ID-FRONTIERS for June 13-19, 2004

Messages are displayed in the order they were received.  Subject  From  Date   Time   Re: spinning specimens websites   Norman D.van Swelm   Sun, 13 Jun 2004   5:22am   new Golden Plover identification reference   Matt Kenne    Sun, 13 Jun 2004   12:51pm   mystery bird/ specimens on-line   birdbooker(AT)zipcon.ne   Sun, 13 Jun 2004   9:07pm   WA mystery bird   Ian Paulsen    Mon, 14 Jun 2004   10:06am   Hybrid Oriole   Matt Sharp    Mon, 14 Jun 2004   11:09am   Re: rail behavior/capabilities   GreatGrayOwl(AT)AOL.COM   Mon, 14 Jun 2004   2:46pm   Fwd: [BIRDHYBRIDS] Fwd: Hybrid Oriole   =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Alain   Mon, 14 Jun 2004   10:07pm   from M. Retter   Matt Sharp    Tue, 15 Jun 2004   10:35am   Kermadec Petrel in the North Atlantic?   wilsoa02(AT)MED.NYU.EDU   Tue, 15 Jun 2004   1:11pm   Re: Kermadec Petrel in the North Atlantic?   Paul A. Guris   Wed, 16 Jun 2004   7:13am   Slaty-backed Gull ?   Samuel Belleau    Wed, 16 Jun 2004   8:11pm   Range expansion of Spanish Sparrow into NE Italy   Menotti Passarella    Thu, 17 Jun 2004   1:29am   Re: Range expansion of Spanish Sparrow into NE Italy   Ian Paulsen    Thu, 17 Jun 2004   9:58am   Re: Kermadec Petrel in the North Atlantic?   Stephen Welch    Fri, 18 Jun 2004   10:48pm   Vagrant Pterodroma petrels   Andrew Harrop    Sat, 19 Jun 2004   6:36am   Re: Vagrant Pterodroma petrels   wilsoa02(AT)MED.NYU.EDU   Sat, 19 Jun 2004   11:09am   Re: Vagrant Pterodroma petrels   =?iso-8859-1?q?Alex=   Sat, 19 Jun 2004   3:49pm   Re: Vagrant Pterodroma petrels   Bruce Deuel    Sat, 19 Jun 2004   7:26pm

To use email addresses replace '(AT)' with '@'. This is done to confuse the spam 'bots.

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Subject: Re: spinning specimens websites
From: "Norman D.van Swelm" <Norman.vanswelm(AT)wxs.nl>
Date: 13 Jun 2004 5:22am

Rob Tizard wondered: > How about doing that for every study skin on the
planet?<

Great idea Rob, when do we start? We have ca 1,5 million skins in the Leyden
museum here in Holland!
Cheers, Norman


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Subject: new Golden Plover identification reference
From: Matt Kenne <mkenne(AT)NETAMUMAIL.COM>
Date: 13 Jun 2004 12:51pm

Greetings,

An new paper has recently been published that has direct bearing on ongoing
attempts to identify out-of-range Golden Plovers:

Johnson, O.W. & Johnson, P.M. 2004. Morphometric features of Pacific and
American Golden-Plovers with comments on field identification. Wader Study
Group Bulletin 103: 42-49.

This is an important paper for the shorebirding community- not only was this
paper partly triggered by identification questions raised by birders, the
results are largely directed towards answering them. The Johnsons used
measurements gathered from 100s of fulva from over 20 years of study,
measurements of several dozen dominica captured on the Seward Peninsula in
the course of those studies, and unpublished data from colleagues across
Siberia to Churchill (all using the same measuring techniques) to address
such subjects as: the accuracy of comparing measurements in various
published references, the existence of "long-winged" fulva, the
relationships between tertials/tail/primaries, leg lengths, bill and
bill/eye ratios, and more. A few plover photos illustrate some of the
difficulties of this species pair. Oscar Johnson is the co-author of the
Birds of North America Golden Plover account.

Those Fall plovers are only a few short weeks away!

Matthew Kenne
Algona, Iowa
mkenne(AT)netamumail.com


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Subject: mystery bird/ specimens on-line
From: birdbooker(AT)zipcon.net
Date: 13 Jun 2004 9:07pm

HI:
 Can anyone id this bird:
 http://www.pbase.com/image/29984263

Also can anyone tell me if there are pictures of museum specimens available
on-line (I know about Dennis Paulson's wing website).

