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ID-FRONTIERS for June 11-17, 2006
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Messages are displayed in the order they were received.
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| Subject | From | Date | Time |
| Re: Possible Bicknell's photos | Christopher Vogel | Sun, 11 Jun 2006 | 10:31pm |
| Nighthawk ID | David Allinson | Sun, 11 Jun 2006 | 10:44pm |
| Nighthawk ID and gulls as well! | Norman D.van Swelm | Mon, 12 Jun 2006 | 2:29am |
| Re: Nighthawk ID | Joseph Morlan | Mon, 12 Jun 2006 | 4:43am |
| Re: Nighthawk ID | Louis Bevier | Mon, 12 Jun 2006 | 5:12am |
| Nighthawk ID - comparison photos | Gary L Felton | Mon, 12 Jun 2006 | 5:18am |
| Re: Nighthawk ID | Peter Pyle | Mon, 12 Jun 2006 | 9:18am |
| Re: Possible Bicknell's photos | David Sibley | Mon, 12 Jun 2006 | 9:30am |
| Re: Pileated vs Ivory-billed: another video | Don Crockett | Mon, 12 Jun 2006 | 9:48am |
| Re: Possible Bicknell's photos | Christopher Vogel | Mon, 12 Jun 2006 | 10:54am |
| Lesser NIghthawk in B.C. | Alan Wormington | Mon, 12 Jun 2006 | 3:52pm |
| Painted Bunting song? | Gerald White | Mon, 12 Jun 2006 | 5:51pm |
| Re: Painted bunting song? | Mark Kulstad | Mon, 12 Jun 2006 | 9:04pm |
| Re: Pileated vs Ivory-billed: another video | Ted Floyd | Tue, 13 Jun 2006 | 1:15am |
| non-breeding adult Artic Tern ..paradisaea.. | Jim Barton | Wed, 14 Jun 2006 | 1:18pm |
| Re: non-breeding adult Artic Tern ..paradisaea.. | Alvaro Jaramillo | Wed, 14 Jun 2006 | 1:44pm |
| Forthcoming books | Ian Paulsen | Wed, 14 Jun 2006 | 2:12pm |
| Italy: Red Phalarope on June 12, 2006 | Menotti Passarella | Thu, 15 Jun 2006 | 12:14am |
| Painted Bunting song? | Gerald White | Thu, 15 Jun 2006 | 8:50am |
| Re: Painted Bunting song? | Robin Carter | Thu, 15 Jun 2006 | 5:13pm |
| White-rumped Sandpiper side and flank streaking
or lack thereof | Robert Hughes | Fri, 16 Jun 2006 | 3:41pm |
|
To use email addresses replace '(AT)' with '@'.
This is done to confuse the spam 'bots.
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[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Re: Possible Bicknell's photos
From: Christopher Vogel <glaucidium(AT)YAHOO.COM>
Date: 11 Jun 2006 10:31pm
At the risk of sounding like a monday morning
quarterback, and while I realise I may be vastly
oversimplifying, I don't really think that this issue
is as difficult as it is made out to be.
I realised this when actively birding and leading
Saturday morning birdwalks in The Ramble of NYC's
Central Park for the AMNH.
in the last two weeks of May, and in particular the
week before and after Memorial Day, it is not uncommon
to see several (ie 2-5) Grey-cheeked Thrushes on a
good morning in Central Park. Good Grey-cheeks stand
out because they are overwhelmingly grey, long winged
(primary projection that is), big, and kind of oblong
( U.S. football)-shaped.
On a walk at dawn, around the end of May, in a
spectacular migrant trap in the NY Bight, after seeing
seeing several "good" Grey-cheeks, often times there
would be a weird thrush, that kind of combined the
characters of several North American Catharus. Not
quite red enough in the posterior to be a Hermit, not
overwhelmingly grey enough, to be a Grey-cheeked, and
certainly not shaped like one, and not buffy enough or
buffily-faced enough to be a Swainson's (but shaped
much more like a Swainson's than a long winged, bulky,
really long-distance migrant Grey-cheeked).
These proportionally infrequently encountered Catharus
which didn't quite fit, and which look very much like
one of the Catharus I'd seen in July in the Green
Mountains, for example, are what I would consider, in
terms of field-identifiability, to be Bicknell's.
The stuff about the pale on the mandible, etc. is
really incidental when compared to the look of the
bird as a whole. (and I cannot stress enough that this
is in terms of field ID, not in-the-hand, banding or
specimen ID- which, considering the Newfoundland forms
is really as good as it gets with Bins)
The Prospect Park Bird is what I would have called for
my class, a Bicknells.
Grey Cheeked is big, robust, overwhelingly grey with a
capital "G", and long winged. Bicknell's (or field
identifieable Bicknell's) is dull brown, shaped like
a Swainson's or Hermit, and combines the characters of
all North Amrican Catharus, but not quite enough to be
readily and immeditely assignable specically to any (
if that makes any sense!)
I hope this helps, and would welcome further input.
The Birding Article, and field guides really kind of
fall short on this issue.
