MD Osprey and MD Birds:
The MD/DC Records Committee has accepted records
of several species that are new to our region:
Cape Verde Shearwater (Calonectris edwardsii) -
Accepted as a new species for Maryland. This is
the second record for North America. The bird was
seen and photographed in Maryland Atlantic Ocean
waters during a See Life Paulagics 21 Oct 2006
pelagic trip. The report was filed by Paul Guris
with photographs by George Jett. Originally
described as a separate species, it was later
considered to be a subspecies of the similar
Cory's Shearwater for many years until it was
split by the AOU in 2006 again as a separate
species. This species is smaller than Cory's
Shearwater and has a slimmer dark bill with other
somewhat subtle differences from Cory's in shape
and coloration, as well as flight style. The
species breeds in the Cape Verde Islands in the
North Atlantic Ocean and ranges at sea in the
North Atlantic Ocean, mainly near the breeding
grounds. It disperses from the breeding grounds
between late November and late February and
frequents waters off western Africa (Senegal) and
in the southeast Atlantic Ocean off Brazil. The
first record for North America was a single bird
photographed off the coast of North Carolina on 15 Aug 2004.
Descriptions and photographs of the Maryland bird can be found here …
http://www.paulagics.com/poss_Cape_Verde_Sh.html
An excellent photo of the 2004 North Carolina
bird sitting on the water next to a Cory's
Shearwater can be seen near the end of this web page …
http://www.patteson.com/newsfeatures.htm
Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis) - Accepted
as a new species for Maryland. This is the first
accepted record for North America, north of
Mexico. The bird was discovered and photographed
by Mark Hoffman on 17 Jun 2006 in a marsh at West
Ocean City, Maryland. The Southern Lapwing is
native to most of South America regularly ranging
northward to Colombia, Venezuela, and Trinidad.
Recent reports have come from Belize, Mexico, and
the species has now bred in Arubua. The committee
found no issues associated with the
identification of this bird and members who
commented on the subspecific identification
agreed that it was of the cayennensis subspecies,
which is the northernmost subspecies and the
subspecies that has recently expanded into the
Caribbean and South/Central America and also
apparently into Mexico. On the first round of
voting, the committee was split in its votes on
the issue of "origin." Some felt that this bird
could be a natural vagrant due to the expansion
of its range and its discovery in Maryland
shortly after a hurricane, whose path crossed
directly over a refuge in Florida where several
birds of this species had been reported prior to
the hurricane. Some members felt, however, that
the occurrence of the bird raised questionable
origin issues. (The committee researched
registered captive birds in zoological
institutions and none were reported to have
escaped; however, the existence of unregistered
birds or birds in private collections could not
be ruled out.) After a split decision dealing
with "origin," the committee's procedures call
for a second round of voting. After the second
round, the members remained split in their origin
opinions; however, the committee procedures then
resolve the "origin" issue via a majority of the
votes. The final result was 6 votes for natural
origin and 3 votes for questionable origin;
therefore the species is accepted onto the
Maryland list as a "natural/wild" vagrant. We
expect that the AOU and the ABA will review our
files and make their own determination with regard to their checklists.
Mark Hoffman's images and sighting details can be found here …
http://www.pbase.com/wcbirding/sola
Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus) -
Accepted as a new species for the District of
Columbia. This juvenile bird was observed and
well-described by Paul Pisano from East Potomac
Park, Hains Point on 2 Sep 2006, following the
passage of Hurricane Ernesto. The committee found
that the detailed description submitted was
convincing for this species and eliminated other similar species.
These accepted records raise the number of
species to 435 for the Maryland list, which also
includes the accepted Montgomery County Say's
Phoebe that I failed to include on the latest
version of the official list that is currently
posted on our web pages. The new DC list total is
now 329 with the addition of the Long-tailed
Jaeger. Our web information will be updated in
the near future; however, we wanted to spread this news as soon as possible.
Congratulation and thanks to all of the observers.
Phil
===================================================
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
=================================================== |