Thirteenth Report of the California Bird Records Committee
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WESTERN BIRDS Volume 23, Number 3, 1992 THIRTEENTH REPORT OF THE CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE PETER PYLE, Point Reyes Bird Observatory,4990 ShorelineHighway, Stinson Beach, California 94970 GUY McCASKIE, 954 GroveStreet, Imperial Beach, California 91932 Western Field Ornithologistsand the California Bird RecordsCom- mittee are againpleased to thank Bushnell,a divisionof Bausch& Lomb, for its continued generoussupport in sponsoringthe publication of our reports. This report contains376 recordsof 96 speciesthat have recentlybeen reviewedby the California Bird RecordsCommittee (hereafter,the CBRC or the Committee).The 321 acceptedrecords of 83 speciesand 55 rejectedrecords of 36 speciesrepresent an 85.4% acceptancerate. Re- portswere receivedfrom 37 of the state's58 counties,including all coastal counties.As in past years, the best-representedcounties were San Fran- cisco(44 acceptedrecords including 36 from SoutheastFarallon Island), San Diego (35), Santa Barbara (31), Monterey (25) and Marin (21). Al- though the dates of the records extend from 30 August 1969 to 9 September1989, the great majorityof them (339) are from 1 December 1986 to 28 February 1989, representinga very high percentageof the recordsof CBRC Review-Listspecies (see below) from Californiapublished in American Birds(hereafter AB) duringthis period. In 1991, the Commit- tee received 236 records, an increase of 15 from 1990. The Committee greatly appreciatesthe increasinginterest by the birding communityin submittingdocumentation of rare birdsin the state. We continueto encouragebirders and ornithologiststo support the CBRC processby submittingwritten reports and/or photographsto Michael A. Patten, CBRC Secretary, P.O. Box 8612, Riverside,CA 92515. We believethat the decisionsof the CBRC are highly qualified, standardizedassessments of the validityof recordsbut not alwaysthe final word on whether or not an identification is correct. "Final" Committee decisionsare always re-reviewablegiven new information;historically, Western Birds 23: 97-132, 1992 97 CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS decisionsboth to acceptand to rejecthave been overturnedupon further Committeereview. Additionalconsequences of the Committeeprocess includethe archivingof all revieweddocumentation and the accumulation of much usefulinformation concerning the identificationand statusof Review-Listspecies in the state,through the consolidationand synthesisof commentsby ten or more membersof variousdisciplines and with a wide rangeof fieldexperience. See Roberson(1990) and Bevier(1990) for more on the evolution,functioning, and benefitsof the Committeeprocess. All recordspublished in CBRC reportsare archivedby LloydKiff at the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology (439 Calle San Pablo, Camarillo,CA 93010) and are availableto anyoneinterested in reviewing the documentationand assessmentsof the CBRC. All voicerecordings are kept at the CaliforniaAcademy of Sciences,Department of Ornithology and Mammalogy,Golden Gate Park, San Francisco,CA 94118. The Committeecontinues to reviewboth currentand pastrecords of birdson its ReviewList; with the publicationof our upcomingsummary of old records in the fourteenthreport, over 92% of all publishedrecords of Review-List specieswill have been evaluated.The Committee continuesto solicit documentationof unreviewedpast records, published or not. State List and CBRC Ret•iewList. This report providesdetails on four additionsto the Californiastate list: Terek Sandpiper(Xenus cinereus), Long-toedStint (Calidris subminuta),Xantus' Hummingbird (H91ocharis xantusii), and Gray Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea). The earliestaccepted recordof the RuddyGround-Dove (Columbina talpacoti) is alsopublished here. Patten (1991) noted the CBRC acceptanceof three additionalspe- cies- Murphy's Petrel (Pterodroma ultima), Common Pochard'(A9th9a retina), and White-tailedPtarmigan (Lagopus leucurus). Recent accep- tance of a Smith's Longspur(Calcarius pictus) photographedat Moss Landing, Monterey County, 13-18 September 1990, a Cave Swallow (Hitundo fulva) photographednear Westmorland,Imperial Co., 8 August 1987, and a Red-flankedBluetail (Tarsiger c9anurus) photographed in hand at SoutheastFarallon Island, 1 November 1989, bringsthe current statelist to 579 species.Recent reports of the CrestedCaracara (Po19borus plancus), Green Kingfisher(Chlorocer91e americana), and Eyebrowed Thrush (Turdus obscurus)were not accepted. Details of these recent decisionswill appearin the fourteenthand fifteenthreports. In addition,the CBRC is now evaluatingrecords of a numberof speciesthat wouldincrease the state list, includingthe Arctic Loon (Gayla arctica), Solander'sPetrel (Pterodroma solandri), Townsend's Shearwater (Puffinus auricularis), CaribbeanCoot (Fulicacaribaea), Band-tailed Gull (Larusbelcheri), Black- tailedGull (Laruscrassirostris), Iceland Gull (Larusglaucoides), Swallow- tailed Gull (Creagrus furcatus), Oriental Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia orientalis), Alder Flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum), Little Bunting (Emberiza pusilia), Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna), Oriental Greenfinch (Carduelis sinica), and Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus). The most recently publishedstate checklist(Field List of Califo rn ia Birdsby the CBRC, 1991) contains578 species(Cave Swallow acceptedafter publication)and is availablefrom the l•VesternBirds circula- tion managerfor $1.00 postpaid. 