First Record of the American Woodcock for California, with A
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FIRST RECORD OF THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK FOR CALWORNIA, wrrH A SUMMARY OF ITS STATUS IN WES NORTH AMERICA MICHAEL A. PATTEN,Department of Biology,University of California,Riverside, California 92521 GUY McCASKIE, 954 Grove Street, ImperialBeach, California91932 JOSEPH MORLAN, 380 Talbot Avenue#206, Pacifica,California 94044 On 3 November 1998, Patten, McCaskie,and Daniel S. Cooper discov- ered an AmericanWoodcock (Scolopax minor) at Iron MountainPumping Plantin southeasternSan BernardinoCounty, California. Patten first noted the birdat about0715 PST asit stoodin a yardbeneath a largeplanted elm. We subsequentlystudied it throughbinoculars for 15 minutesat closerange (5-10 m) as it waddledaround on a lawn and hid in an adjacentflowerbed; it alsoflew on two occasions.Viewing conditions were excellent(it wasclear and 55o-60 ø F, with a stiff Beaufort3-4 northerlywind). This woodcockcould not be locatedon 4 November(Walter Wehtje pers. comm.) or 5 November(fide Chet McGaugh).Patten rediscoveredit at 0830 PST on 7 November. Morlan, Robbie Fischer, and Karen Gilbert observedit later that day (1530-1700 PST). It couldnot be locatedon 8 November(Mike San Miguel pers. comm.)but was observedand photo- graphed(Figures 1-3) by Don Robersonduring the morning(0630-0730 PST) of 9 November.It was not seen thereafter(fide Larry Sansoneet al., pers. comm.). This bird representsthe first recordfor Californiaof an apparentlywild AmericanWoodcock. Furthermore, it appearsto representthe firstphoto- graphicallydocumented record of the specieswest of the continentaldivide. DESCRIPTION The followingdescription is from notes by Patten and Morlan, with supplementaryinformation from notesby McCaskie,Fischer, and Gilbert and photographsand notessupplied by Roberson: Behavior and Vocalizations. The woodcock wobbled about when it walked.Much of this movementwas a combineddipping and side-to-side wiggleof itsbody, with littlehead movement. It walkedand stood with itsbill pointeddownward at abouta 45 ø angleand slightlycocked its stubbytail. It roostedlike most birds,with its bill tuckeddeeply into its back feathers.It roostedon the groundin a shadyspot beneath low shrubs.It tendedto keep its eyesat leastpartly open even when roosting. This bird nevervocalized, although it did producea distinctivesound: the wingsemitted a strangelymusical whistling when it flew,a soundreminiscent of the wing whistleof a MourningDove (Zenaida macroura),but distinctly more trilledand squeaky. GeneralAppearance, Bare Parts, and Structure.The birdresembled a snipein its plumpbuild, short legs, short tail, and extremelylong bill. It was larger and stockierthan a Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) in overall 156 WesternBirds 30:156-166, 1999 FIRST RECORD OF THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK FOR CALIFORNIA .? Figure 1. AmericanWoodcock at Iron MountainPumping Plant, San Bernardino County. California, 9 November 1998. The black barring on the rear crown is diagnosticof Scolopax. Photograph by Don Roberson Figure 2. American Woodcockat Iron Mountain Pumping Plant, San Bernardino County, California,9 November1998. Note the unbarredcinnamon underparts. Photographby Don Roberson 157 FIRST RECORD OF THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK FOR CALIFORNIA Figure 3. American Woodcockat Iron Mountain Pumping Plant, San Bernardino County,California, 9 November1998. Note the boldgray "V •' on the mantleand the gray stripesthrough the scapulars. Photograph by Don Roberson girth and mass.Furthermore, it was stockierthan a snipeand had a large head with prominentlarge blackeyes situated closer to the crown than on any bird we have seen. Itsbill was twice as long as the head,quite deep at itsbase, and dull pinkish on the basalone-third and gray-browndistally. We did not note differences in colorbetween the maxillaand mandible.The short,sturdy legs were dull grayishpink. It lookednearly tailless. On short,rounded wings, it flew as it stood, with its bill pointingdownward at a 45 ø angle. Plumage Pattern and Coloration. The bird had the typicalwoodcock plumagepattern (sharedby all six speciesof Scolopax):wide blackbars on the crownand nape, intricatelypatterned upperparts, and simplypatterned underparts. The head wasmostly unmarked rich buff (approachingpumpkin orange), emphasizingthe huge black eyes. The eyes were encircledby a nearly completeeye ring that was buff aboveand white with a bluishcast below. Thin rusty-buffbars narrowly separated three wide squared-off black bars on the nape and hindcrown:the top of the crownhad a fourthblack bar much narrower than the other three. A jagged black line through the eye was thickerand darker in the lores.Another dullerblack stripe was on the lower rear edge of the auriculars.The crownwas gray, contrastingwith the buff forehead,black nape bars, and buff auriculars. 