Cheers
CJV
Cape May, NJ
--- Bryan Pfeiffer <Bryan(AT)VERMONTBIRDTOURS.COM> wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> I alerted the biologists at the Vermont Institute of
> Nature Science (VINS)
> about images of the putative Bicknell's Thrush. VINS
> has done more than a
> decade of remarkable work on the ecology of this
> species here in Vermont
> and in Hispanola. Below is a dispatch from VINS's
> Chris Rimmer and Kent
> McFarland (http://www.vinsweb.org/cbd/).
>
> --Bryan Pfeiffer
>
>
> >We don't think there is any question that this is a
> bicknelli. If colors
> >in the images are true, it is much too brown
> overall to be a minimus. In
> >fact, this bird is even on the brownish end of the
> spectrum for bicknelli,
> >showing little of the contrast between tail and
> mantle that often
> >characterizes bicknelli and helps distinguish it
> from minimus. Further,
> >the basal coloration on lower mandible is bright
> yellow, rather than a
> >more fleshy yellow as in minimus, and it extends >
> 1/2 way out towards the
> >tip. In the final analysis, unambiguous ID isn't
> possible without in-hand
> >measurements, but this is as close to a certain ID
> as one could ever make
> >from a photo.
> >
> > -Chris Rimmer and Kent McFarland
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Vermont Bird Tours
> 113 Bartlett Road
> Plainfield, VT 05667
>
> Web: www.VermontBirdTours.com
> E-Mail: Bryan(AT)VermontBirdTours.com
> Phone: (802) 454-4640
>
> Enjoy Life. Watch Birds!
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
> Join or Leave BIRDWG01:
>
http://listserv.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=birdwg01
>
> Archives:
> http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdwg01.html
>
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[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Nighthawk ID
From: David Allinson <passerine(AT)SHAW.CA>
Date: 11 Jun 2006 10:44pm
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
----INCLUDING text/plain MIME SECTION----
I am calling upon the experience of this forum to comment on the ID
challenge faced by Common vs. Lesser Nighthawks. Recently, a birder and
excellent photographer posted an update on his photo website for a pelagic
trip he took via a fishing boat off the west coast of Vancouver Island. Long
story short, via the link below scroll through Mike Yip's many great photos
of seabirds to near the bottom of this page and take a look at the "Common"
Nighthawk he spied well offshore. In short, many BC birders have commented
on some features of this bird that may in fact suggest that this may be a
Lesser Nighthawk (e.g. shape of wings and in particular the short white bar,
etc). Needless to say, if it is a Lesser, this would be first record for
British Columbia and only second for Canada.
I'll reserve posting my own opinion here as to not influence anyone else's.
Take a look and your opinions and comments are most appreciated. At the very
least we will all learn to pay more attention to nighthawks!
http://vancouverislandbirds.com/Journal167.html
My thanks to Mike Yip for allowing me to forward this.
David Allinson
Victoria, BC
Join or Leave BIRDWG01: http://listserv.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=birdwg01
Archives: http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdwg01.html
----DELETED text/html MIME SECTION----
[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Nighthawk ID and gulls as well!
From: "Norman D.van Swelm" <Norman.vanswelm(AT)wxs.nl>
Date: 12 Jun 2006 2:29am
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--Boundary_(ID_73AC2B0BP9ii1tzwRctAqA)
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
Indeed fabulous photo's David! What a trip. But what about Mike's 'white
gull'? Any ideas?
Norman
David Allinson reports:> I am calling upon the experience of this forum to
comment on the ID challenge faced by Common vs. Lesser Nighthawks. Recently, a
birder and excellent photographer posted an update on his photo website for a
pelagic trip he took via a fishing boat off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Long story short, via the link below scroll through Mike Yip's many great photos
of seabirds to near the bottom of this page and take a look at the "Common"
Nighthawk he spied well offshore. In short, many BC birders have commented on
some features of this bird that may in fact suggest that this may be a Lesser
Nighthawk (e.g. shape of wings and in particular the short white bar, etc).
Needless to say, if it is a Lesser, this would be first record for British
Columbia and only second for Canada.
I'll reserve posting my own opinion here as to not influence anyone else's.
Take a look and your opinions and comments are most appreciated. At the very
least we will all learn to pay more attention to nighthawks!
http://vancouverislandbirds.com/Journal167.html
My thanks to Mike Yip for allowing me to forward this.
Victoria, BC<
Join or Leave BIRDWG01: http://listserv.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=birdwg01
Archives: http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdwg01.html
--Boundary_(ID_73AC2B0BP9ii1tzwRctAqA)
Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
----DELETED HTML-ENCODED SECTION----
<p>
Join or Leave BIRDWG01: http://listserv.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=birdwg01
<p>
Archives: http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdwg01.html
<p>
--Boundary_(ID_73AC2B0BP9ii1tzwRctAqA)--
[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Re: Nighthawk ID
From: Joseph Morlan <jmorlan(AT)CCSF.ORG>
Date: 12 Jun 2006 4:43am
David,
The key between Lesser (Chordeiles acutipennis) and Common (C. minor) is
where the pale bar intersects the leading edge of the wing. On Common it
meets about half way between the bend of the wing (wrist) and the tip. On
Lesser, it meets about 2/3 - 3/4 of the way out as on Mike Yip's photos.
