I researched and located the original posts, from last July,
announcing the Orange-billed Nightingale Thrush, on a blog by a SD
birder. One of his comments, without much in the way of specifics,
was "...as for the origins of this bird, so far every birder that has
been able to observe this bird agrees that it is very likely a wild
bird. This is due to many factors including behavior and lack of
feather wear...." I wish I knew more about the "many factors," or how
to contact the people brought them up.
Other than speculation from both sides ("Of course it could," "No way
it would," "yeah right," and such), does anyone have an objective
evaluation of any observable facts or behaviors of the Georgetown
bird? Because it's pretty useless to say that because there are some
that get caught and bought, that this one must be an escapee, and
equally useless to say that because a Golden-crowned came to Red
Rocks, that this one must've flown all the way from South America.
Ok, sorry, not useless, it's all valid speculation. But if the good
birders of South Dakota can form considered opinions based on factual
observations, then I'm sure there are some among us, more expert than
the average bear, who might have an educated opinion based not in what
a Rufous-collared Sparrow is likely to do, but in observations of THIS
Rufous-crowned Sparrow.
We've had Reddish Egret at DeWeese, Sooty Tern in Pueblo, Little Gull
in Gunnison, Ross' Gull in Aurora, Streak-backed Oriole in Loveland,
Eurasian Wigeon in Fort Collins, and all sorts of things that made no
sense. I had a Green-tailed Towhee that refused to migrate, and spent
an entire winter in my back yard. Speculation on why the sparrow
would or wouldn't probably doesn't add any weight to a sight record
form.
Dave Cameron
Denver
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