PEEPS

Providence Petrel - Alaskan Waters

As a reminder as to why birders find a way to visit the farthest reaches of the ABA Area, on 13 September 2011 Gail Mackiernan and Barry Cooper discovered more than 25 Providence (Solander’s) Petrels (Pterodroma solandri), a species not currently on the ABA Checklist.  The first bird was located a few miles northwest of Attu Island, Alaska, and the last one in the ABA Area was seen as the ship crossed the International Date Line.

Providence Petrel is an endemic to the Tasman Sea where breeding (May) occurs only on Lord Howe and Phillip Islands. Breeding is confined to two mountain tops and one tiny islet, with a  population estimated at 100,000 on Lord Howe Island. They disperse northward to central northeast Pacific waters to the Bering Sea, but until now they had been reported only west of the International Date Line.

Providence Petrel is a large tropical Pterodroma  with a distinctive long, wedge-shaped tail, long, broad wings, and a stout, long bill (Albatrosses, Petrels & Shearwaters of the World, Onley and Scofield. Although Onley and Scofield state “most recent California records are from June-December…” the species is not listed on the current Checklist of California Birds.

 Stay tuned for updates.

Taiga Flycatcher - St. Paul Island, Alaska

On 21 September a fallout on St. Paul Island, Pribilof Islands, Alaska, produced an ABA Code-4 Taiga Flycatcher (Ficedula albicilla) at the “Crab Pots”.

In 2006 Taiga Flycatcher was split from the smaller Red-breasted Flycatcher by the AOU (Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 11). Taiga Flycatcher breeds across Russia and into the Kamchatka Peninsula, wintering from west central India to Southeast Asia and the upper Malay Peninsula.  Although most reports come from the Western Aleutian Islands in the spring, there are two previous records for St. Paul Island from 5 June 1977 and from 28 August 2009. The only other fall report was one bird on 19 September 2004 from Gambell, St. Lawrence Island (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition, Pranty, et al.).

Rosy-faced (Peach-faced) Lovebird

In the September 2011 issue of Birding (pp. 50-51) we learn that the exotic, Rosy-faced Lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis), is increasing in the greater Phoenix area, Arizona, with a population estimate at 2,500 birds. With breeding in the area in columnar cacti, the species seems to be well-established.  It is anticipated that a vote will soon be taken on whether or not to ratify Rosy-faced Lovebird in Arizona and perhaps then for the ABA Area.  If you are traveling in the greater Phoenix area and would like to search for introduced lovebirds, a map with known 1999-2010 lovebird locations can be found at:

 http://mirror-pole.com/maps/maps_test_2/peach-faced_1999-2010/index.html (The URL provided in Birding did not work for me.  Because of width restrictions on this blog you must combine the two lines of the URL and use underscores where appropriate).

Rosy-faced Lovebird (in the Clements Checklist, but Peach-faced Lovebird in most field guides) has two subspecies.   The natural range extends in southwestern Africa from the sub-deserts of southwestern Angola where the species is poorly known (the region of Sumba) southwards parallel to the coast through the sub-deserts of Namibia to northern Cape Province, South Africa (Parrots, A Guide to the Parrots of the World, Juniper and Parr).  Three feral populations are known, one in the greater Phoenix area, one in the Nipomo area of San Luis Obispo County, California, and one in Simonstown, Republic of South Africa (Parrots of the World, Forshaw).  

Rose-throated Becard - South Texas

On 16 September an ABA Code-3 Rose-throated Becard (Pachyramphus aglaiae) was reported from between Willow Lake #3 and #4 at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge.  

In the ABA Area, Rose-throated Becards come from geographically isolated populations.  Short-billed Arizona birds are representatives of P. a. albiventris from western Mexico.  The females are buffy-white ventrally and the males have pale rose throat patches whereas south Texas birds, P. a. gravis, have long bills.  The coastal Mexican population females are richer buff ventrally and the males have deep rose throat patches.

