in the world. They are the habitat of the Red-faced Cormorant (Phalacro- GreatSpotted Woodpecker corax urile), Rock Sandpiper( Cah- dris ptilocnemis),Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus),and Snow at Attu Island.,Alaska: Bunting( Plectrophenaxnivalis): Few forest birds are ever encountered here and then only in passing.So the oc- first record for the currenceof a nonmigratoryspecies of woodpecker in the Aleutians may seemquite extraordinary. Near Islands and A woodpeckerof the genusDendro- coposwas encounteredin Attu's Mas- sacreValley on the morning of Octo- for North America ber 9, 1985. It was first detectedby its harsh, out-of-placecall: kek, kek and observed with 10 x 40 binoculars at TTUIS THELARGEST AND WEST- an estimated distance of 60 meters George F. Wagner ern mostof fiveislands in the (200 feet) on an old, leaning utd•ty Near Island group of Alaska's pole.Although this initial sightingwas westernAleutians (Fig. 1). Most of us extremelybrief---lasting no morethan know it from the list-birderswho jour- six or eight seconds,the bird's mmn ney there each springin the hope of featureswere clearly noted. ticking off species,which in the course In structure, size, and basic colora- of migration wander there from the tion, it appearedsimilar to the Hairy nearby Asian mainland. Approxi- Woodpecker(Picoides villosus)of mately 200 species,almost half those North America. However, this b•rd's of the entire stateof Alaska, have been plumage differed from that of the recorded in the Near Islands. It is an Hairy in other ways. It displayed a impressivelist for sucha remote out- large white face patch, a bright red post of the state, especiallyconsider- lower belly, a completely black back ing its inhospitableenvironment. The and an elongatedwhite patch on each Near Islands,as well as the rest of the wing. These features suggestedonly Aleutians, are best known for their one likely species--the Great Spotted rugged and treelessterrain and for Woodpecker(D. major) of Eurasia some of the worst weather conditions My first thought was to document

Figure1. Weathercharts (courtesy of USFWS) revealeda stronglow-pressure system over USSR's Kamchatka Peninsula at 1800 hours, onApril 25, 1986. This easterlymoving storm is believedto haveaided the secondGreat Spotted Woodpecker to Attu.

• D. m. kamtschaticus 160/ • oSys tern

254 Amencan Birds, Summer 1989 the sightingwith photographs.In the Kuriles and Japan. In the boreal and States National Museum series of few secondsthat my eyes were di- temperate forestsof Eurasia, it is the japonicus agrees well with the rected away from the bird in an at- commonest woodpecker.It exploits a publishedassessment of that form tempt to retrieve a camera, the wood- wide variety of forest types: decidu- by Vaurie (1965:705-706) in pecker left the pole and flew out of ous, mixed and coniferous; either being darker ventrally, lesspure view. During the next few minutes,it moist or arid; from the lowlands to white, and in having the under- was heard and seenonly briefly and the mountains (Harrison 1982). Its sides of the rectrices heavily at great distance, and was lost there- food consistsof insects,seeds, nuts, barred. I did not regard this sub- after. Despite much effort during the and berries,but it has been known to speciesidentification as a difficult remainder of that day and the follow- consumecarrion in winter (Dement- one.It is the race(kamtschaticus) ing four days, the bird was not found 'ev and Gladkov 1968). None of the known to have occurred in the again. nineteensubspecies is migratorybut Commander Islands (Johansen The secondsighting took place on several have exhibited nomadic tend- 1961, Auk 78:44-56)." Excerpt October 31, 1985--in the very same encies, especiallyin fall and winter pore letter olD. D. Gibson. area where the previous encounter (Dement'ev and Gladkov 1968). This race is restricted to the Kam- took place. The woodpeckerproved A direct comparison to a seriesof chatka Peninsula in the U.S.S.R. It no more cooperativethan on October skins at the United States National breedsthere commonly,only 600 kil- 9. However, it was kept under obser- Museum by D. D. Gibson determined ometers (400 miles) from the Near vation for a longerperiod of time and that the individual collected on Attu Islands.This subspecieshas alsobeen some half-dozenphotographs (of ex- was of the subspeciesD. m. kamtscha- documentedas a wandereraway from tremely poor quality) were taken be- ticus. Kamchatka. It has been recorded in fore the bird was