Re: [cobirds] The ongoing saga of the Boulder County phoebes

I know at least three bridges in Boulder County with phoebes. Which bridge are you talking about?
David Waltman
Boulder
----- Original Message -----
From: Charles Hundertmark <chundertmark8@gmail.com>
To: tedfloyd57@hotmail.com, Cobirds <cobirds@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wed, 19 Apr 2017 21:00:22 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: Re: [cobirds] The ongoing saga of the Boulder County phoebes

I stopped by the bridge this morning. Shortly after I arrived, the Black Phoebe flew out from under the bridge. Seconds later, the Eastern Phoebe flew out. Shortly, both went under the bridge again, and flew out after an interval. They seem to be a pair.

As Ted indicated, the range extensions of both of these species in Colorado raises interesting questions. With Black Phoebes moving north and Eastern Phoebes edging west, will one species out compete the other, since they both seem to favor bridges or other human-made structures for nesting sites? Will they segregate on some microhabitat characteristics? Or, as Ted asks, will they hybridize? To what extent will they compete with Say's Phoebes that sometimes favor similar nest sites?

The selective process may play out quickly (several bird generations) or over a longer time (human generations). No need to go to the Galapagos Islands. Colorado becomes an ever more interesting evolutionary biology lab.

Chuck Hundertmark
Lafayette, CO
> On Apr 18, 2017, at 2:56 PM, Ted Floyd <tedfloyd57@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hey, everybody.
>
> I stopped by the Walden Ponds area, Boulder County, earlier this Tuesday, Apr. 18, where I saw two phoebes along Boulder Creek near the 75th St. bridge. One was a black phoebe, probably the bird present there since late March. Also present was an eastern phoebe gathering nest material and taking it under the bridge. I wonder if the black phoebe is the eastern phoebe's mate; I detected no other phoebes at the site. Actually, that's not true. There was a Say phoebe in the general vicinity, but it was away from the creek, in the dry uplands south of the creek, closer to Cottonwood Marsh.
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> There was a time, not all that long ago, when any Boulder County phoebe other than a Say phoebe was noteworthy. Now we have multiple occurrences of mixed-species detections on creeks and rivers in the counties. For sure, we should be on the lookout for hybrids. Nathan Pieplow has published on what to look for--and, in particular, what to listen for--when we're dealing with hybrid phoebes. With both species expanding their ranges in Colorado, it will be fascinating and important to see if hybridization becomes extensive.
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> Also at Walden Ponds this morning: 5 wood ducks, 1 white-faced ibis, 2 broad-winged hawks, northern rough-winged swallows, yellow-rumped warblers, Gambel's white-crowned sparrows, and a savannah sparrow.
>
> Here are the Boulder Creek phoebes (Eastern, left; Black, right):
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> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8w7KA6Yf54w/WPZ0ZxfmtgI/AAAAAAAAWHo/lTRTaAEaCBgAJN5BFBdRFVKK-yVxe046gCLcB/s1600/EaPh.JPG> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oyb0SyVqTyc/WPZ0f8xOH4I/AAAAAAAAWHs/i2wpeEjB5P45JEqRoqWiz8vpzZ-6JibqACLcB/s1600/BlPh.JPG>
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> And here is the Eastern Phoebe gathering nest material:
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> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yrgAUlmEmuM/WPZ8kXSZX1I/AAAAAAAAWH4/wGc5D2dbLe0qdB26kIYk9ZIC6Nv5Qmy2gCLcB/s1600/EaPh%2Bnest%2B01.JPG> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-brM8NWR5igw/WPZ1MOoHSLI/AAAAAAAAWHw/FfB11gBrn6cbGgPRmApkscoznMHmEj17gCLcB/s1600/EaPh%2Bnest%2B02.png>
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> Ted Floyd
>
> Lafayette, Boulder County
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