Re: MacGillivray's out east
GAIL@UMDD.UMD.EDU
Wed, 23 Sep 98 19:23:11 EDT
I am sure that the occasional MacGillivray's has made it to Maryland and
Virginia. One problem is that separation of immature birds, esp. with the
usual brief look one gets of these critters, is not a trivial issue. Both
have broken eye rings, sometimes that of immature Mourning can be fairly
prominent, more so than depicted in the field guides. There are some other
subtle differences, color of throat, underparts, but these are differences
of degree not kind. I have actually seen more MacGillivray's than Mourning,
thanks to a 1995 trip to Arizona in August when they were pouring through --
at Kino Springs one "pish" brought about a dozen in to investigate!.
(In fact, maybe this can be used as a field mark -- when I pish at a Mourning,
it immediately zips away!) I thought the immature MacGillivray's looked a
bit browner than Mourning (talking about immatures, now) but since there
was no direct comparison, this observation isn't very useful.
I am sorry Mike Collins signed off the list, but he should not be surprised
if folks appear cautious about rarity reports, esp. those which involve
"confusion species." I know a few years ago one of our best local birders
had an "interesting" Oporornis at Rock Creek -- it had quite prominent
broken eye ring -- but was it MacGillivray's? He wasn't certain, the view was
brief, who knows?
Hopefully one will be trapped at a local banding station and then we will
know for certain that they occur here. But I wouldn't expect them to be
very regular, for reasons already discussed.
And it doesn't stop me from looking for Black-throated Gray, Townsend's,
etc. -- that is part of the fun of birding!
Gail Mackiernan
gail@umdd.umd.edu