lost. Several subse- quent days were spent trying to relo- cate the bird, but without success. When that failed, large amounts of suet(beef fat) were placedin strategic locationsin thearea of thesesightings. It was hoped that if the woodpecker remained on the island, it would be attractedand held at that locationby the food. Under such conditions,bet- ter photographsmight be taken. These hopes faded when the bird had not been rediscoveredby mid-November. By then, the encroachingblanket of winter snow had descended from the mountains to the ocean beaches to entomb every part of Attu for months to come. Then on the evening of April 27, 1986, a Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen on Attu's Alexi Point. This individual was observedprobing the Photo 1. A view of WestMassacre Valley and the Great SpottedWoodpecker, near the few piecesof driftwood found above top of the closestutility pole. By October31, 1985, all the vegetationhad succumbedto the debris line on the beach. That bird subfieezingtemperature to producethe brownterrain seen here, and snowis becoming was collectedand is now a specimen apparentat higherelevations. (UAM 5337) at the University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks. Al- "I comparedthe Attu specimen the Gizhiga area of the U.S.S.R. and though its gonadswere destroyedby (UAM 5337), which I had pre- along the Anadyr River (Dement'ev shot,this individual wasjudged to be pared as a study skin and trunk and Gladkov 1968), some 800 kilo- a female by the lack of a red band on skeleton,with seriesat the United meters(500 miles) north of its breed- the back of its head. It weighed79.2 States National Museum in Au- ing range. Severalrecords exist from grams and had very light subcuta- gust 1986. I compared UAM the U.S.S.R.'s Commander Islands neous fat. Its measurements were: 5337 with a series of female D. (Stejneger1885, Johansen 1961), 320 wing-- 133 millimeters; tail--89 mil- m. japonicusand with one (their kilometers(200 miles) northwestof limeters; tarsus•25 millimeters. only) female kamtschaticus.The Attu. Thus it was not unreasonable to The Great Spotted Woodpecker is Attu bird agrees well with the expect stragglersto be encountered the most numerousand wide-ranging only female D. m. karntschaticus eventuallyin the Near Islands. member of its genusin the Palearctic. at the United States National Becausethe three sightingsof this It rangesfrom the Britishand Canary Museum in beingclear white ven- specieson Attu in 1985 and 1986 are Isles and Morocco east across Eurasia trally and in having only rudi- isolated from each other in time, an to the Kamchatka Peninsula in the mentary barring on the under- evaluation as to the number of birds Soviet Union and Korea as well as the sides of the rectrices. The United (records) involved is in order. The

Volume 43, Number 2 255 trary. First, the odds are overwhelm- ing againsta woodpeckersurviving a winter on Attu. The entire island, from the highestpeak to the high-tide line, remained frozen and buried un- der several feet of snow from late No- vember through the last days of Feb- ruary. During this period, no plant and insect material was available to this bird because of the snow and ice. The only conceivablesustenance that might have been found, would have been along the beaches--a washed-up seabird or the carcass of a marine mammal. Even if present, such an rare source of food would be difficult for the woodpeckerto locate. Even if it had chancedupon such a carcass, the bird would have been forced to Photo 2. By mid-November,the winter snow blanket had descendedto Attu • shoresas compete for it with the island'sCom- seen in this photographof MassacreBay on November20. Thereafter,all insectand mon Ravens (Corvus corax) and Arc- vegetablematter wasbeyond the woodpecker• reach. tic Foxes (Alopex lagopus).During these difficult months, numbers of sightingsof October 9 and 31, 1985 vent insect damage. Only driftwood, even theseadept scavengerscrash by were of extremelyshort duration, and which is quite rare on Attu's beaches, 60% (Wagner, pers.obs.). Under such at great distance.Photographing the appears capable of supporting this severeconditions on Attu during the bird for documentation was given food source for the woodpecker. winter months, the woodpecker priority over obtaininga detailedplu- Wood-boring insectswould thus not would have been an early casualty.It magedescription. The photographsof sustain this bird on Attu for any certainly would not be expected to October 31 confirm