I read this today off of the Montana List serve and found it really enjoying to read. It is kinda long, but it does offer a great insight into birdwatching. Just thought some people might like to read it. If not, feel free to delete.
KC Childs
To:
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 9:49 AM
Subject: [ND-BIRDS] great discussion from our friends to the north...
Hi All,
I had initially decided not to wade into the "Tufted Titmouse" debate
but several things prompt me to write after all. Not the least of these
is an experience with a bird on Saturday that will illustrate the points
I wish to make first. If you do nothing else (because this may be a
fairly long and rambling piece) DO read the incident I just referred to
which I will describe at the end of this article.
First of all, my apologies to Luc Blanchette if he will interpret this
as an attack on him and his birding skills. It is not! It is an attempt
to write something instructional about bird identification, and Luc's
call of the Tufted Titmouse simply provides an appropriate springboard
at this time.
It's been almost 30 years since I first bumped into George Holland
at
Oak Hammock Marsh and he taught me the difference between the calls of
Long-billed (Marsh) and Short-billed (Sedge) Wrens as they were then
called. I was amazed that anyone could confidently "call" a bird
without even seeing it. Since then I have spent many birding outings and
Big Days with the likes of Gord Grieef, Rudolf Koes, and Peter Taylor
whose birding skills I was determined to emulate. I have probably
disappointed them in that regard because they have been witness to many
of my misidentifications along the way.
I have been consoled, somewhat at least, by the fact that I have seen
others make mistakes too. In 1986, Rudolf Koes and I were privileged to
spend a day birding with Roger Tory Peterson in Southern Manitoba,
thanks to Dr. Bob Nero. The very first bird that RTP called out was a
clear misidentification, but Rudolf and I were hardly going to correct
the guru of all birders. Fortunately, after some reflection
and another
listen, he corrected himself and did two things with that: he said in
effect that "I can make a mistake" and secondly that "I can admit it".
Why did RTP initially misidentify the bird? It was certainly not because
he was not familiar with both species!! Perhaps it had to do with being
in a new jurisdiction where he was not quite sure what to expect and
called out what to him was the logical first guess. It is something I do
all the time because I want to be the "first" to call a bird, but first
impressions are not always accurate.
Years later I was to read two articles in Birdwatcher's Digest about
this topic that really fascinated me. One was by none other than RTP,
who was a regular contributor till his passing a few years ago. In a
remarkable display of humility and insight he described in great detail
some of the "birds" he had identified incorrectly over the years. I put
"birds" in quotations, because at least one
case involved a decoy
planted in a marsh by "friends" to mislead him deliberately. The other
involved a blue bottle at a landfill site that he called two different
species before turning glassy eyed (sorry, I couldn't resist that) to
those around him and admitting his mistake.
The other article was by Erik A. T. Blom who wrote countless bird ID
pieces over the years, as well as conducting workshops and leading bird
outings. My favourite story was his account of a field trip he was
leading after conducting a series of workshops for beginning birders.
When he spotted a group of Snow Geese feeding in a field, he was
delighted to be able to get the scope on them and to point out to each
student in turn (as they looked through the scope) the particular
differences between blue and white-phased birds. Later, as they were
driving down the road, one of the students asked, "But if those geese
were feeding, why weren't they moving?" As the
realization of his
misidentification slowly sank in, he turned the van around, set up his
scope again, and proceeded to tell his students how to recognize decoys
in the field! The other lesson he taught them was that anyone can make a
mistake on a snap call, but that you should never be too big to admit
it, and you SHOULD consider all the possibilities.
Over the years, I have been a frequent guest on CBC questionnaire, and
more recently on CHSM, to answer people's questions about birds. As a
result, I get many calls from all over Southern Manitoba from people
reporting "rare" birds, or asking for my ID help. Two things always
amaze me: one, is the tendency for people to believe they have a rare
bird because they are not aware of all the options; and the other is to
defend themselves when I try to raise any questions about their possible
misidentification. This is usually exhibited by one of two reactions:
"What else could it be?"
(they don't want to hear the answer to that),
or "No, I know the species you are talking about, and it definitely
wasn't that."
All of this brings me to the "Tufted Titmouse" and several things I feel
need to be said about bird ID's like that. First of all, when anyone
seesor hears a bird that is rare for the Province (or out of season, for
that matter) every attempt should be made to confirm the ID. In the case
of a "heard only" bird it MUST be followed up by a visual ID, and, if
possible, a photograph. Be prepared to be wrong, to have the sighting
questioned by everyone who didn't see it, and to experience the
frustration of having your skills questioned. That is not only human
nature, but imperative in order to have a reasonably accurate checklist
for the Province.
