FirstRecord of Striated Heron (Butorides striata)for the Greater Antilles at St.John, United States Virgin Islands

FLOYDE. HAYESß BRETTD. HAYESß DIVISIONOF FISH AND WILDLIFE ß 6291ESTATE NAZARETH ß ST. THOMAS, UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS 00802 DEPARTMENTOFBIOLOGY ß PACIFIC UNION COLLEGE ß 1 ANGWINAVENUE ß ANGWIN, CALIFORNIA 94508 ß (EMAIL:[email protected])

Abstract Heron, we obtaineda seriesof digiscoped localities>1 km apart,averaged 7.1 (SD= 0 6, An adult StriatedHeron (Butoridesstriata) was photographsthrough a 25x spottingscope range= 6-9, n = 35). Neck-colorscores of found and photographedat Concordia,St. (Figures1, 2). Althoughthere was a slight GreenHeron specimens averaged 7.7 (SD = John,U.S. Virgin Islands, on 25 May andwas tingeof rufouson thecheeks, the sides of the 0.9, range = 7-9, n = 43) in the Greater lastseen on 29 May 2003.Its neckcolor was neck were solid gray with a slightbrown Antillesand 7.0 (SD = 0.5, range= 6-8, n = comparedin the fieldwith a colorprint of wash,and the hindneck was solid pale gray, 31) in the LesserAntilles (Payne 1974). The Payne'svoucher specimens used as a hybrid palerthan the back. A rufous-borderedwhite StriatedHeron specimen from St. Vincent had index and scoredas 2 on a scaleof 1-9, well line extended down the foreneck. There were a neck-colorscore of 3 (Payne1974; Hayes, withinthe range of variation for Striated Heron longplumes on the back.There appeared to unpubl.photograph of specimen). (I-4) andbeyond the range of variationfor be a fewwhite spots on the wingwhen the Thelow neck-colorscore strongly suggests GreenHeron (B. virescens;5-9). This record birdflew away it wasneither a hybridfrom southern Central representsthe firstfor the VirginIslands and The heronwas subsequenfiy observed by America, the southern Caribbean, and Greater Antilles, the second for the West LaurelBrannick Trager on 28 May and by northern South America--where intermediate Indies,and the northernmost for thespecies. Rick Falkenbergon 29 May; on the latter birdswith a neck-colorscore of 5 occur(Payne occasion,it was twice chased away by a Green 1974,Hayes 2002, 2006)--nor an individual Introduction Heron.Subsequent attempts to relocateit at of the paler Bahamiansubspecies (B. s The nominatesubspecies of StriatedHeron the samepond or in otherwetlands of the bahamensis),in which a few havea neck-color (Butoridess. striata) resides in continental island were unsuccessful. scoreof 5 (Payne1974). Because no similarly South America and hybridizeswith the gray-neckedButorides have been collected or nominate subspecies of Green Heron Identification reportedin NorthAmerica (Payne 1974), we (Butoridesv.virescens) where their ranges meet The solid neck colorationand long back believe this bird was a Striated Heron rather tn southern Central America and on several plumes, combinedwith possiblewhite thanan aberrantly pigmented Green Heron southernCaribbean islands (Payne 1974, spottingon the wing coverts,indicate it was Voous1986, Hayes 2002, 2006). Although not an adult or subadult that had acquired Discussion knownto be migratory,it hasstrayed across definitive adult neck coloration (Davis and Thisrecord represents the first of thespectes short stretches of ocean to the islands of Kushlan1994, Hayes2002). The distinctly for the Virgin Islandsand GreaterAntilles Cocos (Slud 1967), Bonaire (Voous 1986), graysides and rear of theneck (Figures 1, 2) (theVirgin Islands are located on the eastern andTobago (Payne 1974, Hayes 2006), and distinguishedit from the locallybreeding bankof theGreater Antilles), only the second has wandered as far north as Costa Rica in GreenHeron, which has a rufousneck (Hayes for the West Indies, and the northernmost CentralAmerica (Stiles and Skutch1989) and 2002).The slighttinges of rufouson its face recordin the New World.Natural vagrancy St. Vincentin the LesserAntilles (Bond 1964, (Figures1, 2) and the rufouslines on the mayhave been overlooked in the pastand Payne1974). The latter record, represented by foreneck are normal for a Striated Heron shouldbe expectedto occurelsewhere in the an adult specimentaken on 18 July 1924 (Hayes2002). The neck color of thebird was West Indies. Birders should be aware of the (American Museum of Natural History compareddirectly in the field with a color differences between Green and Striated 325328),is the onlyprevious record of the print of Payne's(1974) voucherspecimens Herons(Hayes 2002) andshould be alertfor speciesfor the West Indies. Here we document usedas a hybridindex between B. virescensthe latter in the Caribbeanand perhaps even a StriatedHeron in theVirgin Islands. and B. striata and scored as a 2 on a scale of southern North America. 1-9, well within the rangeof variationfor Field encounter StriatedHeron (1-4) andbeyond the range of Acknowledgments At 1I:45 a.m.on 25 May 2003,we founda variationfor GreenHeron (5-9; seeHayes Field work was funded by grant W-16, gray-neckedButorides heron in a freshwater 2002). By contrast,neck-color scores of "Wetlands Conservation, St. Thomas / St pond at Concordia,St. John, U.S. Virgin GreenHerons observed by usthroughout the John,"from theUnited States Fish & Wildhfe Islands.We observedthe bird foraging from a U.S. Virgin Islandsfrom September2002 Service.We thankL. BrannickTrager and R distanceof 40 m until it flewaway at 12:12 through July 2003, based on the first Falkenbergfor sharingtheir observations p.m.Recognizing it immediately as a Striated observationor highestcount of birdsseen at with us.

