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Re: Scissor-tailed flycatcher, and Nature Listservs
- To: carolinabirds@duke.edu
- Subject: Re: Scissor-tailed flycatcher, and Nature Listservs
- From: Joshua Stuart Rose <jsr6@duke.edu>
- Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2000 11:24:43 -0400 (EDT)
- In-Reply-To: <39390457.612F6037@wingate.edu>
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
On Sat, 3 Jun 2000, Anne Olsen wrote:
>
> I did not post this yesterday hoping to see the bird to verify the
> sighting. I have seen a scissor-tailed flycatcher out west, but did not
> think there was any possibility of seeing one in NC. I have not seen
> any other postings of such a sighting this year. (I think there was a
> sighting last year in SC.) Has anyone else seen one?
There is certainly a possibility of seeing a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in
NC, just not a very big one. Scissor-tails are noted vagrants, regularly
showing up far beyond their breeding range as late spring overshoots or
as fall wrong-way migrants. I have not seen one in NC yet, but have seen
two in extreme northern Michigan at Whitefish Point; they also regularly
show up at Cape May, NJ, and a few usually winter in Florida. Their
breeding range also may be expanding, as birders in Georgia have been
following a pair attempting to nest near McDonough, in Henry County.
Unfortunately, when a Scissor-tail strays, it usually doesn't stay in one
place for long, so if there was one in Union County, it could b almost
anywhere in either Carolina by now...
As for confusing species, there isn't much. Fork-tailed Flycatcher is
even less likely in NC than Scissor-tailed. I once called a fly-over
Cuckoo a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (we were doing 80 mph down I-95 in
Florida at the time), but I've never seen a cuckoo perch on anything as
exposed as a telephone wire.
RE: Bill Hilton's questions about nature listservs, I have never seen a
comprehensive general listing. I used to know where to find a couple of
pretty thorough lists of birding listservs, but not any other lists about
nature, just birds. I do know that Alex Netherton has started several NC
listservs on various aspects of natural history in NC, including one on
natural history in general; one on frogs and toads; one on turtles,
tortoises, and terrapins; one on dragonflies and damselflies, and
probably others. The dragonfly listserv has since expanded to cover most
of the southeastern US, with subscribers from Florida to New Jersey to
Tennessee and maybe further...
Good birding,
Josh
Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology
jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/