birding-aus

Re House Crow and ship assists

To: Russell <>
Subject: Re House Crow and ship assists
From: Penny Drake-Brockman <>
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 09:41:03 +1100
>Andrew,
>
>you cannot tick ship assists, aviary escapes, dead birds or birds held in
>rehabilitation-human captivity. These are the basic conventions of a healthy
>list.
>
>Christidis and Boles is the working list for Australia. Clements covers the
>world. Following these conventions House Crow does not qualify for the
>Australian list. The supplementary list is for such unqualified species.
>
>Always there will be suspected ship assists and escapes so committees such
>as BARC need to make decisions. If species are long distance migrants like
>Sabine's and Franklin's Gulls or Blue Rock Thrush or Red-throated Pipit
>maybe you can rest assured they flew at least most of the way themselves.
>
>It gets greyer with short distance movement species such as Laughing and
>Black-tailed Gull. Currently they are considered to be on the list.
>
>House Crows typically present as definite ship assists possible-probable
>escapees. Was the reported dark grey cowl of the Phillip Island bird an
>indicator of juvenile plumage or geographical variation?
>
>As one Newcastle birder exclaimed- "two wings, no rings, I saw it and it was
>one-on the list!"
>

Dear Dion

Thanks for some sensible clarity on this silly issue.  For those who are
keen on lists, they can have a list for escapees, ship-assists, corpses and
whatever, even make a special note on rareties like the Blue Rock-thrush
which presumably did fly here by their own efforts and can be added to an
Oz list when approved by the holy rarety committee.

I remember well my excitement in my very early days in Australia finding a
pair of Bourke's Parrots with a juvenile in Centennial Park, Sydney, and my
chagrin when I learnt they were escapees and not OK for the list - had to
wait until I camped in Currawinya National Park, SW Queensland, before
adding them to my Ozzie list.



Penny Drake-Brockman, Examination Recitals Co-ordinator, Sydney
Conservatorium of Music.
Tel: 02 9351 1254.
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