PEEPS

Yellow Grosbeak - Arizona

A female, ABA Code-4, Yellow Grosbeak (Pheucticus chrysopeplus) was discovered at the Patons' feeders in Patagonia, Arizona, by Andrew Tillinghurst and Emily Strelow on 11 June 2011 and later photographed there by Judith Sparhawk.

In Mexico, Yellow Grosbeak is partially migratory. The range is from central Sonora to Guatemala.   In Mexico, it is found in deciduous and semi-deciduous forest and edge, thornscrub, and in clearings. The first ABA-area record of this species is from 1971 in Arizona  and most records come from late May to late July.  A California report of Yellow Grosbeak was rejected by the CBRC (2007) as was a bird from Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, (2007) and one near Elkhart, Iowa.  A few reports were rejected from Arizona as well because of questioned provenance (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition, Pranty et al.).

There are two groups of "yellow grosbeaks". Those in the southern part of their range, mainly in South America, are considered a separate species, and called called Southern Yellow Grosbeak by Hilty in The Birds of Venezuela and by Ridgely and Greenfield in The Birds of Ecuador but the A.O.U. calls this new species, split from Yellow Grosbeak, Golden-bellied Grosbeak (Pheucticus chrysogaster) Birds of Northern South American, Volume 1, Restall et al.).

Streak-backed Oriole - Arizona

A male, ABA Code-4 Streak-backed Oriole (Icterus pustulatus), was superbly photographed next to an orange half at Alan Schmierer’s bird feeder near Patagonia Lake State Park (Patagonia Lake Ranch Estates), Arizona, on 11 June.  

www.flickr.com/photos/sloalan/5821164527/in/set-72157624419725101

A breeder along the Pacific slope of Mexico to northwest Costa Rica, Streak-backed Oriole first bred in the ABA Area near Dudleyville, Arizona, in 1993 and again at this location in 1994, 1998, and 2002.  Casual in California but accidental elsewhere including two records from New Mexico; one was seen by hundreds of birders in Loveland, Colorado, 8 December 2007 to 2 January 2008 (see April 2008 Winging It); two reports from Texas (a male at Brazos Bend State Park and a female at El Paso). Even more exceptional than the winter Colorado bird was an immature male Streak-backed Oriole near Mercer, Wisconsin, during the first two weeks of January 1998.  The Wisconsin bird was initially rejected by their records committee because of uncertain provenance (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition, Pranty et al.).

Berylline Hummingbird and fires - Southeast Arizona

On the morning of 5 June Laurens Halsey saw a female, ABA Code-3, Berylline Hummingbird (Amazilia beryllina) make three appearances at the feeder in front of the Santa Rita Lodge Gift Shop in the Santa Rita Mountains.

The current fires and continued extreme fire danger in Southeast Arizona has forced the Coronado National Forest to close all areas to recreation beginning 9 June. Closed areas include the Mount Lemmon/Catalina Highway area, Madera Canyon, the Huachuca Mountains including canyons on Ft. Huachuca, the Pajarito Mountains, Sycamore Canyon, Pena Blanca Lake, California Gulch, and more.  The TNCs Ramsey Canyon Preserve currently remains open. The excellent birding areas - Rustler Park, Barfoot, and Onion Saddle in the Chiricahua Mountains have been badly burned and a 30% canopy burn has occurred in the Cave Creek Watershed area.

Berylline Hummingbird is endemic to the western and southern highlands and the foothills of Mexico and northern Central America south to El Salvador and Honduras. On the Atlantic Slope, it occurs locally from central Veracruz to Honduras (A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America, Howell and Webb).  Howell splits Berylline Hummingbird into two groups (beryllina and devillei). The northern, beryllina group, occurs north of the Isthmus.  Howell further states that the two groups are as distinct as many currently recognized species and warrant taxonomic investigation. 

Revisiting the Shemya Island Gallinule/Moorhen

If you follow PEEPS, you may remember that on 14 October 2010 Mike Schwitters photographed and collected a moorhen/gallinule from Shemya Island in the Outer Aleutians for the first Alaskan record.  On 16 March 2010 the South American Checklist Committee (SACC), an American Ornithologists’ Union committee, split the Old World and New World Common Moorhen into two species based on information presented in The Sound Approach to Birding: A Guide to Understanding Bird Sound (2 CDs) by Mark Constantine and the Sound Approach team.

Recently, the AOU North American Check-list Committee (NACC) also voted to accept this split, calling the birds breeding in North American, Common Gallinule (again), and the birds breeding in the Old World, Common Moorhen. The bird from Shemya Island, based on range, was thought to be the Old World species.

