Utah's West Desert Migrant Traps

On Saturday I led a trip for the Bridgerland Audubon Society to the west desert of Box Elder County, Utah.  Our main goal was to visit some of the famous "migrant traps" in the area.  This area, north of the Great Salt Lake, is well known in the state for being one of the most consistent places to find rare eastern birds in migration.  There are several small freshwater springs surrounded by miles and miles of sagebrush, salt flats, and hypersaline water.  As migrating birds pass over the area, they are drawn like magnets to these migrant traps in search of a drink, a snack, and some rest before continuing north to their breeding grounds.

We met early, 5:00 AM, so that we would have a full day of birding despite a nearly three-hour drive to our first stop.  We chatted about some of our rare bird fantasies for the day, discussed the plan of attack, and then headed west as the sky was starting to get light.  After a brief stop for gas in Snowville, our first birding stop was along Highway 30 in one of the best areas for FERRUGINOUS HAWKS in the state.  We got close looks at an adult light morph here, the first of about four in the next couple of miles.  After this brief stop, we continued on to Lucin, our first migrant trap.

Part of the BAS field trip party scoping a distant Golden Eagle nest from Lucin.

The flycatchers at Lucin set the tone for the day: while we called this trip "West Desert Migrant Traps" we might as well have called it "Identification of Difficult Flycatchers."  Several of the easier species were present, including SAY'S PHOEBE, WESTERN KINGBIRD, and WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, but there were impressive numbers of Empidonax flycatchers, including at least FOUR WILLOW FLYCATCHERS, a DUSKY FLYCATCHER, a GRAY FLYCATCHER, and at least two other unidentified Empidonax sp.  Warblers were also pretty diverse, including ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, YELLOW WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER (AUDUBON'S), WILSON'S WARBLER, and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT.  Here is a link to the complete eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14315363

One of at least four WILLOW FLYCATCHERS at Lucin.  This is not a rare species in northern Utah, but it felt odd to find them perched on barbed wire and surrounded by sagebrush and greasewood!

Our next stop was Rabbit Springs, where the habitat is spread out over a wider area and the trees are not as large.  Three COMMON NIGHTHAWKS calling in flight here seemed unusual in the heat of the middle of the day.  We added one warbler species to our list for the day here, with a couple of MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS.  Sparrow diversity was higher here, too, including many BREWER'S SPARROWS, two LARK SPARROWS, and a SAGE SPARROW.  We had lunch in the shade of a Russian Olive tree here and enjoyed some great looks at a couple of lizard species, a WESTERN WHIPTAIL and a LONG-NOSED LEOPARD LIZARD.  Here is the eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14315422

Western Whiptail.

Bob, Craig, Terry, and Leah eating lunch in the shade.

Long-nosed Leopard Lizard

The next stop was at Owl Springs.  Here, we had a few more flycatchers, including DUSKY, WILLOW (singing), WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, and a pair of WESTERN KINGBIRDS at a nest.  Our only migrant thrush of the day was a late HERMIT THRUSH here, and we also had our only LAZULI BUNTING of the day here.  eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14315556

A migrating HERMIT THRUSH stopped for a rest at Owl Springs.

Our next and last stop of the day was at Locomotive Springs Wildlife Management Area, about an hour away.  This area has more open water, so we were able to add a few more species here, including FORSTER'S TERN, GADWALL, CINNAMON TEAL, AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, PIED-BILLED GREBE, and AMERICAN AVOCET, for example.  A few LONG-BILLED CURLEWS were seen.  eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14315760

Overall, we had a great day of birding in some very unique locations.  While we weren't able to pick up any rare eastern vagrants, we saw impressive numbers of some expected western species in habitats where they are not found except in migration.  Along the way, we got some great experience identifying a lot of Empidonax flycatchers and learning other valuable tips about how to identify sparrows from tail patterns, how to tell some of the female yellow warblers apart, and how to identify Catharus genus thrushes.  On the way out of our last stop, we added the highlight of many people's day, a large adult DESERT HORNED LIZARD.  It was great to end a good day in the desert with this popular and iconic species.

Desert Horned Lizard near Locomotive Springs WMA.

Kendal posing with the Desert Horned Lizard.

Terry holding the Desert Horned Lizard.

A Hybrid Dusky Grouse x Sharp-tailed Grouse

A Dusky Grouse x Sharp-tailed Grouse hybrid, photographed by the author in northern Utah on 7 Apr 2013.

