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Gull Trip Feb 18th

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Ed & I will lead a gull id trip, hopefully some aging too, on Feb. 18,
8:00am to 4:00 pm.  We will visit coulon park, gog le hi te, and the
log booms of Tacoma, maybe elsewhere if time permits.  Meet at:
Key bank at hwy 99 and & 54th st, Fife, exit 137.  kennethwbrown@
hotmail.com for sign-up and questions.  We hope for 7 species at
least, Kaufman’s advanced birding pgs. 242-271 for background info.

Leave a comment to sign up for the trip.

Ken

PS.:  Anyone wanting to bone up on the gulls here is a link to an excel spreadsheet that I believe Ryan put together and below is the best I can do at putting it on this page:

Name Eye Wing Mantle Bill Legs Lgth Wgt Notes
Arctic and Pelagic Gulls
Ross’s Gull Black Pale gray unmarked 3.5-4.5 Black, small Red 13″-14″ 180g Long, thin wings, arched and pushed forward.  Head peaked, wedge shaped tail.
Sabine’s Gull* Black Dark w/white tips 7.0-9.0 Black w/yellow tip Dark 12″-14″ 180g Smaller than Kittiwake.  Size like Bonepartes.  Striking wing pattern and graceful ternlike flight distinctive.
Black-legged Kittiwake* Black Black tips cut straight across 7.0-8.0 Yellow Black 16″-18″ 400g Large headed, long winged.  Flight buoyant and dashing w/stiff wingbeats.
Red-legged Kittiwake Black Black tips, cut straight across 8.5-9.5 Yellow Red 16″-17″ 380g Smaller than Black-legged, wings longer and thinner, short red legs.
Ivory Gull Black Pure white 0 Greenish w/orange tip, stubby Black 17″-19″ 630g Only pure white gull.  Black legs and eyes with orange tipped bill distinctive.
Small Hooded Gulls
Little Gull Black Pale, short 4.5-5.5. Black, stubby red 10″-12″ 120g Smallest gull, wing pattern unique
Bonaparte’s Gull* Black Black tips, Long white triangle tipped black 5.0-6.0 Black, slender, straight, pointed Red 12″-14″ 190g Bonepartes rarely mixes with other gulls. Differs from Black-headed by size, bill color and wing pattern.
Black-headed Gull Black Black 4.0-5.0 Red Red 14″-17″ 270g Larger, longer, heavier-billed, broader-winged than Bonapartes.
Medium Hooded Gulls
Franklin’s Gull* Black Black w/large white tips, Irregular black bar crossing white ground 8.0-9.0 Red Dark red brown 13″-15″ 280g Smaller, more delicate than Laughing.  Bill shorter, wings shorter and less pointed, underwing clean white with limited black tips.
Laughing Gull Black Black w/small white tips 8.0-9.0 Red, relatively long, drooped at tip Dark red/dusky 15″-17″ 320g Looks slender, long bill, longer wings than other gulls, flight graceful, swept back and pointed.
White-headed Gulls
Mew Gull* Dusky Black w/white tips and mirrors 6.0-7.5 Greenish yellow, short, unmarked, thin bill Yellowish 16″-19″ 420g Smaller, more slender than Ring-billed, shorter, thinner bill, rounder head, eyes appear large, wings narrow and less pointy.  Darker mantle than Ring-billed.
Ring-billed Gull* Pale Black w/small white tips 4.0-5.0 Yellow, short, straight with broad black ring Yellowish 17″-21″ 520g Smaller than Herring and Cal w/ shorter bill, thinner, more pointed wings.  Pale mantle.
Heermann’s Gull* Dark Nearly all dark 10.0-11.5 Red Black 18″-20″ 500g Distinctively dark and unpatterened.
