NO'I.
FIRST RECORD OF AN OLIVE-BACKED PIPIT IN CA-FORNIA
PHIL CAPITOLO, WILL RICHARDSON, RYAN BURNET'r, and PETER PYLE, Point ReyesBird Observatory,4990 ShorelineHighway, StinsonBeach, California 94970 (currentaddress of Capitolo: U.S. GeologicalSurvey, BiologicalResources Division,Western Ecological Resource Center, Dixon FieldStation, 6924 Tremont Road, Dixon, California 95620)
The firstOlive-backed Pipit (Ant hus hodgsoni)recorded in Californiawas banded on 26 September1998 on SoutheastFarallon Island, 42 km westof San Francisco. The birdarrived just prior to the largestwave of migrantson the Farallonesin ten years as hundredsof westernbirds and severaleastern vagrants descended on the island duringthe next fivedays. During this period, no Red-throatedPipits (A. cervinus)and only small numbersof AmericanPipits (A. rubescens)were observed.The Olive- backedPipit was seeneach day through29 September. The bird was first seen at 14:50 on the 26th by Burnett when it flushedfrom underneatha Monterey Cypress(Cupressus macrocarpa) and flew toward the east end of the islandin undulatingflight, twice givinga long, buzzycall ("zzrrring") unfamiliarto Burnett.An hour later,Capitolo flushed the birdfrom undera patchof bushmallow (Lavatera sp.). It calledonce upon take-off ("szeeeeep")and flew to the marineterrace, a flat area of low groundcover consisting primarily of FarallonWeed (Lasthenia minor maritima) and plantain (Plantago sp.). Capitolo quicklyrefound the birdand identified it asa pipitby itswhite and brownish olive plumage, slender bill, and tail-pumpingbehavior but was unable to identifyit to species.Only Pylehad prior experienceidentifying Olive-backed Pipits, but he did not arriveon the islanduntil the followingday. At 16:45, Capitoloand Richardsonrefound the birdon the terraceand were joinedby Burnett. With the sunat our backs,we observedthe birdat closerange with binocularsand a spottingscope while it foragedon the terrace.The bird walkedquickly between patchesof plantain,often remainingout of view for severalminutes before briefly reappearingat the edgeof a patch,pumping its tail. It thenslinked away to newcover, holdingits tail nearlyhorizontal and bobbingits headlike a pigeon.During this time, Richardsonnoted the greenishback and blackbrow to the superciliumthrough his spottingscope and tentatively identified it asan Olive-backedPipit. We recordedfield noteswhile following the birdand attemptingto directit backtoward the mistnet. At 18:00, the birdflew backinto the bushmallow and was promptlycaught in the net. Using Svensson(1992) we confirmedthe identificationand telephonedKeith Hansen for assistance.We bandedthe bird, took measurementsand photographs, pulledtwo ventralbody feathers, and releasedit justbefore 19:00. Thoughsecretive, the birdwas sighted on the marineterrace each of the next threedays, and Pylewas ableto obtainphotographs of the birdin the field.The featherswere depositedat the CaliforniaAcademy of Sciences(CAS) in San Francisco(accession number 87088), and this recordwas acceptedby the CaliforniaBird RecordsCommittee. The bird (Figure1) wasin firstbasic plumage with a partiallypneumatized skull and no indicationof activemolt. The upperpartswere olive green and faintlystreaked, with heavyblack flecking on the crown.The broadsupercilium was white behind the eye,orange-buff in frontof the eye,and was bordered above by a thinblack brow. The auricularswere olive brown with a whitishpatch at the upper rear, just below and behindthe end of the supercilium.A blackishspot was immediately below this patch. A buff-whitesubmoustachial stripe and throatwere set off by a thin but distinctblack
112 Western Birds 31:112-116, 2000 NOTES
Figure1. Olive-backedPipit (Antbushodgsoni), Southeast Farallon Island. Califor- nia. 26 September1998. Thoughnot diagnostic,the pale and dark rear auricular spotsand the darkbrow to the superciliumare importantfield marks. The difference betweenprimary 6 andthe tip of thewing (primary 8; seetext) suggests the subspecies yunnanensis.as this differenceis usually<1 mm in A. h. hodgsoni. Photo by Dan Murley malar stripe.The breastwas buff with bold blackstreaks that becamethinner then endedabruptly at the whitebelly. The flankswere washed buff with streaksprominent but paler and more diffusethan thoseon the breast.The flight featherswere edged greenish,and the wingbarswere buff, the upper more pronounced.The undertail covertswere white. The inner web of the outer rectricesand the tips of the adjacent pair were duskywhite. Left rectrix4 alsohad a smallamount of whiteat its tip. The upper mandiblewas dark. the lowerpinkish with a dark tip. The legswere pink. We recordedthe followingmeasurements: bill length from nostril8.7 mm; exposed culmen11.0 mm: hind claw 8.3 mm: bill depth at posterioredge of nostrils4.1 mm: billdepth at anterioredge of nostrils3.5 mm: billwidth at posterioredge of nostrils 4.5 mm; bill width at anterioredge of nostrils3.1 mm; wing chord82 mm; tail 62
