White-winged Scoter split

[Diana Beatty]

 So I know I saw a White-winged Scoter at Prospect Lake and/or Big Johnson Reservoir in Colorado Springs in winter but I wouldn't know how to begin to tell what it is now. I doubt I have the photos that might be needed - I wonder if anyone has gone through past photos or other evidence  etc. and found compelling evidence of Velvet or Stejneger's in their Colorado list yet???  Would that be something the CBRC would review if that were the case? Ebird is calling the ones I've reported before as Melanitta deglandi.

Diana Beatty

El Paso County

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All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.

[Joe Roller]

From what I hear, ONLY Melanitta deglandi

is found in ABA area (America and Canada), and that is why eBird 

assigned it to that name, the North America "flavor" of that scoter.

I'm sure we'll hear if others have a better handle on this.

Joe Roller, Denver

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[John D]

  Velvet Scoter ( M. nigra ) was split from White-winged ( M.deglandi ) last year by Cornell ebird . Velvet Scoter distribution is Eurasia wide with the proviso that IOC have further split the eastern form of Velvet ( M. nigra ) to Siberian ( Stejneger's ) Scoter ( M.stenjergeri ) , distribution Siberia wintering Japan , China and it is this Velvet Scoter subspecies that has been recorded in Alaska , male Velvet Scoter's differ from White-winged in different bill shape and size and blackish flanks not brownish . I haven't checked to see whether any Velvet Scoters from Europe have been retroactively accepted on the East Coast . Very good photos or description for White-winged Scoter's would be necessary to consider a Velvet here in Colorado.

John Drummond

Colorado Springs

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[Scott Somershoe]

All,
There’s a nicely documented adult male Stejneger's from Helena, Montana in April 2015. It’ll be interesting to see what the records committee does with the record. Point is, Stejneger's has occurred in the lower 48.

Scott Somershoe
Littleton CO

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 10, 2019, at 4:19 PM, 'John D' via Colorado Birds <cob...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>
> Stejneger's