Date: 10/4/25 12:16 pm From: Paul Conover via groups.io <zoiseaux...> Subject: Re: [labird] Listing Groups
John, Labird,
For finches, it was basically a matter of convenience because I
would have had to explain whether I meant the little reddish ones or the
whole group, but I shouldn't have been so lazy. By whichever metric,
Cassin's is the breaking point. Likewise for small groups like swifts
and pipits, I skipped them because they're more or less a gimme.
Long-eared is rare, but some were chaseable, so a fairly good
number of birders saw them versus Snowy and Co.
PEC
On 10/4/2025 11:45 AM, John Dillon wrote:
> 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 viagroups.io
>>> <http://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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