Thanks!
--
Ian Paulsen
Bainbridge Island, WA USA
A.K.A.:Birdbooker
Rallidae all the way!


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Subject: WA mystery bird
From: Ian Paulsen <birdbooker(AT)ZIPCON.NET>
Date: 14 Jun 2004 10:06am

HI:
 This is from the photographer of the bird in question.

--
Ian Paulsen
Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
A.K.A.: "Birdbooker"
"Rallidae all the way!"

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 00:58:30 -0700
From: Bill Ferensen <ferensen(AT)hotmail.com>
To: tweeters(AT)u.washington.edu
Subject: Bird ID help (update)

mystery bird names offered by many folks:

BREWER’S BLACKBIRD, dark eyed female: Size is an issue. Foraging behavior is
different.

BUSHTIT: Subject bird is 1 to 1-1/2 inches larger than Sibley describes. The
bill is larger than illustrated in the guide and this bird’s neck is
noticeable, unlike Bushtits. Bushtits are regular (daily) visitors to our
yard and readily recognizable for their chatter and groupie behavior. Small
and constantly moving they are difficult to photograph. I’ve not been able
to nab one. The bird pictured was solitary and clearly larger to the naked
eye. It made a sound I can’t describe, different from Bushtit chatter. (I’m
okay with a camera but my ears are worthless.)

COWBIRD (female): Size is a problem, cowbirds are a bit larger, unless this
is a young one. Also, the bill should be stouter. Notice elsewhere on this
pbase page a photo of male cowbirds [http://www.pbase.com/image/28754873].
But if it’s a young bird maybe the bill changes during the first year.

GRAY CATBIRD: Nope, not a chance. Catbirds I know well from growing up in
the Midwest. Wish we could see them in Seattle but I don’t think that’s
going to happen often.

GRAY JAY: Size, wow, Gray Jays are big, unless it’s a young one, and several
people have said young or juvenile jay. But in the city how often can we
expect to see one?  I leave that topic to someone more knowledgeable. Other
Gray Jay markings seem absent.

OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER: Nope, not down low picking through backyard trees
and bushes. Markings are not there.

PHOEBE: No dark tale. Behavior; not a backyard city kid.

SPOTTED TOWHEE very young, just fledged. This suggestion from someone who
recently observed this elsewhere. But I would expect to see some backside
pattern and although the lighting is poor the eye appears black not red,
unless red appears later.

SEATTLE GREATER BUSHTIT: Can’t be anything else, says Mike Denny: “I am
amazed at what I am looking at in this photo. This bird is not your run of
the mill bushtit. I do not believe it to be a bushtit as we know the species
today. It has some Siberian Jay looks to it and yet that tail is out of
reach when looking at the measurements for that species. I do not believe it
to be a Brown-headed Cowbird unless the species can morph into a near
likeness of its host. So are we looking at a as of yet Unknown North
American species? A member of a remnant population that has lived under our
noses undiscovered until now ? If it is a "super sized" bushtit and God
knows just about everything and everyone is that today, then from where did
these genes arise? Great discovery! So I am still baffled and will simply
call it the Seattle Greater Bushtit.”

Thank you, Mike. I agree. Mystery solved, I’m going back to bed.

Before retiring though here’s a second look at the same photo (Canon RAW
image tweeked for color saturation and some brightness added). This is isn’t
cheating but it’s easy to overdo. Head color (brown) is clearly different
from back (gray) color.
http://www.pbase.com/image/30137628

Good night.
Bill F.


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Subject: Hybrid Oriole
From: Matt Sharp <sharp(AT)ACNATSCI.ORG>
Date: 14 Jun 2004 11:09am

Hello

We recently received a great batch of images from
Jim Culbertson which included several images of what
is presumed to be the same individual hybrid Oriole from
Bentsen Rio-Grande State PArk TX. From doing a quick 
web search it seems that birds such as this are seen 
in S. TX infrequently. 

http://www.acnatsci.org/~wechsler/lightbox/ID-Front/hybrid%20Oriole.html

The slide is labeled as Audubon's x Altimira. I am wondering 
how certain that ID can be. The bill looks similar to Altimira
but with a more curved culmen, and other than too much
dark feathering around he face I do not see much to rule out
Hooded as a parent. On the slide the bird appears more orange
than on my computer screen. Another very yellow looking bird
from Santa Ana is here. 

http://www.miriameaglemon.com/Xmas%20-%20Santa%20Ana.htm

Another alternative that occurs to me is a melanistic Altimira though
the bill argues against that. Anyway mostly just wanted to share the
great photo of a neat bird.

