It’s a species I thought to bring up, although not just in relation to the several Dickcissel reports of recent weeks from NY state. A current post to the NJ-Birds list (by Mike Britt) also further inspires the subject of this post. It appears, more than entirely anecdotally, although in part with much anecdotal evidence, that there may be a surge in Dickcissel sightings, particularly this month, in multiple states across - at least[!] - the mid-Atlantic & midwestern regions of the U.S., & perhaps further into N. America. If nothing else a species to be watched and listened for, in any potential bit of likely habitat.
With singing males, the species is not going to be that difficult to detect, of course. It may require a bit more doing to determine if there are a pair (or more) involved in any given location[s]. It’s possible that the higher-than-usual number of reports from a number of states will turn out to be an anomaly, that is not instructive of any longer-term change in the breeding-range distribution of the species. But keeping eyes & ears out for this, & of course looking to see what the fall migration brings, will be of interest for this particular passerine. It also will be understandable if folks in some locations may not wish to report in all forums on potential breeders, for reasons that are sort of obvious, but could in some areas be in the best interests of the birds, and perhaps also as regards private or restricted-access properties in some instances. Good -and ethical- birding, Tom Fiore Manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
