Hi..Bob is, I am sure, not the only person to ask similar questions. First, this species is already on the accepted ABA list, this is not the first North American record. As far as being a ship-assisted vagrant here is the link to the ABA rule.(John Pushcock was kind enough to provide the following)
"If you're concerned about whether it was ship-assisted or not AND if you follow the ABA rules, you can actually count it whether it rode a ship or not, as long as it was by its own free will. See Rule 3, B (ii) at http://www.aba.org/bigday/rules.pdf."; Good Birding, Patrick Santinello Eastport, NY From: bounce-37883411-13703...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-37883411-13703...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Robert Lewis Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2011 11:05 AM To: NYSBIRDS-L@cornell.edu Subject: [nysbirds-l] nysbirds: Gray-hooded Gull at Coney Island: origin All, I am a bit surprised that the origin of this bird has not been discussed much. With people coming from a long distance, I think it ought to be mentioned more than it has been. Has this bird arrived here on its own, or was it assisted? How can we know? Many people are concerned with listing questions, so the issue of origin is important to them. Of course, many others are not, so it may be less important to them. Scientifically, it is an interesting question. The email below from Ken Gale suggests that it accompanied some Laughing Gulls from Brazil. That is certainly possible. But it has evidently never happened before, anywhere on the heavily birded East coast. Where is the pattern of vagrancy for this species? Is not a ship-assist quite likely? I am reminded of two other very rare species of gulls that first visited eastern North America in the last fifteen years or so: Black-tailed Gull and Kelp Gull. Both species had previously established vagrancy patterns that made their appearance in eastern North America at least reasonable. Here is a link to the Maryland records committee decision (favorable) on the famous Kelp Gull at Sandgates in southern Maryland: <http://www.mdbirds.org/mddcrc/pdf/kegudec.pdf> http://www.mdbirds.org/mddcrc/pdf/kegudec.pdf I don't presume to know the answer in the present case of the Grey-hooded Gull. I too made the trek to Coney Island to see it. But it was for me a "mere" odious drive through Queens of an hour. Some people are evidently coming from much farther. Bob Lewis Sleepy Hollow NY ________________________________ From: " <mailto:nuffsaid%40riseup.net> nuffs...@riseup.net" < <mailto:nuffsaid%40riseup.net> nuffs...@riseup.net> To: eBirdsNYC < <mailto:ebirdsnyc%40yahoogroups.com> ebirds...@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 2, 2011 9:34 PM Subject: Re: [ebirdsnyc] Gray-hooded Gull at Coney Island ...... I spoke with someone named Angus who thinks the bird came up with Laughing Gulls when they returned from their wintering grounds in South America and might very well stay until the Laughing Gulls fly south in September. Happy bird-day, Ken Ken Gale -- NYSbirds-L List Info: <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> Please submit your observations to <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> eBird! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