Relationships in the genus Pachramphus (becards) have long been controversial. In 1990, Sibley and Ahlquist considered the genera Tityra, Schiffornis and Pachyramphus to form a distinct group and they placed them all in the Tyrannidae, Tyrant Flycatchers.  In the late 1990s, following the work by Prum et al., the group was removed from the Tyrannidae and placed in the Cotingidae, the Cotingas.  In 2004, Chesser found this group was more closely related to manakins so in 2005 the South American Checklist Committee (SACC) removed Pachyramphus from the Cotingidae and temporarily placed them into Incertae Sedis (uncertain position).  In 2006 Ericson et al. established that the group should be placed in a new family, Tityridae, where they will likely remain. 

Black-tailed Gull - Washington

On 14 September Shep Thorp, Ruth Sullivan, and Roger Hunt reported an ABA Code-4 Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) along the northeast shore of Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Washington. The gull was roosting on the log booms but might best be found at the mouth of the Puyallup River.  

In the ABA Area, Black-tailed Gull has been recorded on both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts. There are inland records from Nunavut, southern Manitoba, Great Lakes Region, Iowa, Texas, and New Mexico.  There is also a June report from Sonora, Mexico, and also one from Belize.  The first report of Black-tailed Gull from the ABA Area came from San Diego, California, 26-28 November 1954.  A good reference with many photographs written by Nick Lethaby and J. Bangma, “Identifying Black-tailed Gull in North America”, can be viewed in Birding 30: 470-483 (1998). 

Black-tailed Gull is a northeast Asian species breeding in eastern China, North Korea, southeastern Siberia, the Kuril Islands, and Japan.  It winters along the coast in its breeding range, south to Taiwan (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition, Pranty et al.). 

Whooping Crane Population Update

During 2011, the Aransas-Wood Buffalo (AWBP) Whooping Crane population rebounded from the 263 individuals recorded in the spring of 2010 to 279 from the spring, 2011.  Approximately 37 chicks fledged from a record 75 nests in August 2011.  

Twelve Whooping Crane juveniles were captured and fitted with transmitters in Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP) in August 2011; the total number of birds with radio transmitters is now 23. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) with partners including The Crane Trust, Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS), U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and others visited migration stopover sites to gather habitat use data. Since the 1950s, 525 AWBP Whooping Cranes have died with only 50 carcasses recovered. Cause of death was determined in only 38 instances. 

Ten captive-raised Whooping Cranes were released in February 2011 at White Lake, Louisiana. Historically a non-migratory flock resided there until the 1950s. Seven released birds were spotted after the first 7 months of the project. 

Reintroduced flock reproduction successes in 2011 was troublesome. No chicks fledged in Florida nor in Wisconsin.  Crane behavior during incubation in Florida and nest abandonment in Wisconsin is the focus of current research.  Wisconsin research data indicates that swarms of black flies may be a key factor in nest abandonment. 

However, Whooping Crane flocks in captivity were reported as having good production in 2011. Approximately 17 chicks were raised for the Louisiana non-migratory flock while 18 chicks  were added to the Wisconsin flock (10 for the ultralight project at White River marshes, and 8 for an autumn release at Horicon NWR). Approximately four chicks of high genetic diversity were kept in the captive flock population. 

Including the juvenile cranes scheduled for fall reintroduction, flock sizes are estimated at 278 birds for the AWBP, 115 for the Wisconsin/Florida flock, 20 non-migratory birds already in Florida, 24 cranes in Louisiana, and 162 Whooping Cranes in captivity. The current Whooping Crane population is 599 birds.

White-chinned Petrel - California pelagic waters

On 6 September Todd McGrath reported seeing and photographing an ABA Code-5 White-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis) between San Miguel Island and Point Conception, California, from the deck of the Searcher.

The first North American record of this Southern Hemisphere species came from Texas in April 1986.  The bird was originally treated as “Origin Uncertain" by the ABA Checklist Committee, but in 2007 it was accepted as a bird of natural occurrence (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition, Pranty et al.).

