for members of the Carolina Bird Club, Inc., ornithological society of the Carolinas
Volume 37 Winter 1991 Number 4

Charleston Area To Host Winter Meeting

The winter meeting is usually the best
attended of the three meetings held
annually by the Carolina Bird Gub. With
locations such as the Charleston area and
outstanding programs as that planned for
our meeting there January 31 -February 2,
1992 by Lex Glover and other local
members, it's not hard to see why.

Headquarters few the meeting will be the
Ramada Inn in Mt. Pleasant, SC. The
room rate is $32 plus tax for 1-4 persons.
A reservation form is provided in the
Newsletter, or you may call the motel at
(803) 884-1411. The Ramada Inn requires
a two week cancellation notice for
refund of deposit
The motel is located on highway
17/Georgetown Highway approximately
1/4 mile north of the Cooper River
Bridge. If traveling north from the Cooper
River Bridge, it will be on your right at
the First traffic light.

Registration will begin on Friday, 31
January, 1992 at 3:00 p.m. at the Ramada
Inn and continue until 6:30 p.m.

First CBC

The First ever CBC Weekend Field Trip
November 17, 1991 was quite a success;
with approximately 20 birders tallying 98
species. We met under mostly clear, but
cool and breezy skies at the north end of
the causeway at Lake Mattamuskeet The
lake did not disappoint. In addition to an
adult and an immature Bald Eagle, we saw
nearly all of the expected waterfowl
species, including the often difficult-to-
find Redhear, Greater Scaup, and Common
Goldeneye. The impoundment adjacent to
the entrance to the refuge headquarters
contained some mudflats, and among an

Season’s Greetings

Registration will resume at 7:00 p.m. at
the Wando High School where the evening
meetings are scheduled. Directions to
Wando High School will be available at
the Ramada Inn front desk for late arrivals.
Preregistration using the form provided in
the Newsletter makes the whole process
easier for everyone and saves you money.

The Saturday evening meeting will
feature Sidney A. Gauthreaux, Jr.,
Professor of Biological Sciences at
Clemson University. He will be speaking
on "The Neotropical Migrant
Conservation Program."

An innovation for this meeting,
suggested at the CBC executive committee

Weekend Field Trip

by Harry LeGrand Jr

unexpected variety of shorebirds was the
prize of the trip-a Hudson ian God wit
After a scrumptious buffet dinner in
New Holland, we headed off to Pungo
Lake and refuge. Except for some distant
swans on the lake, little else was seen, so
we tracked northward to the extensive
Fields just west of Lake Phelps. We
walked out into plowed Fields in quest of
Lapland Longspur. Among the flocks of

fall retreat, is Friday afternoon field
trips for those who arrive early for the
meeting. These trips will leave from the
Ramada Inn parking lot at 1:00 p.m.
Friday, January 31. Destinations will be
Folly Beach, Pitt Street Causeway,
Sullivans Island and Isle of Palms. "Bird
On Your Own Suggestions" will also be
available at the front desk of the Ramada
Inn on Friday.

The Audubon Shop and Gallery in
Charleston wants to welcome the Carolina
Bird Club to the area. Their new catalog
will be in your registration packet, and
they are offering a 20% discount to CBC
members during our winter meeting.

They are also graciously supplying a gift
certificate as a door prize for the Friday
evening meeting. Be sure to stop by the
shop sometime during the weekend and
thank Polly Holden and staff for their
support. Store hours are 9:30 a.m. to
5:30 p.m., Monday-Saturday, and 12:00
noon to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. Their
phone number is 1 -800-453-BIRD.

l Success

Water Pipits flushed from the fields were
one or two longspurs heard giving the
rattle call, but nary a longspur could be
spotted on the ground. Nor did the Short-
eared Owls from a year ago materialize on
this field trip. We waited patiently near
some weedy Fields for the last hour of the
day, but only Northern Harriers showed
themselves. Despite the somewhat
disappointing Finish to the day, the trip
was nonetheless a success thanks to good
weather, dry dirt roads, lots of birds at
Mattamuskeet, and a group of birders that
enjoyed each other's fellowship.