See
http://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/feb00.htm
for an example of a Common Nighthawk.
The short outermost primary is also a pro-Lesser character, although some
molting/young Common Nighthawks may show that feature. Note also the buff
tone to the pale bar, rows of buff-colored spots at the bases of the
primaries on the upperside of the wing, and the buff coloration to the
underparts. The pale back does not contrast with the pale wing coverts as
it would on a Common Nighthawk.
In my opinion this cannot be a Common Nighthawk and is very likely a
Lesser Nighthawk.
However the genus Chordeiles includes Least (C. pusillus), Sand-colored (C.
rupestris), and Antillean (C. gundlachii) nighthawks. I do not know enough
about these other tropical possibilities to address them. Lesser is more
likely geographically, but this bird is so far out-of-range that it would
be wise to consider all possibilities.
The white throat suggests a male, but the lack of a white tail bar and the
buff tone to the white wing bar suggest a female. Perhaps this is a Basic
I male with retained juvenal rectrices.
On Sun, 11 Jun 2006 22:42:29 -0700, "David Allinson" <passerine(AT)SHAW.CA>
wrote:
>I am calling upon the experience of this forum to comment on the ID
>challenge faced by Common vs. Lesser Nighthawks. Recently, a birder and
>excellent photographer posted an update on his photo website for a pelagic
>trip he took via a fishing boat off the west coast of Vancouver Island. Long
>story short, via the link below scroll through Mike Yip's many great photos
>of seabirds to near the bottom of this page and take a look at the "Common"
>Nighthawk he spied well offshore. In short, many BC birders have commented
>on some features of this bird that may in fact suggest that this may be a
>Lesser Nighthawk (e.g. shape of wings and in particular the short white bar,
>etc). Needless to say, if it is a Lesser, this would be first record for
>British Columbia and only second for Canada.
>I'll reserve posting my own opinion here as to not influence anyone else's.
>
>Take a look and your opinions and comments are most appreciated. At the very
>least we will all learn to pay more attention to nighthawks!
>http://vancouverislandbirds.com/Journal167.html
>
>My thanks to Mike Yip for allowing me to forward this.
>
>David Allinson
>Victoria, BC
>
>
>
>Join or Leave BIRDWG01: http://listserv.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=birdwg01
>
>Archives: http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdwg01.html
--
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044 jmorlan (at) ccsf.edu
Fall Birding Classes start Sept 6 http://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/
California Bird Records Committee http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/
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Archives: http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdwg01.html
[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Re: Nighthawk ID
From: Louis Bevier <lrbevier(AT)COLBY.EDU>
Date: 12 Jun 2006 5:12am
It was difficult to whiz by all the great seabird photos (the white
gull looks like a leucistic Glaucous-wing), but the nighthawk is
definitely a Lesser. Probably the clearest feature that is diagnostic
is the buffy barring (spotting) in the remiges right out the
primaries and extending to just basal of the wing patch (this is a
key character cited in Ridgway's manuals). Common (and Antillean)
Nighthawk has blackish primaries to the base; some may show narrow
whitish barring, not as dense, at the extreme base of the innermost
primaries. The left wing tip in both photos clearly shows p10
(outermost) shorter than p9. That is typical of Lesser and not of
Common. The right wing tip has a broken tip to p9. Also, the narrow
barring on the lesser wing coverts on the underwing are classic
Lesser. The white throat and white spots forming the primary patch/
bar indicate a male, but I can't make out a subterminal white band on
the tail that should be there. Maybe that's because the ventral view
is so backlit and the tail clamped enough to hide the band on the
dorsal view. (Joe Morlan mentioned Least Nighthawk, but that species
is differently shaped with a fairly prominent white trailing edge to
the secondaries, and blackish primaries basal to the wing patch.)
Louis
Louis Bevier
Fairfield, ME
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[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Nighthawk ID - comparison photos
From: Gary L Felton <gljeinwv(AT)JUNO.COM>
Date: 12 Jun 2006 5:18am
I have several specimen photos of a female Lesser Nighthawk which was
collected in
West Virginia two years ago and specimen wing-photos of a Common. If
anyone
is interested in viewing the two for comparison, let me know and I'll
email them.
Gary Felton
Kingwood, WV
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[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Re: Nighthawk ID
From: Peter Pyle <ppyle(AT)BIRDPOP.ORG>
Date: 12 Jun 2006 9:18am
An overlooked and reliable method for separating Lesser and Common
nighthawks is the distance between the tips of the primary coverts and the
bar in the wing, usually 20-30 mm in Lesser and 0-10 mm in Common. The
distance on the BC bird clearly indicates Lesser. The pale tips to the
primary coverts and lack of molt limits in the remiges indicates HY/SY and
the wear patterns indicate a summer bird, thus 1-year-old. Given this age
the white near the tip of the outer rectrix, barely visible on the
upperside image, along with the whitish color to the wing bar indicates male.