Black-tailed Gull Pale Black, small white tips 8.0-9.5 Yellow, long slender, black/red tip Yellowish 17″-20″ 530g Black tail band
California Gull* Dark Black w/white tips and mirrors 6.0-7.5 Yellow with red and black marks Greenish yellow 18″-23″ 610g Smaller than herring w/ round head, long bill and long wings.  Larger than Ring-billed, longer bill, narrower wings.
Lesser Black-backed Gull Pale Dark w/small white tips 9.0-11.0 Yellow w/red or red and black mark Greenish yellow 20″-24″ 800g Sleek and slender, w/long narrow wings, head small and rounded, bill short and thin.
Iceland Gull Pale – dusky Dark-pale with lots of white 3.0-4.0 Yellow-green bill Deep pink 19″-25″ 820g Relatively small w/ round head and short bill creates gentle expression.  Round body, short legs, stocky.
Thayer’s Gull* Dark (10% pale) Black w/ white tips and mirrors 5.6-0-6.0 Small, yellow/green bill w/red mark Deep pink 20″-25″ 1000g Structure like Icelandic
Kelp Gull Pale Very dark, small white tips 12.5-14.0 Yellow bill, red spot Greenish yellow 21″-25″ 1035g Darkest mantled gull, stocky, shorter and broader winged than Lesser BB Gull
Western Gull* Dark – pale Dark w/ small white tips 8.0-9.5 Yellow w/red mark on lower mandible, bulbous Flesh colored 21″-26″ 1000g Stocky and heavy, droopy billed, Peak on head above eyes w/sloping rear crown.  Broad wings w/white skirt along tertials.  Usuall found @ coast
Yellow-legged Gull Pale Dark, white tips 7.0-8.5 Brignt yellow Yellow 21″-26″ 1125g Very similar to Herring, differes in mantle color, wingtip pattern, bare-parts color and voice.
Herring Gull* Pale Black w/ white tips and mirrors 4.0-5.0 Yellow with red mark Flesh colored 22″-26″ 1150g Slender, long billed, peak on rear crown, long, narrow wings.  Pale mantle.
Slaty-backed Gull Pale – dusky Black w/small white tips 9.5-11.5 Yellow w/red mark on lower madible Deep pink 22″-26″ 1350g Large and bulky like Western but thinner billed.  Dark color on bill.
Olympic Gull (GLWGxWSTN)* Pale Dark Gray-Black w/mirrors 6.0-8.0 Yellow w/red mark on lower mandible, bulbous Flesh colored 22″-26″ 1000g Like GLWG but with dark wingtips or like Western but with streaks on head and nape.  One of the most common gulls of Puget Sound.
Glaucous-winged Gull* Dusky Gray w/white tips. 5.0-6.0 Yellow w/ red mark on lower mandible Flesh colored 21″-29″ 1000g Structure like Western but varies.  Unpatterned and low contrast plumage distinctive.
Yellow-footed Gull Pale Black w/white tips 9.0-10.5 Yellow, heavy bill w/red mark Bright yellow 22″-27″ 1260g Similar to Western but heavier billed w/strong gonydeal angle, longer neck, blockier head.
Glaucous Gull* Pale White, unmarked 3.0-4.0 Yellowish w/red mark on lower madible Flesh colored 26″-32″ 1400g Large and powerfull w/ long straight bill, flat crown and slight bulge on forehead.  Larger, longer-billed, flatter-headed than Iceland.  Short primary projection.
Great Black-backed Gull Dusky – Pale Dark w/white tips 13.0-15.0 Yellow w/red mark Pale pink 25″-31″ 1650g Largest gull but can overlap w/Glaucous, Herring and others.  Long and broad winged w/lumbering flight.  Massive bill and head.
*Denotes species that regularly occur in WA.


