Re: [nysbirds-l] nysbirds: Gray-hooded Gull at Coney Island: origin

[Angus Wilson]

I agree with Bob Lewis that it's worthwhile thinking about (and discussing)
the origins of any major rarity, if only to learn more about the movements
and range of the species. Discussions should include the question of
'precedence', meaning a pattern of occurrence beyond the normal range. This
often lends weight to the idea that a bird could reach some distant spot by
its own devices. This is topic that bird record committees, including
NYSARC, will carefully research and incorporate into its deliberations.
Sometimes even the most unexpected species may not be so unexpected when you
look at where it has wandered in the past, but of course there can be true
exceptions that break the mold.

With regard to Gray-Hooded Gull, I would argue there is some precedent but
agree that iit is clearly not as compelling as say with Black-tailed Gull,
an ostensibly Japanese species that has shown up multiple times on the
eastern seaboards including NYS, especially in the mid-90's. The very first
Black-tailed Gull sightings on the west coast were met with suspicion but
with careful documentation a compelling pattern of infiltration across North
America emerged. This is why it is important to document and report
so-called 'exotics'.

Obviously we have the Florida Gray-hooded Gull record (Apalachicola, 26 Dec
1998), which I admit I was skeptical of when it was first published in North
American Birds and accepted by the ABA Checklist Committee in 2003. This
location is on the gulf coast between Panama City and Tallahassee. There are
additional extralimital records of Gray-hooded Gull from central America
(Panama) and the Galapagos Islands. In Europe there is at least one record
from Spain (presumably the African population) and another from either Egypt
or Israel (need to track down details). I'd be very interested to know of
other examples of extralimital sightings of this species that would flesh
out this scenario.

Although many people seem to favor a South American origin (free-flying or
ship-assisted), it is worth noting that Spain is about the same latitude as
New York and I can't help thinking of the Western Reef Heron (which has a
similar range to Gray-hooded Gull on the west coast of Africa) that spent
the summer less than a mile from Coney Island back in 2009.

The idea that Laughing Gull would serve as a carrier species is appealing.
They have some affinity and there was a report of a mixed Gray-hooded Gull -
Laughing Gull pairing in Senegal in 1983. There is banding data to support
the idea that Laughing Gulls from North America winter in South America,
with those in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean being slightly
less mobile.

Anyway, this is all food for thought. As others have already mentioned, a
key issue is try to pindown the subspecies involved which is not such an
easy task. More on this later.

Has anyone seen the gull today? I've not heard of any positive sightings.

Cheers, Angus Wilson
New York City

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RE: [nysbirds-l] nysbirds: Gray-hooded Gull at Coney Island: origin

[Joseph DiCostanzo]

This past Sunday I posted some material on the normal range of Gray-hooded
Gull in South America.  I pointed out that the range map in Howell and Dunn
– Gulls of the Americas (2007), which some were relying on was in fact
wrong.  I reported that I had seen flocks of the species on the north coast
of South America on several occasions and had seen the species on the coast
of the Brazilian state of Ceara in the company of Laughing Gulls (which the
range map in Gulls of the Americas also indicates should not be there). I
have also seen Gray-hooded Gull on the coast of Maranhao further to the
northwest on the South American coast. I also pointed out that the books
Seabirds: An Identification Guide (1983) by Peter Harrison and A Field Guide
to the Birds of Brazil (2009) by Per van Perlo both show Gray-hooded Gulls
on the north coast of South America.  Since then I have found that All the
Birds of Brazil: An Identification Guide by Deodata Souza (published in
Brazil in both Portuguese and English language editions) also shows those
areas as part of the range of Gray-hooded Gull.

 

This morning I heard from two Brazilian colleagues, Alberto Campos and Weber
Girão who have conducted bird surveys of the Ceara coast for a local NGO.
Alberto commented “we have LOTS of Gray-hooded Gulls along the coast of
Ceará, and occasionally mature and immature Laughing Gulls”. They sent along
the following links to range maps for the two species (NOTE: the text at the
sites is in Portuguese).

Grey-hooded Gull

http://wikiaves.com.br/mapaRegistros_gaivota-de-cabeca-cinza

Laughing Gull  
http://wikiaves.com.br/mapaRegistros_gaivota-alegre

 

All of this establishes that Gray-hooded Gull is a long distance migrant in
South America and does occur with Laughing Gulls when that species is in
South America in the non-breeding season.  

 

As for the question of an “established pattern of vagrancy”, as has already
been pointed out, there is a previous, well-documented record of Gray-hooded
Gull in Florida. How can a “pattern” be established if the initial records
are discounted because there are no previous records?  Also based, purely on
normal range, Kelp Gull is a far less likely vagrant from South America than
Gray-hooded Gull.  A few years ago NYSARC added Western Gull to the New York
State list based on a bird photographed on a pelagic trip.  Given that that
species’ normal range doesn’t include the Atlantic Ocean and is generally
rare more than a few miles inland on the Pacific coast of North America, it
would seem to be a far less likely candidate for a natural occurrence on the
Atlantic Coast of North America than Gray-hooded Gull.

 

My apologies for the length of this post.

 

Joe DiCostanzo

 

 

 

  _  

From: bounce-37883411-3714...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-37883411-3714...@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

  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: "  nuffs...@riseup.net" <
 nuffs...@riseup.net>
To: eBirdsNYC < 
ebirds...@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 2, 2011 

RE: [nysbirds-l] nysbirds: Gray-hooded Gull at Coney Island: origin

[Patrick Santinello]

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

  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: "  nuffs...@riseup.net" <
 nuffs...@riseup.net>
To: eBirdsNYC < 
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

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Subscribe, Configuration and Leave

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The Mail Archive
 

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Please submit your observations to   eBird!

