[Birdtalk] re:cormorant

[Tim Avery]

Sue,

I will take a stab at this for you.

I think first and foremost would be the precedent.  As far as I know there are 0
(zero) records for Pelagic Cormorant away from the Pacific Coast.  Having a
PECO show up at a murky lake in the southwest would seem highly suspect.  In
retrospect, Neotropic Cormorant has over the past 20 years worked its way north
into regular breeding status in several border states (namely Arizona, Ne
Mexico and Texas, plus a few others I believe)and is widely known to "wander",
and is often seen a lakes hanging out with DCCO.  A handful of interior U.S.
states have records for NECO, the most recent being in Illinois this summer and
now Utah (hopefully) this past week.

Away from the geographic reasons, as far as I know there are several key
features distinguishing these birds.  I think in the case of this individual
specifically the dark brownish color would be enough to eliminate the , dark if
not black PECO, but more so the facial skin coloration is I believe diagnostic.
 PECO birds at this age should show a dark facial skin coloration, that if I am
correct in my previous experience with this species would blend in with the
body color.  At best I imagine some shade of purple or very dark red to black
would be seen as opposed to the orange skin that those who have seen the bird
reported on the facial skin.

Aside from the aforementioned, there are finer details that at the distance the
bird has been viewed would be hard to tell.  How slender the bill is and the
general shape of the head also differ form NECO.

And finally giving Rick all due respect, as well as Larry, the Beyer's, Larene,
David Wheeler and the large number of birders who have seen the bird, I believe
we have a great candidate for a first state record here.  Although having a
PECO show up in Utah would certainly be something I would sell my soul (or at
least my pinky toe's soul) for, it will be something I can dream about for the
next 50 years.

I hope this helps, and I hope to get back down that way tomorrow for another
shot at it.

Cheers

Tim
Salt Lake City, UT
tanager at timaverybirding.com
http://www.timaverybirding.com
http://www.timavery.com