[MASSBIRD] Chukar in Brunswick, Maine

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Jon Damian

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May 3, 2021, 2:53:14 PM5/3/21
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Hi Massbirders.

Sorry for a not exactly a MASS post!

A friend mentioned that their sister spotted a Chukar in Brunswick Maine.

Does anyone know anything more specific about this bird's location?

A nice photo was taken.

Happy May to you all!

Jon Damian
Cambridge

phaw...@comcast.net

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May 3, 2021, 9:05:39 PM5/3/21
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Hi Jon,
I don't know anything specifically about this particular Chukar,  but hunt clubs around the country stock mail-order Chukars as "game birds" for shooting on their private property. Frequently a Chukar or two moves out of the gun club's private grounds. I'll never forget long ago in the pre-digital age when a Chukar was found on the steps of the state capitol building in Boston, causing consternation, I think on New Year's Day.
 
Best,
Paul
 
Paul M. Roberts
Medford, MA 
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GLENN D'ENTREMONT

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May 3, 2021, 9:42:00 PM5/3/21
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Chukars are not North American birds.  They have been deliberately released in several areas in NA.  Maine is not one of them and they are certainly not established.
 
Glenn 
Glenn d'Entremont: gdentr...@comcast.net Stoughton, MA
On 05/03/2021 2:45 PM Jon Damian <jongenna...@gmail.com> wrote:
 
 

Josh

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May 4, 2021, 9:39:03 AM5/4/21
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Hi MassBirders,

I took a look at eBird. There is a location just south of Brunswick, Maine with seemingly annual Chukar reports, reliably including young birds hatched in the wild. The two eBird observations were both submitted by a birder named Gordon Smith. His report of last August includes a couple of photos of a family group: 


His other report (of an adult with two chicks) dates from 2018, and includes the comment “Adult Chukars have been observed previously this year (and past years) along this road in the vicinity of today's observation.”


The presence of the species over 5 years or more, the most recent 3 with chicks, smells worth further investigation. Even if a breeding population has been established there, it likely will wink out in the near future. And it is possible that some adjacent landowner or agency releases more birds annually, as happens here in MA with Ring-necked Pheasants. 

The only other New England records which show up on eBird are from New Hampshire, but only one gives any indication of repetition in multiple years. A spot just west of Concord, NH includes sightings from 2006 and 2018. The latter one, by Pam Hunt, includes the comment “Presumed escape - this general area has a history of sightings in recent years.”


While eBird shows none in MA, iNat shows a few. They are widely scattered, and there are no cases of records across multiple years in the same area, or multiple birds seen in any one observation. Western Mass Birders also shows a few, but all single birds in different towns (Bernardston in 2020, Goshen in 2019, and one in Cummington undated but probably 2010 or earlier).

Cheers,

Josh



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