NOTES
FIRST RECORD OF THE GREAT KISKADEE IN BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
CHARLES T. COLLINS, Department of Biology, CaliforniaState University,Long Beach, California 90840 DALE DELANEY, Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, Inc., P.O. Box 33008, Austin, Texas 78764 JONATHAN L. ATWOOD, Manomet Bird Observatory,Manomet, Massachusetts 02345
The Great Kiskadee(Pitangus sulphuratus) has a widespreaddistribution extending from southernTexas south through most of Middle and South America to central Argentina(Meyer de Schauensee1966). In westernMexico it is residentin southern Sonorawith occasionalindividuals ranging north to southernArizona (A.O.U. 1983). It has not been previouslyrecorded from Baja California,Mexico (Wilbur 1987), even thoughits distinctive plumage and stridentvocalizations make it an obviousand easily identifiedspecies throughout its range. On 5 January1987 we observeda singleGreat Kiskadee about 3 km southof San Josedel Cabo, Baja CaliforniaSur, in a date palm orchardintermixed with dry thorn scrubon the north shoreof a permanentestero. Even thoughthe bird wasseen and heard only brieflybefore it disappeared,its distinctiveplumage (yellowbelly, brown back, rufouswings and tail, blackcrown and facialarea with white throat, forehead and eyeline)and vocalizations,very familiar to all threeobservers, made us certain of the identification.The Great Kiskadee might be confusedwith the similar Social Flycatcher(Myiozetetes sirnilis) and Boat-billedFlycatcher (Megarhynchus pitangua), which also occur in western mainland Mexico. However, the former species is substantiallysmaller than the bird observed,and Boat-billedFlycatchers lack the rufouswings and tail evidentin thisindividual. Also, bothof thesespecies have distinc- tive vocalizationsdifferent from the Great Kiskadee's.Subsequent attempts over the next hour to relocate the bird were unsuccessful. The avifauna of the Baja Californiapeninsula has been summarizedby Grinnell (1928) and more recentlyby Wilbur (1987). Even so, the difficultyof travel in some areasof thispart of Mexico,particularly prior to the completionof the transpeninsular highwayin 1973, hasprevented the type of detailedfield surveysnecessary for a full descriptionof the peninsula'savifauna. Many of the vagrantsfound regularlyin southernCalifornia (Garrett and Dunn 1981) are yet unrecordedfrom the peninsula. While the occurrenceof west Mexican speciesin Baja California is less probable, recordsof suchspecies as the Fan-tailedWarbler (Euthlypislachryrnosa) (Grinnell and Lamb 1927) and GreatKiskadee certainly add to the allureof futurefield work in this area. The increasedaccessibility to thisarea (and increasinginterest by ornithologists from both the U.S. and Mexico) is sure to resultin new distributionalrecords for Baja California. We thank Dr. Juan GuzmanP. of the UniversidadAutonoma de Baja CaliforniaSur for his hospitalityand logisticalsupport and EduardoPalacios C. for hiscompany in the field.
LITERATURE CITED
Garrett, K., and Dunn, J. 1981. Birds of Southern California. Los Angeles Audubon Society, Los Angeles. Grinnell, J.A. 1928. A distributionalsummation of the ornithologyof Lower California. Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool. 32:1-300. WesternBirds 21:73-74, 1990 73 NOTES
Grinnell, J.A., and Lamb, C.C. 1927. New bird records from Lower California Condor 29:124-126. Meyer de Schauensee,R. 1966. The Speciesof Birds of South America and Their Distribution.Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia. Wilbur,S.R. 1987. Birdsof Baja California.Univ. Calif. Press,Berkeley. Accepted 19 July 1990
Great Kiskadee Sketchby Tim Manoli$
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