The Traveling Birdwatcher

Birding The Bay Of Pigs

by Jennifer Wren

To be honest, I really had no desire to
bird Cuba. I haven't even been to Texas
or Arizona yet! Then I learned that the
trip left from Toronto in mid-February. If
we took some extra days before we left,
we could bird Amherst Island, a hot spot
for owls in the winter. I couldn't resist
the possibility of adding Snowy Owl to
my life list, and I sent in my check for
$1,100.

We left Toronto on Cubana Airlines and
arrived in Varadero on the north coast in
the evening. We then boarded a bus for a
two hour ride to Playa Larga on the Bay
of Pigs, our base for the next Five days.
The sign at the entrance to the resort says
"Biennenido Playa Larga - centro
international de observation de aves."
(Welcome to Playa Largo - an
international center for the observation of
birds.) Castro has realized that birders
spend money pursuing that next lifer and
is encouraging tourism by "protecting"
thousands of acres of good bird habitat

Our group was small, eight participants,
one Canadian guide, and several Cuban
guides. We received a checklist for 170
species that could be seen on our trip, our
group saw 143 species, and I added 56 to

my life list. We used the late James
Bond's guide to the Birds of the West
Indies supplemented by the National
Geographic field guide. There were 17
endemics, including Bee Hummingbird,
Cuban Parakeet, Cuban Tody, Cuban
Trogan, Zapata Wren, Zapata Sparrow,
Gundlach's Hawk, Blue-headed Quail Dove,
and Cuban Pygmy Owl. Other interesting
birds were Black Rail (a lifer for most of
us), Greater Flamingo, Northern Jacana,
Great Lizard Cuckoo, Cuban Emerald, and
Stripe-headed Tanager.

I found Cuban birding to be an excellent
introduction to birding outside North
America. Most birds were easily seen,
lighting was good, Cuban birds are bright
and distinctive and thus easily remembered,
and there were many of our North
American birds wintering there.

Day hikes were not strenuous, usually
two to three kilometers. The exception
was the Zapata Swamp trek. The Zapata
Swamp is a saw grass marsh with thick,
sticky mud and some water. One
participant sank in mud up to his waist
before he could be rescued, it was well
worth it because we saw both the Zapata
Wren and Zapata Sparrow.

Accommodations were described as
basic, but they were actually quite good.
We each had a two room cabin with hot
water, air conditioning and color TV. The
food was simple; beer was provided on
every outing and with lunch and dinner.
The Bay of Pigs was our swimming hole.

We spent the last day and a half in
Havana at the Havana Hilton. From there
we took a day trip into the mountains of
Pinar del Rio province in western Cuba
for a change of habitat and had a free
afternoon in Havana.

The trip was sponsored by the Long
Point Bird Observatory. These trips raise
money for the "Cuba Project" The
money is used to support cooperative
efforts with Cuban researchers to conduct
studies on wintering populations of
migrant birds and to train Cubans in
techniques of bird banding and other
monitoring methods.

For more information, contact George
Wallace at (519) 582-4867 or Doug
McRae at (519) 586-3531.

Yes, I did get my Snowy Owl. Also
Saw-whet Owl, Oldsquaw, Little Gull,
Great Cormorant and Snow Bunting.

Space Available on CBC Weekend Field Trip

Approximately 16 spaces were still
available on the Outer Banks & Pamlico
Sound field trip as the Newsletter went to
press. This special field trip, scheduled for
January 1 1-12, 1992, will be led by John
Fussell and John Wright Cost is $15.

The trip will begin at 7:00 a.m. on
Saturday, January 1 1 at the parking lot at
the south end of Bonner Bridge over
Oregon Inlet. The jetty and inlet will be
scanned for Purple Sandpiper, eiders, and
Great CormoranL The early morning
ocean may produce something rare, such
as Black-legged Kittiwake, Little Gull or
even an alcid. The impoundments of

Bodie Island and Pea Island NWR should
have an abundance of swans, ducks and
geese (maybe a Ross'). Working south to
Cape Hatteras Point for gulls; the group
will take the free ferry to Ocracoke Island
to spend the night

On Sunday the trip will continue across
Pamlico Sound by toll ($10 per auto) ferry
to Swan quarter. This crossing with the
sun at your back is great for viewing
flocks of Red-breasted Mergansers, loons,
Brant, Surf and Black Scoters, Oldsquaw,
and other diving ducks which are found in
the Pamlico at this time of year.

