[obol] Buttonquail vagrancy

[Joel Geier]

P.S. Just to throw out a real-world example:

Recall the Whooper Swans that were observed near Suver Junction in Polk
County in the winter of 2005-06 (and one again last winter), associating
with wild Trumpeter Swans.

If not for the serendipitous happening, that OBOL subscriber Mike
Lippsmeyer once happened to stop to help the owner of the swans off a
state highway, and if not for the fact that Mike made the effort to bend
my ear when he saw the OBOL reports, these swans would in all likelihood
have gone on record as "true vagrants." 

Well of course, the species has a well-established pattern of vagrancy
along the west coast of North America, well-known long-range migratory
tendencies, and the birds in question were associating with clearly wild
birds (even went so far as to form pair bonds, according to Mike).

Is the new threshold for "wild origins" going to be, "Not positively
known to have been chased off a state highway with a stick by an OBOL
subscriber"? 

It would be helpful to know the answer to this question as I'm headed
for Sweden again in a few months, and would be happy to bring back a few
more wagtails for the folks who unfortunately missed the last one ...
and maybe a wheatear for myself since I missed that one.

OK, I'm being facetious here, but hopefully it illustrates the point. I
would personally welcome a shift by the OBRC toward reducing Type II
errors, if it were done consistently. Unfortunately it sounds like this
shift is happening in the least defensible realm: exotic waterfowl
species that are known to be widespread in captivity, which frequently
escape, and for which our collective track record for discerning escapes
is demonstrably not very good.

Good birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area, vagrant Amherst Pheasant capitol of Oregon