An excerpt:
It was another week without any suggestive "detections," though I did find some interesting bark scaling on a Tupelo tree close to camp. A couple of parties in my study area heard and recorded some kent notes that resemble the vocalizations of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, though without a corroborative sighting or photo we can't be sure what the sources of the noises were. One set in particular, however, sounded really interesting, and for the next few days may have tilted me a millimeter or so towards the believing side of the fence of IBWO agnosticism.
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5 comments:
I've seen a few Yellow-throated Warblers, and their more abundant cousins the Yellow-rumped Warblers have been engaging in frenetic courtship behavior in the forest.
"Frenetic courtship behavior" by Yellow-rumped Warblers in January in Florida? If that's true, I'd think it rated a paper.
Can anybody in Florida shed some light on this comment? Do Yellow-rumpeds actually display courtship behavior down there at this time of year?
I am in Florida too. They don't breed here so it cannot be courtship he is seeing unless there is some pre migratory interaction between males and females what I don't know about.
I think I know the chasing behavior that causes him to write this. Yellow Rumped Warblers have tendencies to be extremely territorial over food resources in the winter,even intraspecifically. He mentioned that it has been especially cold, so my line of thought is that he has seen aggressive intraspecific, intergender territorial defenses of feeding areas.
Can anybody in Florida shed some light on this comment? Do Yellow-rumpeds actually display courtship behavior down there at this time of year?
No, based on 40 years of observation. They do sing weakly in late April and early May before departure.
So does that mean that people who don't understand basic Yellow-rumped behavior are out ID'ing IBWOs by shape and flight style?
Anonymous said...
So does that mean that people who don't understand basic Yellow-rumped behavior are out ID'ing IBWOs by shape and flight style?
Yes, I would think that would be a reasonable conclusion. Wander on over to the closed IBWO forum and do a little browsing for a sense of their birding skill and experience. Check back issues of North American Birds for their previous general observations...
'Nuff said...
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