Initial
Proposal: |
1. Bryant -
9 Jul (Bold and
italics added by webmaster)
Red Knot-this species
is severely declining across its range, including Utah. It used to be
fairly easy to find flocks of a dozen or more on the Antelope Island
Causeway in spring, but the past few years it's become harder and usually
just a few. If you look at records on eBird, they are pretty rare away
from Great Salt Lake: a few from Utah Lake, but all others single birds
seen once. I therefore propose we put them on the review list excluding
the Great Salt Lake, specially the area east of I-15, north of I-80, south
of I-84 and Highway 30 in Box Elder county, with the western boundary
being the 113th longitude.
Inca Dove-once common in the lowlands of Washington county, this species
is possibly extirpated with no records since 2023, no documented records(photos) since 2022. Review in all of Utah. Again, our future roll
may be shifting to documenting declining species
Lesser Nighthawk-this species is fairly common in lowlands of Washington
county, but exceptionally rare anywhere else. A couple recent records in
Northern Utah at Utah Lake and Lee Kay ponds do suggest some are either
overlooked or maybe range expansion? I therefore propose we review them
outside Washington County.
Other Washington county "edemics",so this is the "can of worms" we were
afraid of, and where do we draw the line?
Verdin-unknown outside lowlands of Washington County-some high elevation
reports in WA county are probably errors
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher-undocumented outside lowlands of Washington
County, but a few reports
Brown-crested Flycatcher-undocumented outside lowlands of Washington
County, but a few reports
Rufous-crowned Sparrow-very rare outside lowlands of Washington County,
but a recent record with photos from Kane county. Range expansion or
overlooked?
Ladder-backed Woodpecker-very rare outside lowlands of Washington County,
but a few recent records with photos from Kane county. Range expansion or
overlooked?
Painted Redstart-known nesting species in Zion NP, but very rare anywhere
else in Utah, including other areas of WA county
Vermilion Flycatcher-resident in lowlands of Washington county, rare,
erratic but occasionally seen elsewhere in Utah, mainly in
fall/winter/spring. No real pattern to their wandering but it seems to be
increasing, but is that because there are more birders?
Costa's Hummingbird-fairly common in lowlands of Washington county,
exceptionally rare anywhere else
Anna's Hummingbird-common in lowlands of Washington County, rare elsewhere
but records basically statewide, often in winter. Seems to be increasing
outside WA county but no evidence of breeding elsewhere. I don't know
what's going on here?
Hooded Oriole-common in lowlands of WA county, rare elsewhere but
scattered records. No real pattern to records outside WA, no evidence of
breeding except one that was paired with a BUOR in SL co., fledged chicks
but it is unknown if the chicks were hybrids. No hybrids seen in later
years at the same location.
Common Black-Hawk-uncommon in lowlands of WA county, exceptionally rare
anywhere else in Utah
Most of these birds are already flagged outside their expected range on
eBird, which means documentation is encouraged and records are vetted, but
eBird review isn't perfect or consistant, and honestly it can be easier
for reviewers to defer the review to the UBRC rather than make a decision
on our own, especially for questionable sightings that lack documentation,
which is what has been happening.
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Comments
and
following
Discussion:
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4 Aug 2025 (Jeff)
I've been giving this some thought. I'm sure that others have a well, but
since we are approaching our deadline without comments to this point. I'll
share the following.
I'm a little hesitant about opening the proverbial can of worms by
implementing a number of species carve outs that aren't geographically
intuitive for birders. Carve outs such as "Great Salt Lake", "Uinta
Mountains", or "Lowlands of Washington County" are geographically
intuitive, and personally palatable, where an area "between this street
and that freeway or highway" isn't geographically intuitive. Hence, I'm
not keen on the Red Knot proposal at the moment. I'd rather make it a
review species outside of counties bordering the Great Salt Lake since I
initially want to stick with county boundaries rather than special carve
outs. However, I'm open to the idea of making it a review species when
observed away from a carve out such "Great Salt Lake." I say this based on
a belief that county eBird reviewers can help monitor records for review
species and collaborate with the BRC on such records within their
counties. And, a county line is pretty straightforward for a new birder
who may need to understand when to submit a record to the BRC. At the same
time (if we go further down the carve out path), a county eBird reviewer
shouldn't have too much trouble managing carve outs for a few species
within their counties if the boundaries for those carve outs are
geographically intuitive. Birders may struggle with the idea, but a county
eBird reviewer can help educate in such cases. When it comes to Washington
County, it seems that the list of carve out exceptions could become
confusing to birders since that list would be longer than other counties.
With Washington County species that might be considered for a carve out
review, we would need a clear criterion for judging when to make a species
a review species. Perhaps the need to eliminate species similar to the
review species in that area could be such a criterion. If there isn't a
similar Washington County species to a bird commonly found in the Lowlands
of Washington County, why make it a review species with a special carve
out for that county?
I support the idea of adding Inca Dove to the Review List since we are
seeing what appears to be a decline and Lesser Nighthawk outside of
Washington County as birders are becoming more discerning with species
that may be expanding their range.
Jeff
(Back to Proposal)
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