A registration form is provided in this

Newsletter. Details on reservations for the
Ocracoke to Swanquarter ferry and lodging
for Friday and Saturday nights can be
found in the October, 1991 special issue
of the Newsletter.

Special Spring Weekend

Watch for details in the spring CBC
Newsletter of a special CBC field trip
April 29, 1992 to the SC home of
Evelyn and Tommy Dabbs for a bird
banding demonstration.

I BRIT1S!
j {NATURAL HI

Backyard
Birding

with Frances J. Nelson

Joe Jones, formerly of Chapel Hill
and now of Berryville, VA, who says that
he is a "charter member and life member
of the Carolina Bird Club, a rare species,"
writes about a mockingbird in Berryville
who

and a Starling family. The red-
bcllieds dug a hole in a dead tree and
set up housekeeping. Then one day
the Starlings started hanging around.
The red-bellieds kept one bird in the
nest at all times. But one day we
heard the red-bellieds clucking up a
storm and when we looked out, the
Starling was in the hole. We were
very dismayed. For two or three
weeks they struggled; one day the
red-bellieds were in the hole, one day
the Starlings. We never saw any
young. Then one night a
thunderstorm came through and the
next morning the tree was gone,
knocked over into the pond.

showed up one winter and would
permit no other birds to enter the
feeder. We caught him and released
him immediately. He quickly
returned. We caught him again and
kept him an hour. He returned. We
caught him again and kept him
penned up a whole day. He returned.
We caught him again and confined
him for a week (with food and
water). After that we never saw him
again.

(Hmm. I wonder if that would work
with our resident Sharp-shinned Hawk?
Don't worry. CJ would never agree to it,

. even if I decided to try. He keeps
reminding me that the sharpie is doing
what comes naturally, and to make matters
worse, now if I see the hawk capture a
bird, CJ wants me to watch to see where
he goes to dine.)

Don McCullough, of Durham, NC
claims to have the most versatile mocker.
This mocker frequents the parking lot of
Don's apartment building and imitates
more than just birds: he's added the sound
of an auto theft alarm from a car to his
repertoire." But Mr. McCullough writes
about more than mockingbirds:

Our back yard has been very
entertaining. There is a beaver pond
in an utility easement out our back
windows. We see beaver and
muskrat. Red-shouldered Hawks,

Snowy and Common Egrets, Green
and Great Blue Herons, Yellow
Warblers, phoebes, etc. We hear the
Barred Owl, often at 5:00 p.m. The
saga of the summer was the struggle
between a Red-bellied Woodpecker

The star of the summer was the hen
Wood Duck with nine fuzz-ball
ducklings one morning in June or
July. We had seen both the hen and
the drake earlier.

I'm jealous. We've had a Wood Duck
couple investigate our box two summers
now, but they have moved on.

Another item of interest to fellow
birdwatchers is a news release from
Project FeederWatch about bird kills.
These birds did not die from natural
causes, raptor or other predator attacks;
they met their demise by flying into
windows. These "birds often fly full tilt
into unseen windows; some are killed,
others are left stunned and vulnerable to
predators." Pine Siskins are at the top of
the list, with American Goldfinches and
Dark-eyed Juncoes a close second and
third.

Thus far, we have been lucky. We live
in a rural area, close to woods and open
water, and our yard has plenty of
vegetation and feeders-the typical
territory, according to Project
FeederWatch, few above average bird kills,
yet we don't have that many birds flying
into our windows. Oh, sure, we hear
thumps occasionally, but we've only had a
few deaths. Often we can put on gloves
and hold the stunned bird for a few
minutes and then let it go flying off. We
do have hawk silhouettes on many of the
windows, so maybe that is what keeps our
binds away. I was hesitant about putting
up the silhouettes because I thought they
might keep the birds from feeding, but the
birds feed normally.

