Hi Nancy, et al.
I'll try ...
First, the records committee is not directly involved with
countability. Our primary mission is to maintain the official lists
of the birds of MD and DC. We always state that the committee does
not serve in the role of "list police" (I really even dislike using
that pejorative term!)
Trumpeter Swan is on the Official List of the Birds of MD due to
historical references to flocks of birds wintering on the Potomac in
the 1700s. The species is currently considered to be extirpated in MD.
We have a group of contemporary Trumpeter Swan reports in our queue
that we have not reviewed yet. You can find specifics in our MD
database listing on our web site.
When we do review these reports, a few of them will probably be the
subject of identification questions (e.g., possible "Trumpling"
hybrids); however, most of the reports will probably not be
questioned from an identification standpoint.
The sticky issue will be the status of the species. The MD/DCRC does
not have an official rule that deals with the establishment of a
species, such as the ABA uses. Furthermore, since these swans don't
breed in MD, so a key part of the issue will deal with their status
in the jurisdictions where they do breed (Ontario, etc.).
I think when the committee deals with this species, the challenge
will be if the members feel that the species is "established," to
some undefined standard, on their breeding grounds and then to link
the birds seen in Maryland with those breeding colonies (which should
not be a problem with the banded birds). The status of the species in
neighboring states in the northeast may influence the committee's position.
There is not much of a precedent for this type of case. For example,
the Cattle Egret spread "naturally" in the 1950s from Africa to North
America and they do breed in Maryland. I guess the closest analogous
situation would be House Finches, which were introduced/escaped in
New York in the 1940, from the western US, and then they radiated out
to eventually arrive (and breed) in Maryland.
Our MD/DCRC Annual Meeting is coming up in a couple weeks and this is
an agenda topic for the meeting.
In terms of counting the species, there is no formal MD
counting/listing body, expect perhaps the MOS "brag sheet," which
does not really levy any statewide counting rules.
Hope this helps ... maybe? ...
Phil
At 05:24 02/15/2009, Nancy Magnusson wrote:
>(snip)
>I haven't really kept up with the trumpeter swan saga in MD and was
>wondering if someone (from the records committee?) could give all of
>us some background as to their status (regarding countability) -
>past, present, and future.
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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
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