There are about 55 records of Lesser Nighthawks on the Farallon Island off
Central California, at least 45 of which have occurred from mid-May to
mid-July. By contrast there are only four records of Common Nighthawk, two
in June and two in September.
Peter Pyle
At 08:05 AM 6/12/06 -0400, Louis Bevier wrote:
>It was difficult to whiz by all the great seabird photos (the white
>gull looks like a leucistic Glaucous-wing), but the nighthawk is
>definitely a Lesser. Probably the clearest feature that is diagnostic
>is the buffy barring (spotting) in the remiges right out the
>primaries and extending to just basal of the wing patch (this is a
>key character cited in Ridgway's manuals). Common (and Antillean)
>Nighthawk has blackish primaries to the base; some may show narrow
>whitish barring, not as dense, at the extreme base of the innermost
>primaries. The left wing tip in both photos clearly shows p10
>(outermost) shorter than p9. That is typical of Lesser and not of
>Common. The right wing tip has a broken tip to p9. Also, the narrow
>barring on the lesser wing coverts on the underwing are classic
>Lesser. The white throat and white spots forming the primary patch/ bar
>indicate a male, but I can't make out a subterminal white band on
>the tail that should be there. Maybe that's because the ventral view
>is so backlit and the tail clamped enough to hide the band on the
>dorsal view. (Joe Morlan mentioned Least Nighthawk, but that species
>is differently shaped with a fairly prominent white trailing edge to
>the secondaries, and blackish primaries basal to the wing patch.)
>
>Louis
>
>Louis Bevier
>Fairfield, ME
>
>
>Join or Leave BIRDWG01: http://listserv.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=birdwg01
>
>Archives: http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdwg01.html
>
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[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Re: Possible Bicknell's photos
From: David Sibley <david_sibley(AT)COMCAST.NET>
Date: 12 Jun 2006 9:30am
I haven't looked into this issue in years, but I did spend many many hours
looking at museum specimens in the 1990s. The real problem is that there
seems to be overlap between Bicknell's and Gray-cheeked in all visible
features, including size and color. Ouellet's paper leading to the split
documented this overlap. I certainly found that in my own study and I don't
think it's been contradicted by any further research.
I do think that Chris Vogel is, in his own words, "vastly oversimplifying"
to suggest that these species can be distinguished by impressions of shape
and color. From the ID-Frontiers archives, here's what I wrote on 12 Oct
1998 "In my experience the variation in color and size is not entirely
linked. That is, there is a cline in color from reddish to gray and a cline
in size from small to large, but the smallest birds (Bicknell's) can be
quite grayish and larger birds (Gray-cheekeds) can be quite reddish;
although the largest Gray-cheekeds (aliciae) are pretty consistently grayish
and distinctive, as David Abbott and others have pointed out. The two museum
collections I have looked at (Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences and
Yale Peabody Museum) show a confusing array of size and color."
I do agree with Chris that the "classic" Bicknell's is reddish and more
dumpy Hermit-like in shape compared to "classic" Gray-cheeked, but by
relying on that one is likely to misidentify some smaller and redder
Gray-cheekeds and also to overlook larger and grayer individual Bicknell's.
I would also caution that the statement that field identification is
possible because Bicknell's are a little redder and less robust is a classic
example of what psychologists call a "one-sided observation". Only the birds
that seem most obviously reddish and/or small will attract attention and be
identified, and the hypothesis will seem to be strongly supported. But birds
not quite so reddish or small, that could refute the hypothesis, are simply
not noticed, so it is sort of predetermined that the hypothesis will be
"confirmed".
I still think voice (and primarily song) is the only sure way to distinguish
these species. It may be reasonable to identify some in the field where they
are expected, and to call the Central Park bird a Bicknell's, but I don't
think photos alone would be acceptable if the bird was in Ohio, or Alaska,
or the UK.
David Sibley
Concord, MA
-----Original Message-----
From: NBHC ID-FRONTIERS Frontiers of Field Identification
[mailto:BIRDWG01(AT)LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Christopher Vogel
Sent: Monday, June 12, 2006 1:31 AM
To: BIRDWG01(AT)LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
Subject: Re: [BIRDWG01] Possible Bicknell's photos
At the risk of sounding like a monday morning
quarterback, and while I realise I may be vastly
oversimplifying, I don't really think that this issue
is as difficult as it is made out to be.
I realised this when actively birding and leading
Saturday morning birdwalks in The Ramble of NYC's
Central Park for the AMNH.
in the last two weeks of May, and in particular the
week before and after Memorial Day, it is not uncommon
to see several (ie 2-5) Grey-cheeked Thrushes on a
good morning in Central Park. Good Grey-cheeks stand
out because they are overwhelmingly grey, long winged
(primary projection that is), big, and kind of oblong
( U.S. football)-shaped.
On a walk at dawn, around the end of May, in a
spectacular migrant trap in the NY Bight, after seeing
seeing several "good" Grey-cheeks, often times there
would be a weird thrush, that kind of combined the
characters of several North American Catharus. Not
quite red enough in the posterior to be a Hermit, not
overwhelmingly grey enough, to be a Grey-cheeked, and
certainly not shaped like one, and not buffy enough or
buffily-faced enough to be a Swainson's (but shaped
much more like a Swainson's than a long winged, bulky,
really long-distance migrant Grey-cheeked).
