Occurrence of the Smew in British Columbia, with comments on other North American records

Wayne C. Weber and R. Wayne Campbell

•IEStrEW (Mergellus albellus) is a small on February 28, 1974by Weber at the George Old World merganser which occurs in C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary,about 12 North America mainly in the Aleutian Islands miles south of downtown Vancouver m the and nearby areasof Alaska. The first Alaskan Fraser River delta. Many observers saw the record was in 1960,and the specieshas been bird there until March 21, 1974, and photo- seen there every year since 1969(see Byrd et graphs were taken by Ervio Sian and Ned K al., 1974).There have alsobeen seven reported Dawe. Copiesof thesehave beendeposited m occurrences of the Smew elsewhere in North the Photoduplicate File of British Columbia America. Of these, two each were in Ontario vertebrates (PDF No. 345), housed at the and Rhode Island, and the other three -- the Provincial Museum in Victoria (seeCampbell main subject of this account-- were in south and Stirling 1971). coastal British Columbia between 1970 and On January 14, 1975,an adult male Smew 1975. was found at the Reifel Sanctuaryby Brian On November 14, 1970,an adult male Smew Davies and Colin Trefry. This bird was seen was found by Ed Moody on Lost Lagoon, a by both authors and by numerous other freshwater pond in Stanley Park, Vancouver, observers until March 30, 1975 at the sanc- British Columbia(see descriptionof area by tuary, where it associatedwith both wild and Kautesk 1977). It was seenagain by a total of pinioned waterfowl on the refuge display 16 observers on November 18 and 23, 1970, ponds. A photograph(Fig. 1) was obtainedon but not on the interveningdates (Campbell et January 20, 1975 by Ervio Sian, a copy of al., 1972). The Smew evidently used Lost which is also at the ProvincialMuseum (PDF Lagoon only as a nocturnal roosting-place, No. 395). We suspectthat the 1974Smew was arriving in late afternoon with flocks of an immature male, and that the same b•rd Common (Bucephala clangula) and Barrow's returned in 1975 after acquiring its adult Goldeneyes (B. islandica), and departing at plumage. dawn. The bird's daytime hauntswere never d•scovered. Attempts to photograph the N AL^SK^,nearly 30 records of theSmew Smew were unsuccessful,but a detailed field have been listedby Byrd et al. (1974)and tn descriptionobtained by Campbellon Novem- the Alaska regionalreports of AmericanBtrds ber 18 is now on file at the British Columbia Localities of occurrence include the Aleutah Provincial Museum, Victoria. Islands(Adak, Amchitka,Attu, andShemya), A female-plumagedSmew was discovered the Pribilof Islands (St. Paul) and Kodiak

Volume32, Number5 1059 $mew, ReiJklSanctuary, Vancouver,B.C., January20, 1975.Photo[ Ervio Sian.

Island(one bird presentfrom March 7 to April HEFOUR EASTERN North American records are as follows: one female-plumagedbird 25, 1976-- see AB 30:755 and 30:877, 1976). on the Niagara River, Ontario, from February Exceptfor one bird at Adak from July3 to 3 I, 26 to March 6, 1960(Godfrey 1966,p.84); one 1975,the Smew is known in Alaska asa migrant (sex unreported)on December9 and 10, 1973at and winter visitant (extreme dates, Sept 29 to Normandale, Ontario (AB 28:633, 1974); one June 18). As of this writing (August 1978), adult male at Middletown and Newport, there have beenno reportsof Smewsbetween Rhode Island, January 3 to April 2, 1976(AB Kodiak and the Vancouver area, more than 30:691, 1976);and one adult male near Westerly, 1300miles to the southeast,nor any reports in Rhode Island, January 16 to 29, 1978 (AB the Pacific Coast states south of Vancouver. 32:322, 1978). The 1976and 1978Rhode Island Several species of Asiatic waterfowl have records very likely involve the same indivi- recently been found to winter regularly in dual, as can also be said of the 1974 and 1975 southwestern British Columbia. These include Vancouver sightings.The originof the Ontario the EurasianGreen-winged Teal, Anas crecca and Rhode Island birds is problematical, but nirnia, and European Wigeon, Anas penelope they seem more likely to have been vagrants (Campbell et al., 1974, Tatum 1973)and the from western Europe than from eastern Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula (Campbell and Siberia and Alaska. Weber 1976). The Smew, as well as these other In evaluating the occurrence of Eurasian species, probably reaches the area as occa- waterfowl speciesin North America, serious sional stray individuals which accompany considerationmust be given to the possibility flocks of other waterfowl migratingdown the of birds escapedfrom captivity. The Smew, Pacific coast. More intensive observations in however, is quite rare in captivity(Ryan 1976), future may in fact reveal the Smew to winter and we considerit very unlikely that any of the regularly(annually) in the PacificNorthwest. recordscited above refer to escapedindividuals.