that particular length of time. Likewise, the 1985 survive. sightingbut only under extreme mag- crops of blueberry and mountain ash Secondly,the suet put out on No- nification, and overall their quality were total failures and of no help to vember 3, 1985, on various utility leaves much to be desired. As a result, this bird. poles in Massacre Valley still re- no detailed plumage features were The Great Spotted Woodpecker is, mained intact and untouched six noted during the first two encounters, however, also known for its habit of months later. If the woodpeckerre- which in turn might raisequestions as feeding on the ground (Dement'ev mained there during the winter, it to whether or not the same bird was and Gladkov 1968). Attu's tundra and surely would have found at least one involved. Moreover, those two sight- lush vegetationare hostto a variety of or more of these food sources. ingstook placethree weeksapart, de- insectsas well as at least one species Thirdly, the April sightingresulted spite continuing coverageof the area of slug (family Lirnacidae), which is in a bird whose behavior was notice- in the meantime. Such a prominent quite common there during the sum- ably different from that of the earlier and vocal bird as the Great Spotted mer and fall. The Great Spotted sightings.It waseasily approached and Woodpecker, if present in the area, Woodpeckercould easily exploit these spentall of its time probingfor grubs shouldhave been encounteredeasily food sources.In fact, on October 31, in the few piecesof driftwood found on the treeless tundra of Attu. 1985, the bird was first seen on the on Alexi's beaches. This bird was rel- On the other hand, it is certainly ground, presumablyfeeding. atively tame compared to that en- conceivablethat the bird may simply In light of such a food source, it countered six months earlier. have been missed during those three seemsplausible that the woodpecker And finally, an argument can be weeks. It is also reasonable to assume could have remained on the island made that the 1986 bird had only that if food were available such a non- and survived for the three weeks in recently arrived there. Alexi Point, migratory speciesmight survive and question. In addition, both sightings beinga peninsulatwo kilometerslong, remain for that length of time. Suffi- took place at the same spot. Both is easily searched; a woodpecker cient food is certainlynot availableon encounters involved a bird with simi- would havebeen easilydetected there. Attu in the form of wood-boringin- lar behavior. Given the foregoingcir- Yet it wasnot encounteredduring the sects. Attu supports only stands of cumstancesand the improbability of two censuses of Alexi in the week shrubs: willow, mountain ash, blue- the occurrence of a second bird, it prior to the sighting.Being a promi- berry and a few, dwarfed, introduced seemsfaily safeto concludethat only nent point in the island's shoreline, spruces.These rarely exceed a height one individual was involved in the Alexi is one of the first landfalls for of 1.2 meters (4 feet). The large sightingsof October 9 and 31, 1985. new arrivals. In late April, it was the amount of lumber and building ma- However, this sameconclusion can- only large expanseof snow-freeland terials, brought to the island during not be appliedto the sightingof April on the island and thus would have World War II and now littering the 27, 1986, some six months later. In been a desirabletarget for a flying landscape,have been treated to pre- fact, circumstancessuggest the con- bird. It can be arguedthat the bird's

256 American Birds,Summer 1989 tamenesswas a result of exhaustion, Kuriles but is resident to the north, ica remain in the genusPicoides. The perhaps due to a recent, long flight on the Kamchatka Peninsula of the Attu specimen is the first record of over the ocean. The amount of drift- SovietUnion. Sinceno shippingexists the genus Dendrocopos,as now de- wood that had been probed suggested between these breedinggrounds and freed, in the A.O.U. Check-list area. that the bird had been present in the the Near Islands, this subspecieswas In conclusion, the western Aleu- area for no more than a day or so. not likely a shipriderto Attu. Further- tians in 1985 and 1986 producedtwo This is also consistent with weather more, D. m. kamtschaticus was re- records of the Great Spotted Wood- eventsin the areaßA low-pressuresys- corded as a straggler to the Com- pecker. At least one of these records tem was traced moving toward Attu mander Islands before there was