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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RE: [nysbirds-l] nysbirds: Gray-hooded Gull at Coney Island: origin

[Patrick Santinello]

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!

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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/

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RE: [nysbirds-l] nysbirds: Gray-hooded Gull at Coney Island: origin

[Joseph DiCostanzo]

This past Sunday I posted some material on the normal range of Gray-hooded
Gull in South America.  I pointed out that the range map in Howell and Dunn
– Gulls of the Americas (2007), which some were relying on was in fact
wrong.  I reported that I had seen flocks of the species on the north coast
of South America on several occasions and had seen the species on the coast
of the Brazilian state of Ceara in the company of Laughing Gulls (which the
range map in Gulls of the Americas also indicates should not be there). I
have also seen Gray-hooded Gull on the coast of Maranhao further to the
northwest on the South American coast. I also pointed out that the books
Seabirds: An Identification Guide (1983) by Peter Harrison and A Field Guide
to the Birds of Brazil (2009) by Per van Perlo both show Gray-hooded Gulls
on the north coast of South America.  Since then I have found that All the
Birds of Brazil: An Identification Guide by Deodata Souza (published in
Brazil in both Portuguese and English language editions) also shows those
areas as part of the range of Gray-hooded Gull.

 

This morning I heard from two Brazilian colleagues, Alberto Campos and Weber
Girão who have conducted bird surveys of the Ceara coast for a local NGO.
Alberto commented “we have LOTS of Gray-hooded Gulls along the coast of
Ceará, and occasionally mature and immature Laughing Gulls”. They sent along
the following links to range maps for the two species (NOTE: the text at the
sites is in Portuguese).

Grey-hooded Gull
http://wikiaves.com.br/mapaRegistros_gaivota-de-cabeca-cinza
http://wikiaves.com.br/mapaRegistros_gaivota-de-cabeca-cinza

Laughing Gull  http://wikiaves.com.br/mapaRegistros_gaivota-alegre
http://wikiaves.com.br/mapaRegistros_gaivota-alegre

 

All of this establishes that Gray-hooded Gull is a long distance migrant in
South America and does occur with Laughing Gulls when that species is in
South America in the non-breeding season.  

 

As for the question of an “established pattern of vagrancy”, as has already
been pointed out, there is a previous, well-documented record of Gray-hooded
Gull in Florida. How can a “pattern” be established if the initial records
are discounted because there are no previous records?  Also based, purely on
normal range, Kelp Gull is a far less likely vagrant from South America than
Gray-hooded Gull.  A few years ago NYSARC added Western Gull to the New York
State list based on a bird photographed on a pelagic trip.  Given that that
species’ normal range doesn’t include the Atlantic Ocean and is generally
rare more than a few miles inland on the Pacific coast of North America, it
would seem to be a far less likely candidate for a natural occurrence on the
Atlantic Coast of North America than Gray-hooded Gull.

 

My apologies for the length of this post.

 

Joe DiCostanzo

 

 

 

  _  

From: bounce-37883411-3714...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-37883411-3714...@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: 

Re: [nysbirds-l] nysbirds: Gray-hooded Gull at Coney Island: origin

[Angus Wilson]

I agree with Bob Lewis that it's worthwhile thinking about (and discussing)
the origins of any major rarity, if only to learn more about the movements
and range of the species. Discussions should include the question of
'precedence', meaning a pattern of occurrence beyond the normal range. This
often lends weight to the idea that a bird could reach some distant spot by
its own devices. This is topic that bird record committees, including
NYSARC, will carefully research and incorporate into its deliberations.
Sometimes even the most unexpected species may not be so unexpected when you
look at where it has wandered in the past, but of course there can be true
exceptions that break the mold.

With regard to Gray-Hooded Gull, I would argue there is some precedent but
agree that iit is clearly not as compelling as say with Black-tailed Gull,
an ostensibly Japanese species that has shown up multiple times on the
eastern seaboards including NYS, especially in the mid-90's. The very first
Black-tailed Gull sightings on the west coast were met with suspicion but
with careful documentation a compelling pattern of infiltration across North
America emerged. This is why it is important to document and report
so-called 'exotics'.

Obviously we have the Florida Gray-hooded Gull record (Apalachicola, 26 Dec
1998), which I admit I was skeptical of when it was first published in North
American Birds and accepted by the ABA Checklist Committee in 2003. This
location is on the gulf coast between Panama City and Tallahassee. There are
additional extralimital records of Gray-hooded Gull from central America
(Panama) and the Galapagos Islands. In Europe there is at least one record
from Spain (presumably the African population) and another from either Egypt
or Israel (need to track down details). I'd be very interested to know of
other examples of extralimital sightings of this species that would flesh
out this scenario.

Although many people seem to favor a South American origin (free-flying or
ship-assisted), it is worth noting that Spain is about the same latitude as
New York and I can't help thinking of the Western Reef Heron (which has a
similar range to Gray-hooded Gull on the west coast of Africa) that spent
the summer less than a mile from Coney Island back in 2009.

The idea that Laughing Gull would serve as a carrier species is appealing.
They have some affinity and there was a report of a mixed Gray-hooded Gull -
Laughing Gull pairing in Senegal in 1983. There is banding data to support
the idea that Laughing Gulls from North America winter in South America,
with those in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean being slightly
less mobile.

Anyway, this is all food for thought. As others have already mentioned, a
key issue is try to pindown the subspecies involved which is not such an
easy task. More on this later.

Has anyone seen the gull today? I've not heard of any positive sightings.

Cheers, Angus Wilson
New York City

--

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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/

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