Ocean Shores Jan 27th

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Friday, January 27. I had some business in Aberdeen so I spent the late afternoon at Ocean Shores.  The Emperor Goose was present at the golf course on the fairway near the driving range with usual group of Greater White-fronted Geese (2) and Canada Geese (8). Later I went to Damon Point.  There were reported eight different owls there but I only saw 2 on the right side of the point walking from the parking lot 3/4 of the way down the beach. Further adventures saw birds at the Jetty but the light was so bad with the setting sun that identification was difficult (for me).  Good birding all.  Roger Hunt.

Sparrow Identification- Generic Approach +

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Whether the generic approach to sparrow ID primarily from Kauffman’s new Advanced Birding book, along with info from the Rising and Beadle sparrow book, some tips from the Pete Dunnes Field Guide Companion, and bits and pieces from Ken’s classes and elsewhere. Unfortunately I think to use this approach it is necessary to just memorize a small amount of information, and then to build on that information with understanding and experience.

To get to a copy of this table in a word format Click Here then download the word file, open the download, and you can save it or print it out.  If you don’t have microsoft word and would prefer a less attractive google document click here.

 

Here are the first 6 Genus summaries in the first table followed by the next 6 in the second table.

  Aimophila  & Peucaea Spizella Pooecetes Chondestes Amphispiza Calamospiza(Lark bunting)
Size Medium Small Large Rather large Medium Large Large
Bulk Heavy Bodied Bulky Fairly slim for large sparrow Avg. Bulky
Tail Long usually rounded Medium-long, usually notched, variation between species helpful Medium long squared Long rounded Short and wide
Head Rather flat crowned Rounded Fairly rounded Large rounded Slightly flattened crown Large and rounded
Bill Small bills Avg. avg Avg. Large
Habitat Dense vegetation near ground Brushy woodlands or edges, not grass or marsh Very open habitats incl. grasslands, brush areas, avoids dense cover Brushy near open ground On or near ground in dry open country Non-breeding in open ground, brush, farm country
Behavior Shy, quiet, near ground,flush reluctantly Feed on ground, perch in trees, often conspicuous perches in open Not secretive, perches in the open often Conspicuous perches, flys high between perches with sharp metallic call note Perch in open, not secretive (exc. Five-striped), Sage runs with tail cocked, bobs tail. Feed on ground,, perch up in trees, often in the open
Groups Pairs, never large flocks Flock with own kind In winter small loose flocks Small loose flocks in migration and winter Pairs or family groups, not large flocks Tight flocks
Flight High Wide tail, broad rounded wings, contrasty look
Plumage No distinct seasonal plumage Several have seasonal variation White outer tail feathers in flight, darkly outlined ear patch. Very Conspicuous markings Distinctive markings Conspicuous dark underwings, pale patches on coverts
Vocal-izations: musical Thin, lisping call notes of some
Species 4 Peucaea: Rufous-winged, Botteri’s, Cassin’s Bachmann’s Amophila: Rufous-crowned Am. Tree, Chipping, Clay-colored, Field, Black-chinned, Worthens Vesper, Lark Black-throated,  Sage,     Five-striped Lark Bunting
Overall Summary Medium sized, plump, rather flat crowned, secretive, dense, hug ground Small, notched-tailed, flocking, feed on ground and perch in trees Vesper, large, bulky, square tailed, non-secretive, dark ear patch, white outer tail feathers in flight Lark:  Large, slim, long tailed, conspicuous markings, open perches. Medium sized, fairly conspicuous exc. Five striped, pairs or alone. Large, bulky, conspicuously dark, easy breeding, non-breeding contrasty.

 Table 2

Passerculus Ammodramus Passerella Melospiza Zonotrichia Junco
Size Small Medium Large Medium Large Medium-Large to Large Small-medium
Bulk Medium-light Chunky Chunky Plump Plump Avg.
Tail Short-ratty Short-tailed Medium Length (longer in West) Longish, rounded or squared tips Fairly long square tipped White-outer tail feathers very obvious
Head Rounded Flat foreheads Rounded Rounded Slightly Peaked Crown rounded
Bills Small Vary between species Varies but generally large Avg. Proportionally not large small
Habitat Open fields, marshes Species specific grasslands, precise habitat a clue to identification Low dense vegetation Usually dense vegetation Brushy areas or woodland edges Breed Northern Forests, winter in open near cover
Behavior Bold, not elusive, perches in open often Hard to flush, fly low, dive into vegetation Scratch with 2 feet, hopping backwards Usually secretive, Song sometimes not Feed on ground, perch conspicuously when disturbed When disturbed move into trees or shrubs
Groups Small loose flocks Strictly solitary in non-breeding season, never flock Often in small mixed flocks, never in flocks of own kind Usually solitary or pairs, never flocks Almost always in flocks Small to larger flocks.
Flight Light and buoyant, longer broader wings than other sparrows of open habitat Weak labored flight Darting
Plumage Variable, most with yellow lores &/or supercillium Getting a good look difficult. Three subspecies may be split in future Usually distinctive Distinctive, hooded look.
Vocal-izations: Call note distinctive hard smack except in Thick-billed race in CA and OR. All N. of Mexico share call note a “cheff” Call notes sharp and distinctive
Species Savannah Grasshopper,                   Baird’s,                     Henslow’s,  Le Conte’s, Nelson’s  Saltmarsh Seaside Fox Song,  Lincoln’s, Swamp White-throated, Harris’     White-crowned, Golden-crowned Dark-eyed(subspecies more of a challenge) Yellow-eyed
General Summary Savannah: default field sparrow, small, ratty tail Medium sized, weak flying, short tailed, secretive grasslands birds.  Fly and dive into grass. Solitary, never flock. Fox, may be split. Large, plump, low dense vegetation, scratch with 2 feet, respond to pishing Largish, plump, long tailed, tend to be secretive, never flocks, most have cheff call note. Crowned sparrows: Fairly large or bigger, plump, long square tailed, birds of brush or edges, tend to flock, call notes good to know. Small to medium, round headed, white outer tail feathers. Flocking in winter, darting flight.