Comments welcome - especially to the list.

Matt

Note that it is a tilde in front of wechsler in the URL - on my keyboard
this is the first key on the left of the top row.

Matt Sharp
Collection Manager
VIREO/ANS
1900 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy.
Philadelphia PA  19103
www.acnatsci.org/vireo
(tel.) 215-299-1069
(fax) 215-299-1182


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Subject: Re: rail behavior/capabilities
From: GreatGrayOwl(AT)AOL.COM
Date: 14 Jun 2004 2:46pm

----INCLUDING text/plain MIME SECTION----

Hi all:

I have seen Soras, at least, in some very surprising situations, e.g., 20' up
in a Jack Pine at Whitefish Point, MI.  So, I think that rails are perfectly
capable of landing and perching on vegetation from flight.

Tony Leukering
Brighton, CO

----DELETED text/html MIME SECTION----


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Subject: Fwd: [BIRDHYBRIDS] Fwd: Hybrid Oriole
From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Alain_Foss=E9?= <alfosse(AT)WANADOO.FR>
Date: 14 Jun 2004 10:07pm

Début du message réexpédié :

> De: "marina sobolevskaya" <msobolevskaya(AT)msn.com>
> Date: 15 juin 2004 03:20:02 GMT+02:00
> À: "birdhybrids" <birdhybrids(AT)yahoogroupes.fr>
> Objet: Rép : [BIRDHYBRIDS] Fwd: [BIRDWG01] Hybrid Oriole
> Répondre à: birdhybrids(AT)yahoogroupes.fr
>
>
> > The slide is labeled as Audubon's x Altimira. I am wondering
> > how certain that ID can be. The bill looks similar to Altimira
> > but with a more curved culmen, and other than too much
> > dark feathering around he face I do not see much to rule out
> > Hooded as a parent. On the slide the bird appears more orange
> > than on my computer screen. Another very yellow looking bird
> > from Santa Ana is here.
> >
> > http://www.miriameaglemon.com/Xmas%20-%20Santa%20Ana.htm
>
>  I couldn't get onto the first site. I believe the ID on this site is 
> correct. the bill shape of the audubon's and Hooded orioles is very 
> similar, so that isn’t a major factor for ID. the bird's over all body 
> color is in between the greenish yellow of the Audubon's oriole and 
> the deep orange of Altamira oriole. I would expect a Hooded X Altamira 
> to have the same orange color of both parent species. the black on the 
> head and neck is much more extensive than it would be on Altamira, but 
> not as much as Audubon's oriole would have. another thing ruling out 
> the possibility of Altamira X Hooded is the back color. Hooded and 
> Altamira Orioles both have dark backs. the Audubon's is a pale backed 
> species, this bird has black feathers edged with pale olive green (the 
> back color of Audubon's).
>   
> Alex


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Subject: from M. Retter
From: Matt Sharp <sharp(AT)ACNATSCI.ORG>
Date: 15 Jun 2004 10:35am

Mr. Sharp,

Please go ahead and post this response to IDF.  I
don't have posting access as I'm currently in the
field in the Black Hills at a library.

Best wishes,
Michael L. P. Retter
Bloomington-Normal, IL
mlretter(AT)yahoo.com 

--------

I've seen at least two, possibly three, of these birds
in South Texas, and it is my belief that they are
certainly Audubon's x Altamira Orioles.

Why aren't these hybrids Altamira x Hooded Orioles?  A
few reasons.  

#1...they're big, with really stout bills.  HOORs have
very slight bills.  The hybrids I've seen seemed only
marginally smaller than ALORs, if at all.  Direct
comparisons were easily had as each time I've observed
them, the hybrid was paired with what appeared to be a
pure ALOR.

#2...they have streaked backs...yellowish feathers are
present on the backs of all of these hybirds to the
best of my knowledge.  HOOR has a complete black back,
as does ALOR.  So if these are ALOR x HOOR hybrids,
where does the non-black coloration (pale streaking)
in the mantle come from?

