Thanks Russ. I had asked her about poorwill, but hadn't thought about
mistaking the "location" of the white on the bird.... Probably kinda hard
to tell at 2 a.m. as it flushes from the road.... I agree with your other
suggestions too.
Matt
On Thu, May 17, 2018 at 12:48 PM, Russ Namitz <namitzr@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Matt et al-
Yes she did and I asked her about the sighting. The fact that it was on
the road and flew up has me a little puzzled. I think that a flushed bird
could take observers by surprise and the white in the tail of a poorwill
could be mistaken for white in the wings…
Most of the owl crew here in Roseburg were not aware that Common Poorwill
occurs in the county nor the rarity of that occurrence nor the rarity of a
Common Nighthawk before the 3rd week of May.
I would suggest that heard only birds away from the crepuscular hours and
not coming from the sky above, be invalidated.
Russ
Sent from my iPhone
On May 17, 2018, at 11:01 AM, Matthew G Hunter <matthewghunter@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Not in eBird, but also had a report of early CONI in coast range of
Douglas County, about a week ago, from a wildlife biologist. Apparently in
wee hours of morning it was on a road and flew up. She saw pointed wings
and white patch in wing. Not sure what the relative probabilities are of
the different possibilities, e.g. early CONI, occurrence of Lesser
Nighthawk, something else? Russ, did Janice tell you about that?
Matt
On Tue, May 15, 2018 at 10:07 PM, Tom Crabtree <tc@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I have heard Starlings do a decent imitation of a Nighthawk. I don’t
count heard only ones of them or Western Wood Pewees as I have seen Sky
Rats imitate them in April. I have long wondered how they know to do those
calls then and never in July.
Tom
*From:* orebird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:orebird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
*On Behalf Of *Wink Gross
*Sent:* Tuesday, May 15, 2018 9:18 PM
*To:* orebird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [orebird] Re: Early Common Nighthawk report
I too have an early (May 12) CONI in my queue. Heard only. Observer
insists he knows the call and that it wasn’t a Red-winged Blackbird. I’m
not inclined to validate heard-only review species, but perhaps there is
something going on.
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45614849
BTW, Sibley says Lesser N. is silent in flight (but the app includes a
“nasal flight call”!—doesn’t sound anything like Common).
Wink
Sent from my iPad
On May 15, 2018, at 10:47 AM, Adrian Hinkle <adrian.hinkle@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Doug,
That makes a lot more sense then. I figured she should know the
difference. Thanks for clarifying.
Adrian
On Tuesday, May 15, 2018, W. Douglas Robinson <
w.douglas.robinson@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
For the record, Jenna knows the difference between a poorwill and a
nighthawk. She also offered to change the ID to a more conservative
classification before this discussion ever launched. I talked with her
about it the morning after and recommended taking a cautious approach given
that the bird flew while she was reaching for a camera and her companion
didn’t know to look for presence and position of white in the wings.
Doug
On May 15, 2018, at 10:08 AM, Adrian Hinkle <adrian.hinkle@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Thanks for raising the question, Jeff. The slash is certainly better than
marking CONI, but am I the only one who is bothered that there is no
mention of the white wing patches? I'm not completely sold that it wasn't a
poorwill.
Adrian
On Tuesday, May 15, 2018, Tom Crabtree <tc@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I vote for Common/Lesser Nighthawk. It is 3+ weeks early for Common.
Tom Crabtree
*From:* orebird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:orebird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
*On Behalf Of *Greg Haworth
*Sent:* Tuesday, May 15, 2018 8:49 AM
*To:* orebird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [orebird] Re: Early Common Nighthawk report
While i am no expert on the vagrancy of Lesser Nighthawks, looking at
eBird distribution maps;
Lesser Nighthawks have made it to Chico (which is just about the north
end of their range) and have filled in to the south;
and there are only two reports in California for Common Nighthawk, which
could be suspect.
For what it is worth.
greg
On Tue, May 15, 2018 at 8:07 AM, Jeff Harding <jeffharding@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Oregon Reviewers
While I was in Ireland familiarizing myself with Black-tailed Godwits and
Song Thrushes, an early report of a Common Nighthawk came through from
Jenna Curtis. I replied to her, asking if she had considered Lesser
Nighthawk, and she had not. I don’t think the description rules out Lesser
Nighthawk, but the bird she saw was surely a nighthawk.
I didn’t validate it because I remembered a comment from Dave Irons to
the effect that a nighthawk this early might be more likely to be a Lesser
Nighthawk than Common, since Lesser shows up in California in April. But in
this case, the habitat so favors Common Nighthawk, I wonder if it should be
validated as Common, or should I suggest she change it to something like
Common/Lesser Nighthawk?
Here’s the checklist:
Species: Common Nighthawk
Count: 1
Observation date: May 4, 2018
Location: Willamette National Forest, Idanha US-OR (44.6811,-121.9383),
Linn, US-OR
Submission ID: S45274112
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S45274112
Thanks for input,
Jeff
--
Avian Migration w/ PNW focus <http://birdsoverportland.wordpress.com/>
