Hi all, After receiving comments from wiser and more cautious birders, I need to revise my recent post about Juncos -- as indeed I should not have been so quick to call them both "Oregon" Juncos. Individual and geographic variation in juncos across North America is notorious, and the limits of various subspecies, as well as the taxonomy of the whole group is far from settled. The bird in Groton on Saturday, photographed by Tim Lenz at: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15968478, is still thought to be a "good" Oregon, primarily based on the concave gray hood contrasting with the orange-pink flanks. The Seneca Falls bird that I photographed on Monday (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kvr2/11412831514/in/photostream/), however, might be within the range of variation for an immature female Slate-colored Junco, or (more likely?) represents an intergrade to some degree between Slate-colored and Oregon, which is fairly frequent. In fact, pinkish birds that have been seen pretty regularly in the East have been debated for years, as some are hastily called Oregon (as I did) or are considered to be "Cassiar Junco" – thought to be from an intergrade population in British Columbia and Alberta. If you want to read more on this topic, you could check out the lengthy blog discussion at: http://www.oceanwanderers.com/JuncoID.html – although this discussion is 10 years old, it covers most of the basic arguments and refers specifically to birds like the one we saw on Monday (with links to additional photos). It is both fascinating and humbling to realize how poorly we understand (in terms of modern taxonomy, genetic studies, and identification limits) one of North America's most abundant species.
for now, though, I will officially retract my report of Oregon Junco from the Montezuma CBC (and will clean up my eBird checklist and flickr site). KEN Ken Rosenberg Conservation Science Program Cornell Lab of Ornithology 607-254-2412 607-342-4594 (cell) k...@cornell.edu<mailto:k...@cornell.edu> On Dec 17, 2013, at 9:42 AM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg <k...@cornell.edu<mailto:k...@cornell.edu>> wrote: [Clearly something happened to by CayugaBirds post last night -- this is what I had meant to send] In the past 3 days I've found two OREGON JUNCOS - the very rare western form of Dark-yed Juno -- near Groton on Booth Rd. on the Cortland CBC on Saturday, and this morning on Doolittle Rd in the Kenmore Estates neighborhood on the east side of Seneca Falls on the Montezuma NWR CBC. Both birds were at or under feeders with other juncos and sparrows. Both birds were probably young female, very dull as Oregons go, but with obvious dark gray hood contrasting with orange-pink flanks, and also a reddish brown back. Link to the Seneca Falls bird digiscoped with an iPhone are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kvr2/11412831514/in/photostream/ The Summerhill area of the Cortland CBC was otherwise very quiet-- in fact the fewest birds I've ever seen up there in the spruce groves and other woods along Lick St. Average flock size of Black-capped Chickadee (responding to screech-owl mobbing playback) was only 3-4 birds, when usually it is 10-15 birds. There were more birds at feeders closer to Groton, and the only other highlight was an adult WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW at the same feeder on Booth Rd. as the Junco. I have not seen any posting of the overall Cortland CBC results. On the Montezuma CBC (Monday) morning, 4 of us covered the northwest corner of Cayuga Lake and shoreline -- but were disappointed to find that the entire north end of the lake was frozen and there was no open water within the CBC count circle. The only waterfowl we had for the day was a small flock of Canada Geese flying overhead. We did pick out a very distant SNOWY OWL on the ice, being mobbed by crows (possibly better seen from Cayuga on the east side?). and the usual 6-7 BALD EAGLES also resting on the ice. I also picked out a first-cycle ICELAND GULL commuting north with other gulls in the morning. Best birding was on Demont Rd. on the south side of the Seneca Canal west of Mud Lock -- aggregations of birds near feeders among the trailer community there included a (MYRTLE) YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER and a WINTER WREN. The highlight, though was the OREGON JUNCO, under a feeder in the "Kenmore Estates" neighborhood off E Bayard Ave. on the east end of Seneca Falls across from the Chiropractic College. I also look forward to seeing how this Christmas Count did overall. On the way back to Ithaca, we cruised along Sheldrake and found 2 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS and 2 LONG-TAILED DUCKS among the hundreds of Canada Geese, Am Black Ducks, and Mallards. When we passed Hogs Hole, I could see the large flock of waterfowl including many swans, gleaming in the afternoon sun, so I headed back there and scanned from the first parking spot on Rt. 89. I counted 53 TUNDRA SWANS (has anyone looked for Trumpeters in this flock? At one point I thought I heard "Whooping-Crane-like" trumpeting calls, but am not confident w variation in swan vocalizations). Also more than a thousand REDHEAD in the usual tight flock, but with several hundred RING-NECKED DUCKS (large number for winter) and LESSER SCAUP, smaller numbers of GREATER SCAUP, 2 RUDDY DUCKS, 6-8 GADWALL, and 2 AM WIDGEON. Further out on the lake, I spotted a tight flick of 18 LONG-TAILED DUCKS associating with a loose raft of mergansers and gulls -- these included several males with long tails. This flock took off while I watched and flew north up the lake -- this is also perhaps the largest flock of this species I have seen in winter in Ithaca. KEN Ken Rosenberg Conservation Science Program Cornell Lab of Ornithology 607-254-2412 607-342-4594 (cell) k...@cornell.edu<mailto:k...@cornell.edu> -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