98 CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS The list of speciesand speciescomplexes that the CBRC reviewswas publishedby Roberson(1989) andupdated by Langham(1991). In general, the Review List comprisesspecies of which there are fewer than 100 recordsin Californiaor fewer than 40 recordsin the stateduring the most recent 10-year period.At the Committee's1992 annualmeeting held 18 January at Goleta, three specieswere deletedfrom the Review List: the Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula), Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Tryngites subruficollis),and Red-throatedPipit (Antbus cervinus).The CBRC will continueto review recordsof these speciesthrough 1991 (throughthe winter of 1991/92 for the Tufted Duck), but subsequentreports will not be reviewed.At thismeeting the CBRC decidedalso to maintaina supplemen- tal list of speciesof uncertainnatural occurrencethat have been docu- mentedin California.Species shall be placedon this listby a majorityvote at an annualmeeting of the Committeeafter a givenrecord has completed its normalcirculation and wasnot acceptedbecause the naturaloccurrence was questioned. Format. The format of this report is very similarto those of recent Committeereports (Dunn 1988, Bevier 1990, Langham1991). Records are generallylisted chronologically according to firstknown date of occur- rence;exceptions occur in specieswith many records,including several at the same location, or to allow better understandingof CBRC decisions. Those speciesnames preceded by an asteriskare no longeron the Review List. The total number of CBRC-acceptedrecords through this report is givenin parenthesesfollowing the speciesname. For specieswe no longer review,this numberreflects only CBRC-acceptedrecords during the period in whichthe specieswas on the ReviewList. Two asterisksfollowing this numberindicate restrictions on the periodfor which the specieshas been reviewedor the inclusionof someolder reports not formallyaccepted (see Roberson1986). Eachrecord includes the locality,a standardabbreviation for the county(see below), and fulldate spans.In mostcases, the datesare from the seasonalreports in AB. Datesdiffering from thoselisted in AB are italicized,indicating that we believeours to be correct.Enclosed in paren- thesesare the initialsof the reportingobserver(s), listed in alphabetical sequenceby last name and followedby the CBRC recordnumber. If the observer(s)who initiallyfound or identifiedthe bird provideddocumenta- tion, their initialsare listedfirst and are separatedfrom the otherobservers' initialsby a semicolon.If an observersubmitted a photograph,a dagger followsthe initials.Specimens are indicatedby cataloguenumber (see below for museumacronyms). Unless indicated by a dagger,a specimennumber, or mentionof voice or video recordings,all evaluationswere basedon written documentationof sight reports.When individualbirds return to a locationafter a lengthyor seasonalabsence, each occurrenceis reviewed undera separaterecord number, and Committee members indicate whether or not they believe the bird is the same individualas one previously accepted.Such decisions follow the opinionof the majorityof Committee members. All annotationsare ours,although the informationis often derivedfrom the Committee'sfiles. The CBRC doesnot specificallyreview the age, sex, or subspeciesof rarities;however, Committee members often provide 99 CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS commentson the designationof theseclasses where appropriate.Many of the opinionson age, sex,and subspeciesof the individualsassigned in this report reflectthose of the Committeeas a whole. We have taken the opportunityto commentmore thoroughly on the ageand sex of passefines, primarilyon the basisof informationprovided by Pyle et al. (1987). Abbreviations.The Committeehas adoptedstandard county abbrevia- tions;those listed in this reportare as follows:ALA, Alameda;CC, Contra Costa; DN, Del Norte; HUM, Humboldt;IMP, Imperial;INY, Inyo; KER, Kern; LAS, Lassen; LA, Los Angeles; MRN, Marin; MEN, Mendocino; MER, Merced; MOD, Modoc; MNO, Mono; MTY, Monterey; ORA, Or- ange; RIV, Riverside;SAC, Sacramento; SBT, San Benito; SBE, San Bernardino;SD, San Diego; SF, San Francisco;SJ, San Joaquin;SLO, San Luis Obispo; SM, San Mateo;