113 NOTES mm; weight(with band) 21.0 g. Primary 10 (numbereddistally) was reduced. Primary 8 was longestand greaterthan primary7 by more than 1 mm. The Olive-backedPipit is readilydistinguished from all otherpipits by the combina- tion of the olive-greenupperparts, a broadsupercilium that is orange-buffin front of the eyeand white behind the eye,and a hindclaw that isshorter than the hindtoe. The rearauricular spots are also important field marks, though the whitespot is sometimes absentand the dark spotcan be indistinct.The Olive-backedPipit is mostsubject to confusionwith the Tree Pipit (A. trivialis),particularly in badlyworn plumage.The Tree Pipit can also show a white spot on the upper rear auriculars,has a similar postureand gait, a similarcall, and is the only other pipit whosehind claw is shorter than the hind toe (Cramp 1988). Though it has only a faint olive tinge to the upperpartsand its supercilium is narrower and uniformly buff, feather wear can cause the upperpartsto appear more olive in tone and the superciliumpaler. Badly worn Olive-backedPipits may show no olive but rather brownerand grayer upperparts,a fadedfacial pattern, and littlecontrast between the rear and front of the supercilium (King 1981). The Farallonbird was in fresh plumagewith distinctfacial markings. Wing formula can also be helpful in distinguishingthese species,as primary 6 is usuallynot more than 3 mm shorterthan the tip of the wing in the Olive-backedand is 2-6.5 mm shorterin the Tree (Svensson1992). This measurementwas near 2 mm on the Farallonbird, as primary7 wasmeasured more than 1 mm shorterthan the tip of the wing and photographsshow primary 6 to be a similardistance shorter than primary7 (Figure1). The Tree Pipit, furthermore,can be difficultto distinguishfrom the MeadowPipit (A. praten$i$),with identificationdetermined by flightcall or hind clawlength. The MeadowPipit, however,breeding in Greenlandand Europe,is less likelyto occuras a vagrantin westernNorth America,while the Tree Pipit breeds farthereast into southerncentral Siberia (King 1981), and an individualhas reached Alaska (Kessel1989). The four other speciesof pipits occurringin westernNorth America are easily distinguishedfrom the Olive-backedPipit. In fall the Red-throatedPipit differsby havingdark brown upperpartswith broad, conspicuousblack and buff streaksand fairlyuniformly buff underparts. Its flight call is similar,but the Olive-backed'sis louder with a distinctivebuzzy or reedy qualitythat the Red-throated'sthin, high-pitched "seeep"lacks (King 1981, Pylepers. obs.). The PechoraPipit (A. gustavi)is a casual migrantto the westernAleutian Islands(AOU 1998) and is thereforea potential vagrantto California.It resemblesthe fall Red-throatedPipit, but, as in the Olive- backedPipit, itsbully breastcontrasts with a whitishthroat and belly.The Sprague's Pipit (A. spragueii)has sandyor bully brown upperparts,a plain bully face, and narrow streakson the breastthat do not extenddown the flanks.The AmericanPipit hasgrayer upperparts, darker and more uniformsupercilium and underparts,darker legs, and a differentcall (King 1981). However,the race japonicus,a probable vagrantfrom Asia, suspectedon the Farallonesfour timesfrom 1990 to 1999, can showbright pink legs(M. Heindelpers. comm.). Two subspeciesof the Olive-backedPipit are recognized.A. h. hoclgsonihas a much more distinctlystreaked back and crown than A. h. yunnanensis.Nominate hodgsonialso has an unstreakedrump, and the streakingon its underpartsextends farther down the belly than in yunnanensis.Primary 6 is usuallyless than 1 mm shorterthan the tip of the wing in hoclgsoni,1-3 mm shorter in yunnanensis (Svensson1992). Thisdifference was approximately 2 mm on the Farallonbird (see above).The faintlystreaked back and rump alsosuggest this birdwas yunnanensis (Figure2), thoughthe faintstreaking on the rumpmay be difficultto distinguishfrom the unstreakedrump of hoclgsoni.The differencein back streaking,however, was obviouson specimensof both subspecieswe viewedat CAS. Nominatehoclgsoni breeds in southernAsia, from the Himalayasto centraland easternChina and Japan;yunnanensis breeds in northernEurasia, east to Kamchatka
