A number of people have asked if either of the Summer Tanagers being reported from Spencerport (Monroe Co., western NY) and Clove Lake, State Island (Richmond Co., southern NY) represent record late dates. Well, the answer is not quite but almost. There have been a fair number of November records but only a handful from December. Here are the ones I know of:
One, 1st-year male, 24 Nov to 2 Dec 1972, Montauk Point, Suffolk Co. (see Kingbird 23(1):70) One, til 4 Dec 1988, at feeder in Oldfield, Suffolk Co. (see KB 39(2):130) One, fem., 4-15 Dec 2000, Greenwich Village, New York Co. (NYSARC 2000-31-A, Helene Tetrault) So it will be interesting to see how the current birds do as the truly cold weather settles in. In discussing this topic, Hugh McGuinness raised the fascinating question of where these late birds come from. Sightings from the spring at least are presumed to be from the eastern population (Piranga rubra rubra), which breeds to the south of us, but late fall birds might well be from the southwest (P. r. cooperi), mirroring other western species like Ash-throated Flycatcher. Good photographs, banding measurements or specimens may help answer this intriguing question. NYSARC welcomes documentation of these and any exceptionally late birds. -- Angus Wilson New York City & The Springs, NY, USA http://birdingtotheend.blogspot.com/ -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