any involved a free-flying vagrant that over the center of the Kamchatka shippingactivity in the area, thereby originatedon the Kamchatka Penin- Peninsula,the nestingforests ofD. m. demonstratingits ability to crosssev- sula in the Soviet Union, thus consti- kamtschaticus,on the night of April eral hundred kilometers of open tuting the addition of a new genusand 25, 1986 (Fig. 1), two daysbefore the ocean in free flight. D. m. kamtscha- speciesto the avifauna of Alaska and sighting. That storm, whose track ticus is also the race closest to the Near North Americaß proved quite unusual for the region, Islands and thus the most probable was most likely responsiblefor the vagrant there of this species.Given ACKNOWLEDGMENTS woodpeckerreaching Attu. theseconsiderations, ship-assisted ar- I wish to thank Daniel D. Gibson Hence, I believe the 1986 sighting rival can almostcertainly be ruled out of the University of Alaska Museum to be of a second Great Spotted when discussingthe April 27, 1986, for his time in examining skins and Woodpecker. Thus, the three encoun- record of this specieson Attu. his identificationof the subspeciesin- tereswith this specieson Attu in 1985 In acceptingthis Attu record and volved. I also acknowledgeC. Fred and 1986 representtwo separatebirds, adding the Great Spotted Wood- Zeillemaker of the Aleutian Islands which arrived there independently peckerto the North American list, the National Wildlife Refuge and the somesix months apart. It is interesting A.O.U. (1987) separatedthe genera U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for to note that the occurrence dates of Picoidesand Dendrocopos,which they their support and cooperationin the thesetwo birds correspond.with those had earlier (A.O.U. 1976, 1983) underlyingstudy which made my trips of Stejneger (1885) from the Com- merged under the older name Pi- to Attu possible.My specialthanks to mander Islands. He recorded and col- coides. All the other woodpeckersof Paul W. Sykes,Jr., for reviewing an. lected one specimen of this species this group occurringin North Amer- earlier draft and for the suggestions there on October 12-26, 1882, and which were incorporated in this one eachon May 8 and May 9, 1883. article. Such seasonal dates and parallelism are suggestiveof a migratory species; LITERATURE CITED not of a random wanderer. As with most extralimital records, AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UN- this species'method of arrival on Attu ION 1976.Thirty-third supplementto the American Ornithologists' Union must be discussed. Human assistance Check-list of North American Birds. must be considered, since the Great Auk 93:875-879. Spotted Woodpecker is a nomadic ß 1983. Check-list of North American species.Deliberate release or escape Birds. 6th Ed., Allen Press, Lawrence, from captivity is not even a remote Kansas. possibilityin casesof sightingsin the ß1987. Thirty-sixth supplementto the American Ornithologists' Union Near Islands. However, ship-assisted Check-list of North American Birds. arrival or partial passage,is quite Auk 104:591-596. probable. DEMENT'EV, G. P., and N. A. GLAD- The heavilytravelled shipping lanes KOV (Eds.). 1966. Birds of the Soviet between Japan, Korea and the north- Union, Vol. 1. Translatedby the Israel west coast of North America lie within Programfor ScientificTranslations, Je- sight of the Near Islands. A disorien- rusalem.Clearinghouse for Federal Sci- entific and Tech. Info., Springfield, ted bird might board an eastbound VA. cargovessel off the coastof Japan and HARRISON, C. 1982. An atlas of the not leave until it sighted land. That Birds of the Western Palaearctic. landfall would be the Near Islands, PrincetonUniversity Press, Princeton, about two or three days later. Like- New Jersey. wise, this would apply to avian ship JOHANSEN, H. 1961. Revised list of the birds of the Commander Islands. Auk borders off the southern Kurile Is- 78:44-56. lands. The Great Spotted Wood- STEJNEGER, L. 1985. Results of orni- pecker would be a prime candidate thological exploration in the Com- for such a mode of arrival. mander Islands and Kamtschatka. U.S. The 1986 individual was collected Nat. Mus. Bull. No. 29, Government PrintingOffice, Washington DC. and identified to the Kamchatkan Photo3. SpecimenofD. m. kamtschaticus, subspecies.D. m. kamtschaticus.This collected on Alexi Point, Attu Island, .35144N. EdgewaterLn., race is not found in Japan or on the Alaska, on April 27, 1986. Ingleside,IL 60041.

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