Counting Upland Game Birds in Colorado
Tom Wilberding
Hello, birders,
If you’re interested in ABA listing, read on; the rest of you are excused. :-) However, even if you are not a lister, the listing game does expose you to more serious field ornithology--namely status and distribution. So you non-listers are welcome to eavesdrop here.
The recent cover of Colorado Field Ornithologists’ quarterly magazine Colorado Birds shows Peter Burke’s beautiful photo at the East Boulder Rec Center of a Northern Bobwhite, “of questionable provenance.” (Didn’t get the magazine? Join CFO: click here.)
If I had been lucky enough to see that bird, would I count it?
ABA rule 3. says: “The bird must have been alive, wild, and unrestrained when encountered.” So was this Northern Bobwhite “wild?” More excerpted from the ABA: “Wild” means that the bird’s occurrence at the time and place of observation is not because it, or its recent ancestors, has ever been transported or otherwise assisted by man for reasons other than for rehabilitation purposes. A species observed far from its normal range may be counted if, in the observer’s best judgment and knowledge, it arrived there unassisted by man. A bird that is not wild and which later moves unassisted to a new location or undergoes a natural migration is still not wild. For the complete ABA recording rules, click here.
Why would anyone question whether this Northern Bobwhite were wild? Well, many companies sell game birds, to shoot them like self-propelled skeet, or to train hunting dogs with them, or just to keep in your collection. From this company you can buy Northern Bobwhite birds, chicks and eggs, and many other upland game birds, not to mention swans and flamingos. Click here. Another online source click here. (A pair of Spruce Grouse for $749?)
Colorado wildlife law “generally prohibits the importation, live possession, sale, barter, trade, or purchase of any species of wildlife native to Colorado, except that up to 25 live ring-necked pheasants, Gambel's quail, scaled quail, bobwhite quail, chukar, grey partridge or mallard ducks may be possessed for up to twenty-five (25) days without a license. Such wildlife shall be accompanied by a receipt showing that the wildlife have been lawfully acquired, to include the source and the purchase or acquisition date. These birds may only be hunted on the day of release and the number of birds taken cannot exceed the number of birds released. All released birds not taken by hunting on the day of release shall become property of the state. All hunting must occur on private property. No birds held under the authority of this section may be released and hunted during any season established for that species.”
So what is the normal distribution of naturally occurring Northern Bobwhite in Colorado? Bob & Bob (Colorado Birds © 1992) on page 96 mentions it is a year-round resident on the eastern plains, primarily west to Morgan and Pueblo counties. Habitat is primarily lowland riparian forests, but also occurs in smaller numbers in adjacent agricultural areas and sandsage grasslands. Their range map shows the eastern quarter of Boulder county shaded for Northern Bobwhite. This wonderful book is, as I type, available used at Amazon for 49¢ plus shipping: click here.
The Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas I, 1998, shows on page 155 Northern Bobwhite in similar range as Bob & Bob, except no sightings in Boulder County. It also mentions that this species is the least mobile of all upland game birds, usually not moving more than a mile from where it hatched. To download all 657 pages of The Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas I: click here. at link bottom center of page.(Atlas II will be available soon.)
eBird shows a few scattered sightings of Northern Bobwhite in Boulder County in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2013: click here. (And in location box type in “Boulder, CO” then zoom out a little.)
Thus, it seems East Boulder Rec Center could be on the edge of Northern Bobwhite’s natural territory. Also, there seems to be no doubt that some commercially raised Northern Bobwhite that escaped or were released are out there, and should not be counted. The problem is that they are impossible to distinguish from wild birds. So you use range. Back to Peter’s Northern Bobwhite: to count or not to count. It’s a tough call but I think I would count it. You? I don’t think you should. :-)
More seriously, I asked Steve Mlodinow about this situation, and he observed, as a field ornithologist, “…a game bird in a people-full place, out-of-habitat, that allows its photo to be easily taken has very little chance of being of wild provenance.”
The same advice for other game birds: check Bob & Bob, Atlas I, and eBird for the species’ natural range, and go from there. A Chukar in Weld County? I would not count it; too far from its Bob & Bob range in western Colorado, probably escaped from a game ranch like this one: click here.
But wait, not so fast. Get a load of this: click here. Colorado Parks and Wildlife is releasing hundreds of Chukars near Fort Collins to establish a population for the benefit of northern front range hunters.
Hunters and birders are allies for the conservation of certain bird species. But allies like gardeners and botanists, or the United States and France, uneasy at times, with different languages. Should Colorado habitat be peppered with exotic birds for the benefit of hunters? Well, that’s been going on a long time all over the world, and probably will continue, and will continue to be debated.
Good birding and listing,
Tom
Wilberding
Boulder
Nick Komar
Sent from my iPhone
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Karl Stecher Jr.
had a bobwhite in Aurora, Arapahoe County, not far northeast of Havana and
Alameda.
Karl Stecher
Centennial
Tom Wilberding
Nick, thanks so much!
It’s a rather complicated situation. Should eBird allow only posts that conform to ABA listing rules? I don’t know, but in the case of a tough call like this Northern Bobwhite, I would like eBird to err on the inclusive side, so the data is out there for each of us to examine and judge for ourselves.
Here is another factor in considering this interesting “cover-bird”. (I was going to write “cover-girl” but that is another analysis.) Since naturally occurring Northern Bobwhite generally do not move more than a mile from where hatched: is there a game bird collector within a mile radius of the East Boulder Rec Center? Paula Hansley emailed me yesterday that there is such an address. From a lister’s point of view, it would be helpful if all such game bird collectors were required to post their address online, like convicted sex criminals. (:-) Hey, just kidding!) But in the absence of that data, I think a lister has to research the natural range of the bird, observe the bird’s behavior (is it shy or does it seem accustomed to humans?) then use his or her own judgment whether to count the bird. eBird is one good source of information about status and distribution, but not the only one, and I would not rely on just one source. Again, this is all from one lister’s point of view. I don’t presume to speak for more knowledgeable field ornithologists and their broader point of view.
Tom Wilberding
Boulder
Sean Walters
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