Seventh Report of the California Bird Records Committee
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SEVENTH REPORT OF THE CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE LAURENCE C. BINFORD, 985 Emily Avenue, Rohnert Park, California94928 This report of the Western Field Ornithologists'California Bird Records Committee(CBRC) contains197 recordsof 78 species,divided as follows: 174 records (of 65 species)accepted; 18 (17) unaccepted,identification questionable;and 5 (5) unaccepted, origin questionable(i.e., possible escapees).A few of the accepted records involve returniag birds or the reevaluationof recordspreviously treated by the Committee.These figures representa rejectionrate of only 11.7%, which is similarto the ratesin four of the sixprevious reports and to the overallaverage of 15.7 %. Thisaverage is based on 1140 recordstreated, of which 179 were judged unacceptable (seeTable I). By way of comparison,the BritishRarities Committee had an overallrejection rate of 22% duringits first 10 years,with the lowestannual rate being 18% during the tenth year (Wallace 1970). State list. Joneset al. (1981) included541 specieson the Californiastate list.They anticipatedand includedall speciesadded in the Committee'$fifth report (Luther et al. 1983). The sixthreport (Binford 1983) noted the addi- tion of Gray-tailedTattler (l-letero$½elu$brevipe$) and Least Auklet (•4ethia pusilia) and the deletion of Yellow Wagtail (Mota½illafiava) and White Wagtail (M. alba). At its meeting of 18 February 1984, the Committee removed Acadian Flycatcherand Cook's Petrel; see Cook's/Mas Atierra Petrel under Accepted Records and Acadian Flycatcherin Unaccepted Records. The present report officiallyadds four speciesto the state list: Sinew, Kittlitz's Murrelet, Barred Owl and Black-backed Wagtail. The Californiastate list thus standsat 543 species. /•/umber of re½or•/$.The number of recordssubmitted over the years (Table 1) showsa fairly steadybut not dramaticrise that I believecombines the effectsof increasesin the numbersof (1) active birders(plus improved awarenessas to where and when to find raritiesand how to identifythem) and (2) people reportingto the Committee,especially subsequent to the first two reports when observersbecame aware of the Committee and its func- tions. That the number of raritiespresent in the statealso has increasedis suggestedby DeSante (1983). Note that the great increasefrom 93 records treatedin the secondreport to 253 in the thirdis at leastpartly a resultof the 4-year time lag in publicationdates and a concertedeffort on the part of the Committee to obtain and validate old records. Given these effects, an even more dramatic increase in the number of recordsreported might have been expected.That suchis not the caseap- pears to be a function of changes in the review list. The total number of specieshas changedlittle, from 131 in 1972, 105 in 1973, 107 in 1975, 109 in 1979, 110 in 1980, 116 in 1981, and 117 in 1983 to 122 in the present report. The net decreaseof only nine speciesshould have littleeffect on the numberof reports.However, the speciescomposition of the listhas changed considerably.Forty-nine forms on the 1972 reviewlist are not to be found on the currentlist. Many of theseare birdsthat are now recordedregularly, such asHooded Warbler (•Vi!$onia ½itrina) and IndigoBunting (Passeri•a ½ya•ea). Western Birds 16:29-48, 1985 29 CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS These have been replaced by 40 ultra-rarities,all of which are very infre- quentlyseen and over half of which have been encounteredonly once in the state, such as Masked Booby ($ula dactylatra) and Dusky Warbler (Phylloscopusfuscatus). Thus increases in the numbers of birders and reportershave been counteractedby a decreasein the number of reportable sightings. Committeedecisions. At its meetingsof 19 February1983 and 18 February 1984, the Committeereached four decisionsthat affectreporters. (1) A record of a bird returningto the samelocality in successiveyears (or afterany lengthy absence)should be submittedas if it were a separateindividual (e.g., the Eur- asianSkylark at PointReyes, Marin Co.; seeAccepted Records). The observer shouldinclude his opinion as to whetherthe sameor a differentindividual is in- volved, but the final decisionis up to the Committee. (2) The "unresolvedcategory" of the Californiastate list (seedefinition in Joneset al. 1981) was abolishedand the bylawsamended accordingly. Recordsof someof the speciesrelegated to that categoryare reevaluatedin the present report: Cape Petrel (54-1976), Anhinga (2-1979), American BlackDuck (149-1980) and Kittlitz'sMurrelet (83-1978). Another, the Black Vulture (35-1978), was publishedas unacceptable,origin questionable, in the sixthreport (Binford1983). The remainingunresolved records will be reexamined in the near future. (3) A recordnot submittedas a singleidentified species (e.g., Pterodroma spp.) normallywill not be judged by the Committeebut will be placedin a "suspensefile" untilthe Secretaryfeels that a specificname can be appliedto it. The Secretarywill so inform the reporters,who may then refractthe record,submit it undera singlespecific name, or leaveit in the suspensefile. Exceptionsto this rule are those speciespairs added to the review list. Cur- rentlythese are Cook's/MasAtierra Petrel and White/Black-backedWagtail. Recordsof thesetwo pairsmay be submittedfor reviewand will be evaluated accordingly. (4) A record submittedby the observer(s)involved may not be refracted aftercirculation has begun. The observer(s)may submitnew opinionsor ad- ditionaldata that totallyor in part negatethe record,and the Committeewill reconsiderthe recordaccordingly. ReviewList. In additionto any speciesunrecorded in California,the Com- mittee requestsdocumentation for sightingsor specimensof the 122 forms on the followinglist. Nomenclature and sequencefollow the AOU (1983). At its 1984 meeting the Committee added thoseforms marked with an asterisk (') and deleted Laysan Albatross,Cook's Petrel and Painted Redstart. Yellow-billedLoon, LeastGrebe, Wandering and Short-tailedalbatrosses, MottledPetrel, * Cook's/MasAtierra Petrel, Stejneger'sPetrel, Streaked and Greater shearwaters,Wilson's, Band-rumped and Wedge-rumpedstorm- petrels,White-tailed and Red-tailedtropicbirds, Masked, Brown and Red- looted boobies,Olivaceous Cormorant, *ReddishEgret, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Black-belliedWhistling-Duck, Trumpeter Swan, ßEmperor Goose, Baikal Teal, Gargany, Tufted Duck, King Eider, Smew, MississippiKite, Harris' and Zone-tailed hawks, Gyrfalcon, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Yellow Rail, Purple Gallinule,Mongolian, Wilson's and Piping plovers, EurasianDotterel, American Oystercatcher,Gray-tailed Tattler, 31 CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS UplandSandpiper, Hudsonian and Bar-tailedgodwits, Rufous-necked Stint, White-rumped, Curlew and Buff-breastedsandpipers, Jack Snipe, Little, Common Black-headed and Lesser Black-backedgulls, Sandwich Tern, Thick-billed Murre, Kittlitz'sMurrelet, Parakeet, Least and Crested auklets, Black-billedCuckoo, Groove-billedAni, Snowy and Barred owls, Broad- billed, Violet-crowned and Blue-throated hummingbirds, Red-headed Woodpecker,Greater Pewee, EasternWood-Pewee, Yellow-bellied,Dusky- capped, Great Crested and Sulphur-bellied flycatchers, Thick-billed Kingbird,Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Eurasian Skylark, Blue Jay, SedgeWren, Dusky Warbler, Northern Wheatear, Veery, Gray-cheeked and Wood thrushes,Rufous-backed Robin, Gray Catbird, Curve-billedThrasher, Black- backedWagtail, ' White/Black-backedWagtail, Red-throated and Sprague's pipits, White-eyed, Yellow-throatedand Philadelphiavireos, Blue-winged, Golden-winged, Golden-cheeked, Yellow-throated, Grace's, Pine, Cerulean,Prothonotary and Worm-eatingwarblers, Louisiana Waterthrush, Kentucky,Connecticut, Mourning and Red-facedwarblers, Scarlet Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Varied and Painted buntings, Cassin's, Field, Baird's,Le Conte'sand Sharp-tailedsparrows, ' Snow Bunting,Com- mon Grackle, Streak-backedOriole, White-wingedCrossbill and Common Redpoll. Submissionof records.An unfortunateand unnecessarynumber of proba- bly legitimaterecords are rejectedby the Committeebecause they lacksuffi- cientdetails. Some rejectionscould be avoidedif everyonewho seesa rarity would take notesor photographsand submitthem. All too often, observers assumethat otherswill submitdocumentation, and all too often either they do not or their descriptionsare inadequate. Different observerssee and record differentdetails, and all are usefulin making Committeedecisions. Photographsoften sit unused in personalfiles while the Committeehas only writtendocumentation with which to deliberate.Please support the work of the Committee by submittingnew or old, sight or specimenrecords to SecretaryB.D. (Mike) Parmeter,2500 EmersonStreet, Napa, CA 94558. Originalphotographs will be duplicatedand returnedupon request. Voting. The followingCommittee members voted on some or all of the records in this report. *Laurence C. Binford (Vice-Secretary), David DeSante, * don L. Dunn, * RichardA. Erickson,* KimballL. Garrett, H. Lee Jones, *Paul Lehman, John S. Luther, *Guy McCaskie, *JosephMorlan, ßB.D. Parmeter(Secretary), Arnold Small, RichardStallcup, *RichardE. Websterand Philip Unitt. Those markedwith an asterisk(*), as well as Don Roberson,were Committeemembers after the meetingof 18 February1984. Format. I have followed the same format and techniquesdetailed in the Committee'ssixth report (Binford1983), to which the reader is referred,ex- ceptthat I hereemploy the taxonomyand nomenclatureof the AOU (1983) and the more usualdefinitions of "juvenile"and "juvenal";shorebirds