[va-bird] Re: follow up Mystery Hawk Revealed

  • From: "Edward Garrity" <pp002996@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2005 01:13:25 -0500

"How then does a bird of a particular bird species >recognize another bird
of either the same/different >species?"
 

If visual identification itself is not reliable (and after >so much of
experience we have so many doubts yet)then how >do birds recognize
species,gender and perhaps age within >themselves visually?

 

But this still leaves us with the question, how do >confusing species
(confusing visually) identify each other >when vision is the sole means to
identify?

Or is the answer that they don't really need to identify?

 

Those were some interesting questions.  I don't know too much about this,
I'm just very curious.  I found some interesting references concerning bird
hybridization:

 

http://www.alternativescience.com/darwin's_finches.htm

Note especially the next to last paragraph.

 

http://users.erols.com/volker/nature/NAMES.html

Note the 3rd paragraph, concerning Baltimore, Bullock's, and one-time
Northern Orioles.

 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/12/1217_021226_tvinterbreeding.
html

Have you ever heard of "Sparred Owls"?  Strix varia x occidentalis;
apparently, this is not a good situation.

 

http://www.bird-hybrids.com/introduction_en.php

Database of natural hybrids.  No Cooper's x Sharp-shinned.  But there was a
Cooper's x Northern Goshawk.

 

http://faculty.ncwc.edu/mbrooks/pif/Bird%20Profiles/goldenwinged_warbler.htm

Golden-winged, Blue-Winged, Brewster's, Lawrence's, etc.  See the 4th
paragraph under "Habitats and Habits".

 

http://birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/White-throated_Spa
rrow.html

White-striped and Tan-striped pairs, White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed
Junco, there should be no confusion there.  Check out the "Cool Facts" near
the bottom of the page.

 

http://www.borealbirds.org/birdguide/BD0323_species.html

Here's more about the White-striped and Tan-striped morphs, see under
"Breeding".

 

http://mypage.direct.ca/w/writer/ducks.html

Mallards and Wood Ducks can hybridize with many other ducks; and geese.

 

http://birds.cornell.edu/BOW/BNHCOW/

Not related to hybridization, but another case of recognition.  Do cowbirds
know where to lay their eggs?  According to this article, the most common
hosts of Brown-headed Cowbirds are Yellow Warblers, Song Sparrows, Red-eyed
Vireos, Chipping Sparrows, Eastern Phoebes, Eastern Towhees, Ovenbirds, and
Common Yellowthroats. The Red-winged Blackbird is an important host because
of its sheer abundance, although the actual percentage of nests parasitized
is relatively low.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_u
ids=9632503&dopt=Abstract> &db=PubMed&list_uids=9632503&dopt=Abstract

What cues do brown-headed cowbirds use to locate red-winged blackbird host
nests?  Apparently, noisy Red-winged Blackbirds get the Brown-headed Cowbird
egg.

 

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/MigratoryBirds/Fact_Sheets/
default.cfm?fxsht=3

This article says Vireos are the most common Brown-headed Cowbird hosts.

 

 

A little bit more involved:

 

http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v066n04/p0338-p0342.pdf

 

http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v002n04/p0378-p0379.pdf

We're still asking the same questions 125 years later.

 

Eddie Garrity

 

 

 



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