First Azure Gallinule for North America

EXTRALIMITAL RECORD

Barbara Spencer and William Kolodnicki

Purple Gallinule (Poryœhyrulamartin- nicki, Director of the Sanctuary,iden- Wright discovereda dead gallinule ica) and placed in a freezer for later tified the specimen as an adult Azure inN theDECEMBER backyardof 14, her1986, homeANGELA in Fort preparation as a study specimen. On Gallinule. The specimen was photo- Salonga,Suffolk County, New York. She January 12, 1987, BarbaraSpencer, who graphed and color was noted using took it to the Theodore Roosevelt Sanc- had previously had experience with Smithe'scolor guide as a reference.The tuary, Oyster Bay, New York, where it Azure Gallinule (Poryœhyrulafiaviros- followingmeasurements were recorded: wasinitially identifiedas an immature tris) in Ecuador, and William Kolod-

Photo/BarbaraSpencer

Volume 42, Number I 25 Iris: brown. Lesser wing coverts:varied with light, generallyturquoise green cast. The color extended onto outer web of primaries and secondaries;inner web dusky;secondaries paler gray and the blue ob- scure. Sides of breast: bluish, similar to coverts. Flanks: tinged light grayishblue. Cheeks:pale grayishblue. Sides of neck: bluish. Throat, front of neck, centerof breast: white. Wing linings:white; veinsin underside of primaries white (dark on upper side); primaries grayish. Tertials and mantle: feathers dusky, edged greenish; upper mangle more olivegreen than dusky. Tail: dusky(blackish); narrow white tips on each feather; upper tail coverts blackish,edged white; undertail coverts white. Back: dusky (blackish). Belly and lower breast:white. The plumagewas in excellentcon- dition with little or no signsof wear.The specimenwas not visibly damagedor disarrayedand wasquite freshwhen it was picked up. On February 18, 1987, Spencerand Kolodnicki deliveredthe specimento the AmericanMuseum of Natural History, whereit was received by Robert Dickerman. Comparison with skins in the museum collection confirmedthe identificationas P.fiavirostris, the first specimen for North Photos/BarbaraSpencer America.When the skin was prepared, severalsmall punctureswere noted in peared quite gray, with white under- the breast,lending some support to the Wing Chord: 132 mm parts. notion that the acquisitionof the spec- Tail: 68.9 mm Bill and shield:overall, these parts had imenwas cat-assisted. Although the bird Bill: 31.9 mm (includesshield) a yellow-oliveappearance; tip of the •vaslight in weight,it wasnot totally Tarsus: 42.1 mm lower mandible, above the nostrils,and emaciated. It should be noted that the Weight: 68.5 gms (weight when the middle of the edgesof both man- yard wherethe bird wasfound is adja- received) dibleswere sulphuryellow; rest of lower cent to marshland on the north shore Overall Length: 25.5 cm (9.75- mandible and base of upper was closest of Long Island. 10 inches)(bird on its back) to parrot green,with somedusky areas The major difference between the in front of the nostrils. The shield was adultP. fiavirostris and an immatureP. Studyof measurementsof Azure and a mix of straw yellow, sulphur yellow, martinica is the completelack of buffy Purple gallinulesprovided in Ripley and parrot green. It is uncertain if coloration on the neck and breast of P. (1977) showsthat the presentspecimen freezing affected bill color. At the fiavirostris. Immature P. martinica falls within the rangefor P. fiavirostris American Museum of Natural History, would show a bluish frontal shield con- exceptfor weight,which was only 75% severalfreezings and thawingslater, the trastingwith a darkerbill. P. martinica of the lower limit. The measurements bill was plain yellow. Presumably the is clearlyremoved from consideration providedin Ripley are as follows: fluids had drained from the bill. becauseof its largersize and buffycol- Legsand feet: basically yellow ochre in oration in immature plumage. Color: it should be noted that the blue- appearance,slightly more orangeat the The Lesser Gallinule (P. a!!eni), an greensof the plumagevary with the an- joints and toes. African speciesintermediate in sizebe- gleof the light and are difficultto match Skin aroundeye: yellow ochre,similar tweenP. fiavirostrisand P. martinica, to a standard;at a distance,the bird ap- to the legs. and a known wanderer,has a red-tinged

26 American Birds,Spring 1988 Azure Gallinule Purple Gallinule P fiavtrostns P marttntca

males females males females

Wing 126-139 mm 125-139 mm 168-192 mm 161-184 mm Tail 67 mm 60-82 mm 60-78 mm Bill 34 mm 45-52 mm 41-50 mm Tarsus 45 mm 45-52 mm 52-65 mm Weight 92-111 gms 92-107 gms 203-269 gms 213-291 gms