CJ and I have finally joined Project
FeederWatch, and it is a relatively easy

thing to do. We have to watch our feeders
two consecutive days each month,
November-March, and record the largest
number of a species we see at any one
time. The more participants, the more
accurate the study will bee, so send in your
$12 to Project Feeder Watch, Cornell Lab
of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucher Woods
Road, Ithaca, NY 14850, and start
counting. If you sign up now, you will
be ready for November, 1992.

As Murphy would have predicted, the
two days in November that we counted, we
had fewer birds than usual. But, then, we
have had sporadic feeding this fall anyway.

I attribute that to the unusually warm
weather. I didn't see juncoes until October
30, and that was pure luck. I had seen
some kind of warblers feeding in the tops
of trees as I was doing the early morning
dog walk. When I went back with the
spotting scope, the warblers, which I later
discovered to be Pine Warblers, wer gone,
but as I stood, a flock of juncoes arrived.
Five days later, the first one appeared on
our back deck. The same morning that I
saw the juncoes, I also saw the first
White-throated Sparrows.

We have not seen the Brown Creeper yet
this fall, but we have had a Mallard drake,
who comes every day or so, three female
Hooded Mergansers, Yellow-rum ped
Warblers and our First Cedar Waxwings.
About 100 of them stripped the yaupon in
two hours. The waxwings bring our
property list to 91 species.

That's it for this newsletter. I check our
mailbox daily for letters from fellow club
members. Thanks to those of you who
have responded, but I know we have more
than five members. Get those bird stories
written and mailed to 1006 Dogwood Hill
Lane, Wake Forest, NC 27587. See you
at the winter meeting.

Spring Meeting Preview

It's not too early to mark your calendar
for the CBC spring meeting May 8-10,
1992. Headquarters will be the Quality
Inn/Appalachian Conference Center in
Boone, NC.

The guest speaker will be Mark
Simpson, a Statesville native who is
now on the faculty of George Washington
University. Marie is the author of Birds
of the Blue Ridge Mountains published
by the UNC Press and scheduled for
release in March.

CBC Rare Bird Alert Highlights

(Caution: sightings reported on the RBA
are not necessarily verified, and
publication in the Newsletter does not
substitute for review by the appropriate
Bird Records Committee and publication
in The Chat.)

Eared Grebes returned to Goldsboro, NC
again this fall, with several reported. The
rare Red-necked Grebe made an unexpected
appearance inland at Greensboro, NC.
Adding to this rare inland appearance were
similar reports of Northern Gannet, Brant,
Oldsquaw, Surf Scoters and White-winged
Scoter. Coastal waterfowl hotspots in NC
produced Ross' Goose and Eurasian
Wigeon.

The hotspots for Carolina’s shorebirding
were undoubtedly the sod farms near
Orangeburg, SC. Throughout the fall

reports of Buff-breasted Sandpipers,

Upland Sandpipers, and Lesser Golden-
Plover came in weekly. A very
approachable Red-necked Phalarope visited
Greensboro, NC. Coastal shorebirds of
interest were a Curlew Sandpiper in NC
and Hudsonian Godwit from both states;
the latter still being seen at Huntington
Beach State Park in SC.

Impressive inland reports continued with
a Parasitic Jaeger at Jordan Lake in NC.
Rare gull reports were Common Black-
headed Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull;
both from NC.

Rufous Hummingbirds put in extended
visits at feeders in both states. Olive-sided
Flycatchers were seen in both states and a
Scissor- tailed Flycatcher was reported from
NC. One of the best reports was of a
singing Bell's Vireo in SC. Better warbler

reports were Mourning, Connecticut and
Wilson's. The highlight, however, was
that of the extremely rare Kirtland's
Warbler from NC.

Clay-colored and Lark Sparrows were
reported from NC and SC, all coastally.
Several calls were received of Lapland
Longspurs in both states, inland and
coastal. Snow Buntings were reported
twice from NC. Taylor Piephojf,
Charlotte, NC.

