[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]
Posted by Brennan Mulrooney on 09:44:08 01/17/07
In Reply to: Re: ENP - Flamingo posted by Trey Mitchell
I guess I'll jump in here, this is almost as much fun as an immature gull!
Having seen both of these species here in FL and also up in NJ, I have a fairly good feel for the differences, though they are often subtle. First off I'd say that if this is a Nelson's, it's not the dull subvirgatus race. I think it would have to be the nominate nelsoni race. If you look at photos on the web of this race of Nelson's, I think you'll see that they look pretty much exactly like this bird. The malar stripe is evident on nelsoni birds, so that's not a problem for this bird. The problems I see with this bird being a Saltmarsh are that the breast streaking is fairly thin and blurry, the rear supercilium appears to not be streaked, and the throat is not white. Judging bill length is tough. The bird I saw recently at Sandy Key that I called a Saltmarsh, had much heavier streaking below (approaching a Savannah) and a bright white throat. Also, the buff wash across the breast wasn't as heavy.
So I think there is a much stronger case for nominate Nelson's than a Saltmarsh, but I look forward to further discussion of this bird.
Brennan Mulrooney
Key Largo, FL
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]