[wisb] Post correction: Eastern, NOT Spotted Towhee at the Arb

From: Yoyi Steele <yoyi@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: tcwood729@xxxxxxxxx
Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 11:48:35 -0500
Sorry, folks, it was just a regular old Eastern towhee I saw at the Arb
yesterday!  I apologize for using the incorrect common name and sending
everyone into a tizzy.  No need to scour the Arb for a rare bird.
I will be more careful about my common names in the future!!

-Yoyi (who should know better) Steele


On Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 6:17 PM, Tom Wood <tcwood729@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Gee, I just got the email that Yoyi Steele had a Spotted Towhee in the UW
> arboretum. Did the bird move during the day or is this a new one?
> I arrived at Nine Springs around 8:30 A.M. and heard the Zreeee call of the
> possible Spotted Towhee several times. Since Sibley says a hybrid can give
> either an Eastern or Spotted call, this was inconclusive. I quickly found
> the sparrow spot and enjoyed Fox, Song, American Tree, Swamp, and
> White-throated Sparrows along with a female Eastern Towhee while waiting
> for
> the possible Spotted. A single Dark-eyed Junco was there during the entire
> hour and forty minutes I stayed at that spot. I could tell it was the same
> bird because it had brown streaks on the back! During all that time, the
> possible Spotted Towhee came out twice for very good but cyclist-shortened
> looks. My total viewing time was about 3-4 minutes. An  Eastern Towhee
> called regularly from across the road, probably the one Paul van Ginkel
> heard yesterday and possibly the mate of the female that was coming to the
> seed.
>
> I did not expect to gain any new insight from my in-person observation, but
> wanted to see the bird. At times in the brilliant sun, the white at the
> base
> of the primaries seemed even more extensive than in the photographs, but at
> different angles it was comparable. At all times, the white on the
> primaries
> extended further forward on the bird than in any of the ebird photos that
> Kyle Lindemer posted (thanks Kyle!). I agree with Kyle that acceptable
> arguments can be made for either Spotted or hybrid, since the bird does not
> fall neatly into either description. For me at least, it boils down to two
> questions:
>
> 1. Can a hybrid have more white spotting than is shown in the field guides
> or is shown on the limited online photographs? Sibley says spotting is
> reduced on hybrids, but this bird has a lot of spotting.
>
> 2. Can a Spotted have more white near the base of the primaries than what
> the field guides or online photographs show? Sibley says the primaries are
> black to the base. Some folks have said they read from Sibley that Spotted
> can have some white at the base of the primaries, but for some reason I am
> not finding that statement in either my 2000 or 2014 editions.
>
> Perhaps because the two species were recently split from Rufous-sided,
> these
> matters have not been adequately studied. With many species in trouble,
> ornithologists must have more pressing matters on their agenda.
>
> Ultimately, the decision whether the Nine Springs towhee gets entered into
> the records as Spotted Towhee or not will come from the Records Committee.
> I
> do not envy their task.
>
> Thomas Wood, Menomonee Falls, Waukesha County
>
>
>
>
>
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[wisb] Post correction: Eastern, NOT Spotted Towhee at the Arb

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