Wtththe exceptionof the tail measurementthere is no overlapbetween the twospecies.

bfil as an immature, and ochre-brown southernmostbirds move into the trop- other additions to the North American to pale red-brown legs. There are no icsfor the australwinter. Suchmigrants avifauna that are under suspicionof ar- other speciesof gallinulethat might be meetinga cyclonicstorm are especially riving in the sameor similar manner. confusedwith P fiavirostris. prone to being blown beyond range. They go on to mentionthat low pressure systemsmoving up the east coast reg- ularly carry P. martinica to Bermuda and the northeastern part of North DISCUSSION America. Indeed, recordsshow such va- REFERENCES grants, both adult and immature, on While identificationof this speciesis Long Island, New York, during the fall AMOS, Stephen.1987. National Aquarium certmn, the means of its arrival on the of 1986. There seems to be no reason in Baltimore, Maryland. north shoreof Long Island, New York, to assume that the bird under discussion CRAMP, Stanley et al. 1985. Handbook of the Birds of Europe and the Middle East cannot be determined beyonddoubt. A actually arrived in December.It could and North AJ?icaVol. II. Oxford Univer- checkwith the InternationalSpecies In- have been presentin the marsh since sity Press,New York. ventory System (ISIS) list of birds in summer,or September,and only forced HILTY, StevenL., and William L. BROWN captivityshowed that P. fiavirostrishas into the open by increasinglyadverse 1986.A Guide to the Birds of Colombia neverbeen kept in captivity(Amos pers. weather conditions or lack of food in Princeton University Press, Princeton, comm.).A detailedcomputerized list of December. N.J. rafts, which is maintained at the San Little seems to be known of the MEYER de SCHAUENSEE, Rudolf. 1970 A Guide to the Birds of South America D•ego Zoo, supportedthis statement movementsof Azure Gallinules. They Academy of Natural Sciences,Philadel- (Mullerpers.comm.). A checkwith sev- are describedas inhabiting "disjunct phia, Wynnewood,Pa. eral local collections showed no Azure areaseast of the Andes, where they fre- RIPLEY, Dillon S. 1977. Rails of the World Galhnules,past, presentor missing. quent rice fieldsand freshwater swamps D.E. Godine, Boston. Takentogether with the goodcondition with deep water and a thick vegetation SMITHE, Frank B. 1975. Naturalist's Color Guide. American Museum of Natural of the plumage,this information seems of grass . . . food consistsmostly of History, New York. to rule out the possibilitythat the bird grassseeds, insects and spiders"(Ri- escapedfrom captivity. pley). It is "spottilydistributed" north Rallidae as a group, includinggalli- of the Amazon and widespreadsouth of nules,are known as longdistance wan- it to Paraguayand extreme northern derers.While perceivedas "poor fliers" Argentina (Meyer de Schauensee).Re- they are capableof flightsof great dis- ports of migrantsMarch to May on the tance over water. Lesser Gallinule has Sabanade Bogatanoted by Hilty and been found as far north as Britain, and Brownsuggest that seasonalmovements --154 Dayton St., Sea Cliff, N.Y to Ascension Island and St. Helena in take place.Other speciesof austral mi- 11579 (Spencer);Theodore Roosevelt the South Atlantic up to 1900 kilome- grantshave been found in New England Sanctuary,Oyster Bay, N.Y. II 771 ters from the nearest point of Africa in recentyears, so it seemsat leastplau- (Kolodnickl) (R•pley). Cramp et al. note that move- sible that an individual P. fiavirostris mentsto Europefit with seasonalmoves couldbe caught in a tropicaldisturbance followingretraction of wetlandsin Af- and carried out to sea with the north- rica and shortly after spellsof anticy- ward movementof the weather system. clomc conditionswith southerlywinds Ship-assistedpassage cannot be ruled from West Africa. ConcerningP. mar- out, and tankers are known to enter timca, Cramp et al. mention that the Long Island Sound following voyages speciesis accidentalin the Azores,Brit- from the Caribbean. Perhapsthis is the ran, Norway, and Switzerlandand that most parsimoniousexplanation for the m•grantsmake direct passageover the appearanceof P.fiavirostris on LongIs- full width of the Gulf of Mexico. The land. If true, the speciesjoins several

Volume 42, Number 1 27