White-chinned Petrel or “Shoemaker Petrel” is referred to in Oceanic Birds of South America (Robert Cushman Murphy).  The local name "shoemaker" came from whalers who described the shrill chattering of the species that may make up a greater volume of noise than the voices of all of the other nesting seabirds.  They breed on South Georgia, Prince Edward, Auckland, Kerguelen, Campbell, and the Antipodes Islands, in addition to Iles Crozet.  They wander widely and usually disperse north only to to 6⁰S in Peru, northern New Zealand, and in Africa only north as far as the subtropics or 12 ⁰S (Albatrosses, Petrels & Shearwaters of the World, Onley and Scofield).

More good information can be found in Identification of “Black Petrels”, Genus Procellaria, by Steve N.G. Howell in the November/December 2006 issue of Birding.

 

Northern Wheatear - New York

On 6 September Christine McCluskey reported an ABA Code-2 Northern Wheatear (Oenanathe oenanthe) from the railroad boat ramp at Croton-on-Hudson, New York.  The bird was still present at Croton-Harmon railroad station, frequenting an area between the rock pile (across the railroad tracks) and the fenceline just south of the sand shed on the 7^th.

Labrador Northern Wheatears (O. o. leucorhoa) cross the Atlantic Ocean non-stop before landing in the Azores, a flight of about 1,120 miles, approximately the same distance Greenland birds fly on their route to the British Isles. Migration of Labrador birds is not complete until they fly non-stop from the Azores to western Africa.  Birds from the subspecies O. o. oenanthe fly to the Alaskan coast in early August, pass through northeastern Siberia in late August, central Russia in late September and early October, arriving  on wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa from late September–October, never having viewed a blade of wheat (The Birds of North America on-line).  The name "wheatear" is actually a euphemism for its distinctive white rump, from the Anglo-Saxon ‘white arse’.

This Old World species is thought to have invaded North America, first from Europe via Greenland into eastern Canada before the Ice Age and more recently moving into Alaska and northwestern Canada via the Bering Strait from Eurasia (The Audubon Encyclopedia of North American Birds, Terres). 

Pallas's Bunting - Dusky Warbler - Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska

On 3 September Paul Lehman reported two megas from Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska.

Below Troutman Lake, sometimes perched and photographed, was an ABA Code-5 Pallas’s Bunting (Emberiza  pallasi). The other species was an ABA Code-4 Dusky Warbler (Phylloscopus fuscatus) seen poorly in the far boneyard.

There are only four previous records (five reports) of Pallas’s Bunting from the ABA Area including three from Gambell, one on 28 May 1973, one from 24-26 September 2006, and one 15 September 2007 (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition, Pranty et al.).

It is a widespread and common to abundant species occurring in arctic and mountain tundra and steppe. In winter, it is usually found in reedbeds (formerly called Pallas’s Reed Bunting) and shrubs near lakes and rivers and adjacent grassy fields, rice fields, and arable lands (Sparrows and Buntings, A Guide to the Sparrows and Buntings of North America and the World, Byers et al.). They breed primarily in northern Siberia from the Kara and Seda rivers east to the Chuckchi Peninsula and northern Kamchatka, Russian Far East, plus a disjunct population is located in southern Siberia and northern Mongolia.  Pallas’s Buntings winter primarily in eastern China, South Korea, extreme southeastern Russian Far East, and Kyushu, Japan (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition).

Stonechat - St. Lawrence Island, Alaska

On 2 September Paul Lehman reported an ABA Code-4 Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus) from Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska.  It was photographed and represents the third fall record from that location.

Although the sixth edition of the Clements Checklist split Stonechat into three species, European Stonechat, African Stonechat, and Siberian Stonechat, they are currently treated again as one species, Stonechat.   The maura group includes 6 subspecies from eastern Siberia, eastern Russia, and the mountains of eastern Turkey to Transcaucasia and Iran. Together they are often called “Siberian” Stonechat (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition, Pranty et al.).  All ABA Area records are of birds from the maura group and birds that have been collected are examples of the easternmost subspecies, T. t. stejnegeri(Gibson and Kessel).

The first North American record of Stonechat was found, not in Alaska, but at Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick on 1 October 1983, where it was photographed and showed characteristics of the maura group (American Birds 40:16-17).