[wisb] WSO wants your "interesting junco" photos!

From: Ryan Brady <ryanbrady10@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2013 20:27:51 -0700
THE UPSHOT:

The WSO Records Committee would like your photographs of "interesting juncos" 
taken in Wisconsin from any year past or present. This 
includes possible Oregon, Pink-sided, White-winged, or other 
"non-Slate-colored" juncos.  Please send electronic images (or web 
links) to committee chair, Ryan Brady, at ryanbrady10@xxxxxxxxxxx. You MUST 
include the date, location (park/city AND county), and 
name of observer/photographer.

THE DETAILS:

Winter 2012-2013 has been a good season for "interesting" Oregon-like Juncos in 
Wisconsin. While these Western-type juncos occur in 
the state annually, increases in awareness, communication and digital 
photography have seemingly resulted in more apparent 
occurrences of these birds in recent years.

Unfortunately, identification of junco subspecies is fraught with difficulty 
and clouded by our incomplete knowledge of the 
genetics, breeding ranges, and degree of plumage overlap among the various 
forms. Online discussions have generated some buzz (e.g. 
http://www.oceanwanderers.com/JuncoID.html) but, to my knowledge, there remains 
no standard literary reference for junco subspecies ID 
and no individual or group of individuals considered outright experts on the 
topic. As such, it is often difficult to conclusively 
identify many birds to the subspecies level, even from excellent photographs.

At the heart of the issue here in Wisconsin is the "Cassiar's Junco," a little 
known form from the Canadian Rocky Mountains that is largely 
intermediate to our typical "Slate-colored Junco" and the far western "Oregon 
Junco." Some if not many of the Oregons in Wisconsin 
likely represent the Cassiar's form. Further confounding the issue is the 
"Pink-sided Junco" from the northern U.S. Rockies. Even 
female Slate-coloreds can approach the brown, hooded appearance of a true 
Oregon. Also reported here with some frequency is the "White-winged Junco" 
from the Black Hills area, but these are often (and erroneously) identified 
based solely on distinct white wing bars, which a small 
percentage of Slate-coloreds show. Wisconsin even has at least one record of 
the "Gray-headed Junco", the southern Rocky Mountain form.

For better or worse, the WSO Records Committee generally has not and does not 
review rare subspecies of common birds in the state. 
However, this junco identification conundrum warrants attention, whether 
conclusions can be immediately reached or not. At a 
minimum, we as a Wisconsin birding community would be wise to document these 
"interesting" juncos, centrally organize and archive 
photographs, and engage state, regional, and national birders and 
ornithologists now and into the future. For some day it is likely that 
identification 
of these subspecies will be better understood.

To that end, the WSO Records Committee would like your photographs of 
"interesting juncos" taken in Wisconsin from any year past or 
present. Please send electronic images (or web links) to committee chair, Ryan 
Brady, at ryanbrady10@xxxxxxxxxxx. You MUST include 
the date, location (park/city AND county), and name of observer/photographer. 
You may also include any other pertinent comments as desired. 
Please do NOT send more than five images of any one bird or send images of 
hybrid, leucistic, or albinistic individuals.

The photos be will organized and publicly displayed online to spark discussion 
and provide reference for birders in Wisconsin and beyond in 
the years ahead. Thank you for helping us address this identification challenge!


Ryan Brady
Chair, WSO Records Committee
Washburn, Bayfield County, WI
http://www.pbase.com/rbrady

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[wisb] WSO wants your "interesting junco" photos!

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