Transoceanic Recoveries of Banded Birds

BIRD-BANDING

A JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION

VOL. XVI OCTOBER 1945 NO. 4

TRANSOCEANIC RECOVERIES OF BANDED BIRDS

BY MAY THACHER COOKE

Thirty-five speciesof water birds are listedin the A. O. U. Check-List as breedingin both Europe and America, besidesseveral more that are representedby different raceson the two sidesof the Atlantic. Indi- viduals of sevenspecies from the first group and of four from the secondare known to have carried bands across the ocean. In addition, bandedindividuals of four speciesknown in America only as rare or accidental visitors have been recorded. One land bird that went from the United Statesto Iceland brings the total to 16 speciesand 43 individuals. These figures include 15 Kittiwakes, whosemovements have already been traced in a previous article (,Bird-Banding,Vol. 16, pp. 58-62i. While the majority of thesetransoceanic flyers have been birds of the year, they range in age from a EuropeanWidgeon, that was collected on Prince Edward Island 53 days after it was bandedin Iceland as a juvenile,to an AmericanCaspian Tern that wasmore than twelveyears old when it was found dead in England. The shortestflight was from Iceland to the east coast of Greenlandand the longestwas from East Prussia to Mexico. A study of these transoceanicflights and of the records of birds observedat sea,seems to indicatethat suchflights are lessextraordinary than hasbeen generally supposed. Also there is evidencethat theremay be a fairly regular migrationbetween Iceland and continentalNorth America. These 43 birds representeight banding projects, or "bird-ringing schemes"as they are usuallycalled in Europe. The foreign countries and projectsrepresented are: Russia:Only Kittiwakeshave been recorded carrying Russian bands. Germa•y: "VogelwarteRossitten," bands so marked, with "Germania" added. Rossittenis situated on the Kurische Nehrung, East Prussia, about 40 miles south and west of Memel. Dem•zark:Two projects,Copenhagen and Viborg. The Zoological 123 Bird-Banding 124] COOKE•Tf'•tlz$oce•tlzfC RecoFef'ie$ oj• B•tndedBif'd$ october

Museumof Copenhagenhas beenresponsible for bandingin Greenland as well as in Denmark. Bands have not been seen. The Dansk OrnithologiskCentral at Viborg has carried on extensive operationsboth in Denmark and in Iceland under the direction of P. Skovgaard. Bandsmarked "AdresseP. Skovgaard,Viborg, Dan- mark, Europa,"somewhat abbreviated on the smallersizes. All of the American recoveries have been of birds banded in Iceland. Netherlands:The bandingproject representedseems to have been a privateone. Bandsare marked"Cogels•Ossendrecht--Holland." Great Britain: "British Birds" markingscheme. Bandsare marked "Witherby--High Holborn--London." Banding is restrictedto the British Islesand nearbyislands. This work is now underthe direction of a committeeof the British Trust for Ornithologyand the return ad- dress is now "British Museum Nat. Hist., London." Iceland: Since 1931 the National Museum at Reykjavik has been conductingbanding operations. Bandsare marked"Mus. Nat. Reyk- javik," and "Iceland" on the larger sizes.

EUROPEANWIDGEON. Mareca penelope The recoveriesof bandedEuropean Widgeon point to the probability of a more or less regular migration betweenIceland and America. Whetheror not all of the Widgeonoccurring in easternNorth America comefrom Icelandmay be opento question,but, at least, all of the banded ones have come from there. All but one of these were banded with Skovgaardbands, and while we haveno definiteinformation as to whetherthe birds wereyoung or adult, it seemsfairly safeto assume that most,if not all, were young. Many Widgeonbanded in Iceland for Skovgaardwere recoveredin the British Isles and Europe. The onlyWidgeon banded by the Reykjavikprojec• to be takenin America wasbanded as a youngbird; others,banded as adults,were recovered in Europe. Recoveries in America extend from Newfoundland to the Lesser Antilles,and everyone is lessthan a year after banding. P. SkovgaardV 2014, banded at Husav'ik,northern Iceland, July 2. 1926,was capturedDecember 1, 1926,at Hawk Point, CapeSable Island, Nova Scotia. P. SkovgaardV 3563, banded at Husavik July 17, 1927, was killed October 5, 1927, at StephensvilleCrossing, Newfoundland. P. SkovgaardK 8052, banded at Husavik, Iceland, July 2, 1927. was shot November 14, 1927, at Great Pond, Eastham, Mass. P. SkovgaardA 3778, bandedat Husavik,Iceland, August 15, 1929. •vaskilled November 29, 1929, at Colton Lake, Cambridge, Maryland. P. SkovgaardV 6202, banded at Litla Arsskogssandi,Iceland, July 12, 1930, •-as killed in December, 1930, at Currituck Sonnd, North Carolina. P. SkovgaardM 2640, banded at Myvatn, Iceland, in July, 1937, was found about October 28, 1937, on Barbuda Island, British West Indies. Vol. XVI 1945 Cook:r,Transoceanic Recoveries o/Banded Birds [ 125

Mus. Nat. Reykjavik 4/684 was banded as a juvenile at Sandur in Athaldalur•, North Iceland, August 4, 1936, •-as shot September26, 1936, at Hopefield, Kings Co., Prince Edward Island.

