Many Streaked Horned Larks winter in the Willamette Valley, where they can be
found year around. Others can speak to how migratory they are. I know we’ve had
Portland area wintering birds that were banded up near Fort Lewis in
Washington. Other forms of Horned Larks winter in western Oregon, hence it is
critical to not presume all westside Horned Larks are Streaked for the reason
that Joel mentions in his post.
Dave Irons
Beaverton, OR
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 15, 2019, at 3:22 PM, Robert O'Brien <baro@xxxxxxx<mailto:baro@xxxxxxx>>
wrote:
well I certainly get your point. and although I neglected to mention it
specifically. I was actually referring to Winter sightings not so much as to
the breeding season. is it known where streaked horned larks winter? as I
mentioned a month or twp ago a Seattle researcher was requesting sightings of
his banded horn Larks in either Washington or the Willamette Valleh.
On Friday, March 15, 2019, <clearwater@xxxxxxxx<mailto:clearwater@xxxxxxxx>>
wrote:
To clarify some unclear prose, New Mexico Fish & Game opposed the recent
USFWS proposal to list Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo.
It's nearly always a mistake to pack more than one idea into a single
sentence, but I still do it all the time.
________________________________
From: "clearwater" <clearwater@xxxxxxxx<mailto:clearwater@xxxxxxxx>>
To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Robert O'Brien" <baro@xxxxxxx<mailto:baro@xxxxxxx>>
Sent: Friday, March 15, 2019 11:12:20 AM
Subject: Re: Reporting birds to subspecies and how your local eBird reviewer
Bob and All,
I said some of this already in my reply to Roy Gerig's question about lark
numbers in the valley this winter, but I want to make sure I've said it
clearly.
I appreciate the level of caution that Dave Irons expressed, with regard to
listing of subspecies. He couched this in terms of science but it also makes
sense in terms of conservation.
"More reports" of threatened/endangered subspecies don't translate into
recovery of the subspecies. Adding such reports to eBird may inflate the
apparent numbers, and give support to opponents of their T/E listing.
As one example of how eBird data have already been misused by opponents of
T/E listing, please look up the comments on the proposal to list Western
Yellow-billed Cuckoo by New Mexico's fish & game department (which opposed
listing, along with several other state F&W agencies). A consulting firm
aligned with anti-conservation groups fed them a dubious "analysis" that was
aimed to undercut both the idea that "Western" YBCU was a distinct, listable
subspecies and the idea that riparian corridors are primary habitat.
If you do find "Streaked" Horned Larks during breeding season, in a habitat
that is threatened by *non-agricultural* modifications such as
residential/industrial development, you can help recovery by contacting USFWS
and advocacy organizations such as Portland Audubon.
Note that *agricultural* modifications to lark habitat are exempt, under the
terms of the current listing as "Threatened." So if you see larks using a
grass field that's being converted to filbert/hazelnut orchards or vineyards,
there's nothing that USFWS can do to protect that habitat, under current
rules.
Sorry for the bad news, but that's the reality we're facing ...
Joel
On Fri, 2019-03-15 at 01:06 -0400,
obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: "Robert O'Brien" <baro@xxxxxxx<mailto:baro@xxxxxxx>>
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2019 20:06:23 -0700
Subject: [obol] Reporting birds to subspecies and how your local eBird
reviewer
This sounds like a totally reasonable solution.
At the same time in your discussions with eBird perhaps you could bring up
the situation with Streaked Horned Lark (striata). eBird does not allow
the sub specific designation of this threatened bird. Due to increasing
interest from Oregon birders, detailed observations have been documented
with photographs that could be reviewed by the eBird reviewers for
veracity. Such observations could be important for the recovery of this
threatened subspecies, and might well contribute to even more observations.
bob obrien
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
