A EurasianWryneck specimen from southern Indiana JohnB. Dunning,Jr. Amanda Beheler head of the natural resources division at Crane. Andrews also did not rec- Michael Crowder ognizethe bird, and neither he norMr. Crowdercould find a goodmatch Departmentof Forestryand Natural Resources in the North Americanfield guides present at the naturalresource office PurdueUniversity Knowingthat wildlife faculty and students from Purdue University would WestLafayette, Indiana 47907-1159 be workingat Cranein the spring,Andrews placed the specimenin h•s office freezer. Several months later Beheler,then a Ph.D. candidate in the Steve Andrews Departmentof Forestryand Natural Resourcesat Purdue,arrived at NaturalResources Building NSWC Crane to begin her annualfield researchon EasternPhoebes Code 09228 (Sayornisphoebe).Andrews showed her the specimen, but shealso did not Naval Surface Warfare Center recognizeit. The detailsof itsdiscovery were vague, because the nameand Crane,Indiana 47522 contactinformation of thefinder had disappeared during the intervemng months.Beheler transported the bird to Purdue,while Andrews tried to Ron Weiss relocate the individual who found the bird. Ch•pperWoods Bird Observatory Bythe time Behder arrived home, she had checked a numberof North 10329North New Jersey Street andCentral American field guides to no avail..Shecalled Dunning, a fac- Indianapolis,Indiana 46280 tfitymember in her departmentat Purdue,and told him aboutthe find WhenDunning arrived at the Behelerhouse 30 minuteslater to seethe ABSTRACT specimen,Amanda and her husbandBrian had identifiedthe bird as a In February2000, a deadbird found by a workerat theCrane Naval Surface EurasianWryneck (Jynx torquilla) using a Europeanfield guide. Dunning WarfareCenter in southernIndiana proved to be a EurasianWryneck concurredwith theidentification, although neither he norBeheler had any (Jynxtorquilla), a species recorded only once before in NorthAmerica. The fieldexperience with wrynecks.Its identificationas a woodpeckerrelative circumstancesof the specimen's discovery and its arrival in Indianahad the wassupported by closeexamination of the toes,which were zygodactyl makangsof an ornithologicaldetective story. Although it is likelythat the Thistrait aloneeliminated all passetinesand members of mostother avlan full storywill neverbe known,we believe that the wryneck was probably families.With an ideaof whatthe bird mightbe, the nextsteps were to transportedto Indianain a shippingcontainer, and that the specimen does confirmthe identificationand determine if it werepossible to traceexact- notrepresent a second North American record of a vagrantwryneck. The ly howthe bird arrivedin Indiana. •nvest•gationof the wryneckspecimen demonstrates. the valueof the Internet•n researchingrecords of unusualoccurrence. IDENTIFICATION Descriptionof the bird INTRODUCTION Ournotes on the bird include the following observatisns, which are keyed Duringthe winter of1999-2060, anornithological mysteryunfolded ata to Figuresherein. A medium-sizedbird (Fig. 1), with plumagemostly mdltarybase in southernIndiana. On 16February 2000, an unusualbird dominatedby browns and grays in crypticpattern. Crown and nape most- was found at the Crane Naval SurfaceWarfare Center (hereafter,NSWC ly gray.Dark streakon sideof facethrough eye; throat and upper breast Crane),which is a federalfacility for the storage and processing of ammu- buffybrown with narrowdark barring (Fig. 2). Barringon breastfaded to nmonand supplies for the U.S.Army and Navy located near Loogootee, dark specklingon lower breastand light gray belly. Bill chisel-hke Mamn County,Indiana. On thatwinter day, Mr. EarlCrowder, an employ- Upperpartsmostly gray with flecks of blackor darkbrown. Very distinctive eeat Crane,paused during his daily work routine and noticed a deadbird darkpatch on back,triangular in shapebut extendingas a widedark hne lyingfrozen on the groundat theedge of a smallwoodland rearing. Mr. up napeto backof crown(Fig. 3). Rumpgray. Wing browner than back Crowder,a self-taughtnaturalist and hunterand a long-timeresident of with lightbuff feathertips to somecoverts. Scattered upperwing coverts theregion, was familiar with most of thebird life of thearea and therefore with dark central shaft streak with buff on either side of streak. Primaries wassurprised that he did not recognizethe bird. with alternatingdark brown and buff bands,so foldedwing showsa The deadbird wasthe sizeof a thrushand was cryptically patterned in checkerboardpattern (Fig. 1). Tailmostly gray with buff tones,crossed by graysand browns. Its appearancereminded Mr. Crowderof a grouseor a fourthin black lines (Fig. 4). Centralrectrices about 55 mm long,not stiff- mghtjar,but thebird was unlike any species he had seen. NSWC Crane is