These proportionally infrequently encountered Catharus
which didn't quite fit, and which look very much like
one of the Catharus I'd seen in July in the Green
Mountains, for example, are what I would consider, in
terms of field-identifiability, to be Bicknell's.
The stuff about the pale on the mandible, etc. is
really incidental when compared to the look of the
bird as a whole. (and I cannot stress enough that this
is in terms of field ID, not in-the-hand, banding or
specimen ID- which, considering the Newfoundland forms
is really as good as it gets with Bins)
The Prospect Park Bird is what I would have called for
my class, a Bicknells.
Grey Cheeked is big, robust, overwhelingly grey with a
capital "G", and long winged. Bicknell's (or field
identifieable Bicknell's) is dull brown, shaped like
a Swainson's or Hermit, and combines the characters of
all North Amrican Catharus, but not quite enough to be
readily and immeditely assignable specically to any (
if that makes any sense!)
I hope this helps, and would welcome further input.
The Birding Article, and field guides really kind of
fall short on this issue.
Cheers
CJV
Cape May, NJ
--- Bryan Pfeiffer <Bryan(AT)VERMONTBIRDTOURS.COM> wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> I alerted the biologists at the Vermont Institute of
> Nature Science (VINS)
> about images of the putative Bicknell's Thrush. VINS
> has done more than a
> decade of remarkable work on the ecology of this
> species here in Vermont
> and in Hispanola. Below is a dispatch from VINS's
> Chris Rimmer and Kent
> McFarland (http://www.vinsweb.org/cbd/).
>
> --Bryan Pfeiffer
>
>
> >We don't think there is any question that this is a
> bicknelli. If colors
> >in the images are true, it is much too brown
> overall to be a minimus. In
> >fact, this bird is even on the brownish end of the
> spectrum for bicknelli,
> >showing little of the contrast between tail and
> mantle that often
> >characterizes bicknelli and helps distinguish it
> from minimus. Further,
> >the basal coloration on lower mandible is bright
> yellow, rather than a
> >more fleshy yellow as in minimus, and it extends >
> 1/2 way out towards the
> >tip. In the final analysis, unambiguous ID isn't
> possible without in-hand
> >measurements, but this is as close to a certain ID
> as one could ever make
> >from a photo.
> >
> > -Chris Rimmer and Kent McFarland
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Vermont Bird Tours
> 113 Bartlett Road
> Plainfield, VT 05667
>
> Web: www.VermontBirdTours.com
> E-Mail: Bryan(AT)VermontBirdTours.com
> Phone: (802) 454-4640
>
> Enjoy Life. Watch Birds!
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
> Join or Leave BIRDWG01:
>
http://listserv.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=birdwg01
>
> Archives:
> http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdwg01.html
>
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[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Re: Pileated vs Ivory-billed: another video
From: Don Crockett <crockett(AT)GREATBLUE.COM>
Date: 12 Jun 2006 9:48am
I wanted to follow up with some additional information on the Nolin
Pileated video clip that I got from Dave Nolin.
The video was made in Ohio (Dayton?), does that imply D. p.
abieticola rather than D. p. pileatus? Birds of North America says
northern birds are larger, longer winged birds than southern birds,
any other differences that are relevant to a comparison with the
Luneau video?
More importantly the video was shot with a Hi-8 Sony Handycam (sorry
I didn't get the model). This means that although the imaging sensor
was digital, the recording to tape was analog so the quality will
never be as good as the digital DV format in Luneau's clip.
Additionally my understanding is that the Nolin video clip was made
by playback of the Hi-8 tape to a digital camcorder that was then
digitized and edited to create the web clip.
The frames in the web clip are interlaced as can be seen by the
double images of the wings in many of the frames. I don't believe it
is possible to de-interlace the web footage. I've tried using
Photoshop's de-interlace filter and it doesn't get rid of the double
images. For the de-interlace filter to work you need to have a clean
interlaced source (alternating lines from 2 video fields) and that
was lost somewhere in the video processing. It's been a while since
I've worked with Hi-8 footage to know how clean the signal is coming
off the tape, but I think that's where you'd have to start to get
de-interlaced frames. Without those it will be tough to do a
rigorous analysis.
The Nolin video still demonstrates how a rapidly moving source can
show up in a frame. White can become very faint, and black can
disappear. It also shows the variety of wing positions where white
can appear though you have to take into account that this birds are
not flying as directly away from the camera as Luneau's bird. There
are also frames that show the distinctive "wing lights" of the dorsal
view of the Pileated's white primary bases, something that I
interpret appearing in the Luneau clip also.
Don
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Subject: Re: Possible Bicknell's photos
From: Christopher Vogel <glaucidium(AT)YAHOO.COM>
Date: 12 Jun 2006 10:54am
Thanks very much- it is great to look up from gull
feather splitting and these insights are indeed
helpful.
