Ed Forum birdwatching 2008

Elizabeth I said:
Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus). Ugly bird. There are places in San Antonio during the winter where you have to take an umbrella to walk around, even if it's not raining. :mad:
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Oh my, Quiscalus? I've even sequenced that genus! And I usually look up pictures of everything I sequence, as the material is my supervisor's, and i don't always know what it is he's working with. But I can't remember that one.

Elizabeth I said:
Could we request, respectfully, that Europeans keep your birds at home in the future? :o ;) European starlings and house sparrows were both introduced into North America and we didn't really need them. They've become the bird version of the rabbits in Australia, or kudzu vine in Georgia.
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Interestingly, the introduction of starlings to old British colonies around the world is an excellent example of what known as the "missing the boat" effect, a kind of bottle neck effect on a higher level. In Europe, the starling is parasitized by five different species of jawed lice --- Brueelia nebulosa, Menacanthus eurysternus, Myrsidea cucullaris, Ricinus alongatus, Sturnidoecus sturni (1) --- but in the American population, only two of these can be found (2). Passerines usually have a quite low infection degree, because they can clean their feathers more efficiently than other birds, and by coincidence, the original population introduced to North America were parastized only by these two species.

Louse trivia of the day has now ended.

Elizabeth I said:
If there's anything we sent over there that you didn't want, I'm sure we'd be glad to take them back in exchange for your coming to get these birds.
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Well, there's the Canada goose, of course...

---
(1) B. ochroleuca, Me. mutabilis, S. leontodon are junior synonyms of the other species of their respective genera.
(2) I think it is the Myrsidea and the Sturnidoecus, but I'm at home now so I can't check. The relevant article is "Boyd, 1951. A Survey of Parasitism of the Starling Sturnus vulgaris L. in North America. Journal of Parasitology 37(1), 56-84 "
 
After about a week, we're at 83 species.

Accipiter nisus Eurasian sparrowhawk
Alauda arvensis Eusrasian skylark
Anas platyrhynchos Mallard
Anas rubripes American Black duck
Anthornis melanura Bellbird
Aphelocoma californica Scrub jay
Ardea cinerea Grey heron
Ardea herodias wardi Heron
Baeolophus bicolor Tufted titmouse
Bombycilla garrulus Bohemian waxwing
Branta canadensis Canada goose
Bubo virginianus Great Horned Owl
Buteo buteo Common buzzard
Buteo jamaicensis Red-tailed hawk
Callipepla californica California quail
Cardinalis cardinalus Northern Cardinal
Carduelis chloris Greenfinch
Carduelis pinus Pine siskin
Carduelis spinus Siskin
Carduelis tristis Goldfinch
Carpodacus mexicanus House finch
Carpodacus purpureus Purple finch
Chaetura pelagica Chimney swift
Circus cyaneus Northern harrier
Columba livia domestica Domestic pigeon
Columba palumbus Wood pigeon
Corvus corax Raven
Corvus corone cornix Hooded crow
Corvus monedula Eurasian jackdaw
Cygnus olor Mute swan
Dendrocopus major Greater spotted woodpecker
Dryocopus pileatus Pileated woodpecker
Egretta sacra Reef heron
Erithacus rubecula Eurasian robin
Eudocimus albus American White ibis
Falco mexicanus Prairie falcon
Fringilla coelebs Chaffinch
Gerygone igata Grey warbler
Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus Pinyon jay
Haematopus longirostris Pied oystercatcher
Haliaeëtus leucocephalus Bald eagle
Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae Kereru/Wood pigeon
Himantopus himantopus Pied stilt
Junco hyemalis Dark-eyed junco
Larus argentatus Herring gull
Larus canus Mew gull
Larus dominicanus Black-backed gull
Larus marinus Greater Black-backed gull
Larus novaehollandiae Red-billed gull
Larus ridibundus Black-headed gull
Megaceryle alcyon Belted kingfisher
Meleagris gallopavo Wild turkey
Melospiza lincolnii Lincoln sparrow
Mergus merganser Goosander
Mimus polyglottus Northern mockingbird
Pandion haliaeëtus Osprey
Parus caeruleus Blue tit
Parus major Great tit
Passer domesticus House sparrow
Passer montanus Tree sparrow
Phalacrocorax carbo Great cormorant
Pica pica Eurasian magpie
Picoides pubescens Downy woodpecker
Pipilo erythrophthalmus Rufous-sided towhee
Poecile carolinensis Carolina chickadee
Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae Tui
Pyrrhula pyrrhula Eurasian bullfinch
Quiscalus mexicanus Great-tailed grackle
Regulus calendula Ruby-crwoned kinglet
Sitta canadensis Red-breasted nuthatch
Sitta europaea European nuthatch
Spizalle arborea American Tree sparrow
Strix varia Barred owl
Sturnus vulgaris European Starling
Thryotorus ludovicianus Carolina wren
Troglodytes troglodytes Winter wren
Turdus merula Eurasian blackbird
Turdus philomelos Song thrush
Turdus pilaris Fieldfare
Tyto alba Barn owl
Zenaida macroura Mourning dove
Zonotrichia leucophrys White-crowned sparrow
Zosterops lateralis Silver-eye

