Sight Record of a Blue (Guiraca caerulea) in Colombia

Michael Gochfeld*,Robert Gochfeld, Michel Kleinbaum and Guy Tudor

On April 18, 1973 we observed a male Blue darker in overall color and lack the two rich Grosbeak (Guiraca caerulea) near Buenaventura brown marks on the wing. We examined skinsof on the Pacificcoastal plain of Colombia,Depart- all the above speciesand of the Indigo Grosbeak ment of Valle. This is apparentlythe first record (Cyanoloxia glaucocaerulea) and Blue Finch of this North American migrantfor Colombia and (Porphyrospizacaerulescens) of Brazil, at the for South America. The was observed from American Museum of Natural History. All of our car at a distance of about 10 meters, as it these species were included by Paynter in the perched on a low bush at the edge of a clearing genusPasserina, subfamilyCardinalinae, family and second growth woodland, along the Emberizidae (Check-list of of the Word, Buenaventura-Cali road, 21 kilometers (by road) vol. 13, Harvard, 1970). Examination of the from Buenaventura, at an altitude of about 200 specimensconfirmed our identificationof the feet (60 meters). The bird was a male in changing Blue Grosbeak. plumage,mainly blue below, flecked with brown, Slud (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. History 128:372, particularly on the chest. The upper parts were 1964)notes that the subspecieslazuli of the Blue partly brown, mainly on the crown and mantle, Grosbeak breeds from to northern with bright blue feathers appearingon the nape, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, and that the migrant sides of face, and "shoulders". The rich brown race caerulea, which occurs in Costa Rica, often lesserwing coverts and the broad brown wingbar in flocks, ranges south to Panama. Eugene were prominent.The observerswere familiar not Eisenmann (pers. communication) has observed only with the Blue Grosbeakand Indigo Bunting Blue in Panama, about 50 kilometers (Passerinacyanea) of North America, but with west of the Canal Zone, and adds that there are the speciesof Cyanocompsa,including the small reported sightingsfrom the Canal Zone itself, Central American Blue Bunting (C. parellina), althoughonly a singlePanamanian specimen has the Blue-black Grosbeak (C.cyanoides) and been taken. (C.cyanea). The names The occurrence on the Pacific coast of Colom- given here follow Meyer de Schauensee(Species bia, of a migrant speciesthat is known as nearby of Birds of South America, Livingston, 1966). as central Panama is not at all remarkable. The The Blue Bunting is not known south of recent increasein the number of observersstudy- (Eisenmann, The Species of Middle ing birds in the Neotropics has led to an increase American Birds, Trans. Linnaean Soc. of New in records of various North American migrants, York, 6:1-128, 1955).M•eyer de Schauensee(The and as the numberof researchprojects involving Birds of Colombia, Livingston Publ. Co., 1964) mist-netting increases, many sight records, in- notes that the Indigo Bunting is casual in Colom- cluding the present, may be substantiated by bia, giving winter records from Choco and Mag- specimens. dalena. The bird we observed, however, had the We thank F. Carlos Lehmann for his assistance large stout beak and general appearance of the in providing much information about bird dis- grosbeak,not of a bunting. Both the Blue-black tribution in Colombia. E. Eisenmann read and and Ultramarine occur on the Pacific slope, commented on the manuscript. althoughthe latter is apparentlylocal (Meyer de *Department of Ornithology, American Museum of Schauensee 1964, op.cit.), but both are much Natural History, New York, NY 10024.

958 American Birds, October, 1974 BIRDING FROM A TRACTOR SEAT '\\ by Charles T. Flugum

,, \ "If you'rescoutin' around for firstrate outdoor reading, let me 11• \ recommenda new bird book by a Minnesotafarmer. The title: \ "BirdingFrom A TractorSeat"; the author, Charles T Flugum • ...The greatestthing about the book, seems to me, is its complete ß • honesty.The author doesn't try to writeas a scholarmight -- • althoughhe is certainly a scholar in thebest usage of the word. He • writesdirectly, simply, with logic and an easy flow of easy words. • Hewrites with great feeling and clarity .... illustrationsexcellent • .... You'lllike them." W-• DaveRoberts • CincinnatiPostandTimes-Star ".... the writing styleis ascomfortable as a barnof freshhay, the experiencesas familiar as a daily walk .... For light readingin a sparemoment this is an excellentaddition to your library." Henry B. Roberts SundayDuluth News Tribune

".... a truly different kind of bird book .... written by a keen and sympatheticobserver. Flugum,a lifelongfarmer, writes simply and well .... He writes with understandingof all inhabitantsof his land . . .and with empathyof often scornedspecies .... well illustrated with line drawings.... I couldwish you nothingbetter than thejoy andenthusiasm the down to earth author, now near 70, has brought to his book." Don L. Johnson Milwaukee Sentinel

".... remarkablebook .... deservingof high praise .... Over the yearseverything from the housewren to the greatblue heron, from the robin to the goldeneagle has passed before his eyes,and he has recordedthe extraordinarybeauty and variety of this featheredprocession in prosethat is forthright, unadornedand gently humorous.His deep lovefor birds of all kinds is obvious, and so is his commitmentto conservation,but there is nothing manneredabout his descriptivev•riting and he is never shrill about the environment. Birding From A TractorSeat is fine reading for bird lovers,and thoseof us who know little about birds canlearn much from it .... Readingthese essays, one graduallycomes to realizethat Flugumis utterly at home with the land -- that he not only works it well but takesunending delight in its subtlestnuances and surprises.That is no doubt why he writes about it with such feeling." Jonathan Yardley SportsIllustrated

BIRDING FROM A TRACTOR SEAT ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA 55175 BOX 30038 Pleasesend. __ copies($8.95 per copy) of Charles T. Flugum's 435 page book BIRDING FROM A TRACTOR SEAT to:

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Volume 28, Number 5 959