So, chalk that up as imagination.

SPECIES

Photo 1 doesn't show the contrast between a tawny or cinnamon rump
and the streaked back which is a feature of male Black-headed Grosbeak.
This may be due to the image quality.

In Pyle, the difference in belly/flank streaking is noted only between
females of the species. I can't find any indication if this is useful
for males.
There are some very fine streaks on the lower flanks and maybe the
belly,
seen in photo 3, but not in photo 2.

As with many common species that winter elsewhere, I am lacking in
knowledge of what even BHGR look like in winter.

Well, hopefully there was some value in what I could dig up.

Les Chibana, Palo Alto CA

On Tuesday, December 2, 2003, at 09:51  AM, Jean Iron wrote:

> Dear ID-Frontiers,
>
> There are three photos of an apparent first basic (first winter) male
> Black-headed Grosbeak or Rose-breasted Grosbeak at a feeder near
> Ottawa,
> Ontario. The upper mandible appears to be pale in two of the photos
> suggesting a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. We would appreciate comments. Go
> to
> the third item under 2003 to view photos http://www.ofo.ca/photos/
>
> Ron Pittaway
>
> Jean Iron
> http://www3.sympatico.ca/jeaniron/
> 9 Lichen Place
> Toronto ON  M3A 1X3
> 416-445-9297
>


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Subject: Fw: Taxonomic Recommendations from the
         Association of European Records and Rartities Comittees
From: Jim Barton <redwingatfp1986(AT)COMCAST.NET>
Date: 3 Dec 2003 12:45pm

    Hello.  The AERC Taxonomic Advisory Committee's press release below was
forwarded to UKBirdnet by Norman van Swelm.  I think many people will find
the species discussions of interest on both sides of the pond.

    Don't skip the front matter, where the Committee presents an overview of
the several different approaches to speciation which it applied in arriving
at its recommendations.

    Yours,

Jim Barton
redwingatfp1986(AT)comcast.net
Cambridge, MA
US Coordinator, Proact
campaigning for birds and their habitats
before it's too late
www.proact-campaigns.net

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN RECORDS AND RARITIES COMMITTEES

 Press Release 1 December 2003

 AERC TAC's Taxonomic Recommendations
 Please find on http://aerc.be/aerc_tac.htm the latest taxonomic
recommendations of the Taxonomy Advisory Committee of the AERC.

>


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Subject: Double glaucous
From: Alvaro Jaramillo <chucao(AT)COMCAST.NET>
Date: 4 Dec 2003 1:13am

Folks

British Columbia to California in winter is the land of hybrid gulls. They
can make a sizeable proportion of a big gull group here in Half Moon Bay,
California. The most common hybrid is Western x Glaucous-winged, and much
less common but not that unusual is Glaucous-winged x Herring. The one
hybrid that is pretty rare here is Glaucous x Glaucous-winged Gull, as is
Herring x Glaucous. Now remember that these are assumed to be hybrids due
to structural and plumage features that don't quite fit with the pure
forms. We don't really know if these individual birds we see are hybrids,
but most probably are. Today I saw one bird that could be a Glaucous x
Glaucous-winged Gull, in its second plumage cycle. The bird was
structurally intermediate between the two, but had a long and rather
parallel-edged bill like Glaucous. The bill pattern was typically Glaucous.
Body plumage was somewhat like Glaucous-winged Gull except that it showed a
contrasting whiter head and underparts. The primaries were paler than the
tertials, and on close inspection were dark only on their tips, the bases
were white. I did not see the bird in flight. Also note that it is in its
second year but has dark eyes, a Glaucous-winged feature.

http://chucao.home.comcast.net/palethayer.html

cheers

Alvaro

Alvaro Jaramillo
chucao(AT)comcast.net
Montara, California

Field Guides - Birding Tours Worldwide
http://www.fieldguides.com/home.htm


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Subject: Argentatus vs. hyperboreus: hybrid or not ?
From: Menotti Passarella <menotti.passarella(AT)LIBERO.IT>
Date: 4 Dec 2003 1:41am

I think this photo taken in Italy is very interesting:

http://www.geocities.com/migliarino2004/Gabb17-6.JPG

Cheers

Menotti Passarella, Italy


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Subject: Gnatcatcher
From: Joseph Morlan <jmorlan(AT)CCSF.ORG>
Date: 4 Dec 2003 9:07am

This Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was photographed 2 Dec 2003 at near Clarkdale,
Arizona.  However I was wondering if it might possibly be a Black-capped
Gnatcatcher.  I realize it's way out of range but it seems to have a very
long thin bill, graduated tail tip, contrasting brownish back....

