New yard bird

[Deleted]

A bit of excitement here today. I looked out the back window a while ago to check if there were any unusual juncos around.

We have had one male Slate-colored junco around our feeders for most of the winter for several years, but I don't know if it's the same one coming back each year. However, yesterday there was a similar bird that had distinct brown edging on the tertials, making it a first year male Slate-colored, so it's obviously new here this year, meaning we have at least two around. I'm still struggling with how to identify female Slate-colored juncos.

Feeding among the juncos this morning is a White-throated Sparrow, tan-striped morph. A new yard bird, number 87 for our urban Abbotsford yard, and first new yard species since July 2004. This eastern species makes the Rare Bird Alert when observed in the Vancouver checklist area. I'm curious to know if its status would be similar in the upper valley. I found one on Chester Road in Mission on the 2005 Abby Christmas count, but that's the only one I remember seeing in the central valley.

We live on a standard lot on a standard residential street, and I perhaps use a wider definition of yard list than some might. I count any species seen on, over, or from our yard, As long as I'm in the house or on the yard when I see it, I count it.

I'd be interested to hear how others handle their yard lists. Of course, there is no one right way to define it; anyone can use whatever criteria they wish.

Stan Olson
Abbotsford

[mac]

Hi Stan
Great yard bird!

I use the criteria that if the bird is within the boundaries of the property then it's a yard bird - which is why I got a Bald Eagle last week!
I thought about including those I could see from the property but that would have meant 6 Trumpeters flying down the Shuswap Valley (a good 3 clicks away!) were yard birds. ;D

Cheers

[Wetlander]

I list "neighbourhood" birds, as opposed to yard birds.
Too greedy
Our property is rural surrounded by sloughs, so I count anything in about a 2 kms radius.
p.s. We got a slate-coloured male at our feeder two days ago. ;D

[Gord]

Nice bird, Stan! White-throated Sparrows make the bird alert every time out here as well and will certainly go up when I update this evening.

As for yard bird boundaries. I have two. One for birds that fly over or land within the property and another of what I see from the property.

Birding lists can be quite contentious to say the least. I agree on the ideal of to each their own. I will not even question another's list or how they create it. However, if someone wants to have a friendly competition, then we'd both agree on what terms we will follow and go from there. Other than that, every birder who shares their list just for sharing their list will get my approval and congratulations!

Data is data. Just because one person choses to use it differently doesnt mean anything in the grand scheme of things.

[JeffOver]

Hi Stan and everyone else!
Glad you have a white-throated sparrow (still on the radar screen for me)!

Whew! At least I'm not the only one. ;D I have to agree with Kevin - I'm just greedy! At first, I think I pretty well stuck to what I could see from the yard that was relatively close. It was only when the long-billed curlews showed up in the field behind our place that I began to rationalize putting the boundaries out a little further! Mind you, it depends on the rarity of the bird. There were bald eagles out in the back field too, but I didn't count them as yard birds until one landed in one of the trees in the backyard. So I'll probably never be able to say that long-billed curlews are really yard birds until one lands in the yard! ;D ;D

[Deleted]

Thanks for sharing your perspectives, folks. Yes, I guess it could be considered stretching things a bit (okay, even greedy) to count birds only seen from one's yard instead of seen within the yard boundaries. I once looked out my bedroom window through my scope and saw a Rough-legged Hawk circling miles away, and that's hardly a yard bird. It's way outside the horizontal boundaries of my yard. But what about the vertical boundaries? If a Great Blue Heron flies overhead at 100 feet up is that any more within my yard than the hawk was?

If I'm on a Christmas count, I don't count birds outside the boundaries of the circle. If I'm surveying species that use or are associated with a given area, say a wetland, I don't count species unless they are actually associated with the habitat, even if they occur within the area. My yard list I do in a completely different way.

So lists are whatever you make of them, I guess. As long as one is clear about the guidelines used. And as has been pointed out, if it's an official comparison, rules must be agreed on. Anyone who keeps a list of species they've seen in the ABA checklist area (North America north of Mexico and excluding Hawaii) probably knows the detailed rules about what's allowed and what's not.

The nice thing is lists are not only fun and challenging, but also can serve very useful purposes if related to conservation or species of concern.

Stan

[birder1942]

Hi Stan. Good yard bird. I've had the White-throated Sparrow twice in the last 8 years! My yard bird boundaries are anything I see (without scope) or hear in or from my yard. The best birds I've had are Pileated Woodpecker (passing through our urban yard) and two Barred Owls at the neighbours but I heard them. Good birding, John Vooys

[mac]

Stan
Interesting comment about vertical boundaries. If we decided that the Heron 100 feet up isn't a yard bird because of it's altitude what would your upper limit be? If a Cooper's Hawk flew through the yard at 10 feet up would that be a yard bird or not?
If a mole is tunnelling through the yard at 1 foot down is it a yard mole?
You can tell from this that there's not much doing bird wise in Enderby this morning (-6 and snowing lightly!).

Cheers



Thanks for sharing your perspectives, folks. Yes, I guess it could be considered stretching things a bit (okay, even greedy) to count birds only seen from one's yard instead of seen within the yard boundaries. I once looked out my bedroom window through my scope and saw a Rough-legged Hawk circling miles away, and that's hardly a yard bird. It's way outside the horizontal boundaries of my yard. But what about the vertical boundaries? If a Great Blue Heron flies overhead at 100 feet up is that any more within my yard than the hawk was?

[Deleted]

Well, Mac, I thought that comment might get some response. I think if I made a difference between the heron and the Cooper's Hawk it would be that the Heron is only crossing my yard by accident and really has no involvement in it, whereas the Coop is scoping out my feeders for his lunch. (I have no fish pond in my yard for the heron to scope out) . So the upward limit would be defined by involvement with my yard, not by an arbitrary altitude figure. But that is really splitting hairs, I admit, and would be too reductionist for most of us, I'm sure.

But I guess this comes back to my wide open boundaries for my yard list. Everything counts for my list, not just species that fit a certain set of criteria. Otherwise I get stuck in deciding which kinds of boundaries are meaningful and which are not, and whether that heron flew just inside my lot line or just outside it. I just count everything for this list. For other lists, it's quite differerent.

Stan

[Deleted]

For those interested, the White-throated Sparrow seen on Thursday and Friday has not been seen here so far today, despite busy activity around our feeders all day.

We did have 2 Varied Thrushes in the yard, the first since one appeared briefly back in the early fall.

A very persistent immature Cooper's Hawk is keeping all the songbirds on high alert.

Stan

[Deleted]

Hi, John.

It's always nice to get Zonotrichia sparrows. I'm very happy to get the White-throated, giving me a grand slam for the North American species of this genus for my yard.

My next, more modest, target is Hairy Woodpecker. We've never had one here.

Stan

[teekaygee]

My feeders are sure buzzing with activity (more so than usual) with all this snow. It's all the usual suspects, though I'm keeping my eyes open for an exciting visitor like Stan's White-throated Sparrow.

btw, as far as my yard list, I'm definitely counting the Turkey Vulture that flew overhead close enough to be identified just by the naked eye! ;-)