EUROPEAN PINTAIL. Atta$ (lCllla acuta The Fintail is one of the speciesthat breedsthroughout much of the north temperatezone, but the birds of America and the Old World are consideredto be differentraces. It is thereforerather interestingthat an Old q-orld bird raised in Iceland has reached Canada and a bird banded in California went to Siberia. P. SkovgaardV 4720 was banded as a juvenile in Athaldalur near Husavik, northern Iceland. and •as killed about May l, 1932, at Bradore Bay, Quebec, near the western end of the Strait of Belle Isle. This is the first recorded occurrence of this race in eastern North America.

AMERICAN PINTAIL. •4tlas acuta tzitzihoa In this discussionof transoceanicflights should be included the AmericanPintails that carriedbands part way acrossthe PacificOcean. The Pintail is a regular winter visitant to the Hawaiian Islands (in smallernumbers than formerly, thoughin rather large numbersin the winter of 1944-45) which involvesan overseaflight of at least 2000 miles. On March 6, 1935, 50 Pintails bandedon San FranciscoBay near Irvington, California, were shipped to the island of Molokai, Hawaii, where they were released,probably about March 15th. Only one of these birds has been heard from, 35-519649, which was shot December 4, 1936, at Los Banos, California, about 75 miles southeast of the place of banding. On November 5, 1942, a small flock of almost exhausted Pintails landedat Palmyra Island •162ø05'W, 5•53'N) approximatelya thou- sand miles south and west of Honolulu and 3000 miles from the Amer- ican mainland. One of them was a drake wearing band 40-693910 whichhad beenaffixed at the BearRiver MigratoryBird Refugein Utah, on August 15, 1942, when the bird was releasedafter having been treated for botulism. In 1939 a Pintail l not banded l was found exhaustedin the surf off Jarvis Island, nearly 500 miles farther south. In the summer of 1936 one of the natives of St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea, made a visit to Indian Point, Siberia, and on his return broughtxvith him band No. 35-558016,taken from a duck that had been killed there the previousspring. This bird was a Pintail that had been bandedat Los Banos,California, on January 3, 1936, by Dwight G. Vedder and the caseis of particularinterest because the breedingPintail of easternSiberia is consideredto be the typicalrace, D. a. acuta.

•Icelandic names are spelled as in the English version of the reports published by the Mu•-eum at Reykjavik, with the Icelandic letter edh translitterated as th on the autl•rity of Webster's a•d Standard dictionaries. Bird-Banding 126] COOKE,Transoceanic Recoveries of Handed Hirds October

EUROPEAN TEAL. •4nas crecca Casual or accidentaloccurrences oœ the European Teal have bccn reportedfrom Greenlandto North Carolina. Band number 5/45 Mus. Nat. Reykjavik, Iceland, was placed on a juvenile European Teal on July 31, 1933, at Grimsstathir, Myvatn, Iceland. This bird was killed early in May, 1934, near Frederiksdal, Greenland. Since this speciesis not known to breed in Greenland, this bird recovercdat thc southcrn tip of that island must have bccn on the way back to its brccding groundsin Iceland. Where had it spent the winter that it should be rcturning from thc west? OLD-SQUAW.Clangula byemalls The Old-squawis one oœthe birds that, breedingthroughout the Arctic regions,has furnisheda singleinstance of provedtransoceanic flight. A bird was killed at Christianshaabon Disko Bay, West Green- land, on May 27, 1929, that had been banded(D 1509) at Myvatn, northernIceland, on July 15, 1928, for P. Skovgaard. No information is availableregarding the ageof the bird at bandingbut it wasprobably a youngbird. The Old-squawbreeds on both coastsof 'Greenlandand eggshave been taken in the regionabout Disko Bay by June 15, so it seemsprobable that this bird wouldhave bred in Greenland. RED-BREASTEDMERGANSER. Mergus serratot The apparentbreeding in EastGreenland of a Red-breastedMerganser hatchedin Iceland is interesting,even though the two islandsare separatedby only a few hundredmiles. Band number3/452 Mus. Nat. Reykjavik was placedon a juvenile of this species at Grimsstathir,Myvatn, Iceland, July 4, 1935. which was shot July 22, 1939, at Tasiussarssuk,Angmagsalik, East Grcenland. The date of recoveryindicates that the bird was at or near its breeding ground.

