More Soapbox: Lark Sparrow and other breeders
KurtCapt87@aol.com
Wed, 23 Sep 1998 21:23:14 EDT
Well, I guess the flames are dying down, but I think it is worthwhile to point
out that Lark Sparrows were historical breeders in the mid-Atlantic area,
recorded in this century in Piedmont Md and VA, and are still considered a
rare, but local breeder (somewhere) in West Virginia (maybe Gary Felton can
clue us in on where). Occasionally I believe that genetic memory of old
migration routes often bring some of these birds out our way, but I suspect my
thinking is mostly speculative.
Many of the breeding birds mentioned in the "western birds" response have been
described as eastern breeders and require no additional details here, but I
should mention that Am Golden Plovers are more of a Great Plains bird (in
migration) that is quite regular on the east coast both spring and fall.
(Unlike the Pacific Golden Plover, which is very western! That's why Marshall
Iliff is interested in finding one.) Western Tanagers regularly breed as
close as Oklahoma and have been found breeding in Missouri and points north in
recent times, so its not hard to believe that the post-breeding dispersal
would send one out to the east coast every year.
MacGillivray's are considered to be very rare even as vagrants on the east
coast, though this may be due to the difficulty in separating first year birds
from first year Mournings. Dunn in his recent "Warblers" book makes an effort
to point out that one of the accepted records was a collected individual.
This is because the tail length and undertail covert length for MacGillivray's
differ from that of Mournings and Conn. and is diagnostic. He further points
out the difference in call notes between the two species, which to me is a
message to the audience to use more than a puffy broken eye ring to separate
these two beasts. [My experience with MacGillivrays in (spring) migration is
that they are found in short bushes/shrubs, about 1-3 feet high. But then, my
experience is limited to just a few trips out west, mainly in the So. Sierras
like Butterbredt Springs, CA.]
Kurt Gaskill