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Re: Note on Baltimore Nashville Warbler

From:

Edward Boyd

Reply-To:

Edward Boyd

Date:

Thu, 16 Feb 2006 12:12:55 -0500

Yes, but if they are eventually split, then there is already documentation 
that the 'other'species has already occurred in the state. For the birders 
that take the time to identify them, they already have the bird 'in the 
bank' so to speak. By identifying each bird down to the sub-species level, 
it provides a greater understanding of what is actually happening in the 
natural world. When you see a Palm Warbler, do you not identify it a 
'Western' or 'Yellow' Palm? Just because some sub-species are harder to 
identify than others, do you not become a better birder when you have taken 
the time to learn the subtle differences? Doesn't it make a slow day in the 
field more interesting when you try to solve the puzzle in front of you a 
little more completely?

Ed Boyd
Westminster, MD
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Wood" <>
To: <>
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2006 11:47 AM
Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Note on Baltimore Nashville Warbler


> Does it really matter?
>
> Unless the species are split, IMO, it doesn't.  For one of the wrens 
> (Marsh Wren I believe), the western and eastern races are very different 
> in their behavior and song, yet they haven't been split, though some wren 
> experts, such as Don Kroodsma (see Don Stap's "BirdSong"), will say that 
> there are ten species of wren in North America, and not nine.  Even for 
> wrens, it doesn't matter if one sees the western or eastern race of this 
> species, as the Marsh Wren is still one species.
>
> Good birding,
> Richard
>
> Richard L. Wood, Ph. D.
> Computational Chemist
> Cockeysville, MD 21030
> 
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Paul O'Brien <>
> To: 
> Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2006 11:36:24 AM
> Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Note on Baltimore Nashville Warbler
>
> Has anybody looked at the Carroll Park Nashville Warbler to determine 
> whether
> it is the nominate eastern ruficapilla or the western ridgwayi?   The 
> major
> clue for ridgwayi is constant tail pumping, like a Palm Warbler.   Eastern
> birds can pump their tails occasionally, or even continuously if they are
> agitated, such as a migrant that has just dropped in after a long flight. 
> Plumage
> differences are subtle but include reduced contrast between head and back 
> and
> increased contrast between back and rump, which is a bright yellow-green 
> in
> ridgwayi.   The yellow of the undersides is brighter and a more pure 
> yellow than
> in ruficapilla and there is a bit more white in the vent area.   All these
> characters are a matter of degree, but are discernible in the field if you 
> get a
> good, long look.
>
> At such a late date, a western vagrant may be as likely as an eastern
> holdover.
>
> Paul O'Brien
> Rockville, Mont. Co., MD
>