tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2647395313001100441.post4485365649868192093..comments2024-01-16T10:47:14.743+01:00Comments on Bell Tower Birding: Not So Solitary After All?Jochenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10852825311605464857noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2647395313001100441.post-74657327232409410622007-04-23T15:44:00.000+02:002007-04-23T15:44:00.000+02:00Hi Patrick,well, thank you very much but it's far ...Hi Patrick,<BR/>well, thank you very much but it's far from being that good.<BR/>What I did is present a hypothesis on how to separate the forms. I don't even know if this all is true and works out in the field or not.<BR/>But maybe people will think - like I do - thatthis might make some sense and test these criteria in the field, preferably where we know only one form is to be expected, like at staging sites in Newfoundland or southern Alaska. <BR/><BR/>Hi Larry,<BR/>just go for it, nothing's bound to stay over one's head for long as soon as one starts to tackle these problems. But as I said to Patrick, these are just ideas that were presented in hopes that people out in the field would test them.<BR/><BR/>Happy spring migration!Jochenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852825311605464857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2647395313001100441.post-28664715951681009702007-04-21T03:21:00.000+02:002007-04-21T03:21:00.000+02:00Very informative-A little over my head at this poi...Very informative-A little over my head at this point, but I will keep an eye on your blog as I gain more field experience.Larryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17955054342034509500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2647395313001100441.post-11370228850830321382007-04-20T22:06:00.000+02:002007-04-20T22:06:00.000+02:00Jochen,Wow! You've upped the ante to the extreme. ...Jochen,<BR/><BR/>Wow! You've upped the ante to the extreme. Thanks for putting in all this work. It's an article worthy of "Birding" or any other publication. I read an article in "Birding" last year about separating dowitchers. An interesting field mark that they looked at was the angle from the base of the bill to the eye. I haven't looked at all of those pictures you found side-by-side to see if maybe these 2 forms exhibit a difference in that structure. You may have already looked at that as well. Very thorough!Patrick B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09080082715363887351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2647395313001100441.post-22332963869619979432007-04-20T22:00:00.000+02:002007-04-20T22:00:00.000+02:00I know, I know... My approach is that I always try...I know, I know... <BR/>My approach is that I always try to distiguish as far "down" the taxonomic ladder as possible and call them "forms", independently of their taxonomic status or official recognition. After all, I am from Europe and had to endure the gull torture of split after split after split where you never knew for many years what to do and think.<BR/>So I tried to avoid this in going for subspecies or "forms" where ever possible. If they get split in the future, fine.<BR/>If not, then I just had a reason to thoroughly learn and study the variation of "my" birds.<BR/>That's as far as I go and I probably won't "identify" the two forms of Solitaries, I'll probably refer to them as "Solitary showing field characters of ..."<BR/><BR/>But the most important thing: I think I'll be really enjoying this!Jochenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852825311605464857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2647395313001100441.post-32697807966778011302007-04-20T21:31:00.000+02:002007-04-20T21:31:00.000+02:00Interesting speculation, Jochem, but I'm not holdi...Interesting speculation, Jochem, but I'm not holding my breath that either the AOU or ABA will be recognizing this split any time in the near future.John L. Trapphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14001532550767505335noreply@blogger.com