Re: [Seabird-News:1595] Digest for seabird-news@googlegroups.com - 5 Messages in 1 Topic

[Peter Pyle]

Hi all -

A couple of comments.

The "Little Shearwater" off California is detailed here.
http://www.shearwaterjourneys.com/lish2.html

It was small, flew like a Little (assimilis group in sensu), and had bluish legs but the bill seemed too large and not shaped right. Some thoughts that it might have been a fledgling or molting Manx but several things were wrong with this as well, so the CBRC officially considers it unidentified. It had white undertial coverts and was also probably too large for Bryan's Shearwater, which has dark undertail.

I looked at the 1883 specimen at MCZ last summer with Jeremiah Trimble and David Sibley and we're all leaning to it being a small Audubon's, though its biometrics overlapped with those of boydi. Jeremiah and Smithsonian are analyzing its DNA to confirm. It was originally identified as an Audubon's but it seems Outram Bangs talked Peters (and Murphy!) into thinking otherwise, though Peters (inexplicably) doesn't detail why in his1924 note in Auk http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v041n02/p0337-p0338.pdf.

As I mentioned earlier I've evaluated all other "Little Sheawater" records in the north Pacific (again referring to the Southern Hemishpere assimils group) and there are no solid ones that eliminate Bryan's and other shearwaters completely. Bob Day's records in the southern Gulf of Alaska (Western Birds http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/wb/v37n04/p0190-p0214.pdf) are the closest but are sight records. So it seems correct to not accept any of this group from the Northern Hemisphere, and it might not be expected of this Subantarctic cold-water group.

By the way, the abstracts are now up for next month's PSG meeting and the paper of interest on bryani in the Bonin's will be authored by Kazuo Horikoshi. http://www.pacificseabirdgroup.org/2012mtg/PSG2012.Abstracts.pdf

Peter



At 03:22 AM 1/20/2012, seabir...@googlegroups.com wrote:

  Today's Topic Summary

Group: http://groups.google.com/group/seabird-news/topics

• Little Shearwater in NA was Re: [Seabird-News:1587] Re: Take Two: Steve Howell's Tubenose Book Available [5 Updates]

  Little Shearwater in NA was Re: [Seabird-News:1587] Re: Take Two: Steve Howell's Tubenose Book Available

Joseph Morlan <jmo...@gmail.com> Jan 19 01:17PM -0800 
My copy just arrived and I noticed that LITTLE SHEARWATER is relegated to Appendix B (Hypothetical Species). The text mentions a questionable individual photographed off California and eventually rejected by the California Bird Records Committee.   The two North Atlantic races of Little Shearwater (P. a. baroli and P. a. boydi) are treated "provisionally as separate species, Baroli's Shearwater and Boyd's Shearwater. They are discussed under Audubon's Shearwater and under a species account for Baroli's Shearwater.   Boyd's Shearwater is unrecorded in North America, but there appears to be only one valid record for Barolo's Shearwater in North America. Under the species account for Barolo Shearwater (formerly Little Shearwater) we find that the specimen of "Little Shearwater" from South Carolina in 1883 was actually an Audubon's Shearwater. This leaves only one specimen, 1896 from Nova Scotia. Howell rejects the claimed Little (presumably Barolo) Shearwaters summarized by Lee as inadequately documented. More recent sight records are listed, but apparently none were photographed or verifiable.   Bottom line, Howell does not consider Little Shearwater to deserve a place on the North America list. Instead Barolo's Shearwater, formerly considered a race of Little Shearwater, but considered by Howell as a separate species is a vagrant to the North Atlantic with only one verified specimen record from over 100 years ago.   On Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:40:05 -0800 (PST), Angus Wilson   -- Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA jmorlan (at) ccsf.edu Birding Classes start Feb 7 http://fog.ccsf.edu/jmorlan/
  "J. BRIAN PATTESON" <patt...@embarqmail.com> Jan 19 04:35PM -0500 
"Bottom line, Howell does not consider Little Shearwater to deserve a place on the North America list. Instead Barolo's Shearwater, formerly considered a race of Little Shearwater, but considered by Howell as a separate species is a vagrant to the North Atlantic with only one verified specimen record from over 100 years ago."   There is also a photo from Massachusetts (in the book) which seems pretty verifiable.   Brian Patteson Hatteras, NC br...@patteson.com www.seabirding.com/
  Glen Tepke <g.t...@comcast.net> Jan 19 09:46PM 
Report with photos of the 2007 Massachusetts Barolo's (aka Macaronesian) Shearwater is here:   http://trips.brooklinebirdclub.org/2007/07/august-2007-extreme-pelagic.html   Glen Tepke Oakland, California g.tepke (at) comcast (dot) net www.pbase.com/gtepke   ----- Original Message ----- From: "J. BRIAN PATTESON" <patt...@embarqmail.com> To: jmo...@gmail.com, "Angus Wilson" <oceanwa...@gmail.com> Cc: "Seabird News" <seabir...@googlegroups.com> Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2012 1:35:17 PM Subject: Re: Little Shearwater in NA was Re: [Seabird-News:1591] Re: Take Two: Steve Howell's Tubenose Book Available   "Bottom line, Howell does not consider Little Shearwater to deserve a place on the North America list. Instead Barolo's Shearwater, formerly considered a race of Little Shearwater, but considered by Howell as a separate species is a vagrant to the North Atlantic with only one verified specimen record from over 100 years ago."   There is also a photo from Massachusetts (in the book) which seems pretty verifiable.   Brian Patteson Hatteras, NC br...@patteson.com www.seabirding.com/
  Joseph Morlan <jmo...@gmail.com> Jan 19 02:05PM -0800 
On Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:35:17 -0500, "J. BRIAN PATTESON"   >There is also a photo from Massachusetts (in the book) which seems >pretty verifiable.   Thanks. I missed that. Two photos by Iliff 25 Aug 2007, P13.1 and P13.2 on page 134 labeled Barolo Shearwater.   In view of those photos, why on page 132 does he say after listing the one good specimen and one incorrect specimen, "No other verifiable records for more than 100 years?"   Perhaps he meant to say "specimen records." -- Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA jmorlan (at) ccsf.edu Birding Classes start Feb 7 http://fog.ccsf.edu/jmorlan/
  "J. BRIAN PATTESON" <patt...@embarqmail.com> Jan 19 05:38PM -0500 
1896 to 2007 is over a century.   Brian Patteson Hatteras, NC     ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joseph Morlan" <jmo...@gmail.com> To: "J. BRIAN PATTESON" <patt...@embarqmail.com> Cc: "Angus Wilson" <oceanwa...@gmail.com>; "Seabird News" <seabir...@googlegroups.com> Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2012 5:05 PM Subject: Re: Little Shearwater in NA was Re: [Seabird-News:1590] Re: Take Two: Steve Howell's Tubenose Book Available    
 

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