Proposal (888) to South
American Classification Committee
Add Agelaius
phoeniceus (Red-winged Blackbird) to the main SACC list
Currently, Agelaius phoeniceus is on the SACC Hypothetical
List:
Agelaius
phoeniceus Red-winged Blackbird:
Reported from Trinidad by ffrench (1991); the record was backed by unpublished
photos by Tim Manolis. Subsequently, Manolis
submitted the photos to the TTBSDC, and the record was accepted (Kenefick
2019). Proposal badly needed.
.
Martyn Kenefick sent me the report
from the TTBSDC, which provides the following details. The bird was found in June 1980 by Tim Manolis and Richard ffrench in marshes bordering the Caroni
Swamp and was reported into “mid 1981.”
The Committee vote was 6 to accept and 1 undecided, but committee
members expressed some doubts, e.g. whether it was ship-assisted and whether
Red-shouldered (A. assimilis) or Tricolored (A. tricolor) could
be eliminated. Although the original
report stated that ffrench was sure it was not A. assimilis, virtually
every committee member expressed doubt that A. assimilis could be
eliminated based on anything but likelihood, because A. assimilis is a
sedentary endemic with a small population endemic to Cuba, and the undecided
member based his undecided stance on the point that A. assimilis could
not be categorically eliminated.
Here is a screen shot of the photos
and the account in Kenefick (2019); let me know if you would like a pdf of the
publication.
My interpretation of the photo is
that it is clearly a male A. phoeniceus/A. assimilis, with enough
hint of yellow to eliminate A. tricolor.
The adult males are nearly indistinguishable by plumage. Jaramillo (1999, New World Blackbirds)
indicated that the songs differ slightly, but there is no recording to support
the Trinidad record. That’s unfortunate,
especially because the bird was evidently present for about one year, and the
size of the epaulet in the photos suggests a displaying, singing bird.
I share the concerns of the TTBSDC
members on this one, but to the point that I would be conservative and not
accept it as A. phoeniceus. Of
course, as expressed by some TTBSDC members, A. phoeniceus is more
likely --- it is migratory (multiple records for Bermuda, for example), breeds
as close as the northern Bahamas, and outnumbers the population of A.
assimilis by many orders of magnitude.
But my reason for taking a more conservative approach is that true
vagrants do not typically stay for a year.
Although that’s presumably the way A. assimilis colonized Cuba
from A. phoeniceus stock (as with Barn and Cliff swallows in southern
South America), it is nonetheless unusual for passerine vagrants to linger like
this. Although much less likely, I
really cannot dismiss entirely the possibility that this is a Red-shouldered
Blackbird prospecting new territory. The
number of records of non-migratory West Indian bird species recorded in south
Florida suggests that over-water dispersal is not out of the question, although
the difference in distance between Cuba and south Florida versus Trinidad makes
this a weak point. I also worry about
the cage-bird trade, which is evidently widespread in Cuba and in Trinidad
& Tobago. Finally, I am not really
impressed by the track record of A. phoeniceus as a vagrant. Yes, there are multiple records from Bermuda,
but almost everything shows up on Bermuda, and we tend to forget that Bermuda
is at the same latitude as North Carolina.
Farther south, I see only one undocumented vagrant record in eBird from
the West Indies, a sight record from Mayaguez, PR, of an adult male, which
technically does not eliminate A. assimilis. EBird of course doesn’t
have everything in it, but the point that Red-winged Blackbird is not a
widespread vagrant in the West Indies is clear.
If the differences between male
Red-winged and Red-shouldered are obvious in the field to someone experienced
with Red-winged, then I doubt someone as experienced and reliable as Tim Manolis would have passed a Red-shouldered off as a
Red-winged, even pre-split, but I can’t find out enough about Red-shouldered to
see whether differences in the field should be obvious.
So, I tentatively vote NO on this,
but without much conviction, so I await the comments of others.
References:
KENEFICK, M. 2019. Sixteenth report of the Trinidad and Tobago
Birds Status and Committee: records submitted in 2018. J. Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists
Club: 49–54.
Van Remsen,
September 2020
Comments
from Claramunt:
“NO. The photo is not identifiable at the species
level. I’m not a Bayesian. Prior probabilities are not evidence.”
Comments
from Bonaccorso:
“NO. The photo is not good enough to make a decision.”
Comments from Robbins:
“NO. For reasons that you stated, I too support a conservative position
on the id, so a no vote for acceptance as phoeniceus (a yes vote for
acceptance as phoeniceus/assimilis).
