Didn't want this opportunity for highlighting some of the fab
ornithological research from our region to pass:
Dov Lank's lab up in BC has published some remarkable work on mating
strategies--here's a Ruff outline:
Male mating strategies in Ruffs <https://player.vimeo.com/video/144333522>

I'd love to emphasize the faeder strategy noted in slo-mo for quick eyes at
the end of that video a bit more--relevant to the question of male vs
female ruffs in WA--but I'm having trouble finding a working link to the
three original videos by Dr Sue McRae showing faeders in action on a lek.
Here's the link to Dr Lank's website
<http://www.sfu.ca/biology/wildberg/ruff.html> that links to the videos,
but the link to the vids isn't working for me at the moment. And Dr.
McRae's own website <http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cas/biology/mcrae_sue.cfm> which
sadly doesn't seem to link to the videos...

The point is that a small fraction (<3%) of male ruffs are convincing
female mimics--so watch out for those before you jump to firm conclusions
in the field!

Good luck making the distinction...
Dan
currently in Richmond BC



Dan Froehlich
Poulsbo, WA
USA
[USA] 206-595-2305
Go eBird <https://ebird.org/profile/MzAyNDkz/world>ing!
LinkedIn <http://linkedin.com/in/dan-froehlich-96150967>


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ryan Merrill <rjm284 at gmail.com>
To: "Tweeters (E-mail)" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Cc:
Bcc:
Date: Thu, 9 May 2019 20:49:56 -0700
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Ruff pix
Hi Connie and Tweeters,

I took a look at the reports that have been collected for the Washington
Field Notes and find reference to four spring male Ruffs since 2006:

5/18/2006 at Port Susan Bay, Dennis Duffy
4/29-5/1/2008 at Ocean Shores, Tim O-Brien, Ruth Sullivan
5/5-7/2008 at Channel Drive in Skagit, Joel Brady-Power
5/17/2012 at Bottle Beach, Ruth Sullivan

I was fortunate to see the Skagit bird and have photos on my Flickr site
including this one:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rjm284/2477288590/

In other news this evening there has been a Dusky Flycatcher hanging out in
my backyard.

Good birding,
Ryan Merrill
Seattle
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