A molecular workup on the immature Gallinula from Shemya, because of its age, cannot be identified to species (G. chloropus vs. G. galeata) by structural characters or measurements (fide Dan Gibson). Genetic work on the specimen is being conducted by Jack Withrow, Bird Collection Manager at the University of Alaska Museum.  Jack said (fide Dan Gibson) that even with the so-far incomplete work-up, the specimen is almost certainly an Old World Gallinula chloropus Common Moorhen (sensu stricto). Jack will be submitting a note on his findings for publication in Western Birds.  When his paper has been accepted, Dan will write a proposal to add this species to the AOU Check-list.  If accepted, the record would go to ABA CLC for review and a new species would likely be added to the North American list.

North Carolina Rarities

On 31 May Brian Patteson reported an ABA Code-3 Red-billed Tropicbird (Pahethon aethereus) was seen at Cape Point, North Carolina, in the vicinity of Ramp 44 and Salt Pond.

Offshore of Hatteras, late May pelagic highlights have included ABA Code-3 Fea's Petrels (Pterodroma feae), ABA Code-3 White-tailed Tropicbirds (Phaethon lepturus), and ABA Code-4 European Storm-Petrels (Hydrobates pelagicus).

European Storm-Petrel was first recorded in the ABA Area as a photographed bird east of Cape Hatteras on 27 May 2003.  European Storm-Petrel is a common storm-petrel of the temperate North Atlantic, breeding on rat-free islands in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, on Mediterranean Islands, and on the Canary Islands. It winters mainly off of South Africa (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition, Pranty et al.).

New from the AOU Check-list Committee

AOU Committee on Classification and Nomenclature (North & Middle America) Pending Proposals, 2010 –For individual committee member comments see: http://www.aou.org/committees/nacc/proposals/pending.php

(add .php after the word pending in the URL)

Proposals must receive a 2/3 positive vote by committee members to pass. Proposals and votes may be subject to change pending further data or discussion. The outcome of proposals is not final until published in the annual supplement to the Check-list of North American Birds (July issue of The Auk)

Recent votes by committee members of the AOU Committee on Classification and Nomenclature for North & Middle America for species currently found in the ABA Area.  The ABA Checklist Committee almost always follows AOU Check-list changes.

Proposals 2010-A

• 2010-A2: Modify the type locality of Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli) – FAILED     
• 2010-A-3: Split Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli) into two species – FAILED
• 2010-A-4: Split Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronatainto two, three, or four species – FAILED – I thought we would end up again with Myrtle and Audubon's warblers for the ABA Area.
• 2010-A-5: Remove Tityra from incertae sedisand place in the new family Tityridae – PASSED – one record in ABA Area of Masked Tityra from Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, TX, 17 Feb. – 10 Mar 1990.
• 2010-A-9: Change English names of North American Troglodytes wrens – FAILED – Steve Howell proposed to change the name of Pacific Wren.
• 2010-A-10: Split Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata) from G. chloropus– PASSED The ABA-area species is once again to be called Common Gallinule. No currently recognized Old World Common Morehen in the ABA Area, but stay tuned.

Proposals 2010-B

• 2010-B-6: Recognize Mexican Duck (Anas diazi) as a species, again – FAILED – I thought this one had a good chance of passing.
• 2010-B-8: Recognize the Bahama Warbler (Dendroica flavescens) as a distinct species – PASSED – split from Yellow-throated Warbler of the ABA Area – new species is not in the ABA Area
• 2010-B-10: Adopt a new generic classification for the Parulidae – PASSED – There will be much more about this in the future.  I loved the name Dendroica.
• 2010-B-11: Restore authority for the genus name Peucedramusto Coues – PASSED; this is the Olive Warbler genus.
• 2010-B-12: Split Mexican Jay (Aphelocoma ultramarine) into two species – PASSED but the new species, Transvolcanic Jay, is only in the southern Mexican Plateau and mountains of western Mexico

Proposals 2010-C

• 2010-C-7: Add Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (Tigrisoma mexicanum) to the U.S. list - PASSED
• 2010-C-8: Add Sungrebe (Heliornis fulica) to the U.S. list - PASSED
• 2010-C-9: Add Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona) to the U.S. list - PASSED
• 2010-C-10: Add Gray-collared Becard (Pachyramphus major) to the U.S. list - PASSED
• 2010-C-11: Add Brown-backed Solitaire (Myadestes occidentalis) to the U.S. list - PASSED
• 2010-C-12: Add Red-legged Thrush (Turdus plumbeus) to the U.S. list - PASSED
• 2010-C-13: Transfer White-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis) from the Appendix to the Main List - PASSED
• 2010-C-14: Add Solitary Snipe (Gallinago solitaria) to the Main List - PASSED