PEEPS

Northern Lapwing - Portugal Cove South, Newfoundland

On 29 November Richard Thomas found a Northern Lapwing in the community of Portugal Cove South.  This is one of the species that shares a genus and species name, Vanellus vanellus, and is classified as an ABA Code V4 bird, a non-breeding visitor.

This species breeds in Eurasia and winters at the southern end of its breeding range to Asia Minor, India, and Southeast Asia.  Although there are more than 50 reports from eastern Canada and northeastern U.S., a large flight of Northern Lapwings in December 1927 and January 1966 account for the majority of the ABA-area records.

On their breeding grounds, male Northern Lapwings perform a spectacular aerial display, their wingtips producing a droning sound.  Males often return to their breeding grounds over a month before courtship begins securing the best breeding areas early.  Although there is an estimated 7 million Northern Lapwings worldwide, as many as 36 percent of broods fail in agricultural areas.

With one notable exception, all plovers, and no others, share the same common ancestor based on biochemical evidence.

HBW Vol. 3 and ABA Checklist, Birds of the Continental United States and Canada. Seventh Edition, 2008.

Updates and Corrections to Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World, Sixth Edition

Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, the group responsible for maintaining the Clements Checklist, has made availale the 2008 changes to the Clements list.  For a downloadable version, visit www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/corrections/Nov08updatescorr

Anyone with a significant list of South American birds will want to check the many changes (mostly lumps) made by the South American Checklist Committee (SACC).  Please, also read the comments in the December issue of Winging It by both Tony White (ABA) and Tom Schulenberg (Cornell Lab) regarding current and future changes to this list.

After a quick reading, I see that the number of world bird families has been increased to 209.

There will be additional comments about the Checklist revisions in this Peeps blog and in ABA publications in the future after we all have had time to scrutinize the changes.

Sungrebe - Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico

Sungrebe Heliornis fulica is a tropical species in the pantropical Finfoot or Heliornithidae Family of which there are only three family representatives, each one in its own genus, all with lobed toes similar to the structures found in coots. Before proceeding, a female Sungrebe was dicovered on 13 November by Sally King, but the species remained unnamed until 17 November. A link to two photos of the bird can be seen here. http://www.azfo.org/gallery/Sungrebe.html There is no doubt as to the indentification of the bird, but much doubt remains to its provenance. Already, many people have chimed in on whether or not the bird is wild. From Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 3. and Howell and Web, A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America, the following is information known about Sungrebes, which HBW says is very little. Sungrebe is a poorly known species of forest rivers and streams, usually seen in quiet backwaters. It is thought to feed primarily on aquatic insects taken from the surface. Sungrebe has also been described as foraging on land. Sungrebes have a large range, from Bolivia and northeast Argentina, through northern South America, Central America, into Mexico, where resticted to the Atlantic slope. The farthest north Sungrebe is known to occur is from near Gomas Farias, Tamaulipas, Mexico. All three finfoot species are resident with no current evidence of a regular migration. From HBW, "... however a fair amount of traveling obviously does take place, with all species widely distributed and occurring on a variety of changing water bodies. Colonization of new areas of aquatic habitat, e.g. newly created lakes, takes palce reasonably soon, which implies that there are birds which are moving about in search of habitat in which to settle." Although much of the literature says that Sungrebes rarely fly, there are multiple records of Sungrebes turning up in Trinidad, about seven miles from continental South America. This is a very interesting species, regardless of its origin.

Changes to ABA Bird Codes

Barnacle Goose is now a regular winter visitor to New England,  a reminder bird codes change with frequency of occurrence in the ABA Area.  The most recent ABA Checklist is found at www.aba.org/checklist/abachecklist.pdf.  If you study the new list, a number of changes have been made to the coding system.  The new paper version of the ABA Checklist should be available from ABA Sales in December, containing gobs of new species information including definitions of the ABA Codes.

A list of ABA Code changes follows.  My understanding is there is group of birders who formed a Code 5 Club.  Congratulations on your potential three gains, but my condolences on your potential 13 losses! 

