That statement is true, however Mike's point was overlooked. Look at the
possible first. On the White Stork point, those birds were believed to be
escaped (in fact wasn't it confirmed?). If this bird is a a Crimson
Grosbeak, its likely to be an escape, though I'm not sure how common they
are even in zoos? Maybe Greg Toffic can help out here.
Also White-headed Woodpeckers aren't that incredible in the perspective of
the Grosbeak. Just on the other side of the cascades White-headed can be
found in several spots.
I think the point about field guides needs to be emphasized. Many
beginning birders do not understand the implications of
species distributions and to say to them it is not commonly found in the
area really doesn't mean much. I had a person tell me recently that they
were pretty sure that they saw Tufted Titmouse on the Olympic Peninsula
(which is highly unlikely, if not almost impossible). Field guides should
either omit some of these very rare birds or at least stress their
rareness. I don't feel that saying the bird is accidental in this area
means much to a beginning birder. As many people have said there is a
reason why they are rare. The quote below has validlity, but only with
respect to common sense first.

Thanks,

Scott Downes
sdownes at u.washington.edu
Seattle WA

"Birds don't read bird books. (That's why they are seen doing things they
are not supposed to do)." -Mary Wood


On Tue, 29 Jun 1999, Rahne Kirkham wrote:

> Skepticism is well and good but as one of the ornithologist at the Burke
> Museum said to me when I was a fledling birder,"They do have wings, you
> know." Wierd birds show up where they are not supposed to and this has been
> that kind of a year what with a White Stork in Kent and White-headed
> Woodpeckers in Thurston County.
> Rahne Kirkham
> rahne at mindspring.com
> Federal Way
> "Time is just the stream I go a'fishin' in."
> Henry David Thoreau
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Mike Patterson <mpatters at oregonvos.net>
> To: <jschmitt at sprintmail.com>
> Cc: tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Sent: Monday, June 28, 1999 6:30 PM
> Subject: Re:Crimson Grosbeak
>
>
> > One of the problems with the information age is access to too much
> > information. The new NGS guide is a fairly good example of this.
> > In their effort to be complete they have included species that are
> > so improbable throughout most of North America as to be distracting.
> >
> > Barring an escape, it is highly improbable that a Crimson-collared
> > Grosbeak came to your mother-in-law's feed. I think you've registered
> > your own skepticism sufficiently and I'm not saying anything surprising
> > to you.
> >
> > Pretend as though Crimson-collared Grosbeak, Red Bishop and Eurasian
> > Bulfinch are not included in the book. Just block them out. What is
> > the next most likely bird? I don't want to suggest any myself, though
> > I have an opinion....
> >
> > And on the off chance that it is a Crimson-collared Grosbeak, buy
> > your mother-in-law a camera. She may have the next Xantu's Hummingbird.
> >
> > Joanne Schmitt wrote:
> > >
> > > Yesterday, while visiting my in-laws in Port Angeles, we saw a Red
> > > Crossbill land at their feeder! I had never seen one there, and neither
> > > had my mother-in-law. She also told me that both she and my
> > > father-in-law had seen a Crimson Grosbeak (native to Mexico) at their
> > > feeder several times within the last week. I really doubted it at
> first,
> > > but her report sure fits it and they both went through the entire
> > > Peterson's Field Guide to Western Birds and could find nothing else
> > > remotely similar to what they saw. My mother-in-law is somewhat new to
> > > birding, but is VERY observant, having been taught to observe wildlife
> at
> > > a young age by her father.
> > >
> > > Joanne Schmitt
> > > jschmitt at sprintmail.com
> > > Poulsbo, WA
> > >
> > > "The earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs,
> > > but not every man's greed."
> > > - Mahatma Ghandi
> >
> > --
> > Mike Patterson I don't swear for the hell of it.
> > Astoria, OR Language is a poor enough means of communication
> > mpatters at orednet.org and we've got to use all the words we've got....
> > Besides, there are damn few words anybody
> understands
> > Henry Drummond in "Inherit the Wind"
> >
> > http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html
> >
>
>