Re: Bewick's Swan photos

[Mark Stackhouse <westwings at sisna dot com>]

Phil Douglas sent me his photos about a week ago and I had much the 
same reaction as Matt - I wasn't sure that this bird was outside the 
range of yellow for an extreme "Whistling," especially because the 
yellow didn't appear to extend across the top of the bill. I sent the 
link off to the "Frontiers of Identification" group, that includes many 
of the top birders on both sides of the Atlantic for comment on this 
bird. Since then Ted Steinke's excellent photos of what appears to me 
to be a different bird were posted, and some people commented on both. 
The Salt Creek bird looks like a much better candidate for Bewick's 
than the Harold Crane bird, with much more extensive yellow that passes 
across the top of the bill.

The consensus opinion I received from those who replied was exactly 
upon these lines - that the Harold Crane bird is a "Whistling" with an 
extreme amount of yellow, and that the Salt Creek bird is indeed a 
Bewick's. In addition to the amount and placement of the yellow on the 
bill, one respondent stated that Bewick's has a shorter neck than 
Whistling, which can be seen, especially in the last photo, on the Salt 
Creek bird. The birds at Harold Crane all seem to have the same length 
neck.

As with many bird identification problems, focus upon a single field 
mark, while seeming to simplify the situation, can, and often does, 
lead the birder astray.

Good birding!

Mark

Mark Stackhouse
Westwings, Inc.
westwings@sisna.com
801-487-9453 (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
011-52-323-285-1243 (San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico)

On Mar 22, 2005, at 6:05 AM, Utah Birds wrote:

> Phil Douglass got some pictures of a possible Bewick's Swan (eurasian 
> subspecies of the Tundra Swan) at Harold Crane WMA.  Ted Steinke got 
> some up-close photo of possibly the same bird at Salt Creek WMA a week 
> later.
>
> Here's a link to Phil Douglass's photos which has a linke to Ted 
> Steinke's closeups.
>
> http://utahbirds.org/hotlinephotos/BewicksSwan.htm
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
> The most personalized portal on the Web!
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> "Utah Birds" web site: http://www.utahbirds.org
>      BirdTalk:
> To subscribe, e-mail:  birdtalk-subscribe@utahbirds.org
> To unsubscribe, e-mail:  birdtalk-unsubscribe@utahbirds.org
> To send a message, e-mail:  birdtalk@utahbirds.org
> _________________________________________________

_______________________________________________

"Utah Birds" web site: http://www.utahbirds.org
    BirdTalk:
To subscribe, e-mail:  birdtalk-subscribe@utahbirds.org
To unsubscribe, e-mail:  birdtalk-unsubscribe@utahbirds.org
To send a message, e-mail:  birdtalk@utahbirds.org
_________________________________________________