Hello OBOL --
This is just an FYI, since it seems the word did not get out at the time....
On 11 Sept., a subadult booby was recovered at Newport. After rehabilitating at
the FWS offices there, it was flown to a Los Angeles, CA, area rehab facility.
It recovered fully and was released to the wild from San Pedro, CA, today.
Kimball Garrett of the LA County Natural History Museum obtained detailed
measurements and photos of the bird, and tissue samples are being sent to the
Smithsonian for DNA analysis, to determine whether it is a Masked Booby or a
Nazca Booby. Genetic analysis is the best, and possibly only reliable, way to
distinguish these two species in their very similar subadult plumages. The
Oregon Bird Records Committee (OBRC) will vote on the identity of the record
once all the data are in, and we will let everyone know the outcome at that
time. Oregon has only one Masked Booby record, and there are no accepted
records of Nazca Booby for the ABA Area yet, although a handful of southern
Calif. records of that species will likely be accepted by the ABA soon. In the
meantime, those of you sea-watching with the south winds this weekend, keep
your eyes open! : )
On a related note, the one Masked Booby record for our state (a 2006 bird
picked up moribund on the I-5 bridge and made a specimen at the Slater Museum
at Univ. of Puget Sound), will also undergo DNA sequencing at the same
Smithsonian lab. The results will be reviewed by the OBRC and either the
current identification will be confirmed or Oregon may end up with the earliest
ABA-Area Nazca Booby record.
Seriously, folks, keep your eyes open on the coast for any and all booby
species. Our repositioning cruise in late Sept. had 2 Brown Boobies in Coos Co.
waters, and anything's possible.
Jay Withgott
Portland
Link for the story of "our" booby at the southern Calif. rehab facility:
http://blog.bird-rescue.org/index.php/2015/10/we-love-boobies/
OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol
Manage your account or unsubscribe: //www.freelists.org/list/obol
Contact moderators: obol-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
