AOU-NACC Proposals 2021 (2 Viewers)

[Kirk Roth]

For the proposed split in Swainson's Thrush, it is a pity that my fairly detailed vocal analysis was not picked up.
It shows that there is a small but consistent continent-wide difference in the song, and a major difference in alarm call.
It was initially received with some scepticism by American birders, but after some checks it has been generally accepted and it even led Pieplow in his book on voices of Western North American birds (2019) to highlight the vocal differences by treating them on two different pages. Also this published reference was not included in the proposal.

Given that in another proposal in the same batch (on the graysoni taxon), Van Remsen states that in Thrushes 'vocalizations are the standard by which allotaxa are evaluated', this seems like an important omission...

Terry Chesser is the current committee Chair - I believe you can contact him if you believe more information should be considered with the proposal (and I believe others have done this as recently as last year): https://americanornithology.org/nacc/guidelines-for-submitting-a-proposal/

 

[Mysticete]

The discussion of the Amazilia record from Panama are fascinating in the context of recent discussion of the Texas Steller's Sea Eagle photo.

 

[mb1848]

N. micromega.
Thanks Laurent and Björn for translation and that photo. If Cory and Tristam had the internet that would have squelched their beef. I looked at an article about Freyreiss botany collections and one species type was collected in Santo Domingo. On a ship from Germany to Brazil one could see a stop on that island in 1817. Long enough to collect one plant and one bird.
The proposal says: Nesoctitini was not formally named until 1976, by Wolters in Die Vogelarten der Erde . Björn I was wondering if you could easily provide that cite?

 

[raymie]

The discussion of the Amazilia record from Panama are fascinating in the context of recent discussion of the Texas Steller's Sea Eagle photo.

There was a sea eagle in Texas recently?!

 

[mb1848]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ABArare/permalink/4013255532068393/?comment_id=4013942161999730 . Coleto Creek Park March 11 2021?
https://www.aba.org/birding_archive_files/v40n4p28.pdf .

 

[Peter Boesman]

Terry Chesser is the current committee Chair - I believe you can contact him if you believe more information should be considered with the proposal (and I believe others have done this as recently as last year): https://americanornithology.org/nacc/guidelines-for-submitting-a-proposal/

Thanks for the suggestion. I sent an e-mail to Terry Chesser.

 

[Mysticete]

There was a sea eagle in Texas recently?!

Apparently. Folks found the snag, but no one relocated the bird and the only evidence is that single photo, although at least the identification is pretty much indisputable. Apparently OBVIOUS signs of photo manipulation have not been found, but I am still not comfortable with the record. However the comparable situation is the giant leaps of logic people are using to try to explain the bird as an escapee, even though there is no evidence of any birds of this species being kept in captivity in the region, nor any missing birds.

 

[raymie]

Apparently. Folks found the snag, but no one relocated the bird and the only evidence is that single photo, although at least the identification is pretty much indisputable. Apparently OBVIOUS signs of photo manipulation have not been found, but I am still not comfortable with the record. However the comparable situation is the giant leaps of logic people are using to try to explain the bird as an escapee, even though there is no evidence of any birds of this species being kept in captivity in the region, nor any missing birds.

Could you provide a link to this photo? I still can't find anything on it.

 

[Ian Lewis]

Could you provide a link to this photo? I still can't find anything on it.

see the link on mb1848's post above

 

[l_raty]

The proposal says: Nesoctitini was not formally named until 1976, by Wolters in Die Vogelarten der Erde . Björn I was wondering if you could easily provide that cite?

Wolters used Nesoctitinae on p. 156 of Die Vogelarten der Erde according to the ToC of his work; but so far as I know he did not state characters differentiating any of his family groups, hence he did not formally name any of them.
Anyway, Wolters in 1976 was not the first either, as Nesoctitini was already proposed by Lester Short in 1974 http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/2748 (p. 11).

(Can't people stop using Bock's work ?)

 

[jurek]

BTW, Stellers Sea Eagle is not that rare in collections nowadays. There were at least two escapees wandering all over Europe in the last decade or so.

 

[raymie]

BTW, Stellers Sea Eagle is not that rare in collections nowadays. There were at least two escapees wandering all over Europe in the last decade or so.

In Europe it isn't, in North America it is quite the rarity and only appears in a few zoos, none of which are close to Texas.

 

[Mysticete]

In Europe it isn't, in North America it is quite the rarity and only appears in a few zoos, none of which are close to Texas.

yep, what he says. Animals that are common in captivity in one place are not necessarily going to be common on another continent.

 

[mb1848]

There is a Steller's Sea Eagle at the Fort Worth Texas Zoo.
https://zooinstitutes.com/animals/black-sea-eagle-826/ .

 

[jurek]

How do they know it was not a falconry bird flown by its owner? Legs are not clearly visible. This would explain why such a huge bird appeared and disappeared again without trace.

 

[Mysticete]

Because there are records of any birds kept by falconers in the area. So we are back to the mysterious cabal of black market Steller's Sea Eagle trade.

 

[njlarsen]

Because there are records of any birds kept by falconers in the area. So we are back to the mysterious cabal of black market Steller's Sea Eagle trade.

Is there a "no" missing in the first sentence of this post?
Niels

 

[mb1848]

Cassin mentions a Steller's Sea Eagleish bird seen by Captain Cook on coast of British Columbia?
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/87221#page/59/mode/1up .
Blog post: https://texascryptidhunter.blogspot.com/2021/03/once-in-lifetime-stellars-sea-eagle.html .
Tiger King Joe Exotic rumoured to have kept large raptors.

 

[Paul Clapham]

Cassin mentions a Steller's Sea Eagleish bird seen by Captain Cook on coast of British Columbia?

That would be a lot less surprising than one seen on the Texas coast. The British Columbia coast extends up to what is now Alaska, and perhaps in the 18th century the extreme range of Steller's Sea Eagle could have extended that far. Also, possible Bald Eagle x Steller's Sea Eagles have been seen on the BC coast.

 

[mb1848]

"Wolters used Nesoctitinae on p. 156"