Joint Field Trip Planned

CBC and the NC State Museum of
Natural Sciences are sponsoring an Outer
Banks winter birding trip March 6-8,
1992. Headquarters will be the newly
restored First Colony Inn at Nags Head,
NC. Leaders are John & Paula Wright
(CBC), and Bob Wolk and Eloise Potter
(NCMNS). Contact the museum at PO
Box 27647, Raleigh, NC 2761 1 or call
(919) 733-7450) for a brochure.

Second CBC Weekend Field Trip of '92 Scheduled

Townville, SC Saturday, February 29, 1992

Leaders: Bob Wood & Steve Cox
Limit: 20 participants Cost: $10

Itinerary: Meet at 7:30 a.m.
February 29 at the Howard Johnson Motor
Lodge at the intersection of I 85 and
Clemson Boulevard. This is exit 19 A.

We will check out the ponds, fields, and
cattle lots around Townville; including the
Little Beaver Dam Creek waterfowl area.
We hope to see Brewer's Blackbird,

Homed Lark, Grasshopper Sparrow,
Lincoln's Sparrow, White-crowned
Sparrow and at least one or two unusual

duck species or shorebirds. We will see
what's swimming in Lake Hartwell at
lunch time, and then in the afternoon we
will see what's lurking about in the
Eighteen Mile Creek area. Keep your
fingers crossed for an American Bittern.
Plan to bring a picnic lunch and some sort
of drink (Townville ain't Paris).

Those desiring to stay at the Howard
Johnson Motor Lodge Friday night may
call (803) 226-3457 to reserve a room. Be
sure to indicate that you are with Carolina
Bird Club, and you will get a room rate of
$35 for a double and free breakfast for one

and a 10% discount for another in your
party. A credit card or 10% deposit is
needed to guarantee the room for late
arrival. Deadline for registration
for the field trip and reserving a
room at the motel is February 18.

Registration Procedure:

(1) Call Bob Wood at (803) 771-7900
(work) or (803) 786-5186 (home) to
"sign up" and obtain additional
information.

Send registration form with payment
to CBC Headquarters Secretary.

i i i i i i i i • i i i i i i • i i t • i i i a i a i i • i i i i i i i i i i i 1 1

Registration Form

CBC Weekend Field Trip to Townville, SC
February 29, 1992

(2)

Name(s).

Address

(list each participant)
City

—
State Zip

Enclosed is my check in the amount of $ for participants at $10 each. I have called the trip leader. Bob Wood, at

(803) 771-7900 or (803) 786-5186 to ensure that space is available.

Mail with check to Carolina Bird Club, Inc., PO Box 27647, Raleigh, NC 27611

Bird Bander's
Notebook

by Dottie Foy

Over the last five years for so, there has
been a major resurgence of interest in the
hummingbird, especially in the Middle
Atlantic states. As one walks or drives
around a community one continually sees
hummer feeders where there were none
before.

This species includes perhaps the
smallest of warm-blooded vertebrates, and
has the greatest relative energy output of
any warm-blooded animal. Other
interesting facts: (1) they are the largest
nonpasserine family of birds, and the
second largest family of Western
Hemisphere birds in number of living
species, (2) the ratio of their heart size to
their body size is the largest of all warm-
blooded animals, and their heartbeat
reaches 1260 beats per minute, (3) their
brain size is among the largest relative to
body weight of all birds (up to at least
4.2%), (4) they are the only birds that
regularly become torpid at night, with a
drop in body temperature of as much as 19
degrees C; however, their normal body
temperature is among the highest (40
degrees C), (5) individual hummingbirds
often consume more than half their total
weight in food and may drink eight times
their weight in water per day

In the Ruby-throated Hummingbird
(Archilochus columbris ) incubation is 14-
21 days; normally (probably) 16 days.
Hedging periods vary considerably in
different areas. The female alone builds
the nest with no help from the male.

I have observed, as have others (Tate and
Foster 1966), hummingbirds at
woodpecker drilled trees feeding on the sap
and also the insects attracted to the sap.

