THE CHANGING SEASONS: CORNUCOPIA 
and North Pacific regions. Indeed, in north- 
western Washington there are, arguably, more 
hybrid large gulls (larger than California 
Gull) than pure ones from at least November 
to April, if not all year round (S. Mlodinow, 
pers. comm.). It has been shown that among 
Western and Glaucous-winged Gulls from 
southwestern British Columbia through Ore- 
gon, there is essentially random mating and 
that hybrids are superior compared to pure 
birds of either species throughout much of 
the hybrid zone (Price 2008)! 
Hybrid versus non-hybrid sapsuckers 
In the West, particularly in the Southwest, 
one of the major identification issues involves 
reports of Red-breasted Sapsuckers well east 
of their normal range. In places such as 
southern Nevada, Utah, southeastern Califor- 
nia, Arizona, and New Mexico, many reports 
of Red-breasteds turn out to be — when pho- 
tographs are produced — Red-naped Sapsuck- 
er X Red-breasted Sapsucker hybrids. In fact, 
in Arizona and probably in southeastern Cal- 
ifornia, there are more hybrids documented 
than there are pure Red-breasteds. This is a 
problem that should be carefully assessed 
vAth all reports of extralimital Red-breasted 
Sapsuckers. For more information on these 
hybrids, see Johnson and Johnson (1985). In 
the East, reports of Red-naped Sapsuckers 
seem to involve birds showing most charac- 
ters of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker except for 
reddish nape patches. An examination of a 
number of museum collections revealed that 
the occasional male Yellow-bellied has a few 
red feathers on the nape, and that up to 3 per- 
cent of these birds show sufficient red as to be 
evident in the field (Mlodinow et al. 2006). 
Whether such birds being found in the East 
are just Yellow-bellieds with some red on the 
nape or are true Yellow-bellied x Red-naped 
hybrids is not clear. One such bird was seen 
this period in Louisiana, and it was not the 
first there. 
Learning Status and Distribution: 
the value for accurate field 
identification 
Many misidentifications result from observers 
being unaware of or misinterpreting impor- 
tant plumage characters. But almost as many 
problems arise when observers are unaware of 
the correct seasonal status and distribution of 
a species in an area. It is especially important 
that the observer know at the time of the ob- 
servation that a given species is out of range or 
unseasonable. Some examples are well known 
to almost all readers: Christmas Bird Count 
and other winter reports of most (but not all) 
Broad-winged Hawks (except in Florida and 
south Texas), Black-chinned Hummingbirds 
in the West, Yellow-throated Vireos (most are 
likely Pine Warblers), Gray-cheeked and 
Swainson’s Thrushes, and Veeries, to name a 
few. But there are also a number of lesser- 
known problem-species being reported dur- 
ing the autumn period as well. In a recent in- 
terview in Birding magazine, Jon Dunn com- 
plained about early autumn (before late Sep- 
tember) reports of Orange-crowned Warbler 
in the East. This season, an early Orange- 
crowned Warbler was seen in Maryland on 20 
September — just about the earliest of the east- 
ern reports. There is just a single record for 15 
September from Point Pelee (A. Wormington, 
pers. comm.). How many other reports in the 
East before 20 September exist that are fully 
documented and seen by observers who were 
well aware of the seasonal status of this 
species at the time of the sighting? 
Another eastern example is the reporting 
of Eastern Kingbirds after the beginning of 
October. When Lehman lived for many years 
in Cape May, New Jersey, there were a num- 
ber of such reports, but always by observers 
unaware at the time that such a sighting 
would be at all unusual. His gut told him that 
most of these birds were probably Eastern 
Phoebes, or maybe even a vagrant Gray King- 
bird or two. Might the odd lingering Eastern 
Kingbird be found casually well in to October 
and possibly even November? Certainly. In 
2008, one sucb individual was reported in 
Chicago in mid-October. But the point is that 
all such occurrences need to be properly doc- 
umented by observers aware of how unusual- 
ly late such a bird is at the time of the observa- 
tion. Blue-headed and Philadelphia Vireos in 
the western United States in late August are 
another case in point. The Philadelphia Vire- 
os reported probably involve bright. Western 
Warbling Vireos, which are greener above 
and more yellowish below than Eastern War- 
blings (Figure 12). A common problem in 
the Far West involves Pine Warblers reported 
before the very end of September — probably 
misidentified Blackpoll or Bay-breasted War- 
blers, although valid records do exist as far 
west as Colorado and Wyoming as early as 
early Septemher, with one such there this sea- 
son on 8 September. Purple Martins reported 
after early October should throw up a red 
flag. Although there are now a few late Octo- 
ber and November documented records, 
there are also a few late-autumn records of 
Brown-chested Martin (New Jersey, Florida), 
and several late purplish martin reports have 
properly ended up as “martin sp.” This sea- 
son, there were reports of Purple Martins in 
southern Ontario on 4 October and in east- 
ern Texas in mid-October. Distinguishing 
among martin species in the Purple Martin 
group is far from easy, and in many cases, a 
specimen may be the only way to confirm an 
identification. 
Conventional wisdom is sometimes partly 
to blame for such incorrect out-of-season re- 
ports. The hest-known example of this phe- 
nomenon was the regular reporting of Semi- 
palmated Sandpipers in the United States in 
winter, as late as the 1970s. Alan R. Phillips 
was the first to point out that specimen evi- 
dence for wintering Semipalmateds was total- 
ly lacking. But since then, a small number of 
documented winter records (including at 
least one specimen) come from Florida. This 
is a great example of having conventional wis- 
dom challenged, forcing observers to reassess 
the true status of a species, and having a 
much more accurate pattern emerge. We offer 
just three more examples: 
Willet 
It appears that Eastern Willets totally vacate 
the United States in winter. In fact, they de- 
part early in the autumn, with very few docu- 
mented records after mid-September. But 
there may be records of a few photographed 
later in the season, and more work is needed. 
Observers need to carefully document the de- 
parture timing of this subspecies from its 
breeding range. Further, the status of Western 
Willet in the Northeast needs to be more 
clearly delineated. This season, a total of 49 
Western Willets in Nova Scotia was deemed 
very high so far north along the Atlantic 
Coast, but what subspecies were the several 
reported this season in Quebec and from inte- 
rior Florida? 
Cave Swallow 
Some observers continue to report a few indi- 
viduals in the East in late autumn as “proba- 
bly” of Caribbean origin. Sometimes this is 
based on faulty assumptions because their 
birds’ rumps appeared especially dark. How- 
ever, rump color in Cave Swallows is variable 
even within subspecies. To date, all of the 
growing number of autumn specimens from 
such disparate locations as Quebec, Ontario, 
New York, New Jersey, ’Virginia, South Caroli- 
na, Georgia, and elsewhere east of the Mis- 
souri River are of the southwestern subspecies 
pallida (pelodoma). The only documented 
record of a Caribbean bird involves a speci- 
men of the nominate subspecies group on 7 
28 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