464 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS FIRSTRECORD-OF STRIATED-HERON FORTHE GREATER-ANTILLES ATST JOHN

Figures1,2. AdultStriated Heron (Butorides virescens) at Concordia,St.John, U.S. Virgin Islands, on25 May 2003. Payne,R. B. 1974.Species limits and varianon PhotographsbyFloyd E. Hayes. of the New World Green Herons Butorides viresceus and Striated Herons B. striatus. GreenHeron Butorides virescens. Birds of BulletinoJ the BritishOrnithologists' Club North America 129: 1-23. 94: 81-88. Hayes,E E. 2002. Geographicvariation, Slud, P 1967. The birds of Cocos Island hybridization,and taxonomyof New [Costa Rica]. Bulletinof the American World Butorides herons. North American Museumof NaturalHistory 134: 261-296. Birds 56: 4-10. Stiles,E G., and A. E Skutch.1989. A Guideto ---. 2006. Variationand hybridizationin theBirds of CostaRica. Cornell University Literature cited the Green Heron (Butoridesvirescens) and Press,Ithaca, New York. Bond,J. 1964.Ninth Supplement to the Check- Striated Heron (B. striata) in Trinidad and Voous, K. H. 1986. Striated or Green Herons list of Birdsof the WestIndies (1956). Tobago,with commentson specieslimits. in the South Caribbean islands? Annaleu Academyof Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. Journalof CaribbeanOrnithology 19: 12- des NaturhistorischenMuseum zu Wien (B) Davis, W. E., Jr., and J. A. Kushlan. 1994. 20. 88/89:101-106. •

The Friends of North Amer/tan Birds Since its inception, the fund has. allowed for many improvements such as: Mailing in a protective wrapper t9 insure its delivery in•one piece. Increasein page count, allowing the addition of articles and special sections. More color pages, allowing the addition of Rhoto Salons. I1• II • .• All of this has .been made possible with your generous contributions. There are more plans in the work• for future issues but the fund does need your continued support. • bonations tothe "Friends .of NAB"fund can be mailed to: TheFriends ofNAB, 4945 N.30tl• Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, •O•80919-3151 VOLUME 60 (2006) NUMBER 3 465