My husband and I started taking
extensive notes on plumage, migration
dates, molt, etc. of the Ruby-throated
Hummingbirds caught in banding nets in
New Jersey in 1970. In 1987 we applied
for and received a "specialized permit" to
band hummingbirds. Between 1988 and
July 15, 1991 we banded 347 ruby-throats.

Records by band number are kept of each
bird caught by net or ground trap. We
found 18 (5.2%) of the 347 returned in
subsequent years to our banding station,
and ten of these were found in either the
trap or net where they were originally
caught. Twelve of the eighteen returned
the following year after banding, one
returned three years in a row, and 2 HY-F
banded in 1988 returned as SY birds in
1989.

To date my most interesting hummer is
a female banded August 24, 1988 as an
AHY. My only encounter with her was
June 9, 1991; making her at least five
years old. Three females were at least
four years old, eight were at least three
years old. The oldest males to return
were four at least four years old. There is
not enough data here for a stable life
table.

Banding has helped the scientific
community to gain heretofore unknown
facts about our hummingbird’s lives. For
example, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird
banded in Hollister, Missouri as a HY-F
in 1980 was recaptured by the original
bander in the same place in 1989. She
lived for nine years. Another ruby-throat
banded in Jay, Oklahoma in 1978 also
lived for nine years. These two are the
longest age records for the Ruby-throated
Hummingbird.

Many hummingbirds are polygamous,
and more adult females than adult males
might actually be anticipated at feeding
stations. This has been the case at our
banding station.

Although most Ruby-throated
Hummingbirds have left Nath Carolina
by late October the latest date that we
have banded a ruby-throat is December
13, 1988. This bird had a meager fat
supply, but we did not find anything out
of the ordinary otherwise.

References:

Johnsgard, Paul A. 1983. The

Hummingbirds of North America.
Smithsonian Institute. Washington,
D.C.

Tate & Foster. 1966. The activities and
coactions of animals at sapsucker
trees. Living Bird 5: 87-114.

Tyrrell, Robert A. & Esther Quesda
1985. Hummingbirds, Their Life

and Behavior. Crown Publishers,
New York, N. Y.

Hummer Hotline

Have you had questions about
hummingbirds but didn't know who to
ask? Dottie Foy, our resident expert on
the subject, has agree to answer your
questions about these fascinating birds.
Her new question and answer column will
appear in the Newsletter starting with the
spring issue. Address your questions to
Mrs. Dorothy J. Foy, PO Box
457, Oriental, NC 28571.

Breeding Bird Atlas
Project in Final
Year

The North Carolina Breeding Bird Atlas
Project, sponsored by the Museum of
Natural Sciences, is entering its fifth and
final year. Not unexpectedly, some areas
of the state have been covered more
thoroughly than others. In order to have a
more balanced and complete coverage, the
Museum is looking for help in any of the
following areas:

Albemarle peninsular counties (Tyrrell,
Washington, Hyde, Martin)

West-central Piedmont counties of
Iredell, Davie and Rowan

If you will be birding in any of these
areas during the breeding season and are
willing to contribute your notes, the
museum will be happy to incorporate them
into the Atlas Project. The Museum
provides detailed maps and checklists. For
additional information you can write or call
John Gerwin, NC Museum of Natural
Sciences, PO Box 27647, Raleigh, NC
27611,(919) 733-7450.

CBC Rare Bird Alert
(704) 332-Bird

For The Record

( Editor's Note: We hope that "For The
Record" will be a regular column reporting
on the activities of the CBC Bird Records
Committees. The North Carolina
committee is chaired by Harry E. LeGrand
Jr. of Raleigh, and the South Carolina
committee is chaired by Robin Carter of
Columbia. The North Carolina
committee is the first to report .)

The North Carolina Bird Records
Committee of the Carolina Bird Club has
now been in operation for approximately
two years. It is time to make a few
announcements about the Committee to
CBC readers.

The most important announcement is
the designing of the Committee’s Rare
Bird Sighting Report, developed by Mike
Tove, one of the Committee members.
Mike served as Chairman of the Utah
records committee for several years, where
a similar report form was in wide usage.
Until now, our CBC committee operated
without such a report form. A report form
is vital to the smooth and efficient
operations of a records committee. A
completed form gives the committee
members all of the information they
should need to make a decision on the
accuracy of a sighting. Without it, details
provided by an observer might be too brief
for the committee to make a decision.