I love hybrids.  Some birders can be disappointed by hybrids, especially when a locally rare species turns out to not be "pure" (and thus can't go on a list).  But for me, they have everything you could look for in a bird: They are generally very rare: even the more common hybrids are rarer than their parent species.  They are often a challenge to identify.  And they give us a peak into the process of evolution: why don't we see more hybrids, and if two species can produce hybrids, why are they considered species?

I was hiking around a local birding spot (Hardware Ranch W.M.A.) a couple weeks ago, and I saw what I thought at first was a Sharp-tailed Grouse.  This bird was running through the sagebrush, with its tail held high, showing bright white undertail coverts, like Sharp-tailed Grouse do.  It had a slightly crested head, and an overall yellowish tone, also fitting Sharp-tailed Grouse.  But when I got my binoculars on it, I could see the black tail feathers with broad charcoal tips, a clear mark of a Dusky Grouse.  I was able to grab a couple photos before the bird flushed, and flew off through the sagebrush.

Later, I became suspicious that I had photographed a hybrid.  Hybridization between these species had been documented once before, by Allan Brooks in 1907 (illustration below).  I sent the photos around to a few grouse experts I knew, and a few people who knew grouse experts, and all the replies came back that this was indeed a hybrid Dusky Grouse x Sharp-tailed Grouse.  Interestingly, although I haven't been able to find any other photographs of this hybrid, one biologist indicated that this is the most frequently observed hybrid combination between wild grouse.  Local biologists have told me that they have seen a male Dusky Grouse displaying among a lek of Sharp-tailed Grouse about 25 miles (40 km) north of where I photographed this bird.  That same male Dusky, in fact, even tried to mate with a Sharp-tailed Grouse while the biologists had it caught in a trap!

A Dusky Grouse x Sharp-tailed Grouse hybrid, illustrated by Allan Brooks and published in the Auk in 1907.

The same Dusky Grouse x Sharp-tailed Grouse hybrid shown above.  This is the second of the only two photos I was able to take before the grouse flushed.

(Thanks to Mike Wolfe, Timothy Taylor, Scott Gardner, Mike Schroeder, and Jack Connelly for sharing their thoughts on this bird.)

Identifying adult California Gulls and Ring-billed Gulls in flight

In much of the inland western United States and Canada, there are two common breeding white-headed gull species, the California Gull and the Ring-billed Gull.  If you live in this region, the first step in learning your gulls will be to learn to tell adults of these two common species apart.  When they are perched on the ground, it is not difficult: California Gulls have dark eyes, red and black on the bill, are slightly larger, and have a slightly darker mantle (back).  In contrast, adult Ring-billed Gulls have light eyes, a black ring around the bill without red, are slightly smaller, and have a paler mantle.

A pair of adult California Gulls in breeding plumage, showing their dark eyes, red and black on the bill, and relatively dark mantle.  Photographed 13 Apr 2009 at Logan, Utah.

An adult Ring-billed Gull in breeding plumage, showing its pale eye, black ring around the bill without red, and relatively pale mantle.  Photographed 2 May 2011 at Blackfoot, Idaho.

Even with these relatively distinctive gulls, identifying them in flight can often be difficult.  Sometimes, it is possible to make out the same features in flight, especially with close looks in good light.  Look especially for the eye color and the bill markings, because size and mantle color are particularly difficult to judge on a bird in flight.

Adult California Gull in breeding plumage.  Even in flight, the pattern of black and red on the bill and the dark eye can be obvious.  Photographed 17 Mar 2013 in Mendon, Utah.

Adult Ring-billed Gull in breeding plumage.  Even in flight, the black ring on the bill (without red) and the pale eye can be obvious.  Photographed 17 Mar 2013 in Mendon, Utah.

The real challenge, however, is in identifying these species when they are high overhead or lit in such a way that the eye color and bill pattern are impossible to distinguish.  In this case, it is helpful to pay close attention to the pattern and colors under the wing.  Both species have mostly whitish wings with extensive black near the tips and white spots at the very ends of the outer flight feathers.  But, California Gulls have duskier inner primaries contrasting more with the rest of the wing, and Ring-billed Gulls have paler inner primaries that are about the same color as the rest of the wing. California Gulls also tend to have more black in the wingtip than Ring-billed Gulls, but there is some overlap in this trait. 

Note the darker gray band that stretches from the black wingtips into the outer secondaries on this adult California Gull.  With practice and good light, this contrast could be visible from great distance on overhead birds.  California Gulls also tend to have more black in the wingtips, but there is some overlap in this trait.  Photographed 17 Mar 2013 in Mendon, Utah.