LAPWING. l/anellus vanellus Amongtransoceanic travelers, the shorebirdsare representedby one specimeneach of two species:the Lapwingwhich is of onlycasual occurrencein America,and the PurpleSandpiper which is circumpolar in distribution. In the greatflight of Lapwings,numbering several hundred birds, which reached North America in late December, 1927, and spread from northernLabrador to Nova Scotia,there was one bird that wore a band. LapwingX 5046Witherby--High Holborn--London, was banded as a nestling in May, 1926,at Ullswater,Cumberland, northwestern England, and was killed Decen•ber27, 1927,near Bonavistaon the eastcoast of Newfoundland. PURPLESANDPIPER. •4rquatella rnaritirna PurpleSandpiper 6/3731 Mus. Nat. Reykjavikwas banded as an adultat Hafurbjarnarstathir,southwestern Iceland, May 20, 1942,and Vol. XVI 1945 COOKE,Transoceanic Recoveries o.[Banded Birds [127

waskilled by an Eskimoat the end of April, 1943, 30 mileswest of Cape Dorset, Baffin Island, Canada. This recoveryis quite surprisingsince the bird was an adult, and presumablybreeding, when banded, and would,therefore, be expected to returnto the samebreeding place in succeedingyears. It is usually the youngbirds and non-breedersthat wander. However,the dateand latitudeof its capturemake it probablethat it wouldnot havereturned to Icelandthat year.

NORTHERN SKUA. Catharacta skua As a breedingbird the Northernor GreatSkua is largelyconfined to the Old World. It is not knownto breedregularly in America,but may do so occasionally,probably in the region about Davis Strait where immaturebirds have been reported. In winterit is tolerablycommon on the fishing banks off Newfoundlandand occasionalas far south as Nantucket. Two birds banded abroad have been taken in North America. 3/189 Mus. Nat. Reykjavik was banded as a juvenile at Kvisker, southeastern Iceland, on June 16, 1935. On August 4, 1937, it was shot in Davis Strait, southwest of Godthaab, Greenland, at 63035' north. 52010' west. 401218 Witherby--High Holborn--London was banded as a nestling on July 3, 1939,at Hermaness,the northernmostpoint of the ShetlandIslands. On February 4, 1940, it was found dead at Swampscott,Mass. This recordis of more than ordinaryinterest since it representsthe first bird "ringed"in GreatBritain to be reportedin the United States and is the fourth specimenof the Skua to be taken in Massachusetts. The specimenis preservedin the museumof the BostonSociety of Natural History. HERRINGGULL. Larus argentatus Herring Gull 36-648130was banded as a juvenile at Little Wood Island, near Kent Island, New Brunswick, August 13, 1936, by Dr. A. O. Gross and came aboard a ship at sea in 46030' north and 14ø ;•est during November,1937. This would be about 300 miles northwestof Cape Finisterre, Spain, and well within European waters. In recentyears the separationof the Americanbirds as a different race has been revivedso that this is anotherspecies represented by different forms on the two sides of the Atlantic. So far as is known this is the first recordof the occurrenceof the AmericanHerring Gull in Europe,and it is especiallysurprising as the Herring Gull doesnot ordinarilyreach the pelagiczone, but is confinedto coastalwaters.

BLACK-HEADED GULL. Larus ridibundus Two Black-headedGulls banded as nestlingsin July, 1911, at Ros- sitten, East Prussia, on the shore of the Baltic, were found in America within the next sevenmonths. One was shot on the island of Barbados, Bird-Banding 128] TransoceanicRecoreries o] Ba•ded Birds October

