[wisb] Re: vagrants

Stacy,
Maybe they do, maybe they don't. There's way too much that we don't know about 
vagrants to assume that they all die. Selasphorus hummingbirds are common 
vagrants to the east- and some have been banded and recaptured in successive 
years proving that they did indeed live through another season even though they 
turned up on the opposite side of the country (two years in a row!). Some 
larger species, such as Swallow-tailed Kites, often show up in the northeastern 
US where they clearly do not breed, but have been tracked back to their 
historic nest location after several weeks of being blown off-course. 
Insectivorous species such as swallows probably face a much larger challenge 
when displaced northward for obvious reasons. Similarly, a rare few flycatchers 
spend their winters up north where insects are scarce... but an Eastern Phoebe 
or two has been known to make it through the year farther north- so it's not 
impossible. 

Migration in and of itself is probably the most dangerous period for landbirds, 
as it accounts for the largest proportion of mortality in many species. The 
real challenge for these birds will be whether they can find enough food to 
sustain them (if they stay) and/or whether they're presence reflects some 
navigational 'programming error' (in which case they may try and go further 
north and west) or rather a weather-driven phenomenon that they are able to 
correct for by backtracking.

Good Birding

David

________________________

David A. La Puma
Postdoctoral Associate
New Jersey Audubon Society
600 Route 47 North
Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
Office: 609.861.1608 x33
Fax:    609.861.1651

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On Nov 15, 2011, at 11:41 AM, Stacy Taeuber wrote:

> I understand the excitement of seeing all these amazing vagrants, but isn't 
> it also true that most of them will die? 
> 
> -Stacy Taeuber
> Madison
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