Code symbols:  E=exotic, N=native breeder, V=native non-breeding visitor, X=extinct, likely extinct, or extirpated from the ABA Area.

Barnacle Goose – from Code 5 to Code 4

Muscovy Duck – add E 2, to recognize established FL population

Eurasian Wigeon – from Code 3 to Code 2

Eastern Spot-billed Duck – from Code 5 to Code 4

Garganey – from Code 3 to Code 4

Steller’s Eider – from Code 2 to Code 3

Spectacled Eider – from Code 2 to Code 3

King Eider – from Code 1 to Code 2

Mottled Petrel - from Code 3 to Code 2

Bermuda Petrel – from Code 4 to Code 3

Galapagos/Hawaiian Petrel – from Code 5 to Code 4

Cook’s Petrel – from Code 2 to Code 3

White-faced Storm-Petrel – from Code 4 to Code 3

European Storm-Petrel – from Code 5 to Code 4

Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel – from Code 5 to Code 4

Least Storm-Petrel – from Code 2 to Code 3

Great Frigatebird – from Code 4 to Code 5

Jabiru – from Code 5 to Code 4

Roadside Hawk – from Code 5 to Code 4

Aplomado Falcon – from Coe 4 to Code 3

Corn Crake – from Code 5 to Code 4

Little Ringed Plover – from Code 4 to Code 5

Little Curlew – from Code 4 to Code 5

Broad-billed Sandpiper – from Code 5 to Code 4

Jack Snipe – from Code 5 to Code 4

Lesser Black-backed Gull – from V 3 to N 2

Long-billed Murrelet – from Code 4 to Code 3

White-crowned Pigeon – from Code 1 to Code 2

Red-billed Pigeon – from Code 3 to Code 2

Spotted Dove – from Code 1 to Code 2

Short-eared Owl – from Code 2 to Code 1

Antillean Nighthawk – from Code 3 to Code 2

Buff-collared Nightjar – from Code 4 to Code 3

Green Violetear – from Code 4 to Code 3

White-eared Hummingbird – from V to N

La Sagra’s Flycatcher – from Code 4 to Code 3

Piratic Flycatcher – from Code 5 to Code 4

Fork-tailed Flycatcher – from Code 4 to Code 3

Thick-billed Vireo –from Code 5 to Code 4

Sky Lark – from V, E 2 to V3, E 3

Yellow-browed Warbler – from Code 5 to Code 4

Black-capped Gnatcatcher – from Code 4 to Code 3

White-throated Thrush – from Code 5 to Code 4

California Thrasher - from Code 1 to Code 2

European Starling – from V 1 to V 5, E 1

Eastern Yellow Wagtail – from Code 1 to Code 2

White Wagtail – from Code 2 to Code 3

Bohemian Waxwing – from Code 1 to Code 2

Bachman’s Warbler – from N to X

Cerulean Warbler – from Code 1 to Code 2

Crescent-chested Warbler – from Code 5 to Code 4

Kirtland’s Warbler – from Code 3 to Code 2

Rufous-capped Warbler – from V 4 to N 3

Flame-colored Tanager – from V 4 to N 3

Western Spindalis - from Code 4 to Code3

Black-faced Grassquit – from Code 5 to Code 4

Shiny Cowbird- from Code 2 to Code 3

Common Chaffinch – Code 5 to Code 4

ABA Calendar

You think you are a good photographer and you might be.  But are your images as good as these?

The first limited edition ABA Calendar with photographs from professional bird photographer, Brian Small, is on sale at ABA Sales, a perfect gift for the Holiday Season.  The images are of Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Blue-throated Hummingbird, Bohemian Waxwing, Gilded Flicker, Greater Sage-Grouse, Green Jay, Harris's Hawk, Painted Bunting, Reddish Egret, Short-billed Dowitcher, Snail Kite (my favorite), and Vermilion Flycatcher, and not American Robin, Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, and Black-capped Chickadee.   The months are the same, and the year is 2009.

Many of these species will be enjoyed at the ABA Convention in Corpus Christi, Texas, 27 April to 3 May 2009.  Even if you have seen them, you haven't seen them like this.  Photographs courtesy of Brian E. Small.