Comments
Lane: “The photos of the T&T
bird, in my opinion, are diagnostic for Red-winged Blackbird in that the
scarlet color of red epaulets eliminates the crimson-shouldered Tricolored
Blackbird, and the obviously “inflated” epaulets is a common behavior of
Red-winged when singing and displaying (which is what I assume the bird was
doing while these photos were taken), and seems not to be the behavior of
Red-shouldered Blackbird (see videos here: https://search.macaulaylibrary.org/catalog?taxonCode=resbla1&view=List&mediaType=v&sort=obs_date_desc&ey=2017&q=Red-shouldered%20Blackbird%20-%20Agelaius%20assimilis ), although
perhaps Al has field experience with that species and can clarify if the
Macaulay videos are not typical of singing behavior of Red-shouldered.
Similarly, Tawny-shouldered Blackbird (which does not show such red epaulets)
seems not to demonstrate epaulet-inflating while singing, and thus also can be
discarded as an option.
Nevertheless, Red-shouldered
Blackbird is clearly a very local and rare species in Cuba whereas Red-winged
is one of the most abundant species of bird in North America, and so the
overwhelming probability that the bird in the T&T photos is the latter
rather than the former is hard to deny.
“To argue that Red-winged Blackbird does not have a pattern of
long-distance vagrancy is not entirely accurate. There is a more far-flung
vagrant record from Orkney, Scotland, April-May 2017:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ibi.12654
Photos here:
“I would argue that there are not a few cases of vagrants taking
up residence where they end up rather than moving on after a shorter period,
for example the Northern Gannet on the Farallons of California, the
Black-browed Albatross in Scotland, the Golden Eagle on Kaua’i,
Hawai’i, etc. There are
such things as parulids that have set up territories well out of range and
returning annually (like
Northern Parula in California). So this doesn’t seem like a strongly compelling
reason to dismiss the record.
“Provenance might be the strongest argument not to accept the
record, as the bird may have been ship-assisted. Personally, I am not bothered
by ship-assistance if the bird is not restrained while on board--it has the
option to depart whenever it wants (but likely will only do so if land is
visible). It is not possible to assess feather wear on the present bird (given
the poor quality of the images. In addition,
I believe the photos would have been taken long after the bird could have
replaced worn feathers), so assessing whether it was in a cage is not possible,
but I am not a fan of the super-conservative stance that “we can’t tell, so we
must assume the worst.” I think the likelihood that a Red-winged Blackbird
could end up in T&T under its own power or ship assisted is quite good.
Therefore, I would be in favor of accepting this record as a genuine one of the
species for South America.”
Comments from Zimmer: “Abstain
until we hear from Alvaro regarding whether the behavior of “inflating” the
epaulets occurs in Red-shouldered Blackbirds or not. I have no experience with the latter species,
and therefore, do not feel qualified to rule out its identification based upon the
poor photos, even though they look like a pretty perfect match for Red-winged
Blackbird to me (and forget Tricolored – the red epaulet is the wrong color, as
is the yellow border). I do find Dan
Lane’s arguments in favor of A.
phoeniceus pretty compelling, particularly if it can be confirmed that
there is a behavioral difference regarding the inflating of the epaulets during
song between phoeniceus and assimilis. Minus that information, I would take the
conservative path and vote “NO” to pinning the ID to phoeniceus, and “YES” to accepting it as A. phoeniceus/assimilis.”
Comments
from Jaramillo:
“I am actually going to vote YES for this bird,
because the likelihood is so overwhelming that it is a Red-winged and not a
Red-shouldered. Red-shouldered Blackbird is incredibly range-restricted, and it
has a very small population. I looked at Birdlife International and was
surprised that they have Red-shouldered Blackbird as Least Concern. I don’t
know that anyone ever sees more than a max of 20 of these birds in any one spot
in the Zapata Swamp. You have to go to very specific places to find this
blackbird in the Zapata peninsula. If you ask me, the world population is
probably only a few thousand, and in my opinion they are also on the decline.
Now, I do not know how many were about in 1980, but I am sure it was not all
that different then. Red-shouldered has a few population centers, but the
Zapata Swamp is the only major one. They do not show up randomly in other spots
of the country where they do not breed. This species is actually quite unlike a
Red-winged in many ways, and in my opinion is strongly resident, only moving
small amounts depending on water levels. They do not form flocks with
non-breeding grackle/blackbirds in agricultural areas as you see with
Tawny-shouldered etc. In short, there is a stronger chance that a Kirtland's
Warbler will wind up in Trinidad and Tobago than a Red-shouldered Blackbird. As
such, I am comfortable calling this a Red-winged.”
