From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Thu Oct 31 14:37:42 2002 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.2/8.12.2) with ESMTP id g9VMY47s011719 for <[[email protected]]>; Thu, 31 Oct 2002 14:34:04 -0800 (PST) Received: from pintail.mail.pas.earthlink.net (pintail.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.122]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.2/8.12.2) with ESMTP id g9VMXfke011684 for <[[email protected]]>; Thu, 31 Oct 2002 14:33:41 -0800 (PST) Received: from pool0288.cvx22-bradley.dialup.earthlink.net ([209.179.199.33] helo=209.179.199.33) by pintail.mail.pas.earthlink.net with smtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 187Nsh-0003AC-00 for [[email protected]]; Thu, 31 Oct 2002 14:33:39 -0800 Date: 31 Oct 2002 14:33:38 -0800 Message-ID: <[[email protected]]> From: Les Chibana <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: QuickMail Pro 2.1 (Mac) X-Priority: 3 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-Ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by plaidworks.com id g9VMXfke011684 Subject: [SBB] Re: more on the YHBL X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1b4+ Precedence: list Cc: South Bay Birding <[[email protected]]> List-Unsubscribe: , List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , To: [[email protected]] Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] I noticed that Bob Reiling mentioned a yellow vent on this bird. I've seen a female-/young male-plumaged Yellow-headed Blackbird with yellow cloacal feathers, if this is what Bob was referring to. Not easy to see except when it's feeding. Alvaro Jaramillo's "New World Blackbirds" mentions this feature under definitive basic plumaged males. It's not noted under female plumage, so I wonder if this is another sexually dimorphic feature besides size. It's not mentioned in Pyle at all. Les -- Les Chibana BirdNUTZ(TM) - Ornigasmic Birding em <[[email protected]]> - web ph 650-949-4335 - fx 650-949-4137 snailmail: SR 2, Box 335, La Honda CA 94020 On Thursday, October 31, 2002 10:32 AM, Dr. Michael M. Rogers <[[email protected]]> wrote: >All, > >Wondering about the small size of the Calero stables Yellow-headed >Blackbird, I dug out the bible, Pyle's Identification Guide to North >American Birds. I was surprised to see that hatching-year female >Yellow-headed Blackbirds (but not adult females) also show white >tipped primary coverts (figure 327), although typically the pale tips >are narrower. The tips on the Calero bird were extremely narrow and >did not extend along the leading edge as shown in Sibley for the >first-winter male (although Pyle doesn't show this for hatching-year >males either). Male Yellow-headed Blackbirds do get larger with age, >but given the Calero bird's size and the very limited white on the >primary coverts I think it is likely a first-winter female rather >than a first-winter male. Pyle gives the following wing and tail >measurements (in millimeters): > >YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD wing chord tail length > first-winter female 105-119 72-83 > adult female 110-125 77-90 > > first-winter male 126-137 88-104 > adult male 135-150 96-112 > >TRICOLORED BLACKBIRD > female 101-112 71-81 > male 115-127 83-94 > >The Yellow-headed Blackbird seemed very similar in size to the male >Tricolored Blackbirds, perhaps even smaller than the biggest males, >which would suggest a female or a very small male Yellow-headed >Blackbird. > >Yellow-headed Blackbirds formerly (a hundred years ago) bred in >marshes south of San Jose; these marshes no longer exist, and the bird >is now only a migrant in the county. Despite overwintering in the >nearby Central Valley, we have virtually no evidence of any wintering >birds in Santa Clara County. We have numerous (about 50) records of >spring migrants spanning 28 March (1969!) to 26 May (1972), with most >falling between mid-April and mid-May. The bird is less common as a >fall migrant, with about a dozen records between 5 August and 5 >October, with half of these falling between 13 and 20 September. >Oddball records include an old one from 14 Jul 1955, two more recent >records from 7 June 1999 (pair at Gilroy sewer ponds - attempting to >nest??!) and 22 July 1999 (adult male at the Palo Alto Baylands duck >pond). The only winter record is of a male at Milpitas High School on >13 January 1988. Thus our currrent record from 27-29+ October 2002 is >quite significant, being three weeks later than our previous late fall >bird. Will it attempt to winter? > >Mike Rogers _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]