#3....song.  Both birds I have observed sang a song
that was intermediate between AUOR and ALOR.  One of
them (still present at Bensen in Nov 2003), alternated
between a AUOR-sounding languid series of whistles and
a brighter, shorter ALOR-sounding song.  Neither
sounded typical for either species but did indeed seem
intermediate.

#4....face pattern.  On these hybrids there is much
more black on the face than occurs in either ALOR or
HOOR.  Not only that, but the black bleeds into the
orange-yellow color, with some streaks coming out of
the edge of the "mask".  This is consistent with AUOR.
 In fact, the original (2000/1?) Bentsen bird was
named "Smudgy" because of this trait.

#5....overal color.  These hybrids are yellowish; one
I saw even showed greenish coloration within the pale
mantle streaks.  The HOORs in S Texas are a vibrant
flaming orange, outshining the ALORs in my opinion.

#6....habitat.  HOORs prefer palms near human
habitation, especially in drier areas.  ALORs need
(relatively) wet native Tamaulipan thornscrub, where
one seldom finds HOORs.  AUORs however, frequent this
habitat in S Texas (traditionally upriver).  (Perhaps
at this point I should note that there was a AUOR at
Sabal Palm Grove, E of Brownville, this April--so
AUORs so occur downriver on occasion.)

I see nothing that leand towards HOOR parentage for
these birds, other than the bill shape, but this
doens't seem totally inconsistent with ALOR, either. 
See
http://www.user.fast.net/~becard/Altamira%20Oriole-1.jpg 
for an ALOR with a slightly curved culmen.


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Subject: Kermadec Petrel in the North Atlantic?
From: wilsoa02(AT)MED.NYU.EDU
Date: 15 Jun 2004 1:11pm

Hi All,

I just noticed this abstract from a new paper by Mike Imber, a well-known
seabird authority based in New Zealand. Unfortunately, I don't have easy
access to the full article and would appreciate more details form someone who
does. The findings are of interest to seabird enthusiasts, especially those
who have seen Trindadae (Herald) Petrels in the Gulf Stream off the Carolinas!

Cheers, Angus Wilson
New York City

Imber, M.J. 2004. Kermadec petrels (Pterodroma neglecta) at Ilha da Trindade,
South Atlantic Ocean and in the North Atlantic. Notornis 51(1): 33-40.

Abstract Kermadec petrels (Pterodroma neglecta) are shown to be resident in
the Atlantic Ocean, breeding at Ilha da Trindade, off Brazil, South Atlantic
Ocean and migrating to the North Atlantic. Previously mistaken for Trindade
petrels (Pterodroma arminjoniana) at Ilha da Trindade, they were identified by
the whitish shafts and largely white inner webs of their primaries and, at the
colony, by their distinctive call. Records of five non-breeding Kermadec
petrels in the North Atlantic Ocean include the first Atlantic specimen from
western United Kingdom in 1908. All of eight identifications of Kermadec
petrels from Atlantic waters were dark phase birds, like those identified from
the Indian Ocean, though, in the Pacific Ocean, the species is polymorphic.
Trindade petrels from Ilha da Trindade are mostly the light phase (59%, n =
71), outnumber Kermadec petrels there by about 20:1 in collections, and
disperse into the North Atlantic Ocean. As 70% (n = 43) of these two species
combined observed at sea in the North Atlantic were dark phase, about 49% of
North Atlantic records may have been Kermadec petrels. As they are in Pacific
waters, Kermadec petrels may be more migratory and reach higher latitudes than
do Trindade petrels. The Halipeurus feather louse hosted by Kermadec petrels
in the Pacific Ocean has been identified from both petrels in Atlantic waters,
but that hosted by Trindade petrels elsewhere has not been reported from
Atlantic waters, possibly indicating earliest colonisation by Kermadec
petrels. The morphometrics of Trindade petrels in the Atlantic Ocean cannot be
established accurately until the generally larger Kermadec petrels are
excluded from data sets.

-------------------------------------------------
This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/


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Subject: Re: Kermadec Petrel in the North Atlantic?
From: "Paul A. Guris" <list-servers(AT)paulagics.com>
Date: 16 Jun 2004 7:13am

I'm sure others will have more to say, but I for one have never seen anything
that I would remotely consider approaching Kermadec out of the approximately 2
dozen dark Heralds I've seen off NC.  I have not seen Kermadec in the field,
but every picture shows a somewhat stocky bird with broadish wings, somewhat
rounded tips, and a short broad tail.  This doesn't even come close to the
Heralds I've seen.  If others familiar with field identification of both birds
feels that they are actually much more similar, I'd love to hear about it.

