Date: 10/4/25 12:39 pm From: Paul Conover via groups.io <zoiseaux...> Subject: Re: [labird] Listing Groups
I guess there are a lot of ways to look at it, but all of them are good
ways to pass the time when birds are on the mind but birding isn't on
the table. Lord knows I'd love to look out the window and see a
Lucifer's to fill in my state hummer card, but at the same time, I'd
like to see any hummer species that would make #9 for the yard. I'm easy.
On 10/4/2025 2:28 PM, Nancy L Newfield wrote:
>
> Paul, of course I like to fill up a page though I really think of
> every member of our avian biota in terms of genus rather than by pages
> in the field guide. And, I would be very pleased to add Lucifer
> Hummingbird to my Louisiana list . . . this is especially troubling
> because the Lucifer-looking hummer that I banded in River Ridge about
> 20 years ago turned out to be a hybrid. Previously, I had banded a
> couple of dozen of them in West Texas.
>
> Titanium Nan
>
> On Sat, Oct 4, 2025 at 10:06 AM Paul Conover <zoiseaux...>
> wrote:
>
> Nancy, Labird,
>
> Come on now, Titanium One, you know you used to like it
> when you filled in a page:)
>
> And I know you'd be thrilled to get your Louisiana hummer
> card all filled in!
>
> PEC
>
>
> On 10/4/2025 9:41 AM, Nancy L Newfield wrote:
>> Gee Paul,
>>
>> You surely are a trouble-maker!
>>
>> NLN
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 3, 2025 at 9:36 PM Paul Conover via groups.io
>> <http://groups.io> <zoiseaux...> wrote:
>>
>> Labird,
>>
>> In the days when field guides took eternities between
>> editions and
>> birders tended to carry their battered copies of Peterson or
>> the Golden
>> Guide to the edge of doom, it used to be a thrill when I
>> could check off
>> every species portrayed on a page, all the buntings or
>> woodpeckers or
>> whatever. I found over the years that I wasn't unique in
>> celebrating
>> these small accomplishments, and when I'd compare notes with
>> other
>> birders, it was interesting to see whether the blanks on our
>> pages were
>> misses in common or just personal nemeses.
>>
>> Nowadays I tend to apply that exercise to groups of birds
>> I've seen
>> in Louisiana. Typically there's a species or two in each
>> group that I
>> realize have kept most/all Louisiana birders from running the
>> table on
>> certain groups. In some cases, it's pretty likely that no one
>> will ever
>> be able to complete a group list.
>>
>> Here's a list of groups (fairly arbitrarily grouped in some
>> cases) and my best guess of whether anyone has seen them all.
>> Some
>> smaller groupings (swans, jaegers, etc.) I omitted, and I
>> also removed
>> extinct or probably extinct species. I'll leave names of
>> birders out.
>>
>> Geese: Several birders have seen them all, with the limiting
>> species
>> being Brant.
>>
>> Ducks: No one (Origin Hypothetical Baikal Teal is the catch).
>>
>> Grebes: No current birders. Least Grebe! Maybe Lowery had
>> them all, if
>> he had Red-necked.
>>
>> Doves and Pigeons: Only those who have seen Band-tailed, the
>> only hard one.
>>
>> Anis and Cuckoos: No one (Smooth-billed Ani). Mangrove Cuckoo
>> next hardest.
>>
>> Nightjars: Several birders who saw/heard the sole Antillean
>> Nighthawk
>> record.
>>
>> Hummingbirds: Maybe one; the speed bump is Lucifer Hummingbird.
>>
>> Rails: Many
>>
>> Shorebirds: Probably; toughest is Siberian Sand-plover, and
>> Black-tailed
>> Godwit also narrows the field.
>>
>> Gulls: No one. Black-headed, Heermann's, and Western make it
>> tough, and
>> Kelp might be hard to get again.
>>
>> Terns: Several birders
>>
>> Loons: Some; not sure how many.
>>
>> Shearwaters: No one; Manx and Sooty are the limiters, and
>> Cory's and
>> Scopoli's are probably still only unofficially on lists.
>>
>> Sulids: A few; Red-footed is the hard one.
>>
>> Herons: Many (even if Great White Heron is included).
>>
>> Hawks: No one if Goshawk is included; very few otherwise
>> because of
>> Zone-tailed Hawk.
>>
>> Owls: No one, I think. Snowy (did anyone chase it?) and
>> Flammulated
>> would be a tough pair.
>>
>> Woodpeckers: No one. No one has all three of Williamson's and
>> Red-naped
>> sapsuckers, and Ladder-backed.
>>
>> Falcons: A few--Those who have seen Prairie Falcon.
>>
>> Flycatchers: None. Many tough ones.
>>
>> Vireos: No one; Plumbeous, Cassin's.
>>
>> Corvids: One birder. Clark's Nutcracker and Chihuahuan Raven the
>> limiting species.
>>
>> Swallows: One birder.
>>
>> Wrens: Many
>>
>> Mimids: Many thanks to stakeout Curve-billed.
>>
>> Thrushes: Probably several. Varied and Townsend's Solitaire
>> the hard pair.
>>
>> Longspurs: Several, I think.
>>
>> Sparrows: No one; Tree Sparrow, Baird's, Brewer's...
>>
>> Orioles: Many
>>
>> Blackbirds: Many
>>
>> Warblers: Probably none. Virginia's and Hermit, followed by
>> several
>> other tough ones that were however more widely viewed.
>>
>> Tanagers: Many
>>
>> Cardinals, Grosbeaks, Buntings: None. Varied Bunting, Blue
>> Bunting,
>> Pyrrhuloxia...
>>
>>
>> Does anyone see any errors or omissions here?
>>
>> Paul Conover
>>
>> Lafayette
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> Nancy L Newfield
>> Casa Colibrí
>> Metairie, Louisiana USA
>> <nancy...>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
> --
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Nancy L Newfield
> Casa Colibrí
> Metairie, Louisiana USA
> <nancy...>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
