[Birdnet] Nutmeg Mannikin

[Steve Carr]

I've seen Nutmeg Mannikins in Hawaii and Malaysia, and have heard that they are a fairly common cage bird in the US.  I don't recall seeing a posting on the Utah Birdnet/Birdtalk or the earlier telephone BirdLine, but I suspect it is an escapee from somewhere in northern Utah.  I haven't heard that this species is beginning to spread from where they have been more or less established in California - at least not this far away yet.

--Steve Carr


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dennis Shirley<mailto:colimawarbler at yahoo.com> 
  To: birdnet at utahbirds.org<mailto:birdnet at utahbirds.org> 
  Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2008 9:26 PM
  Subject: [Birdnet] Nutmeg Mannikin


  Hi All,
  I just had an unusual bird at my backyard feeders, a NUTMEG MANNIKIN. It is a member of an Old World Family of finches and is common in Southeast Asia. They have become established in Southern California and also Hawaii,
  and I have seen them at these two locations and also Thailand. They are not countable in ABA but does anyone know if they have been seen in Utah before. It's interesting to speculate where this guy might have come from. I'm not sure if they are a cage type bird and this is an escapee or if they are "naturally" spreading to other areas. Either case, he sure stood out from the house finches and house sparrows and got my interest real fast. He's the last bird shown in the National Geographic Field Guide, p.464. It will be interesting to see if he sticks around or is joined by others. He, along with all the other finches and sparrows, likes the cracked corn spread out on the ground. 
  Dennis Shirley 
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