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The First Mangrove Swallow Recorded in the United States

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The First Mangrove Swallow Recorded in the United States The First Mangrove Swallow recorded in the United States INTRODUCTION tem with a one-lane unsurfaced road on top, Paul W. Sykes, Jr. The Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival make up the wetland part of the facility (Fig- USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center was held at Titusville, Brevard County, ures 1 and 2). The impoundments comprise a Florida on 13–17 November 2002. During total of 57 hectares (140 acres), are kept Warnell School of Forest Resources the birding competition on the last day of the flooded much of the time, and present an festival, the Canadian Team reported seeing open expanse of shallow water in an other- The University of Georgia several distant swallows at Brevard County’s wise xeric landscape. Patches of emergent South Central Regional Wastewater Treat- freshwater vegetation form mosaics across Athens, Georgia 30602-2152 ment Facility known as Viera Wetlands. open water within each impoundment and in They thought these were either Cliff the shallows along the dikes. A few trees and (email: [email protected]) (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) or Cave (P. fulva) aquatic shrubs are scattered across these wet- Swallows. lands. Following his participation at the festival, At about 0830 EST on the 18th, Gardler Gardler looked for the swallows on 18 stopped on the southmost dike of Cell 1 Lyn S. Atherton November. The man-made Viera Wetlands (Figure 2) to observe swallows foraging low are well known for waders, waterfowl, rap- over the water and flying into the strong 1100 Pinellas Bayway, I-3 tors, shorebirds, and open-country passer- north-to-northwest wind. The group con- ines. The facility is located in southern Bre- sisted of Tree (Tachycineta bicolor), Northern Tierra Verde, Florida 33715 vard County (28º 17’ N, 80º 46’ W) at the Rough-winged (Stelgidopteryx serripennis), west end of Wickham Road (County Road and Cave Swallows. Among this collection (email: [email protected]) 509), and about 6.4 km north of Lake Wash- of swallows was one with a white rump ington in the formerly extensive freshwater patch, dark upperparts with a greenish cast, marsh system of the St. Johns River. This wet- and whitish underparts. It did not have the Murray Gardler land is surrounded by pastures, sod farms, facial pattern or white flank patches of a Vio- citrus groves, and row-crops. Five impound- let-green Swallow (T. thalassina). Reference 9400 Merriweather Drive ments (cells), surrounded by a low dike sys- materials at the site were limited, and obser- Brooksville, Florida 34613 (email: [email protected]) John H. Hintermister, V 2522 NW 156th Avenue Gainesville, Florida 32609 (email: [email protected]) Figure 1. Typical habitat at Viera Wetlands, Brevard County, Florida. Photograph by Brooks H. Atherton. 4 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS MANGROVE SWALLOW vations were terminated about 1000 EST. Several members of the Florida birding com- munity were immediately contacted, and the news quickly spread. By 19 November, most observers had con- cluded that the bird was probably a Mangrove Swallow (Tachycineta albilinea), but its iden- tification was not certain. The Mangrove Swallow of Middle America, White-winged Swallow (T. albiventer) of northern and cen- tral South America, Tumbes Swallow (T. stolz- manni) of the northwestern coast of South America (a split from the Mangrove Swallow based upon differences in plumage color and pattern, morphometrics, nest construction, vocalizations, and distribution [Robbins et al. 1997] and treated as a full species in recent literature [Clements 2000, Ridgely and Greenfield 2001, Clements and Shany 2001, Dickinson 2003]), White-rumped Swallow (T. leucorrhoa) of southeastern South Amer- ica, Chilean Swallow (T. leucopyga) of south- ern South America, and the widespread Com- mon House-Martin (Delichon urbica) of the Old World are similar in appearance, all hav- Figure 2. Aerial view of Viera Wetlands at the Brevard County South Central Regional Wastewater ing prominent white rump patches (Turner Treatment Facility. The Mangrove Swallow was most often seen in the southern part of Cell and Rose 1989; see ranges in Figure 3). We Numbers 1 and 2, located in the lower right and left of this map, respectively. were quickly able to eliminate four of the six Photographic map courtesy of Brevard County South Central Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility. species based on color of the upperparts and/or lack of white supraloral streak, leaving 38 Mangrove Swallows (31 adults, 7 imma- Rough-winged Swallow, up to 12 Cave Swal- only the Mangrove and the White-rumped in tures [HY]; 22 males, 16 females) and 24 lows (with pale rumps and underparts; pre- contention. White-rumped Swallows (21 adults, 3 imma- sumed to be one of the Mexican subspecies), The Viera Wetlands bird, an adult