A rare bird should IMMEDIATELY be shared with other competent birders,
not so late that nobody has a chance to confirm it. It's much more
satisfying to have a
rare sighting confirmed than to keep it to yourself
and have everyone disbelieve you. But equally important (as you will see
in a moment) is to weigh all the possibilities before declaring anything
rare. Every call out there is a common bird until proven otherwise.
Now here are two personal examples that my ramblings have been leading
to. The first one concerns the Slaty-backed Gull I was lucky enough to
find at the Delta dump a few years back. When Frieda and I pulled into
the dump which had thousands of gulls milling about, I saw the bird in
question sitting about 75 meters away among a host of other birds.
Immediately I blurted out Western Gull because I had just been in
California for three weeks and thought I recognized the bird as such.
Now I will freely admit that I am no gull expert. The finer points of
"feather counting" have never fascinated me, and I do not profess to
have any kind of expertise there. But I did recognize
that the bird was
different and reported it tentatively as a Western Gull. It didn't take
long before Bob Luterbach from Saskatchewan and others were emailing to
ask why I had not considered Slaty-backed Gull or even some other
species. Fortunately, I had captured the bird on video, and after Rudolf
Koes and Peter Taylor had a good look at it, I became convinced
by them (and the detail revealed in the video) that I had been wrong.
I had made two mistakes: I thought I "knew" the Western Gull, and I had
not considered all the options.
Finally, the other example brings me back to the Tufted Titmouse. Like
Gene and Andy, Harv Lane and I drove out to Carman to attempt to add a
new species to our Provincial list. I have had extensive experience with
Tufted Titmice, most recently while spending 5 weeks in Southern Texas
in March/April of this year, but I had my trusted tape with me to back
me up. For about half an hour, Harv and I
lingered at the pond in
question, playing the various calls and scolding notes of the Tufted
Titmouse every few minutes. The sharp call notes on the tape were so
similar to a House Wren's that it was actually responding while keeping
out of sight. I "knew" it was a House Wren, but under the circumstances
I made very sure I finally got a good look at it. The mewing calls on
the tape were very similar to the mewing calls of the Warbling Vireo,
several of which were present.
Unfortunately, we did not see or hear the Tufted Titmouse. This, of
itself, does NOT prove that there was no Titmouse present or that it had
not been there the day before. All of us have chased many a rare bird
that had simply disappeared by the time we got there. It does emphasize,
however, how important speed of reporting is when it comes to rare
birds. Because they are out of range, they are usually not setting up
territory and their presence may be fleeting at
best.
Two days after that experience I was sitting on my back patio deck when
I suddenly sat up with a start. A bird began calling incessantly from
the woods about 75-100 meters from our property. My repeated playing of
the Tufted Titmouse tape a few days before was still ringing in my ears,
and I thought I was hearing it again. I ran for my binoculars in case
the bird approached and waited (im)patiently. After about half an hour
it appeared in the trees between Harv Lanes' and our house. To my
surprise, it was an immature Baltimore Oriole. I ran for my Tufted
Titmouse tape and then called Harv. Without telling him what the bird
was, I asked him to step out onto his patio deck. While he was listening
to the oriole, I played back the song of the Tufted Titmouse, and Harv
was having a hard time even differentiating between the two. The call
had none of the rich staccato bubbling quality of the adult Baltimore
Oriole. Instead, the notes
were sharp, clear, and measured in groups of
4 or 5 - almost identical, in fact, to my tape recording of the Tufted
Titmouse.
What does all of this prove? Perhaps not much, except that one should
never eliminate the possibilities regardless of how sure one is. Rudolf
was certainly right in suggesting that the Baltimore Oriole should not
have been ruled out. If you have birded a lot you doubtless have heard
birds singing songs quite uncharacteristic of their species. Mimicry, or
at least "alternate learned songs" are not limited to the species we
generally consider the Mimidae. In the case of rare birds it never hurts
to err on the side of caution.
I hope all of this is seen as instructive. Manitobabirds is frequently
filled merely with sightings including the "listing" of common backyard
birds. I understand the excitement of beginning birders (I hope I
continue to enjoy the American Robin for years to come) but a little
more
emphasis on unique bird behaviour or the sharing of expertise
wouldn't hurt. Above all, keep reporting possible rare or out of season
sightings promptly, but keep an open mind about the possibility that it
may have been something common after all.
Good birding everyone.
Cheers,
Dennis Fast
Box 151
Kleefeld, MB
R0A 0V0