PEEPS

Recent Alaskan Goodies

St. Paul Island - On 23 August Forrest Rowland reported an ABA Code-4 Dark-sided Flycatcher (Muscicapa sibirica) photographed by the crab pots. On 29 August there was an ABA Code-4 Taiga Flycatcher (Ficedula albicilla) in the Upper Polovina cut. An ABA Code-3 Long-toed Stint (Calidris subminuta) has been present at the “town marsh” since 17 August along with an ABA Code-3 Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago).

Adak Island - On 28 August Isaac Helmericks reported an ABA Code-4 Garganey (Anas querquedula) seen with a large flock of teal in Clam Lagoon.  Also there, he found one ABA Code-2 Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) and three ABA Code-3 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers (Calidris acuminata).

Gambell, St. Lawrence Island – On 26 August Paul Lehman reported an ABA Code-4 Pechora Pipit (Anthus gustavi) from the “old town” section of the village.  On the 27^th an ABA Code-4 Little Bunting (Emberiza pusilla) was photographed on the lower slopes of the mountain while an ABA Code-3 Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) was in the boneyards. Paul says that Common Snipe are usually found in the drier boneyards whereas Wilson’s Snipe prefer the wet marshes.  Also Common’s I.D. is based primarily on its white trailing edge to the secondaries and largely whitish underwing linings.

Possible White-collared Swift - Cape May, New Jersey

Following the 5:00 A.M. passing of the eye of Hurricane Irene over Cape May, New Jersey, more than a few intrepid birders watched the avian action past Sunset Beach by standing in the lee of the storm behind The Grille.  Besides seeing Sooty and Bridled terns flying past, ABA’s on-line photo quizmaster, Tony Leukering, spotted, and Tom Johnson photographed, a swift described by Tony as a “big, apparently-all-dark swift with very long wings that were pinched in at the base, an attenuated rear end, and a flaring and notched tail exhibited wingbeats that were quite slow and deep for a swift as it was drifted north away from us by the wind.”

Although photographs of the swift have been sent out for expert opinions, the current thought is that the bird was an ABA Code-4 White-collared Swift (Streptoprocne zonaris), but not an adult (a broad white collar was not visible). Distant photographs of the swift can be viewed here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonxie88/

White-collared Swift is resident from northern Mexico, the Lesser and Greater Antilles, south to South America.  All but one ABA record pertains to the Mexican race, S. z. zonaris, but one from Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, 15 September 1994 was a captured bird identified as the West Indian subspecies, S. z. pallidifrons (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition, Pranty et al.).  Semo, L.S., and D. Booher detail all historic ABA-area sightings of White-collared Swift in Birding 34: 16-22 (2002 issue).  Weather-related migrations are well established for this locally common species (Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 5).

August 2011 – Clements Updates - New World Family Total

Back on a schedule that is helpful to birders keeping multiple category lists, the 2011 updates to the Clements Checklist and the new revised checklist are now available for a free download. (combine next two lines together for correct URL)

www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/corrections/

updates-corrections-august-2011

There are now 10,157 recognized bird species in the world. The updated Clements list adopted six new bird families and lumped one for a net gain of five. There was an error in the ABA 2010 Big Day List Report for total world families.  The 2010 total should have read 222, not 224. The 2011 listing total is now 227 families. New bird family information is below.

The Philippine Creepers (Rhabdornithidae) are now lumped with the Starlings (Sturnidae) and are no longer recognized as a separate family. 

1 - Calyptomenidae (African and Green Broadbills)
2 - Sapayoidae (Sapayoa)

The "broadbill radiation", which includes the Asities (Philepittidae), is best classified as four families. Thus, the Clements Checklist shows a gain of two new families here.

3 - A new family, Cupwings (Pnoepygidae), is created for the genus Pnoepyga. Formerly these species were included in the Babblers (Timaliidae). The English group name is changed from "wren-babbler" to "cupwing".  The new family is inserted immediately following Penduline Tits and Long-tailed Tits (Remizidae).

4 - African Warblers (Macrosphenidae)
Most of the species in this family traditionally have been classified as Old World warblers (Sylviidae). Genetic research shows these species are not Old World warblers. Instead, these genera, in combination with the Damara Rockjumper (Chaetops pycnopygius), now called Rockrunner (Achaetops pycnopygius), form a new family, the African Warblers (Macrosphenidae). The Macrosphenidae is placed between the Cupwings (Pnoepygidae) and the Bush-Warblers and Allies (Cettiidae).

5 - Fulvettas and Ground Babblers (Pellorneidae)
A new family, Fulvettas and Ground Babblers (Pellorneidae), is recognized for a group of genera formerly included in the Babblers (Timalidae) and include the genera Alcippe, Graminicola, Turdinus, Gampsorhynchus, Schoeniparus, Malacocincla, Kenopia, Pellorneum, Trichastoma, Malacopteron, Illadopsis, Ptyrticus, Napothera, Robsonius, Gypsophila, Jabouilleia, Rimator, and Ptilocichla.

