Birds of Estero Morua

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 Peñasco 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 Peñasco.

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 Peñasco, 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 Peñasco 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

Loons

(Gaviiformes)

1. _____ Common Loon

2. _____ Arctic Loon

3. _____ Red-throated Loon (B)

Grebes

(Podicipediformes)

4. _____Western Grebe

5. _____ Eared Grebe

6. _____ Pied-billed Grebe*

7. _____ Horned Grebe (B)

Tubenoses

(Procellariiformes)

8. _____ Northern Fulmar

9. _____ Black Storm-petrel*

10. _____ Least Storm-petrel*

Pelicans and their Allies

(Pelecaniformes)

11. _____ Red-billed Tropicbird

12. _____ Brown Booby

13. _____ Blue-footed Booby

14. _____ Brown Pelican

15. _____ American White Pelican

16. _____ Brandt's Cormorant (A)

17. _____ Double-crested Cormorant

18. _____ Magnificent Frigatebird

Herons and their Allies

(Ciconiiformes)

19. _____ Great Egret*

20. _____ Snowy Egret

21. _____ Cattle Egret*

22. _____ Great Blue Heron

23. _____ Reddish Egret

24. _____ Louisiana Heron (A, B)

25. _____ Little Blue Heron

26. _____ Green Heron

27. _____ Black-crowned Night Heron*

28. _____ White-faced Ibis*

29. _____ White Ibis (B)

Waterfowl

(Anseriformes)

30. _____ Brant (black)*

31. _____ Pintail

32. _____ Gadwall

33. _____ Northern Shoveler

34. _____ Mallard (A)

35. _____ American Widgeon (A)

36. _____ Green-winged Teal

37. _____ Blue-winged Teal*

38. _____ Lesser Scaup

39. _____ Common Goldeneye

40. _____ Bufflehead*

41. _____White-winged Scoter (B)

42. _____ Surf Scoter

43. _____ Red-breasted Merganser

44. _____ Common Merganser

45. _____ Ruddy Duck

Vultures, Hawks, and Falcons

(Falconiformes)

46. _____ Turkey Vulture

47. _____ Black Vulture

48. _____ Cooper's Hawk (A)

49. _____ Sharp-shinned Hawk (A)

50. _____ Northern Harrier*

51. _____ Red-tailed Hawk

52. _____ Ferruginous Hawk

53. _____ Swainson's Hawk* (?)

54. _____ Eagle sp.*

55. _____ Osprey

56. _____ Prairie Falcon

57. _____ American Kestrel

Gallinaceous Birds

(Galliformes)

58. _____ Gambel's Quail

Cranes and their Allies

(Gruiformes)

59. _____ Sandhill Crane*

60. _____ Sora (A)

61. _____ Common Moorhen*

62. _____ American Coot

Shorebirds, Gulls, and Alcids

(Charadriiformes)

63. _____ Mountain Plover

64. _____ Black-bellied Plover

65. _____ Piping Plover (B)

66. _____ Snowy Plover

67. _____ Semipalmated Plover

68. _____ Wilson's Plover

69. _____ Killdeer

70. _____ American Oystercatcher

71. _____ Black Oystercatcher (B)

72. _____ American Avocet

73. _____ Black-necked Stilt*

74. _____ Marbled Godwit

75. _____ Long-billed Curlew

76. _____ Whimbrel

77. _____ Greater Yellowlegs

78. _____ Lesser Yellowlegs

79. _____ Willet

80. _____ Spotted Sandpiper

81. _____ Wandering Tattler

82. _____ Short-billed Dowitcher

83. _____ Long-billed Dowitcher

84. _____ Wilson's Pharlarope (A)

85. _____ Red-necked Phalarope*

86. _____ Northern Phalarope

87. _____ Common Snipe*

88. _____ Surfbird

89. _____ Ruddy Turnstone

90. _____ Black Turnstone

91. _____ Pectoral Sandpiper (A)

92. _____ Red Knot

93. _____ Dunlin

94. _____ Sanderling

95. _____ Baird's Sandpiper (A)

96. _____ Least Sandpiper

97. _____ Western Sandpiper

98. _____ Parasitic Jaeger (B)