 

Unfortunately I think to use this approach it is necessary to memorize a modest amount of information, and then to build on that information with understanding and experience .I’m no sparrow expert, and so I tried to collate this information in a format that may help in this learning, as well as organize the information so that it is easier to make sense of an learn.

If I’ve learned anything from this homework, it is that trying to learn to ID sparrows just from field marks alone is going to leave a few birds identified and a lot of LBJs. Too often the view is brief, obstructed,or distant.  If we take what we know from a brief glimpse and combine that with what we know at the time we see the bird:  range, habitat, season, etc, and try to think about what we have seen:  estimate of general shape and size, flight appearance, flocking or alone, and behavior we can usually narrow the options down to just a few choices. Ideally we will be able to make a good guess as to the genus of the bird.  Then if we know the birds in that genus or two that are possible or likely in the area we are birding we can limit the choices.

Second is that it’s really important to know the common sparrows really well.  Knowing Song sparrow as the typical Melospiza, Savannah, Grasshopper as the Ammodramus found in most areas, and the crowned Zonotrichia sparrows we will be able to note if a bird is different from these common species.  Knowing female house sparrow from every angle and every detail, and house sparrow calls will keep us from looking carefully at every churry in every bush in every neighborhood we bird.

So let’s look at some sillhouettes and then at these common sparrows in more detail than we might usually.

Song Sparrow as the Default Melospiza sparrow:  remember when you travel the subspecies vary considerably.  Let’s look at the things that don’t change.  Face:  Mostly gray with Strong submalar stripe. Broad grayish eyebrow stripe. Streaked back and flanks.   Wings:  often rust brown in greater coverts.    Long rounded or doubly rounded tail, pumped in flight.  White chin. Hops. Lankier than Fox, more robust and broad-brush streaks than Lincolns.

Savannah Sparrow:  The default field sparrow in many areas. Quite variable:  Common to all subspecies:  Neat and cleanly marked, white underparts with three facial stripes, behind eye, moustachial and submalar.  Face color quite variable. Short tail, square in flight, notched at perch.  Small bill. Median crown stripe usually whitish.

Grasshopper Sparrow as typical Ammodramus sparrow: esc. Juvenile unstreaked underparts, white median crown stripe, flat forehead, complete eyering, spot on ear auricular, streaked back, rufous pattern of rufous spots on back, large bill.  Remember Florida birds darker, song may be different.

First Winter White Crowned vs. White Throated vs. Golden Crowned: 

WC:  Yellow bill, Bold stripe behind eye, head pattern dully approaches adult. Short primary projection.

WT: Gray bill, yellow lores dull, has very sharp lower border of throat like adult, unlike WC.  Smaller and plumper than other zonotrichia. More rufous on wings.

GC:  Gray bill, faint eye stripe, head pattern dully approached adult.

Song vs. Lincolns: If you get a good look at adults, not too tough.  With a brief look- Look for tail length, much shorter in Lincolns, Bill: more slender in Lincolns, overall finer streaking on back, sides and breast.

House Sparrow:  Female- streaked back, unstreaked underparts, buffy eyebrow stripe,

Check out these two videos.  Look not at field marks, but shape, size, tail, head, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mlu2fp25S4

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/MigratoryBirds/Video/video.cfm?id=4oFfc5DOehg

There are lots of other great online videos. There are unfortunately few that show sparrows in flight.

