the following was posted to the national birdchat listserv by the venerable
editor of Birding Magazine:
Hello, BirdChatters.
We all know the "rule." You can't put a non-countable exotic on your life
list. A Ringed Teal in Reno, a Chukar in Scranton, a Sacred Ibis in
Miami--those birds aren't countable, so you can't put them on your list.
Except on Christmas Bird Counts!
This matter of non-countable exotics came up in discussion a few days ago
when I was a participant in the Fountain Creek, Colorado, Christmas Bird
Count. Somebody had found 6 California Quail, a species not on the
"official" Colorado list, and somebody else promptly declared that they
wouldn't count. However, the count compiler, to his credit, did, in fact,
enter the 6 California Quail on the list. [Present for many months,
photo-documented, even bred and raised young earlier in the year; but that's
not really relevant here.]
Well, we did the right thing on the Fountain Creek CBC, but I will note
that, over the years, I've been on many CBCs which did it the wrong way. A
Mute Swan was excluded because it might--just might--have been an escape; a
Ring-necked Pheasant was scratched off the list because of rumors there'd
been a release at the local hunt club; or dozens of Nutmeg Mannikins were
declared uncountable for the simple reason that they're not yet on some
official state or continental list.
The Christmas Bird Count isn't a fully scientific enterprise, I accept, but
neither is it supposed to conform entirely to the "rules" of the listing
game. On a CBC, it's okay to count a bird by the method of "remote
detection" from a real-time owl-camera or falcon-camera; on a CBC, there's
certainly no need to apply the "95% rule" which stipulates that all members
of a party must see or hear at least 95% of the birds reported; and on a
CBC, it's okay--it's more than okay, it's a very good idea--to count exotic
birds that aren't yet on some "official" list.
To see what I'm talking about, check out recent CBCs from Florida. Along
with all the Yellow-rumped Warblers and Laughing Gulls (native species,
obviously), and along with all the Rock Pigeons and European Starlings
(exotics with long-established populations in the state), you'll also get
tallies like 29 Chestnut-fronted Macaws, 53 Red-masked Parakeets, and 1
Cockatiel. Those birds are out there, in the environment, interacting with
their environment, and it is appropriate to make note of them. It is right
to count them.
On CBCs, it is especially important to count non-countable exotics for the
critical reason that they might well become permanently established--sooner,
quite possibly, than most folks would have anticipated. Thanks in large part
to CBC data, we have a clear picture of patterns of expansion for recently
established species like Eurasian Collared-Dove and Common Myna. Both
species are currently considered to be "countable" (i.e., for personal
lists), but I note that they were counted on CBCs prior to their being
declared officially countable. We got a "head start" on understanding those
species by counting them even before they were officially countable. And
that same reasoning ought to apply to lots of other species that are either
well-established or apparently on their way to being well-established--even
though they're not yet countable.
Some fairly well-known examples in Florida--where there's a good, strong
tradition of CBC monitoring of exotics--include Purple Swamphen and
Black-hooded Parakeet. Those birds are there, they're established, they're
part of the avifauna, they're potentially interacting with other organisms
and their environment, and it's frankly irresponsible for us not to count
them.
In California, which doesn't, perhaps, have quite as strong a tradition of
CBC monitoring of exotics, there are all sorts of possibilities. Common
Peafowl, Mandarin Ducks, Rose-ringed Parakeets, Black-throated Magpie-Jays,
Nutmeg Mannikins, Orange Bishops--all those species are apparently
established, but with very little data. We need to know what's going on with
their populations. We need to count them on CBCs. Go ahead! Go on! Do it!
Count them. Even a Demoiselle Crane in Lodi. It's a real bird, for crying
out loud. It's THERE, actually THERE, in the wild, interacting with other
organisms, exchanging energy and matter with the environment. It oughtta be
counted.
The problem of well-established or potentially established (or establishing)
populations of non-countable exotics is best known in South Florida and
Southern California, but it affects all of us, really. Mute Swans, Muscovy
Ducks, Eurasian Collared-Doves, Monk Parakeets--all those birds are on the
move, and they oughtta be noted even in areas in which they're not yet
considered to be established. Even Peach-faced Lovebirds in Phoenix, even a
whole slew of Old World passerines in the Upper Midwest--they're here, and
the CBC provides us with a great opportunity to understand them.
And even, yes, California Quail. I and others were amazed when we opened up
the Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas, published a few years ago, and learned that
the species had been established for 40+ years in east-central Arizona, near
the New Mexico border. They're all over Chile, too. And they've been
established for close to 50 years in Corsica. They get around. They get
established. Who knows?--maybe we'll someday learn, sooner than anyone had
expected, that they're established and expanding in and around the Fountain
Creek region of Colorado. The habitat looks perfect.
The Christmas Bird Count is an awesome tradition. For many of us, our local
CBC is the ornithological highlight of the year. Especially if we've been
doing the same CBC for years or even decades--as is the case with so many of
us. And the most exciting thing of all, for a lot of us, is monitoring all
the changes in bird populations over the years.
If you find a Smew on the Pierre, South Dakota, CBC this coming Saturday,
just count it! Someone else can worry about whether it flew in from Asia or
escaped from the South Dakota Discovery Center & Aquarium. Doesn't matter.
The bird was there. You saw it. Count it.
-------------------------------
Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding
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