So...without hearing or holding the bird, and not
being in a known breeding location for one or the
other, and given the range of variation within
Gray-cheeks, it seems we should probably get
comfortable with the appellation "Bicknell's-type".
Very good.
(Now if only we could get used to this idea when
talking Juncos or large Gull semi-species...)
Having a bit of a specimen-based background, I do
think that this a laudable practice. The limits of
visual field identifiability and correctly assigning a
definite specific identification to many birds can
sometimes be two different things.
I would take a wee bit of exception to the idea that
we may be"'misidentfiying" some birds which are
impossible to identify visually in the field anyway,
however. This is where the differences between the
sport of field birding/identification and ornithology
lay.
I guess, taken to a extreme of logic, the flip side of
"one sided id" would be that non-vocal Grey cheeks
are not really identifiable in the field either. Birds
which do not attract attention as being different,
could be the other species just as readily as the
converse. No? (or am I totally missing it!?...)
For birds like the sister taxa under discussion, which
are nearly cryptic species, It is more of a question
of identifying them to the degree humanly possible,
getting comfortable with a bit of ambiguity, and
learning to live in a world where living evolving
organisms don't always readily fit into the pigeon
holes of an Enlightenment-spawned method of
classifying the world. Admittedly, not the thing most
ardent listers would like to hear though! (and
certainly not somethng that the people leading them
usually say either...)
(as an aside, "Bicknell's-type" is probably what I
would have called it and told the group that if we
were in the Adirondacks and the bird was singing away,
it would be a different matter.)
Cheers
CJV
Cape May, NJ
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Subject: Lesser NIghthawk in B.C.
From: Alan Wormington <wormington(AT)JUNO.COM>
Date: 12 Jun 2006 3:52pm
Everyone,
I hope those involved with the Lesser Nighthawk in British Columbia will
publish the record somewhere.
As for details of the "other" Canadian record, here it is:
Location: Point Pelee National Park, Essex County, Ontario
Date: April 29, 1974
Observer: Alan Wormington
The bird was a female and photos were taken. A while back I published a
complete account on this occurrence, as follows:
Wormington, A. 2002. The Point Pelee Lesser Nighthawk: A Unique Record
for Ontario and Canada. Point Pelee Natural History News 2: 1-3.
For this article I did some research on other extra-limital records, and
found the following:
ALASKA: August 16, 1985, at Sheshalik (mouth of the Noatak River);
specimen at University of Alaska Museum #5666 -- see Gibson & Kessel
(1992). This site is above the Arctic Circle and only about 180 miles
from eastern Siberia!
BERMUDA: December 3, 1965; specimen at American Museum of Natural
History #789776.
As for the WEST VIRGINIA record, it occurred after my article was
published (date published in North American Birds).
To those who might write-up the B.C. record, I can send a copy of my
paper.
Cheers,
Alan Wormington
Leamington, Ontario
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Subject: Painted Bunting song?
From: Gerald White <gdwhite(AT)MACHLINK.COM>
Date: 12 Jun 2006 5:51pm
Everyone,
I would like to identify the origin of a Painted Bunting, using a recording
of it's song as an aid. The bird was observed in Iowa this year.
Birds of North America states the following about the song of Painted
Bunting "Song structure similar at geographically separated sites: studies
in Texas (Thompson 1976) and on Atlantic Coast (Georgia and Florida;
Forsythe 1974) showed very similar descriptive measurements.".
Is this still true? Are there any more recent studies of eastern PABU?
I know of one person in Texas that has done a study recently on Texas PABU
and he feels there may be a difference in the eastern and western bird songs
but he has a very small sample of eastern song. There are elements in the
song of the Iowa bird that do not match the more extensive collection of TX
bird songs but the element is in the eastern sample. I am not trying to
discredit his observation but would like to hear from others with more
experience in both groups.
Gerald White Muscatine IA
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Subject: Re: Painted bunting song?
From: Mark Kulstad <kulstad(AT)RICE.EDU>
Date: 12 Jun 2006 9:04pm
----INCLUDING text/plain MIME SECTION----
On seeing the post about painted bunting song, I thought I'd at least
try a query about bird vocalizations. I have two short recordings of
bird vocalizations. The clearer of the two seemed possibly to be a
painted bunting song, but a researcher here in Texas says it almost
certainly isn't. It's at
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kulstad/Mysterywarble_CD-ROMQ.mov. I'm
trying to identify it as part of a bird census in support of a "Save
the park" effort in Houston. Data on the recording are included in
the video portion of the recording.
The second link is
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kulstad/4flycraspywntrchipupup.mov. The
quality is much less good here, so I include it only for those who
might like the challenge despite the audio problems. Four different
vocalizations are edited together. (I needed earphones to hear the
2nd and 4th.) Since there is no data included with this recording --
only bad video! -- I add a bit here about the four vocalizations:
1) 2.0 sec only(!).; the short, 2-part call/song to me is reminiscent
of an empi, but it doesn't match any I know of; the date is May 3,
2006; the habitat close to the tree where the downy was taped is
forested, with lots of snags.