The report form also prods the observer
into providing crucial information about
similar species and how they were
eliminated. For example, the committee
might be as much interested in details
explaining why a winter-season Eastern
Wood Pewee wasn’t an Eastern Phoebe as
why it was a pewee!

The Records Committee wishes to
review all reports for species with fewer
than 10 state records. We also wish to
review other highly significant reports
such as first, second, or third state winter
records, new inland records of coastal
birds, etc. Generally speaking, observers

of such records send the chairman (who
presently is also the "Briefs for the Files"
editor of Chat ) details in the form of a
letter, often as a part of a seasonal report.
If the chairman believes that the details
provided in a letter, for example, are
thorough enough for the committee to
take a vote, he will send out copies of the
details to the members. The committee,
however, wants to encourage the use of
the new form. A copy of the form is
included with this report, and copies will
be available at CBC meetings. We will
also send observers a report form upon
learning of a rare bird sighting in order to
encourage the incoming details to be
written on the form. We do not want
people to feel intimidated by having them
complete a Rare Bird Sighting Form. We
realize that some people will feel
intimidated by having other people review
a sighting of theirs, whether the sighting
is reported on a form or simply as part of
a letter. It is important, however, that
records of rare species be incorporated into
the literature, and reports of such rarities
must be reviewed for accuracy. We should
all be proud of the avifauna list for North
Carolina and hope that the list of species
recorded from the state continues to grow.
However, it is important that the list be
"squeaky clean" and thoroughly reviewed,
so that questionable or unacceptable
records are not a part of the literature.

The Records Committee expects to
publish in Chat a list of the species
recorded in North Carolina, by acceptance
level. The list will show which species
are on the official list, as well as those on
the provisional list The list will have a
few symbols to indicate those species for
which the committee wished to review all
new records, such as those species with 10
cm- fewer state records.

In an upcoming issue of the CBC
Newsletter , the committee will issue a list
of those species which it wishes to
review. This will be a much shorter list
than the entire state list that would be
published in Chat. We also hope to
provide a list of previously published
records, generally of species with fewer
than 10 records, for which details were
either not published or were too vague or
inadequate for the committee to make a
decision. This latter list is an attempt to
prod the observers into providing further
details (original field notes) than those that
appeared in print

We want to stress to the CBC
membership that our decisions are based
on the best information available to us.
The decisions are open to reconsideration
with more information, and it is possible
that some decisions will be changed as
new information becomes available. The
committee welcomes all written input
from bird students regarding refinement of
the state list. We especially solicit the
following:

1) any opinions on the accuracy of
published records especially when these
opinions are based on "new" information,
such as newly published bird identification
articles;

2) any information about the existence
of photographs or specimens of species
that are currently poorly documented,
including species that are poorly
documented seasonally or regionally;

3) any information regarding species
commonly kept in captivity, particularly
regarding whether sightings of the species
in North Carolina probably represented
escaped or wild birds. Harry E. LeGrand
Jr, Chairman, N.C. Bird Records
Committee.

New Species Sighted

Sharp eyed birders noted a new species
described in the special October issue of
CBC Newsletter. Eloise Potter actually
reported a Kirtland’s Warbler rather than a
Kirkland's Warbler as prominently and
repeatedly claimed in the fall meeting
report Unfortunately, the editor can't
blame it on "computer error.” It was his
own human error. Fortunately, the only
member unkind enough to mention it
was N. C. Bird Records Committee
Chairman, Dr. Harry E. LeGrand Jr.

Your editor felt a little better about his
goof when he read an article in the
December 8 issue of The Herald-
Sun/Raleigh Extra reporting on the
effects of development on bird life in
Wake County. The article quoted well
known experts and CBC members Ken
Knapp, Harry LeGrand, Dave Lee, and
John Connors. Among the species
adversely affected by development was the
red cockeyed woodpecker which the
article appropriately noted did not adapt
well to city life. Probably has trouble
crossing streets.

