PEEPS

La Sagra's Flycatcher - Florida

Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, Florida, has had some very good sightings in the past few years.  Last week, Carl Goodrich thought he had a La Sagra's Flycatcher Myiarchus sagrae but the photo of the bird as seen from the back wasn't conclusive. On 22 February the bird was relocated and identified.

One of 22 species in the very difficult to identify Myiarchus genus, La Sagra's Flycatcher was first reported in the ABA Area in 1963 in Orrville, central Alabama, thought to be of the Cuban race, M.s. sagrae.  Since that time at least 7 records and numerous reports have been recorded, all in South Florida, birds thought to be of Bahamian origin, M. s. lucaysiensis (ABA Checklist, Birds of the Continental United States and Canada, Seventh Edition).

La Sagra's Flycatcher has been considered at times to be conspecific with Stolid Flycatcher M.stolidus, but vocal differences were used to separate the two taxon as separate species, although the dawn song of the nominate race of M. stolidus is similar to the dawn songs of the two races of La Sagra's Flycatcher (HBW, Vol. 9). La Sagra's is often identified by its unusual leaning posture and flat-headed appearance (HBW, Vol. 9). Although not considered threatened, the entire range of La Sagra's Flycatcher is the Bahamas, Cuba, and Cayman Islands (Birds of the West Indies, Raffaele et. al.).

Probable Bananaquit - Florida

On 25 February a probable Bananquit Coereba flaveola was discovered by Rick Newman in the Spanish River Park in Boca Raton, Florida.  Bananaquit is an ABA Code 4 bird with at least seven accepted records and many reports, almost always of single birds even though two of the reported birds built nests, although no breeding occurred (ABA Checkist, Birds of the Continental United States and Canada, Seventh Edition).  The majority of reports occur between January and March and are thought to represent the subspecies C. f. bahamensis.

Banaaquit is a common species in its range including the Caribbean (although absent from Cuba) and from the central Veracruz state of Mexico, south to northeast Argentina.  This species has had a very interesting taxonomic history.  In the November 2008 supplement to the Clements Checklist, Bananaquit was placed in a monotypic family, Coerebidae.  The ABA Checklist Committee and the A.O.U. Check-list Committee place Bananaquit into Incertae Sedis, uncertain origin, and place it temporarily near the Tiaris grassquits also currently waiting proper placement.

"A fearless little busybody...suspending its nest from tall bushes and small trees...many are dormitories, not used for breeding" (Birds of Northern South American, An Identification Guide, Volume 1, Restall et. al.). This species is known to use its curved bill to pierce holes at the base of flowers to steal nectar.  Pairs maintain only loose contact when foraging (Birds of Northern South America, Volume 1, Restall, et. al.).

Aplomado Falcon - New Mexico

For the past few weeks, an Aplomado Falcon Falco femoralis septentrionalis has been reported in Luna County, New Mexico.  The reports have been of an unbanded bird. 

Photos are courtesy of Phil Kelly.

 

In 1986, the U.S population of Northern Aplomado Falcon was listed under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act, as revised.  In 2002 an Aplomado Falcon bred successfully in Luna County, New Mexico where an Aplomado Falcon had been present since 2000 (Wild Earth Guardians' 12 September 2006 press release).  In July 2006, a rule issued by the FWS stated all Aplomado Falcons within Arizona and New Mexico were designated "experimental, non-essential" under Section 10 (j) of the Endangered Species Act, which in effect removes all habitat protections for this population (Wild Earth Guardians press release).  Shortly thereafter a series of Aplomado Falcon releases into the area were made by the Peregrine Fund (Peregrine Fund press release).  Aplomado Falcons have been released into South Texas for more than a decade.  However, in South Texas the falcons were introduced under "safe harbor" agreements with private landholders perhaps giving the falcons more protection there.

Comments on the plumage of what seems to be a young bird with brown-edged back feathers and brownish wings (but without a buff supercilium) are welcome.  The New Mexico Bird Records Committee will determine if this recently reported, apparently unbanded individual, will be accepted as a valid ornithological record of a wild bird.

Drought and Whooping Cranes

As weather patterns affect humans and wild bird populations, you may want to check where severe drought is affecting some regions of the country.

http://drought.unl.edu/DM/MONITOR.HTML

If you look at the big picture, inland (exceptional) and parts of the Middle Texas Coast (extreme) illustrates the severity of the drought.  It has been estimated (based on the most recent aerial survey for wintering Whooping Cranes) that 11 Whoopers have perished this winter representing a loss, so far, of ~4.1 percent of the wintering population (11 out of 270, 8 chicks and 3 adults) with about two months remaining before the birds normally fly north.  As the favored crane feeding marshes continue to dry, their favored foods, blue crab, (with one of the coolest scientific names, Callinecties sapidus or beautiful swimmer) are disappearing. Two of the recovered dead young cranes were emaciated. 

