EA 110 – Field Ornithology – Class 5

Last night’s class began with Joe’s account of the annual WFO meeting in Las Vegas the previous weekend.  One gets the impression that Joe doesn’t much care for LV :).

Of the convention and trip:

• when in Vegas, bird at the Henderson Sewer Ponds, which has set up a nice bird observation site with an environmental center, good bird habitat, and so on.  Joe saw a Palm Warbler and Black-tailed Gnatcatchers there
• also birdy near Vegas is Corn Creek, part of the Sheep Range.  It’s a vagrant trap, and Gray, Hammond’s,  and Western Flycatchers were seen, along with Red-naped Sapsuckers, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and 2 tail-less Flycatchers that generated some debate
• The book “Rare Birds of California” was launched at the convention.  Although launched, it isn’t actually purchasable anywhere as yet 😦  It contains a record of the CBRC’s activities for the past 30 years with photos, graphs, and such.

Marbled Godwit at Palo Alto Baylands Park 

We picked up on pg. 174 of the National Geographic Field Guide to North American Birds

Godwits

• are a distinctive group, immediately recognizable by their long, upturned bill with a pink base
• of the 4 world-wide Godwits, the Marbled Godwit is the only one usually seen in California
• Any non-Marbled Godwit is a CBRC review bird and any sightings should be submitted

Marbled Godwit (MAGO)

• A North American endemic species that breeds in Alberta and Saskatchewan
• is rarely seen inland during migration, being mostly a coastal bird when travelling
• winters very locally in parts of the Central Valley, including near Los Banos
• plumage is very much like Long-billed Curlew, although bill size/shape are different
• has heavily barred underparts and is paler in breeding plumage – an alternate-plumaged MAGO would look odd to us, since ours are (nearly?) always in basic plumage
• like beaches, tidal mudflats, and saline waters
• are very streaky overall
• have solid cinnamon brown underparts
• eat ghost shrimp, worms, and other mud-dwelling critters
• cinnamon-brown wing linings are diagnostic

Black-tailed Godwit (BlTGO)

• no records in California
• is a European bird, replaced in North America by the Hudsonian Godwit (HUGO)
• is the least likely Godwit to be seen in North America, although it’s common elsewhere
• unlike other godwits, its bill is not particularly upturned
• male is brighter than female in breeding plumage
• ~2x the size of a Dowitcher
• Hudsonian Godwit is similar to BlTGO in breeding plumage
• underwings are diagnostic – BlTGO is white, HUGO is black, and HUGO has color extending farther down its chest than BlTGO

Hudsonian Godwit (HUGO)

• migrates up the Mississippi Valley in Spring, many seen in High Islan, Texas
• isn’t coastal in its northward migration, but returns in the fall down the east coast
• darker than BlTGO, cinnamon-colored to the undertail coverts, and with heavier barring
• similar tail pattern in flight to BlTGO – black tail, white rump, white wing stripe on top of wing
• one was seen in wetlands near Davis, CA last year

Bar-tailed Godwit (BaTGO)

• breeds in W. Alaska
• have been radio-tagged in Alaska and tracked non-stop to New Zealand, making for a ~11,000 mile over-sea migration, the longest known to date, although Arctic Terns have very long non-stop migrations too
• has narrow black bars on a white tail, compared to narrow black bars on a cinnamon-colored tail on MAGO
• nearly solid chestnut brown on the underparts vs. the barring on BlTGO and HUGO
• in breeding plumage, as little pink at the base of its bill, unlike other godwits
• there is one right now reported at Formosa Slough in San Diego.
• they are occasionally seen in California, but most years have no records for them
• have more primary projection than MAGO
• have a more patterned face and paler underparts than MAGO
• are overall smaller than MAGO
• has larger, paler buff spots on the back than MAGO
• have much shorter legs than MAGO
• underwing coverts are not cinnamon-brown as in MAGO

Done with another genus, we had a photo ID quiz – I scored 17/20 correct.  These are getting more difficult, as they include birds from all lectures so far in this series!