2) 8.3 sec.; raspy notes strung together in groups of 2-7(?); may be
associated with chipping; the date was May 9, 2006; the habitat was
forest with clearings on two sides (one clearing was just the mowed
edge of the park, by the street).
3) 12.3 sec.; this is perhaps the most promising vocalization for
I.D., a song with an amazing jumble of notes; Canada Warbler,
Carolina Wren, and Blue-headed Vireo were in the area (I've cut out
the standard Blue-headed Vireo song that had been mixed in); the date
was May 6, 2006; the habitat was forest next to a clearing in the
center of the wooded park.
4) 8.0 sec.; chips in a slow, sometimes irregular series, but with
lower, less clean notes sometimes following; I had seen one, possibly
two unidentified warblers in the area a bit before recording this
vocalization; one was dull yellow with not much in the way of marks
(seen briefly, possibly wingbars); May 7, 2006 was the date; the
habitat was shrubby, an overgrown field (or previously mowed area),
something of a clearing with wooded areas surrounding it.
Thanks for any help you might have time to offer on this in the midst
of discussion on much weightier matters.
Mark Kulstad
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----DELETED text/html MIME SECTION----
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Subject: Re: Pileated vs Ivory-billed: another video
From: Ted Floyd <tedfloyd(AT)ABA.ORG>
Date: 13 Jun 2006 1:15am
Hello, birders.
Louis Bevier, quoting Mark Lynch, wrote:
> "Pileated Woodpecker (3: 1 bird we saw flying away exhibited the
> optical effect that Sibley et al mentioned in thier recent paper
> in Science that called for caution in evaluating the Ivory-billed
> reports: for a brief heartbeat or so, it appeared to have white
> on the trailing edge of the wings. This is an effect I have seen
> a few times and it is all dependent on angle of viewing, distance
> from bird, lighting and legnth of sighting. But it does happen.)"
In a pre-Luneau context, Jonathan Alderfer brought this effect to my
attention a couple of years ago. We were evaluating photographic
submissions for the December 2004 issue of Birding ("Studying
Seabirds"), and Jonathan pointed out to me that in-flight photographs of
dark-winged seabirds frequently show a spurious white trailing edge on
the wing farther away from camera. This effect is shown very clearly in
at least three instances in the December 2004 issue of Birding. See for
yourself: p. 605, top photo; p. 605, bottom photo; p. 637.
All three are good-quality photographs with faithful reproduction in the
magazine; yet all three seem to depict birds (three different species,
by the way) with dark upperwings and white trailing edges thereto--just
like the pattern shown in certain frames by the bird in the Luneau
video. In addition to the fact that we "know" that the bird species
depicted in the December 2004 Birding don't really show white trailing
edges to the dorsal surface of the otherwise dark wings, we can tell
instantly from the photographs, which depict a presumably unlikely
asymmetry, in which the nearer wing in all three instances does *not*
show the aberration.
-------------------------------
Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding
American Birding Association
P. O. Box 7974
Boulder, Colorado 80306-7974
303-444-6363
tedfloyd(AT)aba.org
Please visit the web site of the
American Birding Association:
http://www.americanbirding.org
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Subject: non-breeding adult Artic Tern ..paradisaea..
From: Jim Barton <redwingatfp1986(AT)COMCAST.NET>
Date: 14 Jun 2006 1:18pm
Hello. My references tell me that the bills of non-breeding adult Artic
Terns are black, while their legs are red. In your experience, are these
references correct? Can a non-breeding adult Artic ever present both a red
bill and legs?
Thanks for your help.
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
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Subject: Re: non-breeding adult Artic Tern ..paradisaea..
From: Alvaro Jaramillo <chucao(AT)COASTSIDE.NET>
Date: 14 Jun 2006 1:44pm
Jim
Likely, I have even seen non-breeding Common Tern with red legs and red
based bills (December in Argentina). I have seen adult Arctic Terns in
southbound migration with dark red bills, it would be great to see photos of
this species from Antarctica to see how dark their bills really get.
Alvaro
Alvaro Jaramillo
chucao(AT)coastside.net
Half Moon Bay, CA
Field Guides - Birding Tours Worldwide
http://www.fieldguides.com/home.htm
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NBHC ID-FRONTIERS Frontiers of Field Identification
> [mailto:BIRDWG01(AT)LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jim Barton
> Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 1:19 PM
> To: BIRDWG01(AT)LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
> Subject: [BIRDWG01] non-breeding adult Artic Tern ..paradisaea..
>
> Hello. My references tell me that the bills of non-breeding adult
> Artic
> Terns are black, while their legs are red. In your experience, are these
> references correct? Can a non-breeding adult Artic ever present both a
> red
> bill and legs?
