Hi all:
Just to add more info: When working on the large national grasslands in se. CO, se. KS, panhandle OK, and ne. NM back in the late 1990s, I discovered that Lilian's Meadowlark was common in "high-structure grasslands" on the Kiowa in NM. These are the same sorts of grasslands present in southern Baca Co., CO, that Lesser Prairie-Chickens inhabit and I thought that it was possible that the form might occur there, too. The year before Michael Patten found and documented singing Lilian's at the Campo lek, I was visiting a nearby lek when I heard what I though was Lilian's song. I eventually found two meadowlarks that seemed to have more white in the tail than do Westerns, but I never saw either well and let them go undocumented. I did, however, tell a few folks to be on the lookout down there for Lilian's. I found a singing Lilian's in Huerfano Co. two summers ago that Andrew Spencer subsequently sound-recorded (I think). I believe that I entered those data into the Breeding Bird Atlas database. The Eastern Meadowlarks that graced a lovely pasture near Poncha Springs for two summers (2006 and 2007; found by Van Truan, I believe) were NOT Lilian's, but sang perfect Eastern Eastern Meadowlark songs and were warm-colored and not-as-white-tailed as is Lilian's. Note that this location is in the Arkansas valley, but up in the mtns. Finally, it might interest some to know that one of the co-authors of the paper in the Auk is none other than CO-born Keith Barker, formerly a volunteer/employee of the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory and making a big name for himself in bird systematics, having published a number of important papers on the taxonomy of various passerine groups (see his web page -- http://www.tc.umn.edu/~barke042/). I got to see him presenting these meadowlark data as a poster session at the 2006 North American Ornithological Conference in Veracruz, Mexico, and we talked specifically about the occurrence of Lilian's in Colorado. He said that he'd be very happy to receive any samples of such birds (specimens, blood, feathers) for further analyses. Enjoy, Tony Leukering Villas, NJ -----Original Message----- From: Larry Semo <[email protected]> To: Cobirds <[email protected]> Sent: Tue, 3 Feb 2009 6:27 pm Subject: [cobirds] Re: New Meadowlark species ? In response to Bob Righter and Brandon Percival's discussion on the status of Lilian's Meadowlark in Colorado, I thought I'd add some information on "Eastern Meadowlarks" from the perspective of the Colorado Bird Records Committee (CBRC). There are currently 10 accepted records of Eastern Meadowlark in Colorado, 6 from the South Platte River drainage and 4 from the Arkansas River drainage. The Lilian's race of Eastern Meadowlark (as currently recognized) [Sturnella magna lilianae] is known to regularly occur northeastwards to northeastern New Mexico. The subspecies differs in the field from the20 nominate magna by having more white outer tail feathers (rectrix 3-6 compared to 4-6 on magna), less yellow on the throat, a bit of a difference in call note, and slight differences in song (somewhat jumbled than magna and somewhat reminiscent of Western Meadowlark). There are mensural differences between the two as well that cannot be judged in the field. In 2003, Michael Patten discovered a singing bird near the Campo Lesser Prairie Chicken lek in Baca County and was distinctively able to preclude magna and Western Meadowlark based on those traits. The subspecies was documented from the same location again in 2005, where up to three birds were present on territory. Reports of Lilian's continue from that general area, although the CBRC has not received any details on the continued presence of the race there. However, in the summer of 2006, a male and female Lilian's were discovered in Colorado City, Pueblo County by David Silverman and the CBRC accepted the birds as Lilian's based on documentations noting the more extensive white tail feathering and difference in call notes. Prior to the Baca County observation, the only other accepted Eastern Meadowlark record for southern Colorado (within the Arkansas River drainage system) was from Prowers County in 1992. There was no indication of what subspecies that bird may have pertained to. All of the 6 Eastern Meadowlarks found in northeastern Colorado are believed to hav e been of the nominate magna based on plumage and vocalization criteria, with records stemming from Logan, Weld, and Larimer counties. Thus at this point, one may suggest that birds in the Arkansas system are of Lilian's and those of the South Platte are magna, which the data thus far seem to indicate, with the caveat that we don't know what the race of the Prowers bird was. Bob referred to the very recent excellent paper that was published in the Auk that sequenced mitochondrial genes of three "yellow-breasted meadowlarks" (magna, lilianae, and Western [neglecta]. The data strongly supported that the three meadowlarks are of historically isolated lineages and should be differentiated to the species level (Barker et al. 2008). I agree with Bob that as the paper was published in the Auk, the journal of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU), I would predict that the July issue of the decisions of the AOU Checklist Committee will split Lilian's from Eastern, but I've been wrong on predictions before... :). I hope this clarifies and has not confused folks. Larry Semo Chair, Colorado Bird Records Committee Barker, F.K., A.J. Vandergon, and S.M. Lanyon. 2008. Assessment of Species Limits among Yellow-breasted Meadowlarks (Sturnella Spp.) Using Mitochondrial and Sex-Linked Markers. Auk 125(4): 869-879. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Beh alf Of Brandon Percival Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 4:15 PM To: Cobirds Subject: [cobirds] Re: New Meadowlark species ? I'm fairly sure there are a few recent accepted records of "Lilian's" Meadowlark in Colorado. I documented "Lilian's" Meadowlark from Baca County and Pueblo County, and these have been accepted by the Colorado Birds Records Committee. The Pueblo County birds were photographed with food, probably indicating breeding at the location, since there were two birds present. Brandon Percival Pueblo West, CO --- On Sun, 2/1/09, Robert Righter <[email protected]> wrote: From: Robert Righter <[email protected]> Subject: [cobirds] New Meadowlark species ? To: "Cobirds" <[email protected]> Date: Sunday, February 1, 2009, 3:28 PM Hi: It seems like we’re still agonizing if that odd looking goose is a Canada or Cackling and now in the recent Auk, Vol. 125, number 4, there is an article suggesting that, not based on looks, but on genetics that “Lilian’s” Meadowlark is significantly different from the Eastern and Western Meadowlarks. If the AOU Check-list Committee agrees then we can no long just drive by and tick off a meadowlark as just a Western. This will be another one20of those ID toughies. Songs from a Eastern Meadowlarks will now be questioned as, "could that have been Lilian’s" ? Good gracious, all of this is potentially upsetting news for those of us who like to quickly put labels on birds. As far as I know there is no accepted records for Lilian’s Meadowlark for Colorado, however its known northern range, based on specimens, includes the southern part of the northeast quadrant of New Mexico, so conceivable with no more than a flap, flap, it could be in Colorado, maybe it is even here now?. Potentially it could find in the grasslands of southern Colorado favorable, but more potentially the southern grasslands east of the Divide could have more to offer, particularly in quantity. Bob Righter Denver CO --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
