|
English
and Scientific names: |
Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus
melanocephalus)
|
|
Number
of individuals: |
1; possibly female or immature |
|
Locality:
LOUISIANA: |
St. Mary |
|
Specific
Locality: |
3.5mi NE of Cypremort Point along LA-3191 |
|
Date(s)
when observed: |
November 2009 |
|
Time(s)
of day when observed: |
8:30am |
|
Reporting
observer and address: |
Erik I. Johnson Lafayette, LA 70508 |
|
Other observers
accompanying reporter who also identified the bird(s): |
none |
|
Other observers who
independently identified the bird(s) |
none |
|
Light conditions
(position of bird in relation to shade and to direction and amount of light): |
sunny, mid-morning light from E as I was seeing the bird
from the SE |
|
Optical
equipment: |
Swarovski 10x40 binoculars, good condition |
|
Distance
to bird(s): |
20m at closest point |
|
Duration
of observation: |
1 min |
|
Habitat:
|
coastal live oak forest surrounded by marsh |
|
Behavior
of bird: |
I found the bird by its call, which was unfamiliar (see
below). It was in a mixed flock of migrants, typical for the date. The
grosbeak and most of the birds it was with were generally moving NE along the
road (LA-319), as they typically do in fall migration after a passing front.
The grosbeak, though was making 50-100m flights to the NE, stopping and
calling from exposed vegetation. The bird was never seen in one spot
for long as I was constantly trying to catch up on foot. |
|
Description: |
The bird was clearly bright orange in the chest and
into the belly, but otherwise like a typical female-type Pheucticus on the
upperparts (streaky brown with white patches). It had a massive bill.
If the chest had any streaking, it was faint and not noticeable with
the looks I had. The underwing ! |
|
Voice: |
calling, but not the squeeky-shoe call of Rose-breasted
Grosbeak. It sounded more hollow and wooden. |
|
Similar species: |
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (RBGR) is the only possible
contender, but the call note was very different than the typical RBGR
squeeky-shoe call. Later in the week, I examined specimens at the
LSUMNS and all female-type RBGR had considerable streaking on the chest or
when not streaked, were white-chested. The bird I saw was clearly
different with bright orange on the chest, beyond the range of variation seen
in RBGR. The brightest (buffiest)-chested RBGR also had heavy streaking
on the chest, where as the bird I saw had little to no streaking. Based
on these specimens seems that any orange-breasted Pheucticus can be safely
identified as Black-headed. The field guides I examined (Sibley and
Nat. Geog.) make the separation more confusing and the illustrations are not
consistent within age/sex groups. |
|
Photographs or tape
recordings obtained? |
yes |
|
Previous experience with
this species: |
never before seen (a life-bird), but modest experience
with RBGR during migration |
|
Identification
aids: |
LSU museum of natural history collection (LSUMNS); Sibley
and Nat. Geog. examined later that morning; also looked through the internet
for photosdescription and behavior |
|
yesThis description is written from: |
paraphrased from notes taken at the time of observation;
other notes from memory |
|
Are you positive of your
identification? If not, explain: |
The field guides seem to make this identification more
complicated than is probably necessary for most birds. The specimens at
the LSUMNS make it pretty clear that orange-chested female-type birds should
always be Black-headed Grosbeak - for that reason, I am pretty sure that this
is what I saw. |
|
Date
and time: |
29 November 2009 7:50pm |