 

Welcome Birders

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In case you couldn’t guess ABC stands for Advanced Birding Class, the Tahoma Audubon Society birding class taught by Ken Brown for many years. In order to free up spaces in the class for new students, and to provide a forum for the rest of us to continue to meet regularly and organize field trips together we’re planning to meet monthly.  The first meeting will be Thursday Jan 26, 2012 at Bella Nina restaurant in Tacoma at 7 PM.  We’ll start to decide on a format for the meetings, formalize a meeting time and place, and will have a brief presentation on Sparrow ID by Ed Pullen.  Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Grays Harbor Winter 2013 Shorebird Survey: Request for Volunteers

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Request for volunteers from Marian Bailey and Cyndie Sundstrom for shorebrid survey. It would be very helpful to be able to identify Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Dowitchers, Greater Yellowlegs, Killdeer, and Black-bellied Plover. Let them know if you are insterested? Shep Volunteers Shep, I’ve revised the info here and added a number of different things including instructions on contacting Cyndie. So PLEASE SEND THIS OUT TO THE BIRDERS, not the original one you got. Marian Bailey *Marian M. Bailey / Refuge Wildlife Biologist / Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge Complex / **Olympia, WA / (360) 753-9467 <%28360%29%20753-9467> / marian_bailey@fws.gov <marian_bailey@fws.gov>* Greetings, It’s that time of year again (2nd season) where I put out a mass-mailer asking for volunteers for the *Grays Harbor Winter Shorebird Survey *(also known as the Pacific Flyway Shorebird Survey – PFSS). Please see this website for more information about this project if you are not familiar with it: http://data.prbo.org/apps/pfss/ and http://data.prbo.org/apps/pfss/index.php?page=volunteer. Some of you volunteered last year and you did a wonderful job despite the weather conditions, last minute scrambling, and obvious confusion early on. We are hoping to fix and avoid many of the ‘blunders’ that were obvious and those that weren’t so obvious last year, after all it was the pilot year and there were lots of ‘kinks’ to work out. There have been a few modifications to the effort this season. In the works is an internet training site and an in-person training day can be put together for those who have not done this before or those who want a refresher, but there will not be a whole day training effort for you to commit to attend. Also we don’t think you need to visit your site in a special trip; we suggest you get there early to become familiar with it before the survey start time. We have worked on the timing of the tides situation in the South Bay vs. North Bay regions a bit. During last year’s survey we had several days of pouring rain prior to the survey. The weather conditions on the day of the survey were within protocol but what we didn’t expect was the nearly 2.0 foot higher difference in the predicted tide height and the actual tide height!!! That caused many of the sites to be at full-capacity when surveyors arrived at their locations and there was no exposed mudflats for which to count birds. Although I have some of your contact information, we are asking that you fill out a “Survey Monkey Questionnaire”. There are some changes to this questionnaire since last year. You will see that there are 3 options for survey locations (Columbia River, Willapa Bay, Grays Harbor). Point Blue (formerly Point Reyes Bird Observatory as some of you might recall) is wishing to extend their survey efforts throughout these locations in Southwest Washington. Once you have completed the survey questionnaire and if you have selected GRAYS HARBOR (you can select all 3 if you wish), I will be your contact (Lead Coordinator) for Grays Harbor only. Please do not contact Point Blue for specific site information for these locations; the Columbia River and Willapa Bay areas have their own Lead Coordinators and they will contact you. At this time, based on daylight hours and tidal conditions, the following tentative dates have been selected for a one (1) day survey (remember, only *one* of these days will be the actual survey day and volunteers will be notified of that date a few days ahead of time…..because we can’t predict the weather and the survey is protocol weather dependent): November 21, 22, 23, November 24, December 7, OR December 8 are the potential dates. If there is a greater response for a weekday availability (dates have not yet been determined based on daylight and tidal conditions) and the weather conditions are favorable, the survey may happen on a weekday! Finally, I encourage you to forward this email to anyone you might know who would be interested. A) Please take a few moments to fill out the ‘Survey Monkey Questionnaire’ . The survey monkey can be found at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SWWA13. B) Please EMAIL or CALL me (Cyndie Sundstrum contact info is below) with the dates you COULD do the survey. Please do this ASAP as we are trying to set a date-which is in part based on how many volunteers we can get. C) Also call or email if you are car pooling (as that will determine the sites assignments for you and your pooling mates). Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. I hope to have the answers for you! Cyndie Sundstrom Lead Coordinator Grays Harbor Winter Shorebird Survey snowyplover@comcast.net 360-581-6750