B. W. I., in November, 1911, and the other near Vera cruz, Mexico, in February, 1912. No. 851 Cogels--Ossendrecht--Holland •as banded as a juvenile June 21, 1932, at Groote Meer, near Ossendrecht, Province of Noord Brabant, Netherlands. In September, 1933, this bird was "collected" by a native at Stag Bay, Labrador. A fourth banded gull was shot at Badger, Newfoundland, October 26, 1943. This carried band Mus. Nat. Reykjavik 5/2278 and was banded as a nestling June 16, 1943, at Grimsstathir, Myvatn, Iceland. This is a specieswhose range has apparentlychanged in quite recent times. Olderwriters list it as only casualin Iceland,usually in winter. In 1910 a singlenest was reported, the first recordof its breedingthere. In the years1932 to !939, inclusive,100 youngbirds were banded for the Museumof Natural History at Reykjavik. It seemsquite possible, therefore,that Icelandmay be the sourceof the Black-headedGulls that haveoccurred in recentyears on the New Englandcoast. GULL-BILLED TERN. Gelochelidon nilotica The Gull-billedTern is anotherof the cosmopolitalspecies considered to be representedby differentraces on the two sidesof the Atlantic. Zool. Mus. Kobenhavn, Danmark RK 2929 was placed on a day-old Gull-billed Tern at Tipperne, RingkoebingFjord, Jutland, on June 17, 1935. Eighty days later. on September4, 1935, it was shot at Maynard's Swamp near St. Peter, Barbad*,s, British West Indies. ARCTICTERN*. Steraa paradisaea For the sakeof completenessit is necessaryto includethe Arctic Tern, thoughit is nowpretty well establishedthat the speciesregularl) crossesthe Atlanticon its springand fall migrations. In spring,the bulk of the speciescrosses the oceanwithin a weekin late May and earlyJune, though some may come as earlyas April. On June3, 1933, manywere seen feeding in the Gulf of St. Lawrenceand otherswere arrivingfrom the ocean. The returnpassage takes place in Augustand September,the heightbeing the first weekin September.In clear weatherthey are reportedto fly between100 and 500 feet abovethe water,while at othertimes they keep just abovethe crestsof the waves. Variousobservers report that they do not alight on the waterbut will rest on floatingwreckage. They apparentlyseldom feed during the trip, perhapsbecause suitable food is not foundat sea. (SeeWynne- Edwards,Proc. BostonSoc. Nat. Hist., Vol. 40, pp. 324-32'9). Three definite records have been obtained, all banded in North America. A.B.B.A. 1258 bandedas a nestlingat easternEgg Rock, Maine, Jtdy 3, 1913, by Dr. JohnC. Phillipswas found i• August,1917, floating in the Nun Branch of the Niger River delta,near Ikibiri, southernNigeria, West Africa. This bird wasfirst reported as a CommonTern, but sinceit wasbanded in a colonywhere a few Arcticswere breeding, the recoveryin Africa indicatesthat it wasprobably this species. Vol. XVI 1945 COOKE,Transoceanic Recoveries ofBanded Birds [_129

Biological Survey No. 548656 banded as a nestling on the Red Islands, Turnevik Bay, Labrador, June 22, 1927, by O. L. Austin, Jr., was found dead October 1, 1927, near La Rochelle, Charente-Inferieure, France; and B.S. 548138 banded as above July 28, 1928, was found dead November 14, 1928, at Margate, 15 miles southwest of Port Shepstone,Natal, South Africa.

CASPIANTERN. Hydroprogne caspia The first bird banded in the United States to be recovered in Great Britain wasa twelve-year-oldCaspian Tern founddead near Whirby on the east coast of England. Caspian Tern 566280 was banded as a juvenile July 14, 1927, in the colonyon Shoe Island, BeaverIsland, LakeMichigan, by William I. Lyon. in August,1939, it was found dead near Whitby, York County, England. The band was sent to Washingtonfor inspectionand a rubbing of it has beenpreserved. It seemsworth noting that only a few weeksbefore this the Skua, which was to be the first British-banded bird recovered in the United States, had been banded.

PUFFIN. Fraterc•da arctica Two Puffins banded as nestlingson St. Kilda Island west of the Hebridesfound their way to Newfoundlandfour monthslater. Witherby--High Holborn--London RV 4692 was banded August 10, 1939, and xxasrecovered December 20, 1939, at Herring Neck, Newfoundland. RW 3439 was banded August 4, 1939, and recovered December 21, 1939, on Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland. The datesand localitiesof recoverysuggest that the two birds might havebeen traveling companions, but they did not tell us aboutit. Since this speciesis supposedto migrateonly a short distance,this journey of nearlytwo thousandmiles made simukaneously by two individuals is all the more surprising.

SNOWBUNTING. Plectrophenax nivalis Only a singleland bird is includedin the list of transatlanticflyers. About April 18, 1941, a large flock of birds landedon a westbound ship whenit wassome twenty miles from Iceland. Amongthem was one wearingband 41-107510 which provedthem to have been Snow Buntings. This bird, an adult female,had been bandedJanuary 2'0, 1941, at Millbrook, DutchessCounty, New York, by Frank Wilson Trevor. The majority of the birds died on shipboard,but four lived until the boat sightedthe Canadianshore. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington,D.C.