ETA:
I copied this from Excel, so the italics disappeared.... You'll just have to imagine them while I go and prostrate myself before the Gods of Taxonomy for this blunder.
 
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You left out Corvus brachyrhynchos and I am pretty sure of spotting Corvus ossifragous. Fish crows are seen around the shore, are smaller, with an even proportionally smaller beak. Their call is more like a croak than a caw.
 
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Jeff Corey said:
You left out Corvus brachyrhynchos and I am pretty sure of spotting Corvus ossifragous. Fish crows are seen around the shore, are smaller, with an even proportionally smaller beak. Their call is more like a croak than a caw.
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You cited the date 30th of December for C. brachyrhynchos, so I left that out for now, but if you have seen it since then, I'll of course add it. The same goes for C. ossifragous.
 
Kotatsu said:
You cited the date 30th of December for C. brachyrhynchos, so I left that out for now, but if you have seen it since then, I'll of course add it. The same goes for C. ossifragous.
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I see C. brachy... daily, but will report the fish crow the next time I get to the shore.
 
Addition to the list:

Lagopus lagopus, Willow Ptarmigan — sighted yesterday (1/7/08) near Eklutna, Alaska


Kotatsu said:
I copied this from Excel, so the italics disappeared.... You'll just have to imagine them while I go and prostrate myself before the Gods of Taxonomy for this blunder.
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No sweat. Just highlight that column and format cells to add the formatting codes for you: Format>Cells, Category: Custom, Type: "[I]"@"[/I]"


Molinaro said:
How can anyone bad mouth a Canada goose?
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I like Canadian geese but come Spring, I don't have many kind words for them when walking through a park they've taken over. The expression, Like [rule10] through a goose, is not without foundation. :D
 
bruto said:
I suppose you may know this already, but we cannot blame the Europeans for the starling, since it was an American who brought the little ****s in. As I recall, it was a fellow named Scheiffelin who thought it would be cool to have all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare at Central Park. The impressive ability of starlings both to lay eggs and to fly apparently did not register.

An old friend of my family, and one of my Sunday School teachers 50 or so years ago was a descendant of the culprit, and found it both annoying and embarrassing to be reminded of the incident, as people always somehow seemed to imply that it was her responsibility.
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I didn't know that, but since I love trivia of every kind, thank you VERY much.

Kotatsu said:
Interestingly, the introduction of starlings to old British colonies around the world is an excellent example of what known as the "missing the boat" effect, a kind of bottle neck effect on a higher level. In Europe, the starling is parasitized by five different species of jawed lice --- Brueelia nebulosa, Menacanthus eurysternus, Myrsidea cucullaris, Ricinus alongatus, Sturnidoecus sturni (1) --- but in the American population, only two of these can be found (2). Passerines usually have a quite low infection degree, because they can clean their feathers more efficiently than other birds, and by coincidence, the original population introduced to North America were parastized only by these two species.

Louse trivia of the day has now ended.
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So because we're missing those other three species of louse, we're ankle-deep in starlings? (DON'T send the lice over, by the way. :p )


KOTATSU said:
Well, there's the Canada goose, of course...
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Done! Come get these sparrows and starlings.
 
Well, since the start of the year I've seen, in Central London around the Palace Of Westminster and Lambeth Palace:

- Numerous black headed gulls (Larus ridibundus)
- Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo), there's a group of six to eight who fish that stretch taking eels; eel v. cormorant is quite the spectator sport
- A few mallards (Anas platyrhynchos)
- A few starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), although not many and often mixed in feral pigeons
- The above mentioned feral pigeon/rock dove (Columba livia)
- Wood pigeons (Columba palumbus)
- Carrion Crows (Corvus corone)
- Song thrushes (Turdus philomelos)
- Blackbirds (Turdus merula)

I haven't seen a sparrow for years and tits are also rare, although occassionaly I see a blue tit. In the summer I often see Mistle Thrushes (Turdus viscivorus) around Lambeth Palace but none so far this year.