Comments
from Stiles:
“NO. My experience with strayed, overshooting fall
migrants is that they may stay around for a month or three, but they leave when
environmental cues (or their innate circannual rhythm) tells them that
migration season is nearing (as do the members of their species in the normal
winter range). After all, their breeding area is fixed in their magnetic sense,
so they know where they should head for! Therefore, if the unidentifiably
photographed bird did stay around for over a year, it was at least as likely a lost,
nonmigratory cubano.”
Comments from Lane: “YES. I have managed to get my
hands on my copy of Jaramillo and Burke's New World Blackbirds (Princeton/Helm)
and was gratified to see the following under A. assimilis: "Unlike
Red-winged Blackbirds, the male does not spread his red epaulets when singing.
The wings are kept closed, but are drooped, and the epaulets are kept
covered." So, I think we can discard A. assimilis as a
potential ID for the bird in this photo, which really only leaves the question
to be origin. As I stated in my comments above, I think there is enough
likelihood that this is a naturally occurring vagrant (as determined by the
TTBSDC) that I am willing to accept it as such.”
Comments
from Stiles:
“Add Agelaius phoeniceus to the SA list. As it stands, the NO votes have
a slight majority, but given the photos and Alvaro’s description of the singing
posture of A. assimilis, I (and Dan) are convinced to change our votes
to YES: should propose a re-vote to see if others might be convinced to
switch.”
Comments
from Areta:
“YES. I am persuaded by Dan´s arguments. I also asked
Rosendo Fraga, who thought it was highly unlikely that the resident assimilis
would fly over to Trinidad & Tobago.”
Additional comments from Remsen: “I’m changing my vote to
YES, but reluctantly. Dan’s and Alvaro’s
comments have persuaded me. My
continuing worry is the issue of origin, but there is no actual evidence to support
the escapee hypothesis other than its long-standing presence, and if Red-winged
Blackbird were a regular feature of the cagebird trade there, TTBSDC would know
it. Finally, I dislike overturning a
national committee’s vote unless there is compelling reason to do so.”
Comments from Pacheco: YES. Especially because of the
arguments put forward here by Dan. Regarding the residual doubt at the origin,
the best thing that can happen is that new vagrants appear and are better
photographed.”
Comments from Jon Dunn: “YES. I assume all or your Committee members have
access to Jaramillo and Burke (1999). It's all there. With the wing and
shoulder prominently exposed, it's not a Red-shouldered Blackbird. They listed
an important citation (Whittingham et al. 1992). I perused the reference and
cite the relevant section: "In North America, males display their
epaulets in flight and in a song-spread-display where their wings are arched
and fanned out (Nero 1956). In Cuba we saw only males display their epaulets
only in flight; males did not perform song-spread displays and always concealed
epaulets when singing." This coincides exactly with my own
recollections with this species in nine trips, nearly all of which where we
watched singing Red-shouldered Blackbirds. I have yet to have gotten a photo
showing the red shoulder! It does contradict Raffaele et al (1998). which ways
of Red-shouldered: "When singing, the male drops its wings, exposing
the brilliant red shoulder patch, raises its back feathers and spreads its tail."
I suspect this is a lapsus. I have not reviewed Nero, but I'm sure us
northerners can relate to the song display of a Red-winged Blackbird when
perched. The songs are different between Red-winged and Red-shouldered (both
sexes; sonograms presented in Whittingham et al. 1992)) and this combined with
the black plumage of the female and the sharp difference in displays (important
in blackbirds) all indicate that separate species status of these two is the
best treatment. I remain convinced that the Trinidad bird is a Red-winged
Blackbird. The origin issue is trickier, but would accept for reasons
articulated earlier. I see no compelling reason to differ from the national
committee, and the species clearly shows an ability to stray great distances
(e.g., the U.K.). Although an adult male could easily be overlooked in Cuba
from Red-shouldered, a female would be easily separable. I don't know how hard
the Cubans or visiting birders scour blackbird flocks for strays, for either a
Brown-headed Cowbird or a Red-winged Blackbird. One doesn't see large blackbird
flocks in Cuba, at least from my experience.”
“Literature cited
Jaramillo, A., and P. Burke. 1999.
New World Blackbirds. Princeton University Press.
Nero, R.W. 1956. A behavior study
of the Red-winged Blackbird II. Territoriality. Wilson Bull. 68:129-150.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido,
A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies.
Princeton University Press.
Whittingham, L.A., A. Kirkconnell,
and L.M. Ratcliffe. 1992. Differences in song and sexual dimorphism between
Cuban and North American Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus).
Auk 109: 928-933.”