As for teh supposition:

    > As 70% (n = 43) of these two species combined observed
    > at sea in the North Atlantic were dark phase, about 49% of
    > North Atlantic records may have been Kermadec petrels.

I'm no biologist, but if I lofted an "if A then Z" scenario like that in a
software engineering meeting with absolutely no evidence to back it up, I'd be
verbally pummelled.  If we use the same logic and apply it to the pictures on
Brian Patteson's web site (www.patteson.com), the 10 images of dark Heralds
should actually be roughly half Kermadecs.  I'd be interested if somebody who
is familiar with Kermadec can find one on Brian's site.

Supposition with zero evidence is fine for bar-room conversation, but it seems
a
bit misplaced in a scientific paper.

-PAG

Paul A. Guris
See Life Paulagics
P.O. Box 161
Green Lane, PA  18054
www.paulagics.com
215-234-6805
info(AT)paulagics.com

Quoting wilsoa02(AT)MED.NYU.EDU:

> Hi All,
>
> I just noticed this abstract from a new paper by Mike Imber, a well-known
> seabird authority based in New Zealand. Unfortunately, I don't have easy
> access to the full article and would appreciate more details form someone
> who
> does. The findings are of interest to seabird enthusiasts, especially those
> who have seen Trindadae (Herald) Petrels in the Gulf Stream off the
> Carolinas!
>
> Cheers, Angus Wilson
> New York City
>
> Imber, M.J. 2004. Kermadec petrels (Pterodroma neglecta) at Ilha da
> Trindade,
> South Atlantic Ocean and in the North Atlantic. Notornis 51(1): 33-40.
>
> Abstract Kermadec petrels (Pterodroma neglecta) are shown to be resident in
> the Atlantic Ocean, breeding at Ilha da Trindade, off Brazil, South Atlantic
> Ocean and migrating to the North Atlantic. Previously mistaken for Trindade
> petrels (Pterodroma arminjoniana) at Ilha da Trindade, they were identified
> by
> the whitish shafts and largely white inner webs of their primaries and, at
> the
> colony, by their distinctive call. Records of five non-breeding Kermadec
> petrels in the North Atlantic Ocean include the first Atlantic specimen from
> western United Kingdom in 1908. All of eight identifications of Kermadec
> petrels from Atlantic waters were dark phase birds, like those identified
> from
> the Indian Ocean, though, in the Pacific Ocean, the species is polymorphic.
> Trindade petrels from Ilha da Trindade are mostly the light phase (59%, n =
> 71), outnumber Kermadec petrels there by about 20:1 in collections, and
> disperse into the North Atlantic Ocean. As 70% (n = 43) of these two species
> combined observed at sea in the North Atlantic were dark phase, about 49% of
> North Atlantic records may have been Kermadec petrels. As they are in
> Pacific
> waters, Kermadec petrels may be more migratory and reach higher latitudes
> than
> do Trindade petrels. The Halipeurus feather louse hosted by Kermadec petrels
> in the Pacific Ocean has been identified from both petrels in Atlantic
> waters,
> but that hosted by Trindade petrels elsewhere has not been reported from
> Atlantic waters, possibly indicating earliest colonisation by Kermadec
> petrels. The morphometrics of Trindade petrels in the Atlantic Ocean cannot
> be
> established accurately until the generally larger Kermadec petrels are
> excluded from data sets.
>
> -------------------------------------------------
> This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/
>


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Subject: Slaty-backed Gull ?
From: Samuel Belleau <samuel.belleau(AT)SYMPATICO.CA>
Date: 16 Jun 2004 8:11pm

Hi,

I would like to have your opinion about this gull in molting that we
observe on June 8 2004 at Port Daniel (Quebec):

http://geocities.com/huart/gosp.html

-Herring Gull size
-graellsii Lesser Black-backed Gull gray mantle
-stockier bill than a LBBG (like an HG)
-pale pink legs, paler than the average of the HG around (apparent on
photos)
-Black primairies with white spots in standing

Broad white tips and white subterminal spots look for a Slaty-backed
Gull, but the mantle seems to be pale for this specie. What do you
think about this gull ? Pure SBG (plumage variation) or not
(hybridation) ?