a ened.Bill and legs dark. Toescurled, but zygodactyl.Toes and claws were largelyforested landscape with extensiveupland and bottomland wood- undamaged,as were feathers in the wingsand tail. No damageto bill lands,so it waslogical that the deadbird mightbe a forestresident or win- Measurements[taken at Purduein April 2000 with the specimenstdl terwsitor. Mr. Crowderkept the specimen to seeif he cotfidget it identi- frozen]:ctfimen from base to tip: 12.5min. Bill lengthfrom naresto t•p fied 8.5mm. Billwidth at nares:4 mm. Tarsus:21 mm. Totalbody length 168 Mr Crowderbrought the specimento the attentionof Andrews,the min. Wing chord:86 min. Comparedto biometricssupplied by Andy VOLUME 56 (ZOOZ), NUMBER 3 265 M•tchellof Orkney,Scotland, the specimen's wing and tarsus are within the the bird mighthave gotten to NSWCCrane. At thispoint, the detective rangeexpected for Europeanbirds, but the bill is somewhatshort (bill storygot truly serendipitous.At the base,Andrews had no successrelocat- lengthsof Europeanbirds range 14.8 to 17.4mm for bothsexes; Mitchell, ing the originalcollector of the specimen.Word spread about the unusu- m htt.). al specimenthroughout Purdue's Department of Forestryand Natural Resources,and many people came by Beheler'soffice to seethe b•rd One Confirmingthe identification personwith a particularinterest was Michael Crowder, a Master'sstudent To confirmthat the bird wasa wryneck,Dunning and Behelerposted a in the departmentwho wasfamiliar with NSWC Cranebecause h•s father noUceon IN-BIRD, a computerlistserv dedicated to Indianabirding. The workedthere. Shortly after seeing the specimen,Crowder called h•s father noticestated that a deadbird tentativelyidentified as a wryneckhad been on an unrelatedmatter and happened to askif hisfather had heard about foundat Craneand requested that anyonewith fieldexperience with the theweird bird fromNSWC Crane. His father,Earl Crowder, rephed, "You speciescontact Dunning and Beheler. immediately Weiss, executive direc- meanmy bird?"Mr. Crowderquickly got in contactwith Andrews,and tor of the ChipperWoods Bird Observatoryin Indianapolis,emailed additionaldetails about the discovery came to light. Dunningand offered to postphotographs of thespecimen on hiswebsite The bird hadbeen found at the edgeof a forestdeafing in whichwas and solicitopinions worldwide. Weiss drove to Purduethe nextday and locatedone of thebunkers that serveas the primarystorage facil•ues at v•deotapedthe specimen. He thenposted still photos from the video on the NSWC Crane. Mr. Crowdercould not find anyonewho had worked Ch•pperWoods website and solicitedcomments. Over the nextfew days, recentlyin thebunker area who remembered finding the bird. The b•rd was confirmationof the bird asa wryneckwas received from researchersin not locatednear the entrance to a bunker(where it mightfall if sweptout Scotland,Belgium, England, and Malta. In additionto viewingthe photo- of a containerduring deaning) or nearany road or parkingarea. graphsand offering an opinion,European researchers emailed Weiss pho- Thereare at leasttwo reasonableexplanations as to how the wryneck tosfrom identificationguides, measurements from published handbooks, arrivedat the location where it wasfound. it couldeither be a wild vagrant, and opinionson the subspecificidentification. They alsooffered other or it couldhave been transported with humanassistance (deliberately or •nformationgleaned from personal experience with thespecies, including inadvertently).A remotepossibility exists that someonedehberately plumagevariation, molt, age and sex characteristics, and details on typical broughtthe bird to NSWCCrane and released it, or thatit wasan escaped behavior and movements. bird from a collection.NSWC Crane is a securemilitary base, and access Furtherinformation was obtained when Beheler sent the specimento to the facilityis strictlylimited. Personnel working on the site are subject the FieldMuseum of NaturalHistory in Chicago,illinois. JohnBates, a to inspectionand strictregulations regarding contraband. Woodpeckers researcherin theField Museum's Bird Division, compared the specimen to arenot commonlykept in captivity,and wrynecks are virtually unknown thosein the museum'scollection. Bates (pers. comm.) stated that the in the pet trade. Furthermore,the specimendid not showany s•gns of Cranespecimen had relativelylong primaries,indicative of a northern, beinga captivebird (worndaws, damaged rectrices or primaries,damage m•gratorypopulation. The plumagewas very fresh, with no wear,and was to the bill, etc.). One of the web responders,John Montalto of Malta, asdark or darkerthan any Field Museum specimen. The Cranespecimen pointedout the lackof anysigns of captivityvisible in thephotographs alsohad more extensive rufous tips to