Bob and Tweeters,

When I saw the Bellingham TROPICAL KINGBIRD on November 3, it vocalized only
once-- a high-pitched chattering note which is characteristic of this
species. As I remarked at the time in a message to TWEETERS, this bird was
probably the least vocal Tropical Kingbird I have ever encountered. They are
usually quite vocal.

If the Washington Records Committee is tallying all records of Tropical
Kingbird as Tropical/Couch's unless vocalization are heard, I think they are
being extraordinarily cautious. To the best of my knowledge, there are no
records of Couch's Kingbird on the Pacific Coast north of California, and
only one or two records in California. On the other hand, Tropical Kingbirds
turn up every fall in coastal areas of Oregon, Washington, and BC. There are
several records every fall in each of these states and provinces (e.g., four
records just this fall in BC-- one near Vancouver, and 3 on Vancouver
Island). Furthermore, Tropical Kingbirds seem to be showing up more and more
often in recent years.

In fact, I would suggest that perhaps it's time for the Records Committee to
consider dropping Tropical Kingbird from the Review List. I'm not sure what
the criterion is (in terms of number of records per year), but Tropical
Kingbird must surely be approaching that criterion. The chance of any of
these birds being a Couch's Kingbird-- especially in the usual
October/November time window-- is so slight, in my opinion, that it can be
effectively ignored.


To quote Steve Mlodinow from his 1998 article on Tropical Kingbirds:

"For the purposes of this article, non-calling kingbirds from Alaska,
British Columbia,
Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada have been assumed to be Tropical.
Thus, it is
entirely possible that one or two Couch's have been included under the guise
of Tropical.
While this might slightly skew the pattern for Tropical Kingbird,
eliminating all non-calling
birds would distinctly alter our ability to look at this species' status,
especially since it is not
known how many California records pertain to vocalizing individuals."



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 Bob
Sundstrom
Sent: November-10-10 10:21 AM
To: 'Brad Waggoner'
Cc: tweeters
Subject: RE: [Tweeters] Tropical Kingbirds - has anyone reported hearing the
Whatcom kingbird?

Hi, Brad and tweeters,

Do you know if anyone has noted vocalizations for the current Whatcom
kingbird? The Washington Bird Records Committee has typically logged such
kingbird sightings as Tropical/Couch's (since they are so similar to the
eye) unless there is some report of typical TK calls made by the bird in
question. Whoever does hear it call, should report this to the WBRC to help
substantiate the bird's identity.

Thanks, Bob