Registration Form

CBC Weekend Field Trip to NC Outer Banks & Pamlico Sound

January 11 & 12, 1992

Name(s)

(list each participant)

Address City State Zip

Enclosed is my check in the amount of $ for participants at $15 each. I have called the trip leader, John Wright at

(919) 756-5139 to ensure that space is available.

Mail with check to Carolina Bird Club, Inc., PO Box 27647, Raleigh, NC 27611

Ramada Inn Reservation Form

Carolina Bird Club

Winter Meeting, January 31-February 2,1992

Name Address

City State Zip.

Rooms (1-4 occupants) $32.00 plus tax.

Please reserve room(s) at $32.00 per night. My check for the first night's lodging is enclosed. I will arrive .

and depart .

Mail with deposit to Ramada Inn, 301 Johnnie Dobbs Blvd., Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 or call (803) 884-1411.

Registration Form

CBC Winter Meeting, January 31-February 2, 192

Name(s).

Address

(list each name for name tags)
City

State Zip.

Enclosed is my check in the amount of $ for member registrations at $4 each and nonmember registrations

at $5 each. Registration at meeting will be $5 for members and $6 for nonmembers.

Mail with check to Carolina Bird Club, Inc., PO Box 27647, Raleigh, NC 27611

Bulls Island & Cape Romain NWR Reservation Form

Saturday & Sunday, February 1 & 2, 1992

Name

Address

(list each participant)
City

State Zip.

Enclosed is my check in the amount of $ to reserve place(s) at $15 each for the Bulls Island ferry February 1, and

places(s) at $25 each for the Cape Romain NWR boat trip.

Please make check payable to Steve Compton and mail to 162 Gordon Street, Charleston, SC 29403. Tel. (803) 5774816.

Welcome New Members

Fred J. Alsop III

Johnson City, TN

Sue McCormac

Atlantic Beach, NC

Jane Stephenson

Atlantic Beach, NC

Jeffrey Bay

Raleigh, NC

Robert L. Merrick

Wilmington, NC

Randy C. Stinson

Liberty, NC

The British Library Rick Payne

Wetherby, England Durham, NC

L. E. Willis

Carrollton, VA

Phillip J Crisp

Greensboro, NC

Wayne K. Forsythe

Hendersonville, NC

Judith Luetkemeyer

Charlotte, NC

Roger E. Robbins

Beaufort, NC

Frances R. Sibley

Franklin, NC

John A. Sneeden

Raleigh, NC

Membership Application and Order Form

Name Address

City State Zip Tel. ( ) ( )

(home) (business)

ENTER/RENEW MEMBERSHIP AS INDICATED SEND MATERIALS INDICATED

Individual ($12) Life ($200) CBC Cloth arm patch $1.50 ea., $1.25 ea. in quantity

Family ($15) Patron ($ 50) CBC Decals (water type) 75c ea., 50c ea. in quantity

Student ($ 6) Daily Checklists 10/$ 1.00, 25/$ 1.25, 50/$2.50, 75/$3.75

Affiliate Club ($15) 100/$5.00

Library/Institution ($15) Make check payable to Carolina Bird Club, Inc. and mail to PO Box 27647, Raleigh, NC 2761 1

I I II II I II I I • I I • II I I I I • II II I I I I I I III II I I I I I I I I I I I I I I III I I II II I I I I I I I I I I I I III I I I I I I III I I • I I • I I I ■ II • I I I I I Ml II •• I II III I I I I I I III I I N • I ■ I • II I I I I II

CBC Newsletter is published quarterly by Carolina Bird Club, Inc., the ornithological society of the Carolinas, with
headquarters at Raleigh, NC. CBC is a nonprofit corporation, founded in 1937, with membership open to anyone interested in
birds, natural history and conservation. Members are encouraged to submit items of interest to CBC Newsletter, Clyde Smith,
Editor, 2615 Wells Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27608.

CAROLINA BIRD CLUB, INC.

CB@

Nonprofit Organization
U.S. Post Office
Permit No. 1654
Raleigh, NC 27611

P.O. BOX 27647, RALEIGH, NC 27611