http://www.naturesongs.com/photos/bggn8175-1s.jpg

--
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044 jmorlan(AT)ccsf.org
California Birding & new rarities http://fog.ccsf.org/~jmorlan/
California Bird Records Committee http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/


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Subject: Re: Double glaucous
From: "Stephen J. Davies" <sdavies(AT)cgl.ucsf.edu>
Date: 4 Dec 2003 1:47pm

Alvaro and co

This bird reminds me of a couple of first-year birds we've had in Northern
California in recent winters.  While superficially resembling Glaucous Gull,
they've exhibited features that aren't quite right for that species (mostly
relating to bill shape and coloration, and possibly head shape).  Photos of
two such birds can be found here:

www.badboybirding.com/GLGUxGWGU_home.htm

The first of these birds was also discussed on Joe Morlan's website some
time ago (I believe Joe still has this page up:
http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/apr01.htm). Might hybridization between
Glaucous and Glaucous-winged Gulls result in birds that look like this?
While these two are first-years, one feature they share with Alvaro's bird
is the extensive black tip to the bill, with black bleeding back along the
cutting edge of the mandible (unlike the neat "dipped in ink" black bill tip
of typical Glaucous Gull).

Cheers

Stephen

Stephen J. Davies
San Francisco, CA

"I spent most of my money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just
squandered"
- George Best
www.badboybirding.com

-----Original Message-----
From: NBHC ID-FRONTIERS Frontiers of Field Identification
[mailto:BIRDWG01(AT)LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Alvaro Jaramillo
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 12:14 AM
To: BIRDWG01(AT)LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
Subject: [BIRDWG01] Double glaucous

Folks

British Columbia to California in winter is the land of hybrid gulls. They
can make a sizeable proportion of a big gull group here in Half Moon Bay,
California. The most common hybrid is Western x Glaucous-winged, and much
less common but not that unusual is Glaucous-winged x Herring. The one
hybrid that is pretty rare here is Glaucous x Glaucous-winged Gull, as is
Herring x Glaucous. Now remember that these are assumed to be hybrids due
to structural and plumage features that don't quite fit with the pure
forms. We don't really know if these individual birds we see are hybrids,
but most probably are. Today I saw one bird that could be a Glaucous x
Glaucous-winged Gull, in its second plumage cycle. The bird was
structurally intermediate between the two, but had a long and rather
parallel-edged bill like Glaucous. The bill pattern was typically Glaucous.
Body plumage was somewhat like Glaucous-winged Gull except that it showed a
contrasting whiter head and underparts. The primaries were paler than the
tertials, and on close inspection were dark only on their tips, the bases
were white. I did not see the bird in flight. Also note that it is in its
second year but has dark eyes, a Glaucous-winged feature.

http://chucao.home.comcast.net/palethayer.html

cheers

Alvaro

Alvaro Jaramillo
chucao(AT)comcast.net
Montara, California

Field Guides - Birding Tours Worldwide
http://www.fieldguides.com/home.htm


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Subject: vegae vs smith x G-w
From: Phillip Pickering <philliplc(AT)HARBORSIDE.COM>
Date: 5 Dec 2003 8:22pm

Last week I videotaped this large adult dark-eyed Herring-type
gull on the central Oregon coast. Its primaries were slightly
but perceptibly paler than black, and the "black" was largely
restricted to the outer webs above the mirrors on P9-10,
so I assume it's most likely just a smithsonianus x Glaucous-
winged. However I thought it otherwise showed striking
similarity to larus vegae based on photo study, particularly the
P10 mirror size and distinct white tongues on P8-5, and also
some structural features. The breast/head streaking looked
fine to me for Herring, with no fine G-w-like vermiculations
on the breast such as shown by some more obvious hybrids.

Pardon crummy video capture image quality:

http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/drgull01.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/drgull02.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/drgull03.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/drgull04.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/drgull05.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/drgull06.jpg

Assuming this isn't a vegae, I'm wondering just how closely
a smith x G-w could mirror vegae's features, and how you
would confidently differentiate out of vegae's normal winter
range (or if it's even possible with current state of knowledge).

I've been able to find numerous adult vegae photos on the web,
but none showing spread primary pattern (there is one vegae
photo in Grant with primaries partially spread), so I'd
appreciate any photo reference or comments.

Also is vegae known to interbreed with Glaucous-winged
or Glaucous?

Cheers,

Phil Pickering
Lincoln City, Oregon
philliplc(AT)harborside.com


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Subject: Re: Gnatcatcher
From: Rich Hoyer <calliope(AT)THERIVER.COM>
Date: 5 Dec 2003 9:26pm

Hi All,

I think this is a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. What I can see of the actual back
looks gray; only the wing coverts seem to have a tinge of brown. Besides
that, the outermost tail feathers are nicely visible, and they are too long
for Black-capped Gnatcatcher.

