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Re: Gray Kingbird, Wrightsville Beach, NC 5/31/03



On 5/31/03 11:38 AM, "Patrick Coin" <patrick@coinconsult.net> wrote:

> A new North Carolina bird [Gray Kingbird] for me , and I guess rare, but not
unexpected at
> this time of year.

You've got that right.  Of 46 Gray Kingbird reports from NC since 1957
(excluding 3 incidents of birds that appeared to be on territory), 29 fall
on dates between May 10 and Jun 10 (about 63%).

(Gray Kingbird was reported 4 times at Cape Lookout, NC in 1998 on dates
ranging from May 9 to July 2. The numbers in the preceding paragraph assume
those were different birds, and not a single bird "on territory".)

An interesting observation: Assuming the "Mystery Kingbird" at Southport, NC
in November 2002 was in fact a Gray, it ended a 2 calendar-year absence of
this species in NC.  I can't find any evidence of sightings from 2000 or
2001.  Prior to 2000-2001, there hadn't been a 2 year absence of this
species from NC since 1983-1984.  If "Mystery" was not a Gray, then there
was a 3 calendar-year absence of the species from 2000-2002, which hadn't
happened since a 6 calendar-year absence from 1967-1972.

Anyway, like Patrick already said, Gray Kingbirds are rare in NC (not seen
every year), but expected during the early May to early June time frame.

Hopefully, I've added something here but I'm not sure what.  I sort of
obsess on information like this.

-- 
Russ Tyndall
Wake Forest, NC
www.redshanksoftware.com