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.