In contrast to the California Gull above, this Ring-billed Gull has much paler inner primaries and outer secondaries, which contrast less than on the California Gull.  Some slight contrast is still evident, so it might take some practice in the field to get a feel for this field mark.  Ring-billed Gulls also tend to have less black in the primaries, but there is some overlap in this trait so it should be used only as a supporting character.  Photographed 17 Mar 2013 in Mendon, Utah.

California Gull in flight.  Note again the relatively grayish inner primaries and outer secondaries, contrasting with the paler underwing coverts.  Photographed 9 Feb 2008 in Logan, Utah. 

Ring-billed Gull in flight.  The relatively pale inner primaries and outer secondaries almost lack contrast with the underwing coverts.  Note that the extent of black visible in the primaries varies to some degree with the position of the wing and the individual, so this bird appears to have about the same amount of black as the California Gull above.  Photographed 9 Feb 2008 in Logan, Utah.

The differences in underwing pattern between these two species are subtle, and take field experience to get a good understanding of them.  Of course, not every gull will be identifiable in every situation.  But with practice, you can learn to identify a higher percentage of gulls, even when they are seen only in flight high above you.

Splitting the Sage Sparrow?

Sage Sparrow, California Sage Sparrow, or Great Basin Sage Sparrow?   Photographed by Jamie Chavez in Santa Barbara County, California, and shared under Creative Commons license.

Talk of splitting the Sage Sparrow has been circulating for some time, and according to the just-released list of proposals being considered by the American Ornithologists Union in 2013, this might be the year it actually happens.

The idea of splitting what we currently know as the Sage Sparrow has been around since the late 1800s.  In 1887, Robert Ridgway said that Sage Sparrow included two species, "with scarcely any doubt."  In 1889, Grinnell collected adults and fledged young of two different subspecies at the same location in southern California and agreed that they should be considered two different species.  However, some populations seemed intermediate and so since that time, most ornithologists have considered Sage Sparrows to be one species.  Recently, as with many questions of splitting or lumping, the tide has been shifting back towards splitting.  For example, Beadle and Rising's "Sparrows of the United States and Canada: The Photographic Guide" (2003) considers them to be two species as well.

There are five recognized subspecies of Sage Sparrow, four of which occur in the United States and one of those four is limited to San Clemente Island off the coast of California.  The proposed split would remove the widespread inland subspecies, "nevadensis" from the other four subspecies, and proposes to call the coastal four subspecies "California Sage Sparrow" and the interior nevadensis, "Great Basin Sage Sparrow."

Should the Sage Sparrow be split?  Many people think so, and they have good reason to.  First, there are differences in appearance between the proposed new species.  The "Great Basin Sage Sparrow" is paler than the "California Sage Sparrow," with more distinct streaks on its back.  The Great Basin Sage Sparrow is less well marked on the face, with a thinner and fainter malar, and it has more streaking on the flanks and breast.  The Great Basin Sage Sparrow is also larger than the California Sage Sparrow, and has white on the edges of the tail feathers, which is generally lacking in the California Sage Sparrow.  These differences are clearest in individuals away from the area of overlap in central California, interior nevadensis and coastal belli, but the subspecies in central California, canescens, are intermediate in appearance.  Some great photos for comparison are here (belli), here (canescens), and here (nevadensis).

Second, there are differences in songs, and there is a great post already written elsewhere by Walter Szeliga on that topic.  There's also a great range map of three subspecies in that post.

Genetic relationships between Sage Sparrow subspecies, from Johnson & Marten 1992.  The top two "brackets" would collectively be the California Sage Sparrow, and the lower bracket would be the Great Basin Sage Sparrow.

Third, there are significant genetic differences between the subspecies that correspond to their external appearances.  The figure above shows that the interior "Great Basin Sage Sparrow" (A. b. nevadensis) stands as a group on its own.  This figure is based on allozymes, a relatively early form of genetic data that has since been largely replaced by newer methods.  Recently, newer genetic methods have shown the same patterns.  The map below shows types of mitochondrial DNA across the areas where these putative species meet, and shows that there is little overlap between the orange nevadensis types and the blue (belli) and yellow (canescens) types.

Sage Sparrow mitochondrial haplotypes from Cicero & Koo 2012.  Note the narrow range of overlap between interior nevadensis (orange) and canescens (yellow).

All of this morphological, behavioral, and genetic data makes a decent case for splitting the species.  However, the real key to making the determination of whether any species should be split is to determine how reproductively isolated the two candidate species are.  A small amount of mixing is okay (some very clear species hybridize ocassionally), but there should be good evidence that interbreeding is limited.  The genetics data above gives a good indication of this: it usually requires very little interbreeding to cause genes to mix extensively, so the narrow zone of mixing is evidence for some reproductive isolation.  We'll have to wait a few months to see what the AOU decides, but it seems likely that Sage Sparrows will be split in the very near future.

