Go back to Correspondence
To: Members of Club Estero Morua
From: Jerry Cole
Date: December 1988
Re: Bird List
Following the late May bird walk of 1988, when checklists of the birds of Estero Morua were issued to the participants, Duff Smith approached me (menacingly) and exclaimed, "Oh, come off it, Cole! You never saw any Black Oystercatchers or Green Kingfishers here. You exaggerate, you unmentionable!"
He was correct, that sharp-eyed critic. The checklist had three sources: l.) those species that Jean and I have seen here or nearby; 2.) those birds listed by Alden (1969); and 3.) those birds listed from Puerto Peņasco by Russell and Lamm (1978). The publication of Russell and Lamm dealt largely with rarities. Thus, the report of Clark's Nutcracker is based on skeletal remains found December 1972 near Puerto Peņasco.
Some birds we have seen on the way southward from the border. Examples are the Phainopepla, Mountain Plover, and the Black Vulture. The vulture used to be common near a slaughterhouse at
the southern part of Sonoita; Alden records it as rare in Puerto Peņasco, based on some December records.
Red-billed Tropicbirds and the Black Petrel were seen only far offshore on boat trips. Some birds have undergone name changes of importance. For example, the Western Gull listed by Alden was known to us as the yellow-legged race of this species. Now it is recognized as a different species, Larus livens, the Yellow-footed Gull. (Oh, boy! A life-lister).
Was Alden too proud to mention Columba livia, the Rock Dove (street pigeon to some observers)? Since March 1986, it has been spotted at the Estero ... and it spots, too! Ask Bill or Phyllis Holmes.
OK, Duff, does this restore some degree of credibility?
Jerry Cole
Alden, Peter (1969). Finding the Birds in Western Mexico, A guide to the State of Sinaloa and Nyarit. The University of Arizona Press. Tucson I-xvi. 1-134 (Puerto Peņasco pp 16-21). Russell, Stephen M. and Donald W. Lamm (1978). Notes on the distribution of Birds in Sonora, Mexico. The Wilson Bulletin 90 (1): 129-131
Bird List 1989
(A) following a name means the bird was included in the list from Puerto Peņasco by Peter Alden (1969). Finding the Birds in Western Mexico University of Arizona Press, Tucson. i-xvi, 1-138, but we have not seen it here. (B) refers similarly to birds mentioned by Russell, S.M. & D.W. Lamm (1978. Notes on the distribution of birds in Sonora, Mexico. The Wilson Bulletin. 90(1): 123-131. Names followed by an asterisk are those we have seen, but were not listed by Alden.
Loons
(Gaviiformes)
_____ Common Loon
_____ Arctic Loon
_____ Red-throated Loon (B)
Grebes
(Podicipediformes)
_____Western Grebe
_____ Eared Grebe
_____ Pied-billed Grebe*
_____ Horned Grebe (B)
Tubenoses
(Procellariiformes)
_____ Northern Fulmar
_____ Black Storm-petrel*
_____ Least Storm-petrel*
Pelicans and their Allies
(Pelecaniformes)
_____ Red-billed Tropicbird
_____ Brown Booby
_____ Blue-footed Booby
_____ Brown Pelican
_____ American White Pelican
_____ Brandt's Cormorant (A)
_____ Double-crested Cormorant
_____ Magnificent Frigatebird
Herons and their Allies
(Ciconiiformes)
_____ Great Egret*
_____ Snowy Egret
_____ Cattle Egret*
_____ Great Blue Heron
_____ Reddish Egret
_____ Louisiana Heron (A, B)
_____ Little Blue Heron
_____ Green Heron
_____ Black-crowned Night Heron*
_____ White-faced Ibis*
_____ White Ibis (B)
Waterfowl
(Anseriformes)
_____ Brant (black)*
_____ Pintail
_____ Gadwall
_____ Northern Shoveler
_____ Mallard (A)
_____ American Widgeon (A)
_____ Green-winged Teal
_____ Blue-winged Teal*
_____ Lesser Scaup
_____ Common Goldeneye
_____ Bufflehead*
_____White-winged Scoter (B)
_____ Surf Scoter
_____ Red-breasted Merganser
_____ Common Merganser
_____ Ruddy Duck
Vultures, Hawks, and Falcons
(Falconiformes)