Good Birding,

Rich
---
Rich Hoyer
Tucson, Arizona

Senior Field Leader
WINGS, Inc.
http://www.wingsbirds.com
---


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Subject: Re: vegae vs smith x G-w
From: Martin Reid <upupa(AT)AIRMAIL.NET>
Date: 6 Dec 2003 6:17am

Dear Phil and fellow larophiles,
Thanks for providing an interesting bird to study.  Before commenting I
must tell you that I've seen precisely ONE adult Vega Gull... but I have
studied them extensively in 100+ images from Japan, Korea and Alaska. Here
are some reference sites:
http://larus.hp.infoseek.co.jp/vega.html - the fabulous gull site by the
Ujiharas.
http://www.wbkenglish.com/lwhgid.asp#section4 - a work-in-progress section
in the tremendous Korean Conservation/Birding site
http://www.martinreid.com/veguinx.html - mostly summer birds from AK, plus
the first VEGU from the "Lower 48".

I can see that your bird is vegaely (ouch) like a Vega Gull, but there are
a number of tell-tale differences that I see:
A) Head pattern: On VEGU the streaking on the crown and face seems always
to be strictly longitudinal; your bird has fairly obvious transverse
patterns right in the crown - a strong sign of GWGU genes, I feel.
B) Face pattern:  the eye looks too small for the face, and is placed high
up - just like GWGU and unlike any of the HERG assemblage; also, the patch
of almost smooth dark below the eye is wrong for VEGU and again strongly
indicative of GWGU genes.
C) Breast markings: VEGU does often have transverse bars here, but
intermixed with many vertical streaks; your bird seems to me almost all
barring; the very few "VEGU" images that approach (but not match) this
degree of barring seem to be questionable as pure VEGUs (maybe they are
indeed VEGUxGWGUs?)
D) Primary molt: your bird seems to have a molt score of 50, or at the
most, 49. In late Nov/early Dec this is at least 4 - 5 weeks early for
typical VEGU, and may only be matched by a tiny number of advanced-molt
VEGUs, if at all.
E) Primary pattern: While most VEGUs have less black in the Ps than most
Smiths, the black is pure black, and the actual delineation between the
black and the gray is clean and similar to the HERG assemblage, with P10
being all-black (both webs) from above and has only a short, clean gray
basal tongue on the inner web from below - your bird is much more like a
SBGU pattern of merging - actually the upperpart contrast between the inner
and outer webs is too sharp for even SBGU.  The white subterminal "pearls"
are variable in VEGU, but when present are normally roundish spots, rather
than thin crescents.
F) leg color: a minor point given that we have no comparative data, but
they legs look a bit washed-out, with a hint of grayish/yellow in the
tarsus; typical VEGU has strongly pink legs like SBGU and some HERGs.
I'd be very interested in feedback on my comments - especially if I'm wrong!
Good Gulling,
Martin

Martin Reid
Fort Worth, Texas
mailto:upupa(AT)airmail.net
http://www.martinreid.com


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Subject: Variation in Black Brant
From: Andrew Harrop <andrew.harrop(AT)VIRGIN.NET>
Date: 6 Dec 2003 7:43am

Dear All,

There has been some discussion in the UK recently about the acceptable
parameters of variation in vagrant Black Brants. It would be useful to know
your views on variation in:

collar - can it be broken at the front, and if so what proportion of birds
show this?
darkness of upperparts and lower breast - how much contrast can there be
between the upper and lower breast?

Also, how frequently are intergrades observed in the N. American
populations?

Many thanks, and best wishes.
Andrew Harrop
andrew.harrop(AT)virgin.net


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Subject: Arizona Sphyrapicus
From: Mark Stevenson <drbrdr(AT)WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Date: 6 Dec 2003 8:06am

Hi All,
    An interesting sapsucker currently present at Patagonia Lake State Park,
Arizona has sparked some disagreement over whether it is Sphyrapicus ruber
daggetti or Sphyrapicus nuchalis or a hybrid involving ruber or........
    Some photos that I took yesterday are viewable at:

http://members.cox.net/cdbenesh/sapsucker.html

   I would appreciate your comments.

Mark Stevenson
Tucson, AZ


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Subject: Re: Variation in Black Brant
From: Andy Guthrie <andyguthrie(AT)EARTHLINK.NET>
Date: 6 Dec 2003 9:46am

There has been increasing interest & scrutiny of this issue in New York
State where we search for Black Brant in the large wintering flocks of
Atlantic (hrota) Brant.  Following the discovery of an "intermediate" type
Brant last winter, Angus Wilson put together a comprehensive review of the
situation from an eastern NA perspective, at:

http://www.oceanwanderers.com/IntrmBrantNY.html

The web page includes links to reference photos of Black Brant from
California showing some degree of variation, and also links to more pages by
Angus on other problematic birds and Black Brant from NY.

