Re: [SBB] special visitor

[Les Chibana <[[email protected]]>]

When we learned about the melanistic Eastern Gray Squirrels and the  
Western Gray Squirrels during the Midpeninsula Open Space docent  
training, my wife, Mary, mentioned that the Potter Zoo back in her  
home town of Lansing, Michigan, had a cage with black squirrels  
labeled "California Black Squirrel". It's no wonder that we are often  
confused.

On a bird note, three adult Wild Turkeys (one male and two female)  
strolled through our yard with one large chick (down from four a few  
weeks ago). Northern Cardinals abound, along with House Finches,  
House Sparrows, Spotted and Barred doves, and Common Mynas. I haven't  
seen the Nutmeg Mannikins lately. The 'Apapane in our yard had  
juveniles in tow.

Les Chibana
Volcano, HI


On Jul 30, 2006, at 10:49 AM, Alvaro Jaramillo wrote:

> Folks
>
>   A slight addition to Bill's note, which some of you may find  
> interesting.
> The black morph Eastern Grey Squirrel's distribution varies in its  
> natural
> range. Black morph (melanistic) Eastern Greys are common in the  
> north of the
> range, mainly Michigan, Ontario and Quebec. In large proportions of  
> the
> range of this species the melanistic variant is entirely absent. In  
> fact in
> Massachusetts there are isolated populations of black squirrels,  
> and these
> can be traced to an introduction (within the native range, but  
> specifically
> to a park situation) of black variants from Michigan! So the fact  
> that we
> have some black Eastern Grey Squirrels suggests that some of the  
> original
> animals introduced to the Bay Area were from the northern part of the
> Eastern Grey Squirrel's range. In large urban centers in the northeast
> within the range of the black morph there may be evidence that the  
> black
> morph is found in a higher proportion in urban sites than country  
> sites. I
> grew up as a kid feeding black Eastern Grey Squirrels in the parks of
> Toronto, so once I got old enough to really get interested in natural
> history the fact that there were grey ones and black ones intrigued  
> me. Now,
> many decades later I finally got to put some of this knowledge to  
> use! This
> proves that trivia is not useless, it is all a question of timing.
>
> Regards
>
> Al
>
> Alvaro Jaramillo
> [[email protected]]
> Half Moon Bay, CA
>
> Field Guides - Birding Tours Worldwide
> http://www.fieldguides.com/home.htm
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: [[email protected]] [mailto:south-bay-birds-
>> [[email protected]]] On Behalf Of Bill Bousman
>> Sent: Sunday, July 30, 2006 12:47 PM
>> To: [[email protected]]; Nancy Teater; South-Bay- 
>> [[email protected]]
>> Subject: Re: [SBB] special visitor
>>
>> Folks:
>>
>> Local melanistic squirrels are a color variant of the eastern gray
>> squirrel.
>>
>> Bill
>>
>> At 12:23 PM 7/30/2006, Richard Cimino wrote:
>>> Isn't there a population of Black Squirrel in Palo Alto?
>>> Rich Cimino
>>> Pleasanton
>>>
>>>
>>>> [Original Message]
>>>> From: Bill Bousman <[[email protected]]>
>>>> To: Nancy Teater <[[email protected]]>; <South-Bay- 
>>>> [[email protected]]>
>>>> Date: 7/30/2006 8:49:28 AM
>>>> Subject: Re: [SBB] special visitor
>>>>
>>>> At 01:09 AM 7/30/2006, Nancy Teater wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> About two years ago, a COHA swooped down on a black squirrel
>> (melanistic
>>>>> western gray) in our back yard, surprising both the squirrel and
>> human
>>>>> observers.
>>>>
>>>> Our urban squirrels are eastern gray squirrels, an import (like  
>>>> most
>>>> of us).  The western grays, seen in the Santa Cruz Mountains are
>>>> larger and generally show little or no tan or rufous and have  
>>>> bushier
>>> tails.
>>>>
>>>> Bill
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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