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Re: More on Mockers





I've often wondered if the change in ABA rules to allow birds to be counted by
sound
rather than sight would lead to an increased number of erroneous reports.
Although many are familiar with the
mimic thrushes habit of repeating a sound once, twice, or three times (I think
the order is Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Mockingbird), a fragmented
call or a bird not vocalizing in the typical way could reasonably be considered
an impediment to birding by sound.  Of course if it repeats "here I am,
where are you?" 58 times in a row you can be pretty certain you have a Red-eyed
Vireo, but if the call if heard only once or twice?  I would imagine that
a mimic learning a new call might practice a bit before adding to its collection
of song.

Of course in the Carolinas we can reasonable expect to be able to tell the
difference between a mimic thrush and the real deal by experience.  I hate to
think about
what might happen if one of the myna birds in south Florida decides it's a
Swainson's Warbler or a Black Rail.

Steve Shultz
Cary, NC





Mary G Douglass <mgd@lowcountry.com> on 03/17/2000 04:46:47 PM

To:   carolinabirds@duke.edu
cc:
Subject:  More on Mockers




I once heard a Mockingbird at Bear Island doing a pretty convincing Black
Rail imitation!  Maybe they're under-utilized as a resource for locating
rare birds.

Mary G. Douglass
Walterboro, SC
mgd@lowcountry.com





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