Any additional thoughts on the situation would be welcome.  We haven't
noticed any Black Brant & intermediate types so far this year - they seem
more frequent later in winter & toward early spring.

Incidentally, it seems like it was an excellent breeding year for Atlantic
Brant.  Several  spot counts so far this fall have shown flocks to be about
50% young birds, as opposed to last year when numbers of young were much
lower.

Cheers,
Andy Guthrie
Greenwich, CT
andyguthtrie(AT)earthlink.net

Andy Guthrie
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew Harrop" <andrew.harrop(AT)VIRGIN.NET>
To: <BIRDWG01(AT)LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2003 9:41 AM
Subject: [BIRDWG01] Variation in Black Brant

> Dear All,
>
> There has been some discussion in the UK recently about the acceptable
> parameters of variation in vagrant Black Brants. It would be useful to
know
> your views on variation in:
>
> collar - can it be broken at the front, and if so what proportion of birds
> show this?
> darkness of upperparts and lower breast - how much contrast can there be
> between the upper and lower breast?
>
> Also, how frequently are intergrades observed in the N. American
> populations?
>
> Many thanks, and best wishes.
> Andrew Harrop
> andrew.harrop(AT)virgin.net


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Subject: Black Brant variation
From: Gary Felton <gljeinwv(AT)JUNO.COM>
Date: 6 Dec 2003 12:39pm

This message is in MIME format.  Since your mail reader does not understand
this format, some or all of this message may not be legible.

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Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

I had a Black Brant here (northcentral West Virginia) in May of 2002.
Without seeing the bird,
someone raised the possibility that this bird could have been a
Gray-bellied.  I circulated a
poor-quality, video capture of the bird and got several mixed responses
from, "it looks like a
black to me", to "it could be a black, or a gray-bellied", to "it's too
light to be a black"

Since I submitted this to the WV records committee, I did an extensive
amount of research on both
Pacific Black and Gray-bellied and consequently sought as many
photographs of and as much
information on Black Brants as I could get my hands on.  The only Black
Brant I've seen was the
one here, so I had to rely on the opinions of west coast birders I spoke
with and all of the information
I obtained which included the Birding World articles, "Identification of
Grey-bellied Brant" by
Martin Garner and Richard Millington and "Black, Dark-bellied and
Pale-bellied Brent Geese"
by Richard Millington.  I also managed to obtain some quality footage of
a Black Brant that
was taken in Alaska.  The brant in the Alaska footage matched the bird I
had here in every aspect
including coloration, necklace and the amount of contrast between the
neck sock and the lower
breast (which wasn't considerable, but noticeable nonetheless).

Based on everything I've seen and heard, there's more variation on Black
Brant in regards to the
amount of contrast between the neck sock and lower breast than is the
accepted notion.
It's obvious that the amount of neck-sock/lower breast contrast on a
Black Brant viewed at a
distance in overcast conditions is going to appear considerably less than
on a close Black Brant
in bright sunlight.  Birds of Europe, NGS, Sibley and Ducks, Geese and
Swans of NA by Frank
Bellrose, all illustrate Black Brants with a varying degree of
neck-sock/lower breast contrast and
I think there's a reason for that.  Either they're all incorrect, but
one, or they're all correct due to
plumage variation among Black Brants.

The Black Brant that was here was very dark brown below with very little
contrast between the
neck sock and lower breast, but the contrast was, as I pointed out,
noticeable.  I've believe I've
read that females, especially in the spring, tend to be lighter below
than males, which I believe
accounted for the skepticism from some birders who viewed the video
capture of the bird here.
I'd be interested in hearing from west coast birders as to their views in
regards to just how dark
Black Brant are below and which of the field guides that I mentioned most
accurately illustrates
Black Brant.

Regarding necklace, every Black Brant photograph I've seen shows an
extensive, unbroken necklace
and that was definitley the case with the Black Brant that was here.

For anyone interested in this topic, I suggest they check the Washingotn
Brant Foundation web
page at http://www.washingtonbrant.org/ and watch the slide show at the
link for the
Arctic Brant Research Now Underway Satellite Telemetry Project for
2002... .
The slide show contains photos of both Black and Gray-bellied Brant that
were taken on Melville
Island.

Gary Felton
Kingwood, WV
GLJEINWV(AT)JUNO.COM

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