Hi Norm, et al.
As you know, Monk Parakeet has been accepted as an official state
species in about ten states, including FL, TX, NY, CT, RI, IL, and
others. The few Monk Parakeets that have been reviewed in Maryland by
the MD/DCRC have been found to be "ID OK/Questionable Origin,"
meaning it is undetermined as to whether the birds were "assisted"
(e.g., escapes) or "natural" in their arrival to the state. However,
a year or so ago, I did a detailed canvass of all of the literature
(Maryland Birdlife, Audubon Naturalist, American Birds, and the
Maryland Breeding Bird Atlas data and have found that there are over
40 reports of the species in Maryland. Many of these will prove to be
"Unreviewable" since only published sight records esits with no
details and no notes or photographs were taken to document the birds.
The MD/DCRC does not have a defined set of criteria upon which to
"upgrade" a species from "questionable origin" to "natural." It is
currently handled on a case by case basis. The ABA does have a set of
guidelines that deal with the "establishment" of a species (people
still refer to a "10-year" rule; however, that fixed period of time
was dropped years ago since related time frames can vary depending,
especially, on the size of the species.)
Over they years, a number of "introduced" species have been accepted
and then removed from ABA list as the ABA has determined that the
species was not really "established" after all. Cases include the
Crested Myna in Vancouver and the Black Francolin in Louisiana.
I think the issue with Monk Parakeets is that there are no close,
known regional colonies of Monk Parakeets (I believe the colony at
Silver Lake in DE either died out or seriously declined) so the local
sightings have been presumed to likely be escaped pets and therefore
not a viable component of our avifauna, any more than would an
escaped Budgerigar or an Umbrella Cockatoo. [Side note, the only
ABA-countable colony of Budgies is on the west coast of FL and they
have declined so much in recent years, I would not be surprised to
see the ABA remove them from their checklist in the near future!)
Therefore, Monk Parakeet is still not on the Official List of the
Birds of Maryland. Personal list countability is not an issue the
MD/DCRC deals with, that is more associated with the Locality List
project or ABA listing. As everyone knows, unless playing by ABA or
other defined rules, the listing mantra is "It's your list, you can
count whatever you wish."
The MD/DCRC will be getting deeper into this questionable origin
issue over the next year or so as we deal with related species such
as Trumpeter Swan, Barnacle Goose, and perhaps again tackle Monk Parakeet.
We never know, for sure, in advance, when a species is going to
establish itself in Maryland. We tend to take most of our cues from
what is going on in surrounding states; however, species can always
jump over other states as they become "established" (to wit, Monk
Parakeet) or patterns of vagrancy become evident (e.g. Barnacle Goose).
The main point of my message was to emphasize that I think that we
should document strange and exotic birds whenever and wherever we
find them. When people assume that they not worthy of documenting, we
loose the details from the beginnings of what could be a relevant
series of sightings. In this day and age, my suggestion would be to
at least take photos of such birds and submit them to the MD/DCRC and
the Maryland Birdlife and North American Birds regional editors. That
way, the documentation can be archived in our files and it can be
always be retrived and reviewed later, if warranted.
One anecdote, in Oct 1976 a Lesser White-fronted Goose was observed
at Wye Mills with migratory Canada Geese. No one photographed that
bird ... pity.
Good question! Hope this helps ...
Phil
At 05:04 06/14/2009, Norm Saunders wrote:
>Phil,
>
>Does this mean that Monk Parakeet are now recognized as a legitimate species
>in Maryland? We do recognize House Sparrow, European Starling, House Finch,
>and Eurasian Collared Dove as legitimate MD species and we also recognize
>many species as having occurred in Maryland with only 1 or a few
>observations. It has always puzzled me why, with so many sightings of Monk
>Parakeet in Maryland of patently unbanded birds, they were unrecognized as
>an official state species for so long. Has this finally changed?
===================================================
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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