_____ Turkey Vulture
_____ Black Vulture
_____ Cooper's Hawk (A)
_____ Sharp-shinned Hawk (A)
_____ Northern Harrier*
_____ Red-tailed Hawk
_____ Ferruginous Hawk
_____ Swainson's Hawk* (?)
_____ Eagle sp.*
_____ Osprey
_____ Prairie Falcon
_____ American Kestrel
Gallinaceous Birds
(Galliformes)
_____ Gambel's Quail
Cranes and their Allies
(Gruiformes)
_____ Sandhill Crane*
_____ Sora (A)
_____ Common Moorhen*
_____ American Coot
Shorebirds, Gulls, and Alcids
(Charadriiformes)
_____ Mountain Plover
_____ Black-bellied Plover
_____ Piping Plover (B)
_____ Snowy Plover
_____ Semipalmated Plover
_____ Wilson's Plover
_____ Killdeer
_____ American Oystercatcher
_____ Black Oystercatcher (B)
_____ American Avocet
_____ Black-necked Stilt*
_____ Marbled Godwit
_____ Long-billed Curlew
_____ Whimbrel
_____ Greater Yellowlegs
_____ Lesser Yellowlegs
_____ Willet
_____ Spotted Sandpiper
_____ Wandering Tattler
_____ Short-billed Dowitcher
_____ Long-billed Dowitcher
_____ Wilson's Pharlarope (A)
_____ Red-necked Phalarope*
_____ Northern Phalarope
_____ Common Snipe*
_____ Surfbird
_____ Ruddy Turnstone
_____ Black Turnstone
_____ Pectoral Sandpiper (A)
_____ Red Knot
_____ Dunlin
_____ Sanderling
_____ Baird's Sandpiper (A)
_____ Least Sandpiper
_____ Western Sandpiper
_____ Parasitic Jaeger (B)
_____Glaucous-winged Gull (A, B)
_____ Yellow-footed Gull
_____ Herring Gull
_____ California Gull
_____ Ring-billed gull
_____ Heermann's Gull
_____ Laughing Gull
_____ Bonaparte's Gull
_____ Sabine's Gull (B)
_____ Least Tern
_____ Common Tern
_____ Forster's Tern
_____ Elegant Tern
_____ Royal Tern
_____ Caspian Tern
_____ Black Tern
_____ Black Skimmer
Pigeons and Doves
(Columbiformes)
_____ Rock Dove *
_____ White-winged Dove
_____ Mourning Dove
Cuckoos, Anis, and Roadrunners
Cuculiformes)
_____ Greater Roadrunner*
Owls
(Strigiformes)
_____ Great Horned Owl*
_____ Long-eared Owl
_____ Short-eared Owl
_____ Burrowing Owl
Goatsuckers
(Caprimulgiformes)
_____ Common Poorwill*
_____ Lesser Nighthawk*
Swifts and Hummingbirds
(Apodiformes)
_____ Vaux's Swift
_____Anna's Hummingbird (A)
_____ Costa's Humming bird (A)
_____ Rufous Hummingbird*
Kingfishers
(Coraciiformes)
_____ Green Kingfisher (B)
_____ Belted Kingfisher
Woodpeckers
(Piciformes)
Common Flicker
_____ Red Shafted race*
_____ Gilded race*
_____ Gila Woodpecker (A)
_____ Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Perching Birds
(Passeriformes)
_____ Vermilion Flycatcher (A)
_____ Western Kingbird
_____ Cassin's Kingbird
_____ Ash-throated Flycatcher (A)
_____ Black Phoebe*
_____ Say's Phoebe
_____ Empidonax sp.*
_____ Horned Lark
_____Barn Swallow
_____ Cliff Swallow*
_____ Violet-green Swallow*
_____ Tree Swallow
_____ Northern Rough-winged Swallow*
_____ Common Raven
_____ Clark's Nutcracker (B)
_____Verdin
_____ Cactus Wren
_____ Rock Wren
_____ Northern Mockingbird
_____ Sage Thrasher
_____ Curve-billed Thrasher
_____Le Conte's Thrasher
_____ Mountain Bluebird
_____ Ruby-crowned Kinglet (A)
_____ Water Pipit
_____ Cedar Waxwing
_____ Phainopepla
_____ Loggerhead Shrike
_____ European Starling
_____ Orange-crowned Warbler
_____ Nashville Warbler*
_____ Yellow Warbler (A)
_____ Black-throated Gray
Warbler (A)
_____ Common Yellowthroat*
_____ MacGillivray's Warbler (A)
_____ Yellow-rumped Warbler
_____ Wilson's Warbler
_____ House Sparrow
_____ Western Meadowlark*
_____ Yellow-headed Blackbird*
_____ Brewer's Blackbird
_____ Great-tailed Grackle*
_____ Brown-headed Cowbird
_____ Northern Oriole (Bullock's)*
_____ Western Tanager*
_____ Painted Bunting (A)
_____ Lazuli Bunting
_____ House Finch
_____ Lesser Gold Finch*
_____ Savannah Sparrow
_____ Vesper Sparrow (A)
_____ Lark Sparrow
_____ Black-throated Sparrow*
_____ Sage Sparrow
_____ Dark-eyed Junco*
_____ Brewer's Sparrow
_____ Chipping sparrow
_____ White-crowned Sparrow
_____ Golden-crowned Sparrow (A)
_____ Lincoln's Sparrow (A)
(A) following a name means
the bird was
included in the list from Puerto Peņasco by Peter Alden
(1969). Finding the Birds in Western Mexico
University of
Arizona Press, Tucson. i-xvi, 1-138, but we have
not seen it
here. (B) refers similarly to birds mentioned by
Russell, S.M. &
D.W. Lamm (1978. Notes on the distribution of
birds in Sonora,
Mexico. The Wilson Bulletin. 90(1):
123-131. Names
followed by an asterisk are those we have seen, but were
not listed by
Alden.