[wisb] Shrike Identification and More

From: "Cutright.Noel" <Noel.Cutright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Wisbirdn" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:56:48 -0500
Kim Eckert who has been active with the MOU http://moumn.org/ for
decades has an interesting installment in his column, Birding by
Hindsight, in the winter issue of "The Loon", MOU's quarterly journal.
Its title is A Second Look at Shrikes.  

Kim first relates the story about the person who called out "There it
is" as a male Red-winged Blackbird landed in clear sight on the feeder
as a group of birders waited for the Black-vented Oriole to appear along
the Rio Grande in southern TX.  How anyone managed to confuse the two
remains unknown.  

He then tells the story of a Northern Shrike report that appeared on the
MOU-net listserv last June.  The observer was asked for more information
and obligingly provided a photo, and surprisingly, the bird was neither
species of shrike but the image of a Gray Catbird.  

He then goes on to discuss the account of the shrike that appeared in NY
last year in November.  It was seen by many and photographed, and there
was disagreement among the local observers about its identity.  The best
photos are shown as the 5th, 6th, and 7th images on this page.
https://picasaweb.google.com/tixbirdz/LongIslandMiscellany2010#

Kim then goes on talking about some of the finer points of shrike
identification and makes the point that as comments from discussion on
the "Frontiers of Field Identification" listserv made evident, shrike ID
is not all that straightforward, even among experienced observers.  I
would urge WI observers to obtain a copy of Kim's article if possible
(The Loon 82:186-188 (2010)).

If someone can confuse a redwing and an oriole or a catbird for a
shrike, what about two species where identification is not always easy.
I guess that I could also relate all of this to the situation where some
WI observers are now anxious to see one of the Eared Grebes that have
been reported.  Care must always be exercised, especially when a
similarly appearing species (Horned Grebe) is present where an uncommon
bird has been reported.  It is easy for all of us to jump to a hasty
misidentification.  So as my parents always instructed, Be Careful Out
There.

Noel Cutright, Ozaukee County 
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[wisb] Shrike Identification and More

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