Thanks in advance !

Samuel Belleau
Les Bergeronnes, Quebec


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Subject: Range expansion of Spanish Sparrow into NE Italy
From: Menotti Passarella <menotti.passarella(AT)LIBERO.IT>
Date: 17 Jun 2004 1:29am

Hi all
Changes in agricultural practice c. 3600 years ago in Italy apparently made
it possible for the House Sparrows to invade nothern Italy, which was
formerly inhabited only by (migrant ?) Spanish Sparrows, and both
gradually became mixed. Without further major invasions by both House and
Spanish Sparrows, hybrid populations became stabilized (named Italian
Sparrows). Until now, because a new influx or a small invasion of Spanish
Sparrows from the Balcans is in action currently in the Po Delta, NE italy.
Read the history of the return and look at the photos showing Spanish,
Italian, Malta and Crete Sparrows at this Birding Italy page:
http://www.birdingitaly.net/doss1eng.htm
One of the best shot is probably this: a rare photo that shows both Italian
and Spanish Sparrows:
http://www.birdingitaly.net/fotdoss1.htm
A funny question: how to name a possible hybrid between the controversial
Italian Sparrow (Passer italiae, Passer xitaliae, Passer domesticus italiae,
Passer hispaniolensis italie or Passer italiae hispaniolensis) and Spanish
Sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis hispaniolensis) ?
Finalluy, in the same page as above, you will find some photos of other
interesting forms of Mediterranean sparrows, such as the Crete and the Malta
sparrows.
Cheers
Menotti Passarella
info(AT)birdingitaly.com
www.birdingitaly.net


[ << | >> | ^^ ]

Subject: Re: Range expansion of Spanish Sparrow into NE
         Italy
From: Ian Paulsen <birdbooker(AT)ZIPCON.NET>
Date: 17 Jun 2004 9:58am

HI ALL:
 Can you have a hybrid of a hybrid? The Italian Sparrow is a hybrid of the
House xSpanish Sparrows. So basically if the Italian Sparrow breeds with
either parent species again isn't that called a back-cross?

--
Ian Paulsen
Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
A.K.A.: "Birdbooker"
"Rallidae all the way!"


[ << | >> | ^^ ]

Subject: Re: Kermadec Petrel in the North Atlantic?
From: Stephen Welch <welchs(AT)NTLWORLD.COM>
Date: 18 Jun 2004 10:48pm

It is interesting to see the UK record included in there as the species
is of course no longer on the British list.  It was removed in 1971
after an investigation by W.R.P. Bourne.  The bird in question was found
under a tree at Tarporley, Cheshire, about 10 miles from the coast, and
then sold on Chester Market, which is all very well except that the
finding date was 1st April - April Fools day!

Stephen Welch

> Author: wilsoa02(AT)MED.NYU.EDU
> Date: 06-15-04 15:10
>
> Hi All,
>
> I just noticed this abstract from a new paper by Mike Imber, a
well-known
> seabird authority based in New Zealand. Unfortunately, I don't have
easy
> access to the full article and would appreciate more details form
someone
> who does. The findings are of interest to seabird enthusiasts,
especially
> those who have seen Trindadae (Herald) Petrels in the Gulf Stream off
the
> Carolinas!
>
> Cheers, Angus Wilson
> New York City
>
> Imber, M.J. 2004. Kermadec petrels (Pterodroma neglecta) at Ilha da
> Trindade, South Atlantic Ocean and in the North Atlantic. Notornis
51(1):
> 33-40.
>
> Abstract Kermadec petrels (Pterodroma neglecta) are shown to be
resident
> in the Atlantic Ocean, breeding at Ilha da Trindade, off Brazil, South
> Atlantic Ocean and migrating to the North Atlantic. Previously
mistaken
> for Trindade petrels (Pterodroma arminjoniana) at Ilha da Trindade,
they
> were identified by the whitish shafts and largely white inner webs of
> their primaries and, at the colony, by their distinctive call. Records
of
> five non-breeding Kermadec petrels in the North Atlantic Ocean include
the
> first Atlantic specimen from western United Kingdom in 1908. All of
eight
> identifications of Kermadec petrels from Atlantic waters were dark
phase
> birds, like those identified from the Indian Ocean, though, in the
Pacific
> Ocean, the species is polymorphic. Trindade petrels from Ilha da
Trindade
> are mostly the light phase (59%, n = 71), outnumber Kermadec petrels
there
> by about 20:1 in collections, and disperse into the North Atlantic
Ocean.
> As 70% (n = 43) of these two species combined observed at sea in the
North
> Atlantic were dark phase, about 49% of North Atlantic records may have
> been Kermadec petrels. As they are in Pacific waters, Kermadec petrels
may
> be more migratory and reach higher latitudes than do Trindade petrels.
The
> Halipeurus feather louse hosted by Kermadec petrels in the Pacific
Ocean
> has been identified from both petrels in Atlantic waters, but that
hosted
> by Trindade petrels elsewhere has not been reported from Atlantic
waters,
> possibly indicating earliest colonisation by Kermadec petrels. The
> morphometrics of Trindade petrels in the Atlantic Ocean cannot be
> established accurately until the generally larger Kermadec petrels are
> excluded from data sets.


