[cobirds] Problematic birds at Greenlee Preserve, Boulder County, Apr. 27

Hello, Birders.

Lots going on in the rain yesterday morning, Mon., Apr. 27, at Greenlee Preserve, Boulder County. Here are some highlights:

1. A singing African collared-dove (video: http://tinyurl.com/AfCD-2015-04-27). It was a "wild type" individual, about the same color and build overall as a Eurasian collared-dove, but singing its distinctive song. Listen also for the African collared-dove's unique flight call (not captured in this audio), a descending whinny, entirely unlike the Eurasian collared-dove's monosyllabic whooshing-and-roaring sound.

2. A small "white-cheeked goose" whose ID I am not clear on (photos: http://tinyurl.com/goose-2015-04-27). I had initially called it a "Richardson" cackling goose; then several great birders called it a "lesser" Canada goose; now some other great birders are calling it a cackling goose again. Anybody have any thoughts on this bird? I have no dog in this fight; just interested in learning more about the tricky "white-cheeked geese" of Colorado. The bird has been there for at least a month, and it shows no signs of going anywhere. (Although it might want to keep an eye on the coyotes...)

3. An adult peregrine falcon, probably a male (photos: http://tinyurl.com/PeFa-2015-04-27). Surely, this one is straightforward, yes? Not so fast. A falcon researcher reminded me the other day that "pseudogrine" genes are pervasive in the modern peregrine genome. The "successful" reintroduction programs of the late 20th century involved a lot of mixing and matching of different populations of peregrines, with the result that we have engineered a different "species" than the one that existed in the 20th century.

4. An orange-crowned warbler singing a notably complex song (audio: http://tinyurl.com/OCWa-2015-04-27). Roger Tory Peterson famously disparaged the orange-crown's song as "a colorless trill." I dunno, this one sounds more like a house wren to me! By the way, does anybody know what to call these uniformly bright orange-crowns we see in spring? They're so bright compared to the presumed celata orange-crowns I saw last week in Missouri; but they're not blaze-yellow like lutescens to our west; and they're so uniformly patterned and colored compared to my impression of orestera.

Other birds yesterday morning at the Greenlee/Waneka complex: beautiful ducks (wood duck, cinnamon teal, etc.) on Greenlee Reservoir; black-and-white ducks and duck-like birds (western grebe, double-crested cormorant, lesser scaup) on Waneka Lake; a snowy egret along the shore of Waneka; at Greenlee, continuing American avocets and solitary sandpiper, plus a flyover marbled godwit, shrieking loudly; continuing Say phoebes and bushtits; with the orange-crowns, a bunch of myrtle warblers and Audubon warblers, plus one or two myrtle x Audubon hybrids; and a Lincoln sparrow amid at least 8 Gambel white-crowned sparrows.

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County

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