eBirdunconfirmed

MY UNCONFIRMED SIGHTINGS AS REPORTED ON eBIRD

10 RECORDS; 8 SPECIES REPRESENTED

My registration with eBird dates only recently, to Monday, March 20--21, 2023.

1) Buteogallus anthracinus Common Black Hawk

Friday, April 7, 2023

Marana AZ

UNCONFIRMED

2 Toxostoma bendirei see previous page,

sites.google.com/site/mmslouisl1/smallbilledthrasher

unincorporated Pima County, Arizona (west of Marana, Arizona)

UNCONFIRMED

4 Aphelocoma woodhouseii Scrub Jay (Interior West)

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Pima Canyon

UNCONFIRMED

5 Melanerpes formicivorus Acorn Woodpecker

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Pima Canyon

UNCONFIRMED

6 Empidonax oberholseri Dusky Flycatcher

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Catalina State Park

UNCONFIRMED

{(7--8) Colaptes auratus luteus Northern (Yellow-shafted) Flicker

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Fort Lowell Park and Pantano Wash (hotspot); Tucson AZ

The sighting was originally CONFIRMED when I had reported it and was subsequently available for record. However, this was changed by January 26, 2024, when the sighting was changed to UNCONFIRMED. I was not contacted for any input regarding this decision; thus, the Reviewers of eBird are given to reverse a record's disposition despite its original, initial confirmation.

----Colaptes auratus luteus Northern (Yellow-shafted) Flicker

Thursday, January 4, 2024

Fort Lowell Park and Pantano Wash (hotspot); Tucson AZ

)}

9) Empidonax oberholseri Dusky Flycatcher

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Catalina State Park

UNCONFIRMED

10) Aphelocoma wollweberi Mexican Jay

Tuesday, February 13, 2024 (about 11:00 AM)

Pima Canyon

UNCONFIRMED

2 individuals recorded

============================================================================================================================================================================================================================

NOTE ON THE EARED QUETZAL IN THE UNITED STATES

Eared Quetzal Euptilotis neoxenus

See also the published, online report summarizing the records of it in the United States (Arizona, New Mexico). This report does not refer to the following information which had come to my attention.

My form letter (July 13, 2012):

"The website for Birdlife.org has made available text from a book published through the ICBP, 'Threatened Birds of the Americas' (1992). On p. 540 therein the entry for the eared quetzal (trogon) Euptilotis neoxenus makes reference to this species having occurred outside of Mexico in the 19th century: "Eared Quetzals were first recorded in the U.S.A. when “considerable numbers” were observed at Warsaw Mills (untraced) in early December 1893 (van Rossem 1945)."

The source cited is van Rossem, "Distributional Survey of the birds of Sonora," but this work, having consulted it, does not mention anything about the quetzals being found in Arizona. The author includes an entry for Euptilotis, and cites the location of Warsaw Mills--a camp settlement that existed, at that time, in the Pajaritos Mountains in what is now Santa Cruz Co., Arizona (also called Pima Co.). In Mearns, Mammals of the Mexican Boundary, p. 111, more precise information is given about this locality.

The book Trogons of the Arizona Borderlands by Richard Taylor includes information about sightings of the eared quetzal in Arizona from 1977, and though some earlier works are cited which allude to reports of this bird near to the U.S. border, no reference is made to the sighting in question.

I would appreciate any information that could help clarify an understanding of this--in particular, the author of the entry for 'Threatened Birds.' This conspicuous statement may have been made in error or mistakenly taken from a reference to the Elegant Trogon, Trogon elegans, and likewise it would be of interest to me to know where it was published."

My subsequent response (July 20, 2012):

"I must clarify my original statements about van Rossem's work: an entry for the Eared Quetzal was made therein, and separately, a reference to Warsaw Mills appears in a gazeteer list at the end of this book (not at all part of the entry for Euptilotis). This location is detailed in Mearns (see link).

Allen's list appears to be the first record of the specimen taken from El Pinita [Puerto] by Robinette, and this also was cited in the Biologia. There is also an entry for the Coppery-tailed Trogon in the latter on p. 490; the scientific name in this instance is Trogon ambiguus, as that was then the prevailing name for the species which enters USA into Arizona/Texas (prior to van Rossem himself describing the Arizonan-Mexican trogons as canescens, with ambiguus as the name for the Texas-Mexican birds alone). Lumholtz does not seem to make reference to specific names of birds.

After consulting Bendire (link below) I am beginning to agree with Chris, and likewise, Richard's position for the first U.S. record is still very tenable. The comment in Threatened Birds, which was published before Russell & Monson, might be something along the lines of a lapsus--the reference to Warsaw Mills was probably taken from van Rossem, but there is still the compelling wording of "considerable numbers," and those words do appear in Life Histories from notes copied from A. K. Fisher from an observer in Ramsay Canyon (Huachuca Mts.). In the preceding paragraph on 33, Mearns is also cited, having observed trogons in the Huachucas (but not the Pajarito[s]), and thus I can see how "Warsaw Mills" and the date of Dec. 1893 (from Mammals..) might be confused with this.

It would be interesting if any other publications emerge which might further clarify or contradict what this appears to be. None of the lists of Arizona/US birds before 1977 make reference to the eared quetzal. Any further contributions to this matter are likewise appreciated."

Mammals of the Mexican Boundary.. Part I, p. 111 (Mearns, 1907)

http://www.biodiversityheritagelibrary.org/item/54504#page/153/mode/1up

Life Histories of North American Birds, from the parrots.. Smithsonian Contrib. 985 (Bendire, 1895), p. 32 (see 33)

http://www.biodiversityheritagelibrary.org/item/86291#page/47/mode/1up

Bulletin of the American Museum, vol. v, p. 34 (Allen, 1893) El Pinita, Chih.

http://www.biodiversityheritagelibrary.org/item/86435#page/48/mode/1up

Biol. Centrali-Am., vol. II (Salvin, Godman), p. 485 (Jan. 1896)

http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/bca/navigation/bca_03_02_00/bca_03_02_00.cfm?start=497

Unknown Mexico, vol. I (Lumholtz, 1902)

http://archive.org/stream/unknownmexicorec01lumh#page/n8/mode/1up