Greg:

Hard for this observer to imagine a population increase causing increased
sightings. Some of the dabblers in northeast Russia (from which,
presumably, some of our birds originated) aren't doing very well--the most
dramatic case is Baikal Teal, which seems to be in a freefall decline and is
found with Eur. GW Teal, in both breeding and non-breeding seasons. I
haven't heard any of any Eur. GW Teal decline in n.e. Russia, (and the taxon
seems as abundant there as our form here), but it would hardly be
surprising, given that a lot of birds there are under real pressure in
recent years.....

We've had many cases of increased observer effort leading to more sightings
of a species or form that beforehand had been thought to be more rare, and
no doubt there will be others in the future. A pending split also makes
Eur. GW Teal sexier for birders trying to decide on how to spend their time.

Scott Atkinson
Lake Stevens
email: scottratkinson at hotmail.com


>From: Deborah Wisti-Peterson <nyneve at u.washington.edu>
>Reply-To: nyneve at u.washington.edu
>To: Greg Toffic <greg.toffic at zoo.org>
>CC: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>Subject: Re: Common teal explosion
>Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 10:17:58 -0800 (PST)
>
>
>can't speak for the other birds, but there has been one male common
>teal at the montlake fill for more than a year now.
>
>regards,
>
> Deborah Wisti-Peterson, PhD Candidate nyneve at u.washington.edu
>Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
> Visit me on the web: http://students.washington.edu/~nyneve/
> Love the creator? Then protect the creation.
>
>On Thu, 15 Mar 2001, Greg Toffic wrote:
>
> > Tweeters,
> > Will anyone speculate as to why there have been so many common teal
>(Eurasian green-winged teal) reported in Western Washington this year? I'm
>aware of at least 6 males seen in the past couple of weeks. One each at
>Edmonds Marsh, Montlake Fill, Gorst Creek, Marymoor Park, and two at Blaine
>Harbor. Have we just been overlooking them in the past? Any explanations?
> >
> > Greg
> >
> > Greg Toffic
> > Curator of Birds
> > Woodland Park Zoo
> > 5500 Phinney Avenue North
> > Seattle, WA 98103
> > (206) 684-4836 (Desk)
> > (206) 233-7278 (Fax)
> > greg.toffic at zoo.org
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

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