6 - Laughingthrushes (Leiothrichidae)
A new family, Laughingthrushes (Leiothrichidae), is recognized for a group of genera formerly included in the Babblers (Timalidae). The genera in this new family include: Babax,Garrulax, Turdoides, Kupeornis, Phyllanthus, Cutia, Leiothrix, Crocias, Heterophasia, Liocichla,
Actinodura, and Minla.

FAMILIES LOST (1) (lumps)

Minus 1 - Philippine Creepers (Rhabdornithidae)
The Philippine Creepers (Rhabdornithidae) are now lumped with the Starlings (Sturnidae) and are no longer recognized as a separate family.

NAME CHANGES

Pages 531-532, Creepers - Certhiidae
The English name of the family Certhiidae is changed from "Creepers" to "Treecreepers".

Change the scientific name of the family “Megaluridae” (Grassbirds and Allies) to Locustellidae

Brown-chested Martin - Virginia

Among the very large flight of swallows passing through Wise Point and Fisherman Island, Virginia, on 28 August ABA’s North American Birds editor, Ned Brinkley, saw an ABA Code-5 Brown-chested Martin (Progne tapera) reported to be of the migratory subspecies, P. t. fusca. There are only 6 records of this species from the ABA Area.

The subspecies, fusca, is an austral migrant breeding exclusively in South America, but spending the austral winter as far north as Panama (with a recent record from Costa Rica).  There are only a handful of records of this species from the ABA Area, all but one (Patagonia Lake State Park, Arizona, 3 February 2006) from the East Coast. The most recent is from Cumberland Farms, Massachusetts, on 12 October 2009.

The fusca subspecies forms post-breeding flocks of hundreds or thousands of birds, often including other swallows and martin species, where they regularly fly to northern South America and Panama, remaining there from March to October/November (Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 9).

Great-winged Petrel - Monterey Bay, California

On 26 August an ABA Code-5 Great-winged Petrel (Pterodroma macroptera) was photographed on a Shearwater Journeys' pelagic trip out of Monterey Bay, California, first spotted by Abe Borker and Jeri Langham.

The previous three ABA-area records of Great-winged were also from California waters, the 18 October 1998 sighting was from Monterey Bay where it became the cover photograph for ABA’s NAB: 53.  The individual that was photographed on 18 September 2010 was also from Monterey Bay.  The three ABA-area records are of the subspecies P. m. gouldi (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition, Pranty et al.).  This subspecies has been elevated to species rank by some authors where it is then called Gray-faced Petrel. 

The Great-winged Petrel subspecies, P. m. gouldi, is endemic to New Zealand, breeding mainly off the northeast coast of North Island.  At sea, it is usually solitary, sometimes making fly-bys of pelagic boats. Compared to P. m. macroptera, P. m. gouldi has a stouter bill, longer wings, and a paler face (Albatrosses, Petrels & Shearwaters of the World, Onley and Scofield).

Great-winged Petrel is a Southern Hemisphere species normally found in the southeast Atlantic, southern Indian, and southwest Pacific oceans between 25⁰ and 50⁰ S.

Willow Warbler - Alaska

On 23 August Paul Lehman found an ABA Code-4 Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) in the boneyard at Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska.  It represents the 8th fall record, all from the same location where all of the current North American records of this species have been discovered. Previous records are from 2002, four birds in 2007, and from 2008. Willow Warbler was on the cover of NAB57 [1].

Willow Warbler is a slender leaf-warbler with a long primary projection, rather plain with a pale supercilium.  It breeds from Western Europe across Siberia to the Russian Far East.  They breed in deciduous and mixed forests where birches predominate and also on tundra with scrub and dense willows. All populations are migratory with most breeders wintering in Africa, south of the Sahara. The species is common to abundant with an estimated population of 34 million pairs in Europe (Handbook of the Birds of North America, Volume 11).

Yellow-legged Gull - St. John's, Newfoundland

On 21 August Bruce Mactavish found what he was looking for, the return of an ABA Code-4, Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis) to Quidi Vidi Lake, St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Yellow-legged Gull has recently become an annual late summer/fall/winter visitor to St. John’s, Newfoundland, but remains casual elsewhere, primarily recorded from the eastern ABA Area.  Yellow-legged Gull is the European, mid-Atlantic and Mediterranean counterpart of Herring Gull; it often gives the impression of a Herring from the front and of a Lesser Black-backed Gull from behind. It is similar in appearance to argentatus Herring Gull, but with upperparts darker gray; it is more powerfully built with a larger head, more bulbous forehead, and a flatter crown.  It also shows a distinct white trailing edge to the inner wing (Gulls of North American, Europe, and Asia, Olsen and Larsson).

