Re: Photos of mystery peep at San Leandro Marina
Sat, 14 Feb 2004 00:00:10 -0800
From: Joseph Morlan
Folks,
I think there is a lot of confusion over the terms albinism and leucism, and the terms have been used to mean various things by various authorities. Some widely accepted definitions from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology are at:
http://birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/AttractingBirds%5CChallenges/StrangeBirds.html
Notice that the Least Sandpiper under discussion is not leucistic under their definition. It is a partial albino. Leucistic is when all or parts of the plumage are washed-out or pale compared to normal. That's not the case here, where melanin is completely missing in patches on the bird. Cf. their example of a partial albino Spotted Towhee.
The term partial albino is easily understood plain language and is, in my view, more correct than leucistic which leaves the average person wondering what it might mean and seems to convey a number of different things to different people.
I hope this helps.
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA
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RFI: Crow roosts in Alameda County
Sat, 14
Feb 2004 07:27:02 -0800
From: Peter Dramer
Alameda County Mosquito Abatement is interested in identifying crow roosts within Alameda County. Their goal is to set mosquito traps with the hope of identifying, early, the introduction of West Nile Virus should it occur. I do not have an e-mail for them so you may respond c/o birds at this domain.
Thank you.
Peter
Re: Photos of mystery peep at San Leandro Marina
Sat, 14 Feb 2004 07:52:43 -0800
From: Debbie Viess
I guess that we shouldn't be so fast and "leuc" with our definitions. Even though I have always thought of albinism as an all or nothing deal (like pregnancy), I concede the point to the Cornell Lab.
Ya win some, ya leuc some,
Debbie Viess
PS So, is it a Least Sandpiper, or not? It certainly has the "Least" gestalt. The bill color is somewhat problematic, though. Size can be tricky to estimate when a bird is off by itself.
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Dancing Mew Gull on Albany mudflats
Sat, 14
Feb 2004 14:15:54 -0800
From: Rusty Scalf
The Golden Gate Audubon Society walk this morning to Berkeley Aquatic Park and the "Albany Crescent" (mudflats north of Golden Gate Fields racetrack) was a good one. In Albany Tim Molter spotted a Mew Gull that was in a shallow pool on the mudflat. The bird was doing a Snowy Egret-like dance, moving it's feet up and down quite rapidly, stirring up the mud. It then quickly picked small prey items out of the stirred water. This behavior continued for several minutes. Has anyone on this list observed such behaviour?
In the long lagoon at Berkeley Aquatic Park, a male Red-breasted Merganser came up with a large brown fish - as long as the head and bill combined. The fish was wide and had large fan shaped dorsal and pectoral fins.
In the middle pond were a pair of Hooded Merganser.
Rusty Scalf
The list:
Lake Merritt, Oakland - Tufted Duck and more
Sat, 14 Feb 2004 18:25:10 -0800
From: Joseph Morlan
This morning I took my Ornithology Class on our annual field trip to Lake Merritt in Oakland. Before the class, I made a brief stop by Children's Fairy Land to look for the Black-and-white Warbler. I didn't see it, but I did see the Black-throated Gray Warbler and an Orange-crowned Warbler.
At the Lake, the female Tufted Duck was showing nicely at the duck feeding area [behind the Rotary Nature Center]. Special thanks to sharp-eyed Lillian Fujii for spotting it. A male hybrid Ring-necked Duck X scaup sp. was also present. I managed to get decent digiscope images of both of these interesting ducks.
The hybrid is at:
http://home.pacbell.net/robbie22/Photos/rnduxscsp2142591.jpgThe Tufted Duck is at:
http://home.pacbell.net/robbie22/Photos/tudu2142564.jpg
The Cattle Egret was around the duck feeding area as was an adult Thayer's Gull and another light-eyed gull that may also have been a Thayer's Gull. Unfortunately it flew before we had an opportunity to pin it down. I was thinking it might have been a hybrid between Herring Gull and Glaucous-winged Gull, but I'm not sure. Has anybody else noticed that bird and formed an opinion?
In the park across the street was a Nuttall's Woodpecker, and an Anna's Hummingbird was building a nest.
I had to leave at noon, but others were on their way to try for the Black-and-white Warbler after class. I hope they found it.
A check-list of what we saw on the field trip is at:
http://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/merritt.htmThe list is missing a few additional species I saw before the trip started.
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA