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Spotted Rail, Brant, and Yellow-Breasted Crake-Records

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Spotted Rail, Brant, and Yellow-Breasted Crake-Records Spotted Rail. Brant. and Yellow-breasted Crake--records from the Yucatan Thomas Gatz, Peter Gent, Martin Jakle, Rebecca and William Otto, and Bruce Ellis (1973), with the exceptionof the back and Chatara in mid-June resembled the madeby the authorswhile bird- pattern,which was more spottedthan dark-phasejuvenile Spotted Rail takenin T HEingFOLLOWING on the YucatanSIGHTINGS Peninsula,WERE streaked.The white spotson the back November, in Veracruz, as describedby Mexico, in February1983. This second indicated that this was of the Central Dickerman and Haverschmidt (197 I). sightrecord of the SpottedRail (Pardi- American race, P.m. insolitus, dis- Thesedates indicate an extendednesting railus maculatus), near Coba, Quintana cussedby Parkeset al. (1978), rather seasonin Mexico for this species,possi- Roo, fills in anothergap in the known, than the more streak-backed South bly dependenton local weather condi- seeminglydisjunct, range of thisspecies. America race, P.rn. rnaculatus, por- tions. The rangeextends from the West Indies trayedin Petersonand Chalif (1973). The The SpottedRail was first recorded through Central and South America. cluckingvocalization described by Bond from Mexico in 1945 near Tuxtla, Gu- Also discussedare sightrecords of Brant (1979) washeard during the eveningob- tierrez,Chiapas (Friedman 1947). This (Branta bernicla), which was seen near servationFebruary 25. but not duringthe speciesis describedas "extremelyrare" Celestun,Yucatan, for the first recordfor mid-day observationthe following day. in Mexicoby Petersonand Chalif (1973). the east coastof Mexico, and of the Yel- Mark Kasprzykand Kelly Fleminglo- However, based on records from seven low-breasted Crake (Porzana fiavi- catedseveral Spotted Rails in this same Mexican states: Chiapas, Guerrero, renter), observedalso near Coba, Quin- lakeMarch 3 l-April 2, 1983, with a high Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz tana Roo. This representsthe fifth countof ninecalling adults including one (Parkeset al.) and now twice in Quintana publishedlocation for this species in pairwith four young.The railswere visi- Roo, its statusis perhapsbetter defined as Mexico. ble at all timesof the day but were most widespreadbut elusive. Our observations vocaiin the morning.Photographs of the on the YucatanPeninsula follow the pre- adultsand young were taken and tape- diction of Birkenholz and Jenni (1964) recordingswere madeof the calls. The that this elusive species"will prove to weather was clear at the time of these havea fairly continuousrange in suitable SPOTTED RAIL. Two Spotted Rails sightings,but it had rainedthe day be- habitatthroughout the Caribbean slope of were observedat 5 p.m., February 25, fore. Middle America." The nearest known 1983, on the northeast end of a fresh- Two other birders, Michael Middleton occurrenceof this speciesto the Yucatan water lake adjacentto the archeological and Mzia Chatara. visited this same area sightings(see this issue),is an isolated ruinsnear Coba, QuintanaRoo. A single June14, 1983, in rainy weather.At 2:30 populationof the nominaterace, P.m. SpottedRail was observedpreening at p.m., at approximatelythe samelake lo- tnaculatus, about 500 kilometers north- the same location at 12 noon the follow- cation,they observedtwo adult and one east, in Cuba (Bond 1979). The nearest ing day. All observationswere madeap- dark-phasejuvenile SpottedRails for 5 knownpopulation of P.m. insolitus,on proximately200 meterssouth of the gate minutes at a distance of 6 meters. Photo- mainland Mexico, is about 600 kilome- to the archeologicalruins on the eastside graphswere takenand. 'althoughnot of ters southwestin Chiapas.The present of the lake. The rails were seen in cattails high qualityowing to poor light condi- sightingwas at approximatelythe same (Typha,sp.) from 10 to 15 meters.The tions, diagnosticfield marks were dis- latitude as the northernmost east coast February25 sightingsof the birdsmov- cernible.The juvenile bird was nearly the recordof thisspecies in Mexico at Teco- ing throughthe vegetationwere limited samesize as the adult it was following, lutla, Veracruz, 1000 kilometers west. to brief observations with binoculars. but much darker, without any brightly- With the exceptionof two extraordinary The February26 sightingwas of 20 min- colored field marks. The bird was mot- records from central Texas and western utes duration with binoculars and a 25x tled dark brown. with a dark bill. The Pennsylvania,the northernmostsighting spottingscope as the bird preenedin al- adultprobed with its bill alongthe shore- of thisspecies is nearSan Bias, Nayarit, mostfull view in an openingin the vege- line, occasionallyswimming into shal- on the