Date: 10/4/25 9:45 am From: John Dillon via groups.io <kisforkryptonite...> Subject: Re: [labird] Listing Groups
I’d also through in Long-eared Owl. According to LBRC website, there are only 11 accepted reports, 10 of which were from 1981-2011 and none since.
And, Paul, I think you left out finches as a group. I don’t know if anyone would have all the ones that have been reported in LA. Evening Grosbeak (which I do have from the 1980s), Cassin’s (one record), Red Crossbill (1 record), Lesser Goldfinch, plus the common ones.
Do Chimney Swift and Vaux’s Swift make a group??
JD
> On Oct 4, 2025, at 10:13 AM, Paul Conover via groups.io <zoiseaux...> wrote:
>
> Mac, Labird,
>
> True on the Saw-whet and the Eider, although the Grand Terre Eider was
> seen by quite a few. I'm so far away from a BINGO on the owls that many
> seem impossible for me.
>
> If I'm not mistaken, you're a Cassin's Kingbird away from seeing all the
> flycatchers. That would be an amazing feat.
>
>
> PEC
>
> Lafayette
>
>
> On 10/4/2025 9:41 AM, Mac Myers wrote:
>> For owls, I'd add Northern Saw-whet in the tough category, but maybe
>> someday somebody will figure out a location where nocturnal taping and
>> netting can be at least occasionally successful. Also, in ducks, King
>> Eider is had by several, but that's a tough one to expect or hope to
>> get. As for grebes, I doubt that Lowery had Red-necked and Western.
>>
>> <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> >> Virus-free.www.avast.com
>> <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> >>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 3, 2025 at 9:36 PM Paul Conover via groups.io <http://groups.io/> >> <http://groups.io <http://groups.io/>> <zoiseaux...> <mailto:<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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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