in fresh tures [HY]; 14 males, 10 females). The spec- and 5+ Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica). The plumage (hatch year [HY] birds have drab imens examined represent a broad temporal majority of the observations were of the bird gray-brown upperparts rather than the glossy and geographic spread for the two species. Of in flight, although on several occasions it was green of the adults), was present through 25 the specimens, 45 were collected in fall (15 perched at a distance of approximately 50 m November, during which time it was seen by August through 15 December), 23 Mangrove at heights of 1 to 3 m above the water surface many observers. How long the bird had actu- and 22 White-rumped (austral spring for the on dead shrubs and short dead stubs. On 20 ally been present is unknown. Photographs latter). A small sample of Tree Swallow spec- November, the swallow was photographed of the swallow were taken on 18 and 20 imens was also examined at the GMNH. perched near the top of a dead tree at a dis- November. From 19 November onward, a Selected specimens were photographed for tance of approximately 60 m and at a height of number of photographs were posted on web- comparison and to show some of the range in 14 m. It was seen in direct comparison with sites and attached to emails accompanied by variation of certain features within a species. Cave Swallows at least once, but most of the much discussion as to the correct identity of Mass and selected linear measurements were time it was seen in close comparison (often this swallow. taken from published sources on five species within a meter) with Tree Swallows, flying and used to develop a table for comparison. into the wind as the birds aerial-foraged for METHODS Additional linear measurements were taken insects. Observations of the flying bird were The description we present is based upon our from specimen material on loan. More meas- made from the dikes with 10x binoculars, notes taken in the field, comments of others urements were, upon request, received from sometimes as close as 4 m, but generally at 10 who also studied the swallow, and photo- the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadel- m or greater under good lighting conditions of graphs of the bird taken at the site. To clarify phia (ANSP; Matt Sharp, pers. comm.), the clear to partly cloudy skies, mild tempera- a number of questions not available from the Los Angeles County Museum (LACM; Kim- tures, and winds from the north-northwest of literature, on websites, or in published pho- ball Garrett, pers. comm.), and the NMNH 5-18 k.p.h. The bird often foraged just above tographs and illustrations, a series of speci- (Roger Clapp, pers. comm.). Sharp, Garrett, the water surface near the dike, providing mens was obtained on short-term loan from and Clapp also provided comments about unobstructed views of the entire upperparts in the American Museum of Natural History plumages of specimens. direct sunlight, as well as side and frontal (AMNH; n=20), the Field Museum of Natural views. In foraging, it flew upwind a distance History (FMNH; n=21), the Museum of VIEWING CONDITIONS and then circled back. These flights ranged in Comparative Zoology (MCZ; n=13) at Har- The Viera Wetlands swallow was generally estimated heights above water from 15 cm to vard, and the U.S. National Museum of Nat- seen in the southern portion of Cell 1 (13.7 12 m. When perched, it was studied with 20- ural History (NMNH; n=8), all temporarily hectares or 33.8 acres) and Cell 2, and flying 60x zoom scopes and through the telephoto housed at the Georgia Museum of Natural over the pasture to the south of these two lens of cameras. The bird would disappear History (GMNH) at the University of Geor- areas. Other swallows present in the area from view for long periods and then suddenly gia, Athens. Specimens on loan consisted of were 20+ Tree Swallows, one Northern reappear. VOLUME 58 (2004) • NUMBER 1 5 MANGROVE SWALLOW Table 1. Comparison of body mass and selected linear measurements of adults of five species of swallows as a general guide to size1 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Species (mean/sample size/range, except for total length)2 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Tree Swallow Mangrove White-rumped Violet-green Cave Swallow Swallow Swallow Swallow Parameters2 (T. bicolor)(T. albilinea)(T. leucorrhoa)(T. thalassina) (Petrochelidon fulva) Sources ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Mass (g)3 Both 20.1/82/15.6–25.4a 15.0/18/14–16.5b 9.0/–/17.0–21.0a —————— 20.4/25/18.4–22.3a Male —————— —————— —————— 14.4/16/13.0–16.3aaDunning 1984 Female —————— —————— —————— 13.9/15/12.5–15.2abB. Stutchbury pers. comm. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Total Length cm (inches) 13 (5) 11 (4.25) 13 (5) 12–13 (4.75–5) 12 (4.75) Turner & Rose 1989 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Wing Length4 (mm) Male 119.3/61/114–125a 97.3/58/90–105b 115.7/22/105–122b 113.9/84/–c 112.3/640/–daRobertson et al.
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