westcoast of Mexico. A thorough tation. The rails were nearly the size of low waterwhere it would tip-up and flap discussionof its range and taxonomic ClapperRails (Railus Iongirostris)and its wings. The immature loosely fol- status,including the extralimitalrecords were generallysimilar to the illustration lowed within about I meter of the adult. from the United States, is found in Parkes of theSpotted Rail in Petersonand Chalif The youngbird observed by Middleton et al. (1978). Volume39, Number5 871 BRANT. A single adult Brant of the Rails were sighted The crake was ob- BIRKENHOLZ, D E and D A JENNI dark, west coast race, B. b. nigricans, servedfor 30 minutesas it walkedon lily 1964.Observations on the SpottedRail wasobserved throughout the morning(9 pads(Nym?haea, sp.) and fed between and Pinnated Bittern in Costa Rica. Auk am.- 12 noon)on February23, on a mud- the shoreline and a stand of cattails and 81: 558-559. flat in a large, shallow,brackish, man- bulrush(Scir?us, sp.). The crakewas ob- BOND, J. 1956. checklist of birds of the grove-linedlagoon near Celestun on the servedthrough binoculars from 5-10 me- West Indies. 4th ed. Wickersham Print- west coast of Yucatan, Mexico. The ters.Feeding in full view nearthe crake ing Co., Lancaster,Pa. Brantwas observedat 30 metersthrough were four Ruddy Crakes (Laterallus __ 1979. Birds of the West Indies 5th binocularsand a 25 x spottingscope ruber), and a Sora (?orzana carolina). ed. Collins, London. from a boat. It wasobserved both resting Thehigh visibility of railson thisdate (a DICKERMAN, R. W. 1971. Notes on var- and flying and was loosely associated total of sevenRuddy Crakes, one Yel- ious rails in Mexico. Wilson Bull 83 with numerouswaterfowl, predominant- low-breasted Crake, one Sora and one 49-56. ly LesserScaup (Aythya aff•'nis) as well SpottedRail wereseen), could be related __ and F. HAVERSCHMIDT. 1971 as American Coot (Fulica americana) to the heavyrains of the previousnight Furthernotes on thejuvenal plumage of shorebirds,egrets, cormorants and gulls. thatmay have forced these normally se- the SpottedRail (Rallusmaculatus) Also in the lagoonwere severalthousand cretivebirds into more open areas. Wilson Bull. 83: 444-446. Greater Flamingos (Phoenico?terus No vocalizations were heard from the __ and D. W. WARNER. 1961. Distri- ruber). crake.Because the bird was constantly bution records from Tecolutla, Vera- The Brant is previously unrecorded moving,photographs of it areblurred but cruz, with the first recordPorzanaflavt- from the east coast of Mexico. Bond collectivelyshow diagnostic field marks. venter from Mexico. Wilson Bull 73 (1956) considersthe 1876 recordof the The tiny crake was slightly more than 336-340. Brant from the island of Barbados in the one-halfthe size of the nearbySora. It FRIEDMAN, H. 1947. The SpottedRail, WestIndies (Bent 1951) to be unsatisfac- resembled the illustration in Peterson and (Pardirallus maculatus), in southern tory but believes that it may occur at Chalif(1973) except that the sides of the Mexico. Auk 64: 460. times in the West Indies. The route that breast were buff in color rather than the KORTRIGHT, F. H. 1967. The ducks, this bird used to arrive in Yucatan can golden-yellowillustrated on the plate.In geeseand swans of NorthAmerica The onlybe speculatedupon. The westcoast addition,the barring on the sides was StackpoleCo., Hamsburg, Pa. and race, B. b. nigricans, does occur as a slightlyless bold thanportrayed. Based Wildl. Manage. Inst., Washington, straggleralong the eastcoast of North on Dickerman and Warner (1961) the D.C. America (Kortright 1967). Brant, pre- raceoccurring in Mexico is P. f. woodi. KUSHLAN, J. A., O. L. BASS, JR., and sumablyof the east coast race, B. b. The Yellow-breasted Crake was first L. C. McEWAN. 1982. Winteringwa- hrota, alsooccasionally winter in small recordedin Mexico in 1958 at Tecolutla, terfowlin the Evergladesestuaries Am numbersas far southas the southerntip Veracruz(Dickerman and Warner 1961). Birds 36: 815-819. of Floridawhich is approximately1000 This speciesis very local in Mexico, re- MOFFITT, J. 1941. Eleventhannual Black kilometersnortheast of the presentsight- portedonly from nearAcapulco, Guer- Brant censusin California. Calif. Ftsh ing (Kushlanet al. 1982). On the west rero, on the west coast, Tecolutla and Game 27: 216-233. coast of Mexico, B. b. nigricans now Dos Amatesin Veracruzand at Laguna __ 1943. Twelfth annual Black Brant winters in Baja, California, and in the Lagartoson the Guatemalanborder of censusin California.Calif Fish Game states of Sonora and Sinaloa on the main- Chiapas (Dickerman 1971), approxi- 29: 19-28. land. It hasbeen extending its wintering mately600 kilometerssouthwest of our PARKES, K. D., D. P. KIBBE, and E L rangesouth in recentyears with sightings sighting.The nearestknown occurrence ROTH. 1978. Firstrecords of the Spot- as
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