Dr. Felipe Chavez-Ramirez surveyed Whooping Crane foraging areas and found cranes switching from a diet of crabs to clams which have lower nutritional values.  Aransas NWR personnel burned a number of fields to attract cranes.  So far, 27 Whoopers have been observed on man-made freshwater sources, 36 birds have been seen using burned uplands, 15 cranes have been using unburned uplands, mostly foraging for tubers uprooted by feral hogs, 23 birds were recorded at game feeders, and 13 birds were observed using open bay habitats. Aransas NWR uses corn to supplement Whooper's diets with moderate results.

One adult Whooping Crane with one chick was observed on the south end of Matagorda Island, a pairing indicative of an adult's death. The next update will occur in about two weeks and is viewable at www.birdrockport.com/tom_stehn_whooping_crane_report.htm

Can you name

...the 18 exotic species currently on the ABA Checklist?  The list appears below.  One species that is considered to be a natural vagrant by the ABA Checklist Committee is European Starling.  European Starling Sturnus vulgaris first occurred in the ABA Area as a natural migrant to Labrador 12-13 years before their introduction to New York City (Journal fur Ornithologie 30:234 in ABA Checklist, Birds of the Continental United States and Canada, Seventh Edition). However, the current European Starling population in the ABA Area is derived from the introduction to NYC.

Some of the accepted exotic species do not meet the eight criteria ABA-area exotics must meet for inclusion on the ABA Checklist.  These species were accepted to the ABA Checklist before the eight criteria were established.  The exotic species not currently meeting all eight criteria are subject to review from the ABA Checklist Committee, and may be evaluated to see if they should remain on the ABA Checklist.  

The eight criteria that all exotics must now meet are:

1. Species recorded in the form of a published photograph or specimen and archived in an ornithological collection.

2. Population has been present in the ABA Area for at least 15 years.

3. There is contiguous population of interacting or potentially interacting individuals, and not a scattering of individuals or pairs.

4. Population is large enough to survive a routine amount of mortality or breeding failure.

5. A sufficient amount of offspring are being produced to maintainn or increase the current population. 

6. The population is not currently, or is not likely to be, the subject of a control program in which eradication may succeed (Purple Swamphen in FL, e.g., are being aggressively exterminated).

7. The bird population is not directly dependent on human support (e.g. the Monk Parakeet population in IL is kept alive by numerous bird feeders, but this is not the case in other parts of the birds' range).

8. A publication, ideally in a peer-reviewed journal or book, describes, how, when, and where criteria 1-7 have been met (ABA Checklist, Birds of the Continental United States and Canada, Seventh Edition).

The 18 exotic species currently on the ABA Checklist are: Mute Swan, Chukar, Himalayan Snowcock, Gray Partridge, Ring-necked Pheasant, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Spotted Dove, Budgerigar, Monk Parakeet, Green Parakeet, White-winged Parakeet, Red-crowned Parrot, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Common Myna, Spot-breasted Oriole, House Sparrow, and Eurasian Tree Sparrow (ABA Checklist, Birds of the Continental United States and Canada, Seventh Edition).

Lilian's Meadowlark - a new species?

The yellow-breasted meadowlarks have been long debated as to the number of species involved. F. Keith Baker, et. al., in the October 2008 issue of the Auk, the journal of the American Ornithologists' Union, have postulated the yellow-breasted meadowlark form from the desert southwest of the U.S. and Mexico is a distinct taxon, Lilian's Meadowlark Sturnella lilianae. Their conclusion is based on an examination of sequence data from mitochondrial genes and sex-linked markers taken from samples of all three yellow-breasted meadowlark forms from across their ranges. These data strongly support the existence of three differentiated, historically isolated lineages.  The authors recommend species recognition for S. lilianae. 

Photo by Bill Maynard

The AOU Check-list Committee's annual supplement to the AOU Check-list is published in July.  In the meantime, birders visiting the range of "Lilian's" Meadowlark, may want to search desert grasslands of northwest and central (winter) Arizona, east to southern and northeast New Mexico to west Texas, south to northeast Sonora and northern Chihuahua (Birds of North America Online).  "Lilian's" Meadowlark is the most distinctive of the current Eastern Meadowlarks with very narrow barring on wings and tail, very short tail, paler and grayer above and more white in the tail than other subspecies.  It can be separated from Western Meadowlark by the third from the outside rectrix (tail feather) essentially white, while appearing mostly dark in Westerns.  Analysis of primary song also suggests full species status (Birds of North America Online).  Stay tuned for more.

Blue Mockingbird - Southeast Arizona

On 4 February, professional bird guide Richard Webster, found a Blue Mockingbird Melanotis caerulescens on historic Slaughter/San Bernardino Ranch, Arizona.  There have only been four prior accepted records of this ABA Code 5 species.  Blue Mockingbird is mostly a resident from Mexico from southern Sonora and southern Tamaulipas to Oaxaca (ABA Checklist, 2008). 

Photo is courtesy of Oliver Niehuis.

Blue Mockingbird is normally a sedentary species found in brushy riparian areas, dense thorn-scrub, forest edge, low tropical deciduous woodlands, and in understory beneathtaller oak or pine.  However, all of the U.S. records are several hundred kilometers outside the known breeding range (HBW Vol. 10). This species has sometimes been considered conspecific with Blue-and-white Mockingbird.  Adults have red eyes (Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America (Howell and Webb).