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> 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
>
>
> Join or Leave BIRDWG01: http://listserv.arizona.edu/cgi-
> bin/wa?SUBED1=birdwg01
>
> Archives: http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdwg01.html
>
> --
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.8.4/363 - Release Date: 6/13/2006
>
--
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Subject: Forthcoming books
From: Ian Paulsen <birdbooker(AT)ZIPCON.NET>
Date: 14 Jun 2006 2:12pm
HI:
Saw this in the WFO newsletter:
Publications: Coming in 2007, Houghton Mifflin will be publishing Steve
Howells newest book, a photographic guide to new world gulls. And, Jon
Dunn announces that the 5th Edition of the National Geographic Field Guide
to the Birds of North America is on the way! The text and maps have been
completely reworked and there is considerable new art work. All of the
North American accidentals are included in an appendix with one
illustration each and text. For the moment, the new edition includes all
of the species ever recorded in North America.
--
Ian Paulsen
Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
A.K.A.: "Birdbooker"
"Rallidae all the way!"
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Subject: Italy: Red Phalarope on June 12, 2006
From: Menotti Passarella <menotti.passarella(AT)EMAIL.IT>
Date: 15 Jun 2006 12:14am
Hi all
A female Red or Grey Phalarope in breeding plumage was found and
photographed by Eddy Boschetti and Nicola Donà at the Sacca di Scardovari,
Po Delta, NE Italy, on June 12, 2006. The previous observations of this
irregular species in the Po Delta was made on May 18, 2003 by Marco
Guerrini, Dario Quaranta, Roberto Bonetti and Mauro Bailo in the Comacchio
salinas (see picture, this bird with a Black-winged Stilt), and in 1989 by
Carlo Guzzon at the Zavelea marsh near Comacchio. Finally, the last record
of the species in the Veneto region dates back to 1971 near Venice.
Photos here:
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/birdingitalynet/
Thanks for confirming that the 2006 bird is a female and the 2003 one is a
male.
Cheers
Menotti Passarella
info(AT)birdingitaly.com
www.birdingitaly.net
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Subject: Painted Bunting song?
From: Gerald White <gdwhite(AT)MACHLINK.COM>
Date: 15 Jun 2006 8:50am
I posted the following message earlier this week but have not had any
response. I am looking for recordings or persons with knowledge of the
eastern Painted Bunting song.
Thanks,
Gerald
>>Everyone,
I would like to identify the origin of a Painted Bunting, using a recording
of it's song as an aid. The bird was observed in Iowa this year.
Birds of North America states the following about the song of Painted
Bunting "Song structure similar at geographically separated sites: studies
in Texas (Thompson 1976) and on Atlantic Coast (Georgia and Florida;
Forsythe 1974) showed very similar descriptive measurements.".
Is this still true? Are there any more recent studies of eastern PABU?
I know of one person in Texas that has done a study recently on Texas PABU
and he feels there may be a difference in the eastern and western bird songs
but he has a very small sample of eastern song. There are elements in the
song of the Iowa bird that do not match the more extensive collection of TX
bird songs but the element is in the eastern sample. I am not trying to
discredit his observation but would like to hear from others with more
experience in both groups.
Gerald White Muscatine IA
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Subject: Re: Painted Bunting song?
From: Robin Carter <rcarter(AT)SC.RR.COM>
Date: 15 Jun 2006 5:13pm
Gerald,
I have just put an MP3 of an Eastern Painted-Bunting on my web site. I
recorded this bird at Congaree National Park, Richland County, SC in May,
2006.
http://home.sc.rr.com/graykingbird
I hope this helps.
Robin Carter
Columbia, SC USA
mailto:rcarter(AT)sc.rr.com
-----Original Message-----
From: NBHC ID-FRONTIERS Frontiers of Field Identification
[mailto:BIRDWG01(AT)LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU]On Behalf Of Gerald White
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2006 11:50 AM
To: BIRDWG01(AT)LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
Subject: [BIRDWG01] Painted Bunting song?
I posted the following message earlier this week but have not had any
response. I am looking for recordings or persons with knowledge of the
eastern Painted Bunting song.
Thanks,
Gerald
>>Everyone,
I would like to identify the origin of a Painted Bunting, using a recording
of it's song as an aid. The bird was observed in Iowa this year.
Birds of North America states the following about the song of Painted
Bunting "Song structure similar at geographically separated sites: studies
in Texas (Thompson 1976) and on Atlantic Coast (Georgia and Florida;
Forsythe 1974) showed very similar descriptive measurements.".
Is this still true? Are there any more recent studies of eastern PABU?
I know of one person in Texas that has done a study recently on Texas PABU
and he feels there may be a difference in the eastern and western bird songs
but he has a very small sample of eastern song. There are elements in the
song of the Iowa bird that do not match the more extensive collection of TX
bird songs but the element is in the eastern sample. I am not trying to
discredit his observation but would like to hear from others with more
experience in both groups.
Gerald White Muscatine IA
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Subject: White-rumped Sandpiper side and flank streaking
or lack thereof
From: Robert Hughes <rhughes.enteract(AT)RCN.COM>
Date: 16 Jun 2006 3:41pm
Today I saw and photographed a White-rumped Sandpiper in Chicago that
lacked any streaking on the sides or flanks. Otherwise the bird looked
fine for a White-rumped. I was just wondering if anyone else out there
has noticed this. I posted a couple pics on the Surfbirds Web site.
http://www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=gallery20
Robert Hughes
Chicago, Illinois
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