114 NOTES
ß .*
Figure2. Olive-backedPipit (Anthushodgsoni), Southeast Farallon Island. Califor- nia, 26 September1998 The faintlystreaked upperparts also suggest yunnanensis. Photo by Dan Murley
and southto Mongolia,Manchuria, Ussuriland, and northernJapan. Their wintering ranges overlap in southernJapan, the Philippines,and peninsularIndia. with hodgsonialso winteringin the RyukyuIslands. Taiwan, and lndochina.Birds of unknownrace winter in Borneo and southernKorea (Cramp 1988). The Olive- backedPipit is regularin fall in Israel,and, thoughconsidered accidental across most of Europe,annual in Britain.In Britainand Ireland,over 90% of recordsare for fall, mostlylate September and October (Snow and Perrins 1998). Svensson(1992) stated that all vagrantsin Europeare probablyyunnanensis. The firstNorth Americanrecord of the Olive-backedPipit was on 1 June 1962 on St. LawrenceIsland, Alaska (Sealy et al. 1971), and upon collectionwas determined to be yunnanensis.A. h. yunnanensisis an irregularspring and fall migrantto Alaska'swestern Aleutian Islands, typically occurring singly or in smallnumbers (D. Gibsonpers. comm.)but with a remarkablecount of 225 on Attu Islandon 17 May 1998 (Tobish1998). Eastof the westernAleutian Islands the speciesis accidental, and an adultyunnanensis banded 27 July1998 at MotherGoose Lake. Alaska Peninsula. wasthe firstdocumented record for Alaska'smainland (Tobish 1999, D. Gibsonpers. comm.). Other fall recordswithin the politicalboundaries of North America include 12-15 birds photographedon Kure Atoll, Hawaii, in late Septemberand early Octoberof 1983 (Pyle1984) andan individualat Catavifiain BajaCalifornia, Mexico, 18-19 October1996 (Hamiltonet al. 2000). Finally,a specimenof A. h. yunnanensis collected10 milessouth of Reno,Nevada, in springon 16 May 1967 (Burleigh1968) suggests,as notedby Roberson(1980), that this specieshas successfullywintered within the New World before. We thank the U.S. Fishand WildlifeService, Newark. California.and Point Reyes BirdObservatory for the opportunityto workon the FarallonIslands National Wildlife
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Refuge. We also thank Keith Hansen for his assistancein identificationand for spreadingthe word on the mainland.Thanks alsogo to Robb Hamilton and Matt Heindelfor reviewingearlier drafts of thispaper. Dan Murleyprovided photographs of the bird, Doug Long permittedus to view specimensat CAS, and Daniel Gibson providedinformation on the Olive-backedPipit's status in Alaska.The U.S. Geologi- cal Survey(Dixon Field Station) provided computer support. This is Point ReyesBird Observatorycontribution 747.
LITERATURE CITED
American Ornithologists'Union. 1998. Checklistof North American Birds. 7th ed. Am. Ornithol. Union, Washington,D.C. Burleigh,T. D. 1968. The IndianTree Pipit (Anthushodgsoni) recorded for the first time in North America. Auk 85:323. Cramp, S. 1988. Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, vol. V. Oxford Univ. Press,Oxford, England. Hamilton, R. A., Pike, J. E., Wurster,T. E., and Radamaker,K. 2000. Firstrecord of an Olive-backedPipit in Mexico.W. Birds31:117-119. Kessei,B. 1989. Birds of the Seward Peninsula,Alaska, Their Biogeography, Seasonality,and NaturalHistory. Univ. AlaskaPress, Fairbanks. King,B. 1981. The fieldidentification of NorthAmerican pipits. Am. Birds35:778- 788. Pyle, P. 1984. Observationsof migrant and vagrantbirds from Kure and Midway atolls, 1982-1983. 'Elepaio 44:107-111. Roberson, D. 1980. Rare Birds of the West Coast of North America. Woodcock Publ., Pacific Grove, CA. Sealy,S. G., Bedard,J., Udvardy,M.D. F., and Fay, F. H. 1971. New recordsand zoogeographicalnotes on the birdsof St. LawrenceIsland, Bering Sea. Condor 73:322-336. Snow,D. W., and Perrins,C. M. 1998. The Birdsof the WesternPalearctic, concise ed., Vol. 2. Oxford Univ. Press,Oxford, England. Svensson,L. 1992. IdentificationGuide to EuropeanPasserines, 4th ed. L. Svensson, Stockholm. TobishJr., T.G. 1998. Alaskaregion. Field Notes 52:372-375. TobishJr., T.G. 1999. Alaskaregion. Field Notes 53:89-91.
Accepted17 April 2000
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