1060 AmericanBirds, September 1978 Besidesthe Smew's rarity in captivity, several waterfowl, but there are at least a few species other facts argue for a wild origin for most or (the Garganey,Anas querquedula,is another all of these birds. These facts are: (1) all non- example)which are so rare in captivitythat the Alaskan records fall during the period odds are highly in favor of a wild origin. November 14 to April 2 (escapeswould be We hopethis briefreview will helpto clarify equally likely at any season);(2) all North the status of the Smew in North America, and American records are from the Pacific and also the entire questionof the origin of Eura- Atlantic coasts or from the Great Lakes sian waterfowl speciesreported on this con- region, where one would expect vagrant tinent. We thank JeromeA. Jacksonfor helpful Eurasian waterfowl to occur; (3) the Smew is a commentson an earlierdraft of the manuscript highlymigratory species which breedsacross the boreal forest region of northern Eurasia, Literature Cited from which birds could easily wander to the Byrd, G.V., D.D. Gibson,and D.L. Johnson.1974 east or west coasts of North America; and (4) The birds of Adak Island, Alaska. Condor the occurrence of a bird at the same or a 76:288-300. nearbylocality in successivewinters in British Campbell,R.W., M.G. Shepard,and R.H. Drent 1972. Status of birds in the Vancouver area in 1970 Columbia and Rhode Island strongly suggests Syesis5:137-167. the migratory movementsof a wild bird. Campbell,R.W., M.G. Shepard,B.A. Macdonald, and W.C. Weber. 1974. Vancouver birds in 1972 IdEABOVE CONSIDERATIONS notwithstand- Vancouver Natural History Society, Vancouver ing, James et al. (1976), in their annotated 96 pp. Campbell,R.W. andD. Stirling.1971. A photoduph- checklist of Ontario birds, included the Smew cate file for British Columbia vertebrate records in a list of "probable escapees".On the other Syesis4:217-222. hand, Godfrey (1966) consideredthe 1960bird Campbell,R.W., andW.C. Weber.1976. Occurrences to be a genuineEuropean vagrant, a view with and statusof the Tufted Duck in British Columbia Syesis9:25-30. which we agree. We concede that one can Godfrey,W.E. 1966.The birds of Canada.Nat'l. Mus almostnever be certainthat a particularSmew Canada,Bull. 203. 428 pp. is a wild bird and not an escapee;however, we James,R.D., P.L. McLaren, and J.C. Barlow. 1976 feel that the slightpossibility of an escapeecan Annotatedchecklist of the birdsof Ontario.Royal Ontario Mus., Life Sci. Misc. Publ. 75 pp. be effectively ignored. In an earlier paper Kautesk, B.M. 1977. The Site Guide: Stanley Park, (Campbell and Weber 1976), we reachedthe Vancouver, British Columbia.Am. Birds 31:287- same conclusion for North American records 290. of the Tufted Duck, althoughthis speciesmay McCaskie, G., P. Devillers,A.M. Craig, C.R. Lyons, be somewhat less rare in captivity than the V.P. Coughran,and J.T. Craig.1970. A checklistof the birds of California.CaliJbrnia Birds 1:4-28 Smew. The same cannot be said for certain Ryan,R.H. 1978.Escapes, exotics, and accidentals other Eurasianwaterfowl occasionally reported Birding 8:223-228. in North America, such as the Bar-headed Tatum, J.B. (ed). 1973.Annual bird report(1972) for Goose (Anser indicus) and Red-breasted southern Vancouver Island. Victoria Natural Goose (Branta ruficollis); records of these History Society,Victoria. 80 pp. speciesprobably involve escapedcaptives, as -- Department of Zoology, MississippiState both are commonin waterfowl collections(see University, MississippiState, Mississippi39762 Ryan 1976 and McCaskie et al., 1970). Our (Weber) and British Columbia Provincial point is that the probability of a wild rs. Museum, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada escapedbird variesaccording to the speciesof V8V IX4 (Campbell).

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