BAS Field Trip: Owling Green Canyon

Andy Kleinhesselink listens for owls in Green Canyon for the 2012 Christmas Bird Count.

Tonight we had a great field trip up Green Canyon with the USU chapter of the Wildlife Society.  A total of 18 of us worked our way up the canyon after dark in the light snow, stopping periodically to broadcast owl songs and calls.  It took a little over an hour to get our first response, a calling NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL.  The owl started calling in the distance, but moved at least twice, coming closer and closer to us, calling all the while.  It was great to have the owl so close and loud - often owling involves straining your ears to make out distant sounds.  A little further up the road, we had our second owl of the night, a singing NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL.  This bird started with a fast song that had us a little confused about whether it might have been another Saw-whet Owl for a moment, but soon settled in to a very typical single-note Pygmy-Owl song.   At our next stop, we heard one owl give a single hoot, but we couldn't coax it into saying anything else and had to leave that one unidentified.  On the way back down, two observers were pretty sure that they heard a WESTERN SCREECH-OWL sing once, but no one else heard it and we couldn't get it to respond to additional broadcasts.  We ended a little after 9:30 PM, but not before helping someone else get their truck unstuck from the snow - they picked a lucky night to get stuck in Green Canyon!

BAS Field Trip: Logan's Arctic Tundra (26 Jan 2013)

This Rough-legged Hawk was photographed along our route earlier in January.

On January 26, the Bridgerland Audubon Society field trip focused on "Logan's Arctic Tundra," seeking out the birds that breed in the arctic tundra but winter here in Cache Valley.  These birds as a whole are fabulously adapted to living in cold, barren land - it always boggles my mind that they are perfectly comfortable sitting on a post or on the ground out in the middle of the valley on our coldest days.

The weather was warm, relative to the previous week or so, and temperatures were (just) above freezing.  We started by driving Highway 23, north of Petersboro, and then toward the Benson Marina in search of Horned Lark flocks that sometimes have northern visitors like Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs mixed in.  We saw one WILD TURKEY from the road, and several ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS (whose "rough" legs are feathered to better insulate them from the arctic cold).  In this stretch, we found only four HORNED LARKS and no associated rarities, although this same area had Lapland Longspurs a week earlier.  We also saw a distant PRAIRIE FALCON, and learned about how to identify distant falcons when they are far enough off to look like not much more than a speck to the naked eye.

We did a short walk in the snow at Benson Marina, mostly in search of American Tree Sparrows.  We didn't find the sparrows, but we were rewarded here with a close look at a second PRAIRIE FALCON, this time flying right over our heads!  From this trail, we were able to see five different ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS.

We found a large flock of HORNED LARKS on our way north from here through Cache Junction to the Amalga Barrens, and another good flock in the Barrens, but again with no northern visitors.  An adult BALD EAGLE gave us nice looks as it flew past in the Barrens, and we had three more ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS here.  We passed through Benson on the way back to Logan, and added RED-TAILED HAWK to our day's list, along with a few dozen CANADA GEESE (but none of their tundra-breeding relatives, Cackling Geese, that we were hoping for).  We ended in Logan a little before 1:00 PM.

Common Redpoll Irruption 2012-2013

This Common Redpoll, which I photographed on Nov 8, 2012 in Steel Canyon, Cache Co., was among the first of the irruption, a sign of things to come.

This year has been absolutely unprecedented for Common Redpolls in Utah, at least as far back as records have been kept.  For a sense of the scale of this irruption, here are all the eBird records from 1900 to 2011:

And here are the eBird records from just the last three months:

Large flocks have been documented in Utah before: for example, 120 were seen in the 1988 Christmas Bird Count in Kanab, and a flock of 40 was reported in Duchesne County in 1958.  But this is certainly the best-documented irruption of them in the state, and perhaps the largest.  Birds like these irrupt from the north when their seed crops fail and they must wander further south than usual to find sufficient food.  You can help document this irruption into Utah by submitting your records to eBird (a photo or a thorough description in the comments field always helps), and by submitting records to the Utah Bird Records Committee.  But most importantly, get out and enjoy this experience, which might be a once-in-a-lifetime event!  A thistle feeder is a good way to bring this species to your yard, but they will also come to other kinds of seed.  They are also particularly fond of birches and wild thistle, so watch for these plants near your favorite birding spots.