99. _____Glaucous-winged Gull (A, B)

100. _____ Yellow-footed Gull

101. _____ Herring Gull

102. _____ California Gull

103. _____ Ring-billed gull

104. _____ Heermann's Gull

105. _____ Laughing Gull

106. _____ Bonaparte's Gull

107. _____ Sabine's Gull (B)

108. _____ Least Tern

109. _____ Common Tern

110. _____ Forster's Tern

111. _____ Elegant Tern

112. _____ Royal Tern

113. _____ Caspian Tern

114. _____ Black Tern

115. _____ Black Skimmer

Pigeons and Doves

(Columbiformes)

116. _____ Rock Dove *

117. _____ White-winged Dove

118. _____ Mourning Dove

Cuckoos, Anis, and Roadrunners

Cuculiformes)

119. _____ Greater Roadrunner*

Owls

(Strigiformes)

120. _____ Great Horned Owl*

121. _____ Long-eared Owl

122. _____ Short-eared Owl

123. _____ Burrowing Owl

Goatsuckers

(Caprimulgiformes)

124. _____ Common Poorwill*

125. _____ Lesser Nighthawk*

Swifts and Hummingbirds

(Apodiformes)

126. _____ Vaux's Swift

127. _____Anna's Hummingbird (A)

128. _____ Costa's Humming bird (A)

129. _____ Rufous Hummingbird*

Kingfishers

(Coraciiformes)

130. _____ Green Kingfisher (B)

131. _____ Belted Kingfisher

Woodpeckers

(Piciformes)

132. Common Flicker

_____ Red Shafted race*

_____ Gilded race*

133. _____ Gila Woodpecker (A)

134. _____ Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Perching Birds

(Passeriformes)

135. _____ Vermilion Flycatcher (A)

136. _____ Western Kingbird

137. _____ Cassin's Kingbird

138. _____ Ash-throated Flycatcher (A)

139. _____ Black Phoebe*

140. _____ Say's Phoebe

141. _____ Empidonax sp.*

142. _____ Horned Lark

143. _____Barn Swallow

144. _____ Cliff Swallow*

145. _____ Violet-green Swallow*

146. _____ Tree Swallow

147. _____ Northern Rough-winged Swallow*

148. _____ Common Raven

149. _____ Clark's Nutcracker (B)

150. _____Verdin

151. _____ Cactus Wren

152. _____ Rock Wren

153. _____ Northern Mockingbird

154. _____ Sage Thrasher

155. _____ Curve-billed Thrasher

156. _____Le Conte's Thrasher

157. _____ Mountain Bluebird

158. _____ Ruby-crowned Kinglet (A)

159. _____ Water Pipit

160. _____ Cedar Waxwing

161. _____ Phainopepla

162. _____ Loggerhead Shrike

163. _____ European Starling

164. _____ Orange-crowned Warbler

165. _____ Nashville Warbler*

166. _____ Yellow Warbler (A)

167. _____ Black-throated Gray Warbler (A)

169. _____ Common Yellowthroat*

170. _____ MacGillivray's Warbler (A)

171. _____ Yellow-rumped Warbler

172. _____ Wilson's Warbler

173. _____ House Sparrow

174. _____ Western Meadowlark*

175. _____ Yellow-headed Blackbird*

176. _____ Brewer's Blackbird

177. _____ Great-tailed Grackle*

178. _____ Brown-headed Cowbird

179. _____ Northern Oriole (Bullock's)*

180. _____ Western Tanager*

181. _____ Painted Bunting (A)

182. _____ Lazuli Bunting

183. _____ House Finch

184. _____ Lesser Gold Finch*

185. _____ Savannah Sparrow

186. _____ Vesper Sparrow (A)

187. _____ Lark Sparrow

188. _____ Black-throated Sparrow*

189. _____ Sage Sparrow

190. _____ Dark-eyed Junco*

191. _____ Brewer's Sparrow

192. _____ Chipping sparrow

193. _____ White-crowned Sparrow

194. _____ Golden-crowned Sparrow (A)

195. _____ Lincoln's Sparrow (A)

(A) following a name means the bird was included in the list from Puerto Peñasco 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.