Date: 12/30/24 12:54 pm From: 'Glen Tepke' via mbbirds <mbbirds...> Subject: Re: [MBBIRDS] White Wagtail, Wilder Ranch SP
Thanks to Erik, Alex and Per Alström for the research and analysis. I
was hoping it would be ocularis, as that would be a new subspecies for
me. Oh well, maybe next time.
I thought I recalled some discussion about lugens being less common on
the west coast when the lugens White Wagtail was found by Sharon Hull in
Santa Cruz in November 2020, but I might be misremembering, or maybe the
balance has changed as more records have accumulated.
Hopefully better photos can be obtained. My own photos would have been
better if I had not inadvertently bumped my aperture down to f/25! I
was focused, so to speak, on keeping the hyperactive little bugger in
the frame and in focus, and didn't notice until it was too late.
Aiiieee! Chalk it up to wagtail fever.
Good birding,
Glen
On 12/30/2024 11:00 AM, Alex Rinkert wrote:
> There are a few additional field marks worth mentioning that can be
> important for subspecific identification of a White Wagtail with this
> appearance. At least one of the tertials is replaced, so this is
> probably a first winter bird. In my flight photos, the primary coverts
> show a good amount of white, as do the median coverts and primaries,
> with the white broadening toward the base of the latter feathers. In
> one photo of the spread tail, the right outermost tail feather appears
> solid white. I'm certainly no wagtail authority, but with the age of
> this bird in mind, it seems that these field marks and others point to
> the Black-backed (lugens) subspecies. I hope that Per Alström will
> weigh in again as more photos are obtained during its stay at Wilder
> Beach.
>
> On a side note, both the lugens and ocularis subspecies have occurred
> in SCZ, and a substantial number of records for both of these
> subspecies have accumulated in California, so one is not necessarily
> much more likely to occur here than the other.
>
> Alex
>
> On Mon, Dec 30, 2024 at 8:37 AM Erik Enbody <erik.enbody...> wrote:
>
> Hey Glen et al,
>
> I’ve also been curious about the subspecies on this excellent find
> by Emma Arul on the CBC and have been looking through yours and
> others photos of the bird. The identification of first winter or
> adult winter female lugens (black backed) and ocularis is not
> always possible in the field and this individual seems to be along
> this gradient somewhere. However, if the bird is a first winter,
> which I think it likely is, the white greater coverts with dark
> centers (visible in the highest resolution photos) are more
> consistent with lugens, whereas ocularis tends to retain their
> juvenile coverts into the winter (which would appear as two white
> wing bars). The thicker and messier eye stripe behind the eye is
> also closer to lugens. In some angles of photos I’ve seen, it
> looks like a few dark centers on feathers on the back, but this
> isn’t always apparent and could be a photographic artifact.
>
> I asked Per Alström, the author of the wagtail book, who agrees it
> is likely a lugens. However, he wasn’t sure it was identifiable
> from the photos available yet. If anyone can get a clear flight
> shot that shows the spread wing clearly, this would help get a
> little closer.
>
> Best,
>
> Erik
>
> --
> Erik Enbody
> Postdoctoral Scholar
> UC Santa Cruz / California Conservation Genomics Project
>
> January 2025:
> Susan E. Lynch Assistant Professor
> Department of Computational Biology
> Cornell University
> erikenbody.github.io <http://erikenbody.github.io> >
>> On Dec 30, 2024, at 1:09 AM, 'Glen Tepke' via mbbirds
>> <mbbirds...> wrote:
>>
>> PS: I understand that this bird has been identified as ocularis,
>> which is the most likely subspecies here, but I am curious about
>> how the subspecies ID was determined. To my eye, the extensive
>> white wing panel, thick black post-ocular line connecting to a
>> prominent triangular post-ocular spot, and medium gray (not
>> black) crown fit Sibley's illustration of 1st winter female
>> lugens (Black-backed) just as well as any of the other plumages
>> illustrated in Sibley or Nat Geo. Several photos are in this
>> checklist:
>>
>> https://ebird.org/checklist/S207155378 >>
>> Glen Tepke
>>
>> On 12/29/2024 3:12 PM, 'Glen Tepke' via mbbirds wrote:
>>> The White Wagtail on Wilder Beach continues today. Jake Gifford
>>> spotted it around 2:00 and we had it in view for about 10
>>> minutes before it disappeared. It was fairly close to the
>>> overlook, roughly between a fifth and a quarter of the way down
>>> the beach, foraging around the driftwood logs and wrack.
>>>
>>> Glen Tepke
>>> Santa Cruz
>>>
>>>
>>
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