158 FIRST RECORD OF THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK FOR CALIFORNIA The backfeathers were grayish with fine buffvermiculation on bothwebs. Each back featherwas narrowlyfringed with rich buff. The mantlewas framedby a broad pale gray stripeon either side (formedby the lower scapulars);these stripes formed a prominentpale "V" on the upperparts that wasreadily visible even when the birdroosted. The upperscapulars had blacklobate centers with pointedtips and notchededges. The wingcoverts were largelyrusty, frosted with gray. The covertshad a complexinternal pattern of blackmarks and lines. The underpartswere uniformunmarked rich buff from the chin to the undertailcoverts, save for a warm ruddywash on the sidesof the breastthat softlycontrasted with the remainderof the underparts.We did not note the patternon the undertailcoverts or the rectrices.The longuppertail coverts mostlyhid the tail,although black tips to the rectriceswere barely visible. The uppertailcoverts were buffwith coarseblackish transverse vermiculations. IDENTIFICATION SUMMARY Distinguishingthe AmericanWoodcock from the five other woodcock speciesis not difficult(Hayman et al. 1986). Three others,the Eurasian(S. rusticola), the Amami (S. mira) of the Ryukyu Islands,and the Dusky Woodcock(S. saturata) of Indonesia,have extensivelybarred underparts. The other two, the CelebesWoodcock (S. celebensis)of Sulawesiand the possiblyextinct Obi Woodcock(S. rochussenii)of the Moluccas,lack the boldgray "V" on the mantle,are larger,and have a differentbody color and featherpatterning. Ageingand sexing of the AmericanWoodcock are probablyimpossible in the field becausethe sexesare basicallyidentical (except for femalesbeing over 10% larger,with longerbills) and juvenileslook virtuallythe sameas adults(Martin 1964, Prater et al. 1977, Hayman et al. 1986:347). There may be some tendencyfor juvenilesto have a slightlygrayer chin, throat, and auriculars(Paulson 1993, Keppie and Whiting 1994). See the key in Martin (1964) or Sheldon(1967:203) for detailedinformation about ageing thisspecies in handby the patternon the inner secondaries. DISTRIBUTIONAL SUMMARY The American Woodcock occurs in North America east of the Great Plains. It breeds from southeasternManitoba east through the Maritime Provincesof Canadaand southnearly to the Gulf of Mexico (Nero 1977, 1986, Keppie and Whiting 1994, A.O.U. 1998). In recent decadesthe westernedge of its breedingrange has expanded slightly into easternNorth Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas,Oklahoma, and Texas(Smith and Barclay 1978). It wintersin the southernthird of itsbreeding range, south to the Gulf Coastand throughcentral Texas sparingly to the lower Rio Grandevalley (Keppieand Whiting 1994). The AmericanWoodcock has been recorded west of its normalrange on over 30 occasions(Appendix), mainly east of the continentaldivide (Fig- ure 4). There are recordsfor Saskatchewan,Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, 159 ß : o ß 2 records ß ß 0 ß 3 records ß , oßß 14 recordrecords Figure4. Westernedge (dotted line) of regularbreeding and wintering distribution of the AmericanWoodcock (S½olopax minor) and locations of extralimitalrecords in the westernUnited States and Canada(Appendix). Solid circles represent well-docu- mentedor generallyaccepted records. Empty circlesrepresent hypothetical or questionablereports. Note that the vast majority of extralimitalrecords are eastof the continentaldivide (gray line). 160 FIRST RECORD OF THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK FOR CALIFORNIA New Mexico,and the trans-Pecosregion of Texas(Hubbard 1978, DeSante and Pyle 1986, Andrewsand Righter 1992, Smith 1996, Petersonand Zimmer1998). Manyreports for Coloradoand Saskatchewan are problem- atic,and all reportsfor Albertaare generally treated as hypothetical (Salt and Salt 1976:492, Pinel et al. 1991, Semenchuk1992, cf. A.O.U. 1998). This specieshas wanderedsouth of its normalrange to Bermuda(A.O.U. 1998) and in Mexicoto San LuisPotosf, Tamaulipas, and eventhe Yucatan Peninsula(Howell and Webb 1995). It has appeared sporadicallyduring migrationnortheast of its usualrange on the islandsof St. Pierre and Miquelon(Tuck and Borota 1972). There were only four well-documentedrecords of the AmericanWood- cock west of the continentaldivide prior to the California record: sight recordsfor western Montana at Ninemile Creek (Bergeronet al. 1992, Paulson1993) and Eureka (Wright 1996), along Sacaton Creek, New Mexico, within sightof Arizona (S. O. Williamsin litt.), and at Jackson, Wyoming(J. Pridayin litt.). A sightreport from coastal British Columbia is treatedas validby Paulson(1993) but as hypotheticalby Campbellet al. (1990); we followthe latter.There is alsoa hypotheticalreport for southeast- ern Arizona(Monson and Phillips1981) that has not been reviewedby the Arizona Bird Committee and is thus not on its