I might head up to Regent's Park or to the Wetlands Centre in the next few weekends and see if I can see anything interesting. Wetlands is always good but Regent's Park doesn't really count for this sort of thing. Plus all the hybrid ducks there give me a headache.
 
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Camillus said:
I might head up to Regent's Park or to the Wetlands Centre in the next few weekends and see if I can see anything interesting. Wetlands is always good but Regent's Park doesn't really count for this sort of thing. Plus all the hybrid ducks there give me a headache.
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There's wild parrots around Hampton Court. I think it's Rose-ringed parakeets Psittacula crameri. I saw huge flocks of them there a few years ago, and I believe they are category C, and thus eligible.

At the moment, the species list (updated to 93 species with the recent additions, including the bluebird and the American Black-billed Magpie, which I for some reason overlooked before; a_unique_person posted while I was writing this, so I have updated the numbers) can be divided systematically like this:
Anseriformes: 5
Apodiformes: 1
Charadriiformes: 8
Ciconiiformes: 4
Columbiformes: 5
Coraciiformes: 1
Falconiformes: 8
Galliformes: 3
Passeriformes: 49 (was anyone surprised they'd be the most numerous group?
Pelecaniformes: 3
Piciformes: 3
Strigiformes: 3

So no parrots^^. If anyone in London is ever passing by the area, please keep your eyes open!
 
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Parrots are getting quite common in London and the South East of England (see this BBC story about it. I might head up to Hampton Court and see what I can see - I can catch a boat along the river from near where I live.
 
Not much new the last couple of days, but I did see a ruffed grouse today. That's a Bonasa Umbellus, for you Latin folk. Fortunately I saw it in time not to run over it. Though capable of flight, they seem to forget how useful it might be when they're crossing roads, and once they set a pace, they tend to stick to it. A bird as meaty as a grouse would benefit from a bit more cleverness.
 
Cool idea :)

From South Africa - all spotted along the garden route from Mosselbay (South coast) to Cape Town (south west coast) on 2-Jan-08

Red-winged Starling - Onychognathus morio (we've got tons of these in CT)
Glossy Ibis - Plegadis falcinellus (again, these are all over the place)
Sacred Ibis - Threskiornis aethiopicus (also pretty common in marshy areas)
Blue Crane - Grus paradisea (our national bird - spotted on farmlands)
White Stork - Ciconia ciconia (a european visitor - also spotted on farmlands)

I did see quite a few other species, but could not make confirmed ID's.

Thanks for this thread!
 
Octavo said:
Thanks for this thread!
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No, thank you!

I have added these species and we are now at 102! I have also received some in a PM, but only one was new for the list (Steller's Jay) and no dates were given, so I'll not add this until I know more.

The last few days have basically been filled with going to work AND going home when it's still/already dark, and it's been raining a bit, so I have hardly seen birds that are already on the list. It will all change in the weekend, hopefully, and I'll be able to contribute myself again^^.
 
Floyt said:
plus something squashed on the road which probably was a pukeko (they are not noticeably car-smart), but a live one will doubtlessly crop up soon.
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Typical, I come in to list all the NZ birds which only live here and some Scarfie's been on the lam birdwatching!

I can confirm the pukeko, seeing one from my window pecking around right now. (If ever you wanted the missing link between dinosaurs & birds, look no further than a pukeko - pronounced poo-kecko) Porphyrio porphyrio

Piwakawaka (pronounced pea-wockerwocker) flying around in the garden yesterday. (Fantail, Rhipidura fulginosa)
Gannet (Morus serrator) & Muttonbird (sooty shearwater - Puffinus griseus) on 4/1/08 if they're not up yet.

And a couple of imports which have become feral in northern NZ - I've already seen a rosella (Platycercus eximius) and a yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)

Now I know the thread's going, I'll keep a look out for more!
 
Sheesh! Leave it to silly humans to take something as relaxing and pleasurable as birding and turn it into a competition.

I've seen lots of different birds. I have pictures of many of them.

One of my favorites is this nice Oystercatcher.
 

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