Subject: [Tweeters] RE: Verdin
Date: Apr 3 16:43:12 2010
From: Eugene and Nancy Hunn - enhunn323 at comcast.net


Tweets,

Just my two-bits worth on the relative probability of a Verdin getting up
here on its own versus with some sort of "unnatural" assist. I seem to
recall an early record of a Red-headed Woodpecker in southern California
found mummified beside the road in the Mojave desert somewhere. That was
surely a bird that got squashed on someone's radiator while traveling west.
A Verdin, I suppose, could get inside someone's car at a roadside rest in
Arizona and survive the trip north. I suspect that's how our two
Yellow-bellied Marmots got to Seattle, as a Hoary Marmot once climbed up
into the engine compartment of my father-in-law's pick-up on the east slope
of the Rockies in Glacier National Park, only to protest very loudly the
next morning when he started it up back home in Kalispell. Some birds stray
(like mockingbirds), others seem highly resistant to such movements.
Consider the Wrentit. Common in the chaparral on the hills behind Santa
Barbara but unknown on the Channel Islands, some less than 10 miles away.
Ditto for Wrentits crossing the Columbia River from near Astoria to be added
to our Washington State List. Seems to me the Verdin is more akin to the
Wrentit than the Mocker. Thus, I would favor suspecting some sort of assist
in the Verdin case, at least until such time as a pattern of vagrancy
emerges. (Though, I admit, I count the BC Xantus's Hummer on my life list.
There was a hurricane that might have been responsible for that one.)

Gene Hunn
Lake Forest Park, WA
enhunn323 at comcast.net



-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Wayne Weber
Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2010 1:54 PM
To: DOUG SCHONEWALD
Cc: TWEETERS
Subject: RE: [Tweeters] RE: Verdin

Doug and Tweeters,

As far as I am concerned, the theory that Marian Murdoch's Verdin was a case
of "assisted passage" is as full of holes as a Swiss cheese. Assisted
passage is often invoked as an explanation for the occurrence of stray
songbirds in coastal locations (there are well-known examples of songbirds
surviving and travelling some distance on a ship), or for the out-of-range
occurrence of birds known to be kept in captivity (e.g. parrots, finches,
waterfowl). The Grand Coulee is not a coastal location, and Verdins are not,
to my knowledge, kept in captivity.

Yes, the Verdin is a non-migratory species with very few records outside its
normal range. However, the most likely explanation by far, in my opinion, is
that this bird got to eastern Washington under its own power. There are
other non-migratory species
Which show up frequently far outside their normal range (e.g. Northern
Mockingbird), and still others which very rarely turn up as vagrants, but
for which extreme vagrant records are generally accepted (e.g. Xantus's
Hummingbird in southern British Columbia).

The biggest problem with Marian's record, as I see it, is that we don't have
an exact location or date for the sighting, unless she has been able to
recall them. There seems little doubt that the bird got to Washington by
itself.

Doug, what are the details of the previously photographed Verdin in
Washington? I don't recall having heard about it.

This record is obviously one that the Washington Records Committee will have
to wrestle with, but I hope they make the right decision.

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net






-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Doug
Schonewald
Sent: April-01-10 7:30 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] RE: Verdin

Tweets,

There is no doubt whatsoever that the bird Marian saw, and photographed,
is/was a Verdin. However to say it is as likely that this bird arrived in
Washington unaided as the bird in Santa Barbara County, California verges on
incredible. Kern County (only about 100 kilometers to the east of Santa
Barbara County) has a small population of Verdin, as does Los Angeles and
San Diego Counties. These population of Verdin are all on the east side of
the Sierras. The Sierras effectively block almost all Verdin from coastal
counties (or parts thereof) of California (Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los
Angeles, Orange, & San Diego). There are very few records from those
counties, or portions, that lie west of the Sierras. To think that a range
of mountains would effectively block passage of this sedentary species and
then assume that one would cross several thousand miles of territory
(including mountains and high desert plateaus) on its own, without aid, to
get to Grant County is hoping for a lot. Not that it is not impossible,
stranger things have happened.

Incidentally, this is not the first Verdin photographed in Washington, nor
will it be the first record submitted to the Washington Bird Records
Committee. I encourage observers to submit a record of this sighting (and
any other, regardless of how improbable they may seem). In the future the
naysayers (myself included) may be proven wrong and Verdin, or some other
species, may eventually establish some pattern of vagrancy heretofore not
known. In which case the original records will be readdressed and someone
will get credit for a 1st state record.

The nice thing about lists is that they are your own, and I would agree with
Jim that however you keep your list is your business. If you choose to list
according to some form of standard rules I suggest reviewing the American
Birding Association (ABA) for typical guidelines, however in the end how you
keep your list is up to you. Whatever makes you comfortable, brings you
pleasure, and keeps you birding is the right thing for you.

Cheers

Doug Schonewald
Moses Lake, WA



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