Date: 7/2/25 5:08 am From: tom none <jtcurt325...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Abridged summary of - 11 updates in 5 topics
Re: yellow grosbeak status. Birds have wings. This may sound flippant, but
there are numerous accepted reports for birds that are far out of range. I
found a lesser sand-plover in Florida and a curlew sandpiper in Missouri,
both of which were some thousands of miles from their home range. In fact,
the subspecies of the sandplover was that which breeds in
northeastern Asia, it had to cross into Alaska (probably) and then move
diagonally across Canada and Continental US. One might argue that these are
migratory species, so being out of range is not too surprising. However,
when researching a southern lapwing I found in Florida, I came across a
paper that found that, in families that have long-distance migratory
species, their non-migratory counter-parts retained the physiological
capability for migration. So just because a species is non-migratory, does
not mean it is incapable of long-distance movements. A second more recent
paper found that, when examining genes that are thought to be responsible
for migration, migratory non-migratory species were indistinguishable.
Further, a phylogenetic examination of the Cardinaliidae reveals multiple
end groups that are migratory. This suggests that either a migratory life
strategy evolved in multiple branches, or was present in the last common
ancestor. If the latter is true, then many species in the cardinal family
may have the tools for long-distance movement, they just don't need to use
them. Finally, someone mentioned that yellow grosbeaks are kept as cage
birds in Mexico. I'm not sure that this is pertinent, since captive or, it
still had to get from Mexico to Estes Park.
Hope this is of interest,
Tom Curtis
On Mon, Jun 30, 2025 at 7:30 PM <cobirds...> wrote:
--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to <cobirds...>
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/ ---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+<unsubscribe...>
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/<CAC_gcvBRe-Rt7p1VNPwhD4S56gL2zpzBwMvJEKVnmUhJJHpXpA...>
