Subject: [Tweeters] A Bobwhite in My Back Yard?????
Date: Jul 22 09:56:29 2010
From: johntubbs at comcast.net - johntubbs at comcast.net




Hi Lydia and Bonnie and Tweets,



In mid-May I had a Northern Bobwhite calling loudly in and near our back yard in Snoqualmie over the course of several days.? (Then it was gone - a coyote?? Didn't like the neighborhood?? Wanderlust?? Who knows.) ? I got good pictures of it.? It shocked me as well, though it was nice to hear, since I grew up around them in PA.? There is a small established population in the Fort Lewis area, and my/your birds could be strays from that population.? However, since game birds like the bobwhite are often kept in captivity or raised for training dogs, it is also possible they are escapees.? Absent any bands, there is no way to know what the origin of the birds actually is, though there are a number of folks on the list who will?insist?they are?'obviously' escapees, though that viewpoint is really just an opinion .? Without any hard evidence, it is of course impossible to prove a negative logically so no one can really definitely say that it is 'not wild' or 'not an escapee or released'.?



The recent spate of Acorn Woodpecker sightings in bizarre places provides an interesting example as well.? There's really no way to prove (lacking DNA tests) that those are birds of wild origin but those records will be officially accepted because that species does have a history of 'pioneering vagrancy' whereas that is not the case with Northern Bobwhite as a species.? So from an official?bird?records point of view, strong opinions of some aside, assessing?the origin of an individual bird ?is an interestingly subjective exercise for which the various bird record committees earn their big bucks...!?



: - )



John Tubbs

Snoqualmie, WA

johntubbs at comcast.net

www.tubbsphoto.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Bonnie Block" <bonblock at centurytel.net>
To: "Lydia Bishop" <gizacat at mac.com>, tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 9:10:01 AM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] A Bobwhite in My Back Yard?????


Lydia,
I have been hearing the same bird in my neighborhood--and I still cannot
figure out what it is.
It always seems to be near a Swainson's Thrush. Does that bird have more
than one call?
And it does sound similar to a quail at times.
Glad you are asking!

Bonnie Block
Kingston, Wa.
www.fieldandfarmphoto.com
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Lydia Bishop" <gizacat at mac.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 8:56 AM
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] A Bobwhite in My Back Yard?????

> Tweeties!
>
> I'm hearing a very strange bird on my property this morning. ?It sounds
> like a Bobwhite! ?Okay, since Bobwhites are eastern USA birds, what bird
> around here would sound like a Bobwhite? Could it be a quail with a "bad
> cold" or something?
>
> Thanks,
> Lydia Bishop
> Near Snohomish
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> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
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