Yellow-legged Gull breeds on eastern Atlantic islands, in Western Europe, and from the Mediterranean to central Asia. It mostly winters south to the Persian Gulf and Indian subcontinent (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition, Pranty et al.).  Almost all records and reports of Yellow-legged Gull have pertained to adult birds and many records are thought to be birds returning in consecutive years to the same areas.  The Newfoundland records are thought to represent the subspecies L. m. atlantis while a record from the District of Colombia and one of two birds from Corpus Christi are thought to represent the subspecies, L. m. michahellis (NAB58: 399,457).

Common Ringed Plover - California

On 19 August Todd Easterla found a bird fitting the description of an ABA Code-2 Common Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) at the Davis Wetlands, near Davis, California.  The bird was  photographed and seen again on 20 August. It was being seen in the south-central part of the waste-water lagoon where water levels have been reported to be attracting a few thousand shorebirds. Although now listed as a Code-2 species, In 1996 in the ABA Checklist, Fifth Edition, DeBenedictis et al., Common Ringed Plover was an ABA Code-4 species.

The Davis Wetlands are open daily, 7:00 A.M to 1:00 P.M. only, with access via the east end of Rd 28H (ne of Davis) at the end of the long driveway to the Davis Wastewater Treatment Plant. Go past the treatment plant entrance to the yellow gate. The gate will often be latched, but not locked.  For more information and a map of the wetlands, see:

http://cityofdavis.org/pw/water/wetlands.cfm

Common Ringed Plover is primarily a Eurasian species, but is fairly common in its restricted North American range―a breeding range including the northeastern coast of Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island in the ABA Area. The nominate subspecies, C. h. hiaticula, breeds from northeastern Canada to Western Europe.  Another subspecies, C. h. tudrae, breeds from northern Scandinavia to Siberia and occasionally in Alaska (The Shorebird Guide, O’Brien, et al.). In its North American range, Common Ringed Plover breeds above treeline on mostly bare ground near shorelines.  In migration and in winter it favors sand or gravel beaches, mudflats, or muddy fields and pasture lands.  An interesting foraging behavior involves “foot-trembling”, a technique, especially in muddy situations, whereby foot motions cause prey items to move making them easier to spot (The Shorebird Guide, O’Brien et al.).

 

Brown Booby - Massachusetts

On 16 August an immature and very cooperative, ABA Code-3, Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) was spotted by Mary Richmond at the breakwater of Corporation Beach, Dennis, Massachusetts. A photograph of the bird can be viewed here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34356219@N07/

This pantropical species is known to disperse northward after breeding and it is the nominate subspecies that occurs in the Caribbean and tropical Atlantic. They are strictly a marine species feeding primarily on inshore wasters where they capture squid, halfbeak, mullet, and anchovy, and depending less on fly-fish than other boobies (Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 1). They practice kleptoparasitism (especially on frigatebirds) a common trait in large fish-eating species (Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Floyd). Like other boobies they plunge-dive for prey items, flying low over the water while diving at an oblique angle.  Underwater, they use their wings in short underwater pursuits of prey their but will also take prey from the surface.

Boobies have highly developed sizable air sacs, extensions of the bronchi that help to minimize the impact of crashing into the water. Their short legs with wide webbing on their feet help them in their pursuit of prey underwater. Because they need to fly on a daily basis, flight feathers are molted continuously thus avoiding periods of incapacity. Boobies lack brood patches, instead incubating eggs on their highly vasculated feet (Handbook of the Birds of the World).

Possible Hawaiian Petrel - South Farallon Island, California

On 13 August while helping lead a Santa Clara Audubon Society pelagic trip to the Farallon Islands, Matthew Dodder and Bob Power found a Pterodroma petrel fitting the description of an ABA Code-4 Hawaiian Petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis) located 8.67 miles, south southwest of South Farallon Island in a large shearwater flock.  Images of the petrel can be found at

http://birdingpix.blogspot.com/

Because of its similarity with Galapagos Petrel (Pterodroma phaeopygia) and because there currently isn't a specimen to examine from the ABA Area, the ABA Checklist Committee lists this taxon as Galapagos/Hawaiian Petrel.  Many West Coast experts (and others) consider the documented Pacific Coast birds to be Hawaiian Petrels.

Hawaiian Petrel is endemic to the larger of the Hawaiian Islands.  "Hawaiian Petrel is longer-bodied, heavier, and has shorter, but wider wings, shorter, but deeper bill, and entirely white forehead, while Galapagos usually has a dark speckled forehead, although a few are all white", Albatrosses, Petrels & Shearwaters of the World, Onley and Scofield.

The two species together are sometimes called Dark-rumped Petrel (Pterodroma phaeopygia). The taxon, Hawaiian Petrel, has an estimated population of only 400-600 pairs of breeding birds. The largest breeding population is found at Haleakala Crater, Maui, Hawaii, and until recently "is still raided by mongooses, cats and rats, causing a 70 percent breeding failure."  Intensive trapping of these predators has recently improved the breeding survival rates (Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 1).