NOTES 
FIRST NORTH AMERICAN RECORDS OF THE 
RUFOUS-TAILED ROBIN ( LUSCINIA SIBILANS) 
LUCAS H. DeCICCO, 1171 Albro Gregory Lane, Fairbanks, Alaska 99712; 
nebulosa200@gmail.com 
STEVEN C. HEINL, P. O. Box 23101, Ketchikan, Alaska 99901 
DAVID W. SONNEBORN, 2548 Discovery Court, Anchorage, Alaska 99503 
The Rufous-tailed Robin (Luscinia sibilans) breeds in Asia from the Altai Mountains 
and upper Yenisei River east to the Amur River basin, Ussuriland, and Sakhalin and 
south to Transbaikalia and Manchuria (OSJ 2000). Nearest to Alaska is an isolated 
population in central eastern Kamchatka in the Trukhinka River valley (Dement’ev 
and Gladkov 1954, Vaurie 1959). The species winters mainly from the Yangtze val- 
ley, in southern China, south to Hainan; it is a scarce or uncommon winter visitant 
in northern Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam (Vaurie 1959, Robson 2000). It migrates 
primarily over continental Asia and is of only rare and irregular occurrence in Japan, 
primarily in May along the west coast and on islands of the Sea of Japan (Brazil 
1991). In Europe, the Rufous-tailed Robin has been recorded once each in the fall at 
Fair Isle, Scotland (Shaw 2004), and in early winter at Bialystok, Poland (Grygoruk 
and Tumiel 2006). This species has been reported three times from North America, 
all in Alaska. 
The first Alaska sighting of the Rufous-tailed Robin was at Attu Island (52° 55' N 
172° 55' E), in the western Aleutian Islands, on 4 June 2000. The bird was found 
along Gilbert Ridge trail by Heinl, who was leading a birding tour for Attour, Inc. The 
bird spent much of its time skulking in rock crevices and under snow banks at the 
base of the ridge but periodically emerged to forage on the open ground and matted 
vegetation adjacent to the trail. Photos and video of this bird by Jan Knott (Figure 1) 
and Diantha Knott (on file, University of Alaska Museum of the North [UAM]) were 
judged by Gibson et al. (2003), Robbins et al. (2003), and Banks et al. (2004) to be 
inadequate to substantiate the identification. 
The first Rufous-tailed Robin well substantiated in Alaska was discovered and col- 
lected exactly eight years later, on 4 June 2008, at Attu by Sonneborn and Jack J. 
Withrow while conducting bird studies for UAM. The bird (Figure 2) was found in 
a deep canyon in West Massacre Valley, where it occupied willows approximately 
50 cm tall growing among empty 55-gallon fuel drums left from World War II. The 
specimen was deposited at UAM, where the identification was corroborated by Daniel 
D. Gibson, who prepared the specimen (UAM 24600) as a study skin and partial 
skeleton plus frozen tissues, stomach contents, and lower digestive tract for disease 
screening. The specimen was a female, in its second year on the basis of retained 
buff tips of the greater wing coverts. 
On the evening of 8 June 2008, another Rufous-tailed Robin was discovered and 
identified at St. Paul Island (57° 10' N, 170° 15' W), Pribilof Islands, by DeCicco, who 
was conducting bird studies for the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The 
bird remained through 9 June, frequenting rock outcroppings on Hutchinson Hill at 
Northeast Point, where it was seen by a number of people associated with several 
birding tours. This occurrence was well documented by photographs (Figures 3 and 
4) obtained by Gregory L. Thomson (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and Cameron D. 
Cox (St. Paul Island Tours); additional photographs were taken by George Armistead 
(Field Guides Birding Tours, Inc.) and Gary H. Rosenberg (WINGS Birding Tours, 
Inc.) on 9 June. The photographs revealed that, on the basis of the buff tips to the 
greater coverts, this individual was also in its second year (Figure 3). 
The behavior of these three birds was similar. All tended to skulk behind and 
under any objects available such as large rocks or snow banks. The bird on Attu in 
Western Birds 40:237-241, 2009 
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