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Subject: Vagrant Pterodroma petrels
From: Andrew Harrop <andrew.harrop(AT)VIRGIN.NET>
Date: 19 Jun 2004 6:36am

Dear All,

Following recent discussions relating to Kermadec Petrel, it would be
interesting to know more about records of vagrant Pterodroma petrels found
in unusual circumstances (in particular, records of birds inland away from
water). Bourne (1967) mentions a record of Mottled or Peale's Petrel
(Pterodroma inexpectata) found walking up a furrow in a ploughed field in
New York State in early April 1880. Does this record stand, and are there
any other records of birds found in similar circumstances?

Best wishes,
Andrew Harrop, Rutland, UK


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Subject: Re: Vagrant Pterodroma petrels
From: wilsoa02(AT)MED.NYU.EDU
Date: 19 Jun 2004 11:09am

In response to Andrew Harrop's question about the Mottled Petrel in NY: Yes,
the record still stands. A couple of years ago I wrote an article about this
record for the Canadian magazine BIRDERS JOURNAL (may it rest in peace),
summarizing details behind the record and highlighting its unique nature.

The story goes as follows:

In the spring of 1880 a farm worker in Mount Morris, New York, a rural
township 95 km east of the Ontario border, stumbled on and killed a grounded
seabird. After changing hands several times, the mounted specimen was
displayed in a Massachusetts shop window, where it caught the eye of William
Brewster, eminent ornithologist and a cofounder of the American
Ornithologists' Union. Brewster's research revealed this to be one of the
first specimens of Mottled Petrel known to science. Mottled Petrels breed in
New Zealand and undertake an annual trans-equatorial migration through the
central Pacific to exploit rich feeding grounds in the Gulf of Alaska and
Bering Sea. Rarely encountered in near-shore waters, a handful of storm-driven
examples have been recovered from coastal British Columbia south to California
but never far inland.

With these facts in mind, an expert panel lead by Steven Mlodinow recently
voted the Mount Morris petrel as North America's most amazing vagrant
(Mlodinow, S. G. (2001) Aves Inexpectata: Amazing vagrants within North
America. Birders Journal 10: 146-175.). Rightfully so! After a hundred and
twenty-three years, this remains the only record of the species away from the
Pacific or adjacent waters.

Although this unique record is widely quoted, the peculiar circumstances
surrounding its discovery and eventual identification are less well known. The
petrel first came to Brewster's attention as a stuffed and mounted specimen
hanging conspicuously in the window of W. J. Knowlton's natural history store
on Tremont Street in Boston. One of the world's leading private collectors of
skins and mounts, Brewster recognized the specimen as a potentially
undescribed species, went into the shop and took charge of the mount in the
name of science. According to the taxidermist, the fresh specimen had come
from Mr. E. H. Woodman of Concord, New Hampshire, the owner of the farm in
Mount Morris, Livingston County, New York. The farm manager had given the
petrel to Woodman after a ploughman had found it flopping around in an old
cornfield in early April of that year. Dutifully, the laborer had clubbed the
bird to death with a stick!

