Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 00:28:36 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "rick@blazie.net" Subject: soaring cormorants MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Well, someone has to throw themselves into the breach on this one = and since my curmudgeon credentials are in need of polishing, I'll be = the one. First, I have no opinion on what Parke John or anyone else saw. (The = idea that I don't have opinions about everything is an obvious lie but = since the sighting is not the point of this, we can pretend it is true.) = There is a bigger issue than one or more Anhingas soaring over Cecil = County, even at a record early date. Cormorants DO soar. Both as singles and in small kettles they can = act just like Anhingas. I have seen it in Maryland, Florida, and Texas. = The belief that cormorants do not soar is widely held but it is = erroneous.=20 When cormorants soar they can be decidedly confusing and look more = like Anhingas than most people would believe. I have watched very good = and experienced field observers flub this ID merely because the bird was = soaring and the operating assumption is that cormorants don't.=20 There are structural differences between soaring cormorants and = Anhingas, especially tail, wings, and head and neck, but they are fairly = obvious only if you have seen a lot of both. If you haven't, the = differences are much harder to detect, especially if you assume that = cormorants don't soar. The differences are a matter of degree and if you = have never seen a cormorant soaring or a lot of Anhingas, it can be an = extremely tricky call.=20 I think we are overreporting Anhingas. They do occur in Maryland in = small numbers and they have probably been overlooked in the past. But = far too many of the recent records have been of high-flying distant = birds and a significant component of the identification process and the = decision has been based on the belief that cormorants don't soar.=20 I think we are getting into a situation analogous to wintering = Common Terns and Semipalmated Sandpipers along the East Coast. It = started with a few reports, some of them by noted observers who were = thought to be, if not infallible, at least reliable. What happens next = is that less experienced observers see a few birds and because "they're = around after all and its really no big deal," slap the Semi Sand or = Common Tern on the birds. The effect is cumulative. Now that almost = everybody is reporting them, everybody does report them and no one = challenges the identifications because it has become received wisdom = that they are there.=20 The problem is that they weren't. In almost every case the ID was = wrong. We now know that the occurrence of either bird is extraordinary. = Yet confident identification continued for decades. The supposedly = diagnostic shorter bill of Semi was used by people who knew little about = the real criteria and reports multiplied until they were too numerous to = question.=20 In the case of Anhingas in Maryland the pattern is the same and we = are fast approaching the time when it will not be considered that big a = deal to see one. I think it is a big deal and ought to remain so. I = think it I time to take a big step back and get much tougher on = ourselves when it comes to Anhingas. They ought to be treated as a = significant rarity and observation and documentation should be extremely = rigorous.=20 If I were forced to speculate I would argue that no more than one in = three Anhinga reports for Maryland in the last decade are correct or are = supported with persuasive documentation. I base that not on knowledge of = any single report but on gut feeling. One thing that leads me to the = conclusion is that Maryland appears to be emerging as a "hotspot" for = vagrant Anhinga reports. There has been no comparable spike in reports = from states east, west, and north of us, and that alone should give us = pause.=20 So much for my rant. I'm not challenging any single report or any = individual's competence. But I am suggesting we slow down a bit and take = another look at our assumptions until we determine the true status of = the species in Maryland.=20 Rick Eirik A.T. Blom 4318 Cowan Place Belcamp, Md 21017 410-575-6086 rick@blazie.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================