[texbirds] Mexican Whip-poor-will in Lubbock
- From: Anthony Hewetson <terrverts@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "leas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <leas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 23 May 2012 07:22:21 -0700 (PDT)
Greetings All:
I have received numerous posts from various folk regarding the whip-poor-will I
saw at Clapp Park in Lubbock on 4/27/12. Thanks to clarification on molt
schedule (received from several texbirders), the presence of color morphs in
both populations, and a definitive answer on the usefulness of the tail pattern
in distinguishing between the two species during SPRING migration - I am now
willing to go out on a limb and claim the bird as a Mexican Whip-poor-will.
The bird was seen well enough and at close enough distances to sort out the
tail pattern.
Note: according to several folk who communicated with me, this would NOT work
during FALL migration as the tail pattern of the first year male Eastern
Whip-poor-wills is more similar to that of an adult Mexican Whip-poor-will than
one might expect.
This identification is, however weakly, supported by the prevailing weather at
the time - a strong weather system pushing into the region for the southwest.
This system is more likely to have pushed a Mexican Whip-poor-will into our
region than an Eastern Whip-poor-will: in fact, if weather has the impact that
some claim, this system would have, if anything, deterred Eastern
Whip-poor-will movement through the region. I am not sure that I give this
line of evidence much credence ... and am glad that I got several very good
looks at the bird.
As this is one of very few (less than five that I know of) records of
whip-poor-will in our region, as the split is relatively recent, and as not a
lot is known about what to expect in the no-whip's-land between the expected
range of the Mexican Whip-poor-will and the Eastern Whip-poor-will, I don't
feel that much confidence can be attached to any statements about what would be
expected in my set of counties. Quite frankly, we don't EXPECT to see any
whip-poor-wills in my county!
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock
Other related posts:
- » [texbirds] Mexican Whip-poor-will in Lubbock - Anthony Hewetson