County eBirding Competition: Final Winners

Now that a few days have passed since the end of the year and most or all of the pending reports have been reviewed, it is time to calculate and announce the final winner of the county eBirding contest!  For those of you following the updates at the Utah BirdTalk list, it will come as no surprise that the winner is the same county that has held an impressive lead for the last several months: congratulations to the winners, Kimberly Roush, Nancy Matro, and Dave Hanscom of SUMMIT COUNTY!  Summit County really cleaned up this year, and ended up with 100.9% of their pre-2012 list reported in 2012!  As the winners of the competition, these three birders will be hosted on a day of birding in each of the losing counties, by registered participants from each of those counties, any time between now and the end of March.  The dates will be offered at the discretion of the birders from the hosting counties.  Great work, Summit County; you set an example for all of us!

Here are the other competing counties and their rankings.  (Note that there may be slight changes in these percentages if late reports are submitted or if pending records are accepted, but the winner will not change and you can consider these the final rankings for the purpose of this competition.)

2. Davis County, 89.4%
3. Salt Lake County, 88.2%
4. Cache County, 87.6%
5. Uintah County, 85.1%
6. Utah County, 83.9%
7. Duchesne County, 83.3%
8. Box Elder County, 82.8%
9. Washington County, 78.4%
10. Iron County, 68.8%

BAS Field Trip: Naked Birding

On Saturday I led a field trip for the Bridgerland Audubon Society, focused on "Naked Birding," that is, birding without the use of binoculars or other optics.  We learned how to identify birds using behavior, calls, and habitat, and how to make the most of what little visual information you can gather at a distance without binoculars.

We started with a walk around the Logan Cemetery, which can be a great place in winter to find birds that are usually more typical of higher elevations or more northern latitudes.  This visit was no exception, and we had a flyover flock of RED CROSSBILLS calling, plus a later lone crossbill that was probably a WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL (although the "Type 4" Red Crossbill of the Pacific Northwest has a very similar flight call, and can show up in this area in winter).  We also discussed the identification of Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees by voice after hearing some BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, and found some RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES.

From there, we went to First Dam, where we were able to identify some BARROW'S GOLDENEYES and COMMON GOLDENEYES before getting blown away by the strong canyon winds.  We watched two BALD EAGLES flying over the reservoir, including one adult and one sub-adult.  We also discussed how to tell the difference between the wild, native MALLARDS and the introduced "park duck" Mallards, which can look very similar.  The wind was howling, though, so after a few minutes here we decided to move to a more sheltered location.  While we were driving away, one car saw a HOODED MERGANSER from the road.

Our next and final stop was Rendezvous Park and the Logan River Golf Course.  A flock of CANADA GEESE that flew overhead had one CACKLING GOOSE among them, a species that was on the state review list until just last year.  We saw several mixed songbird flocks here, always including BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES but with various other species in attendance, including a BROWN CREEPER, several DOWNY WOODPECKERS, and one flock of about seven RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS.  The highlight of the day, however, was a single BEWICK'S WREN that was heard calling several times in one of these flocks.  This is a very rare species for Cache County - there is a credible report of this species in the county only about once every three years, usually in winter.

We will publish the full 2013 field trip calendar in the next month or so, so keep an eye out for that, and in the meantime I'll see you at the Logan Christmas Bird Count next Saturday, December 15th.  Email Bryan Dixon at bdixon@xmission.com to sign up if you haven't already.

Embedding maps in eBird checklists

The comments field for each species in an eBird checklist allow you to describe the details of your observation, including the points that led to the identification of rare species.   You can also embed photos you took of a bird to help support your identification.  For particularly rare sightings (that are not likely to be disturbed by visitors and in public areas), you might consider also adding detailed directions to a bird so that others can go find it again.

Zachary DeBruine, at birdventurebirding.com, has developed a simple tool that will allow you to add a very specific image from Google Maps detailing the exact location of a bird you have found.  This can be a big help to others that go to look for the bird.  For example, here is the location of the exact Himalayan Blackberry bush at Lytle Ranch where I found a Harris's Sparrow a couple of weeks ago.

Generated by eBirdGM

When this image is embedded in a checklist, it includes a link to the location on Google Maps.  So if you wanted to look for this bird, you could get directions from your house to this specific shrub with just a few clicks!

Here are a few sample checklists with embedded maps:
Harris's Sparrow, Lytle Ranch
Blue Jay, Smithfield
Dickcissel, Farmington
Greater White-fronted Geese, Logan Polishing Ponds

For thorough directions on how to use this tool, and for the tool itself, see eBirdGM.