Re: [cobirds] Colorado condors countable?

Scott:

I believe the birds observed on the Grand Mesa in 1998 had patagial tags.  I don't have that information readily available, but if the tags indicated that those birds were released from captivity, then I think that would disallow them from being countable according to ABA.  If the origin of any of those individuals was unknown (e.g., the bird did not have a patagial tag) or if the bird was known to have been hatched in the wild, then it seems like it could be counted under the new rule.

Now then, the Colorado Bird Records Committee does not strictly adhere to ABA's counting rules and California Condor is not on the state list.  The CBRC does not have a formal policy on introduced or re-introduced species.  However, its actions on such species has been to recognize those with self-sustaining naturalized populations, such as Ring-necked Pheasant and Gambel's Quail, which is consistent with the actions and policies of other state records committees.  California Condor does not fit that criteria, so it is unlikely to be added anytime soon and the Grand Mesa birds remain ineligible for state or county listing purposes within CFO's framework.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.  I have been approached several times about Colorado's lack of a hypothetical list - those native species for which identification is not questionable, but origin is.  The arguments for the ABA rule change, namely the lack of distinction between released and wild-hatched birds, would seem to favor that the condor should be considered hypothetical for Colorado.

Good birding,

Doug Faulkner

CBRC, Chair

On Tue, Oct 14, 2014 at 12:08 AM, Roederer Scott <osprey@estesvalley.net> wrote:

CObirders,

The ABA changed their rules for counting reintroduced indigenous birds on 9/27/14. Populations no longer need to be self-sustaining. They only need to have "successfully hatched young in the wild." This has caused a lot of discussion on the AZ/NM listserv regarding condors, which are now legal to count.

Do I recall correctly that a condor was reported from southwestern CO a few years ago? If so, would those who chased it and saw it be able to count it now? 

There is an ABA rule that lets a bird observed in the past "when it was not considered a valid species" to be counted when it becomes a valid species. I guess you'd have to determine if there had been successful hatching of young in AZ before you saw the bird in CO.

The in-house discussion of the decision to make the rule change is very interesting, particularly the lone dissenter's statement. It's available here:

http://listing.aba.org/rsec-vote-2014-04/

Scott Roederer

Estes Park

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