Brewster published a careful description of the mount, naming it 'Scaled
Petrel' after the narrow white fringes and dark centers on the scapulars and
mantle feathers (Brewster, W. (1881) Critical notes on a petrel new to North
America. Bull. Nutt. Orni. Club 4: 91-97; Brewster, W. (1886) Additional notes
on Peale’s Petrel (Aestrelata gularis) Auk 3: 389-393.). Brewster later
conceded that his new gadfly petrel was in fact synonymous with Peale's
Petrel, described in 1844 by Johann Reinhold Förster from a specimen taken at
sea off Antarctica by Titian Peale. The species is now named Mottled Petrel in
reference to the irregular white patches on the distinctive dark belly patch
and head, produced by uneven wear of the gray feathers exposing their white
bases. The scientific name (Pterodroma inexpectata), means unexpected because
the first specimen gave Förster the 'unexpected joy of a new species never
before seen'(Marchant, S. and Higgins, P.J. (1990) Handbook of Australian, New
Zealand and Antarctic Birds. vol. 1A:460-467. Oxford University Press,
Melbourne.). Brewster's collection of 40,000 specimens including the Mount
Morris petrel (Cat. No. 205224) now reside in the Cambridge Museum of
Comparative Zoology at Harvard University and a black-and-white photograph of
the crucifix-like specimen was published by Elon Howard Eaton (Eaton, E. H.
(1910) Birds of New York. Part 1: 161. Univ. State of New York, Albany.).

Mount Morris lies 450 km from the Atlantic Ocean in western New York but is
only 85 km from Lake Erie and it is conceivable that the bird traveled
eastward from the Pacific somehow entering the Great Lakes system, continuing
east until it ran out of water. There is certainly precedence of other
northern Pacific seabirds (e.g. Long-billed and Ancient Murrelets) reaching
the Great Lakes or even the Northeast. I have not been able to find evidence
of major storms in either direction that might fit the time line and any help
in this regard would be appreciated. Another possibility would be poor
practive (eg foul play or careless labeling) by the taxidermist.
Unfortunately, we know very little about Knowlton and his business. There are
no red flags that I can see. Brewster makes no mention of other seabirds or
shipments of birds from remote parts of the world. Again any further
information along these lines would be most welcome.

I appreciate that this is drifting from the Kermadec vs Trindade Petrel theme
but questions about this unique record keep surfacing.

Angus Wilson
New York City

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Subject: Re: Vagrant Pterodroma petrels
From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Alex=20Lees?= <lincslister(AT)YAHOO.CO.UK>
Date: 19 Jun 2004 3:49pm

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>....it would be interesting to know more about records of vagrant >Pterodroma
petrels found in unusual circumstances (in particular, >records of birds inland
away from water).

off the top of my head - a soft-plumaged type (I think attributed to feae) on
the Dead Sea Israel in the 60s, Cook´s (several) on the Salton Sea, a pterodroma
 from Hawk Mountain PA - mooted as Kermadec but cf herald, Black-capped Petrels
on the Great Lakes, around the NE US and on a heath in Norfolk (cf. the Willen
Lake, Bucks. Great Shear - how close was that...).

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Subject: Re: Vagrant Pterodroma petrels
From: Bruce Deuel <bkrdeuel(AT)SNOWCREST.NET>
Date: 19 Jun 2004 7:26pm

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

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Not exactly a Pterodroma, but a Streaked Shearwater was picked up alive =
on 5 August 1993 in a shopping center parking lot  in Red Bluff, Tehama =
Co., California.  This is over 100 miles inland.  After a stint in rehab =
in Redding (where I got to see it and confirmed the identification) it =
was banded and released at the mouth of Humboldt Bay on the coast.

Cheers,
Bruce Deuel
Red Bluff, CA
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Alex Lees=20
  To: BIRDWG01(AT)LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU=20
  Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2004 6:49 PM
  Subject: Re: [BIRDWG01] Vagrant Pterodroma petrels

  >....it would be interesting to know more about records of vagrant =
>Pterodroma petrels found in unusual circumstances (in particular, =
>records of birds inland away from water).=20

  off the top of my head - a soft-plumaged type (I think attributed to =
feae) on the Dead Sea Israel in the 60s, Cook=B4s (several) on the =
Salton Sea, a pterodroma from Hawk Mountain PA - mooted as Kermadec but =
cf herald, Black-capped Petrels on the Great Lakes, around the NE US and =
on a heath in Norfolk (cf. the Willen Lake, Bucks. Great Shear - how =
close was that...).=20

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