Mary, et al.

Too fast on the trigger ... I shot myself in the foot ...

One correction ... Bewick's Wren IS on the Official List of the Birds 
of DC. Stewart and Robbins (1958) indicates a record by C.W. Richmond 
from 1980. Since includes it on the DC baseline list.

Sorry for the confusion ...

Also ... MD/DCRC URL is in the signature block on this message ...

Phil


At 17:31 01/23/2007, Phil Davis wrote:
>Hi Mary:
>
>If you haven't already done so, you will want to check the detailed 
>species account in Stewart and Robbins (1958), Birds of Maryland and 
>District of Columbia. This is the Maryland and DC ornithological baseline.
>
>The Maryland/DC Records Committee (MD/DCRC) was founded in the 
>early-mid 1980s and the first published Review List in 1986 
>indicated that Bewick's Wren was reviewable anywhere in MD and DC.
>
>A summary of our MD/DCRC database can be found on our web pages at 
>the URL in my signature block. A direct link to the MD database is here ...
>
>         http://www.mdbirds.org/mddcrc/pdf/mddatabase.pdf
>
>This is a large PDF document (don't print it!), but do a search or 
>find for "Bewick's Wren" and you will be taken to a listing of all 
>BEWR reports and records in our database. The items in the 
>Unreviewable and Reviewable categories are a part of our historical 
>canvass; these represent published sight records for which 
>reviewable documentation probably does not exist.
>
>There are no accepted records for DC; there is one Not Accepted 
>record. The DC database is here ...
>
>         http://www.mdbirds.org/mddcrc/pdf/dcdatabase.pdf
>
>The species is currently on our MD/DCRC Maryland Review List, which 
>can be found here ...
>
>         http://www.mdbirds.org/mddcrc/pdf/mdreview.pdf
>
>Since the species is not now on the Official List of the Birds of 
>the District of Columbia, any sighting in DC would be reviewable.
>
>Hope this helps ...
>
>Phil
>
>
>At 08:16 01/23/2007, Pfaffko, Mary (DDOE) wrote:
>>Dear Birders,
>>
>>I am reviewing a status report on Bewick's wren & am seeking thoughts from
>>anyone who might have expertise on the status of the wren in MD/DC & the
>>reason for it's population decline.  While the wren was considered common in
>>western portions of MD in the 1940s, it has become a rarity.
>>
>>Has anyone spotted a Bewick's wren in/around DC or eastern portions of MD?
>>Any suspicions on the reasons for its decline?  I welcome your thoughts if
>>you'd like to weigh in.
>>
>>Here is the history I have so far:
>>During the late 1940s, Hampe and Kolb stated that T.b. altus was a summer
>>resident & common breeder in western Maryland and that it was rare in the
>>eastern part of the state. There were no breeding records for Baltimore-DC &
>>Eastern Shore & only casual breeders in the Piedmont region near Cooksville
>>and Millers. By the 1970s, it was rarely reported nesting anywhere but
>>western MD from Garrett through Baltimore counties.
>>
>>The Atlas of breeding birds of Maryland and the District of Columbia shows
>>declines in populations of Maryland and DC in the 1960s. By the late 1990s,
>>Bewick's Wren had disappeared in most places it had once occurred as a
>>breeding bird and was now considered a rarity (Robbins and Blom 1996). They
>>note two possible causes of decline: the coinciding population explosion of
>>the House Wren in these areas & cold weather in recent years.
>>
>>Thanks!
>>Mary
>>
>>Mary Pfaffko
>>Wildlife Biologist
>>Fisheries & Wildlife Division
>>DC Department of the Environment
>>51 N St., NE, 5th floor
>>Washington, DC 20002
>>202.535.1739
>>
>

===================================================
Phil Davis, Secretary
MD/DC Records Committee
2549 Vale Court
Davidsonville, Maryland  21035     USA
301-261-0184
mailto:[log in to unmask]

MD/DCRC Web site:  http://www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html
===================================================