It's worth noting that mid 20th Century birders knew Loggerhead Shrike as a regular fall vagrant on LI and coastal southern New England, perhaps comparable in frequency to Western Kingbird. These fall Loggerheads mostly occurred much earlier than Northern Shrike would be expected, from late August through October, but there are many critically identified records from November and December--as attested by Kevin's Thanksgiving specimen from Mecox. Because these vagrants vanished in step with the nearest, northeastern breeding populations, it is likely that many derived from those sources. Even so, we actually know very little about the precise origins of our coastal vagrants--even the frequent ones like Western Kingbird and Lark Sparrow.
Shai Mitra Bay Shore ________________________________________ From: Kevin J. McGowan [[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2010 11:57 AM To: Grover, Bob; Hugh McGuinness; Shaibal Mitra Cc: NYSBIRDS ([email protected]) Subject: RE: [nysbirds-l] Identity of Jones Beach Shrike Sure, and the correct ID has been found because the specimen still existed to be examined. Check out http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v065n01/p0046-p0047.pdf for two such stories from the same flock of birds. But, these two shrike species are so different when put side-by-side that I don’t think there is a single specimen of any doubt in the Cornell collection. Kevin J. McGowan, Ph.D. Instructor Home Study Course in Bird Biology Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road Ithaca, NY 14850 [email protected] 607-254-2452 From: Grover, Bob [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2010 11:34 AM To: Kevin J. McGowan; Hugh McGuinness; Shaibal Mitra Cc: NYSBIRDS ([email protected]) Subject: RE: [nysbirds-l] Identity of Jones Beach Shrike I know I risk excoriation here, but has a museum study skin never been misidentified? Bob Grover From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kevin J. McGowan Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2010 10:33 AM To: Hugh McGuinness; Shaibal Mitra Cc: NYSBIRDS ([email protected]) Subject: RE: [nysbirds-l] Identity of Jones Beach Shrike Funny, but I was going to ask about this shrike yesterday to see if anyone had taken a long hard look at it. I saw another photo and I just can’t make it into a Northern Shrike. I have put some photos of a specimen from the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates that might be of interest at http://picasaweb.google.com/KevinJ.McGowan/SpecimenExamples It is a hatch year female taken in Mecox, Suffolk Co. on 26 November 1946. It shows neat light barring across the chest, a gray unbarred back, and a pale patch at the base of the bill. Several individuals in the collection looked similar. The Jones Beach individual looks very similar to my eyes, except that it doesn’t have the retained juvenal wing coverts, but that molt can be variable among individuals. Shai’s real Northern Shrike photo shows very substantial contrast in shape, bill shape, mask size, coloring, and markings. I was not able to find a single specimen of Northern Shrike in the Cornell collection that even remotely looked odd or like the Jones Beach bird. Not to say that the collection encompasses the entire variation, but they all looked pretty much alike. Interesting bird. Here’s hoping it really is a young Loggerhead; the population could use it! Keivn Kevin J. McGowan, Ph.D. Instructor Home Study Course in Bird Biology Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road Ithaca, NY 14850 [email protected] 607-254-2452 Think green before you print this email. -- 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 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
