[mou] Costa/listing game

[esteb02@frontiernet.net]

Since Mike brought it up, whatever happened to the hummingbird?  Who has
it now and what is the plan for it?

Steve Estebo

*********************************
Hello:

Well I am certainly not a listing police guy but I have some answers to
anyone who plays the listing game and regards to the Costa Hummingbird.

This was taken out of the listing supplement. Also remember when you
play the listing game you can follow the rules or you can choose not
to.  Its all a personal choice and NO one will attack you for not doing
either. So IF you play the listing game here are the rules from the
listing supplement.

This quote is taken directly from the MOU Listing Supplement rules:

   "The bird must be alive, wild, and unrestrained when observed.

    Netted or trapped birds are not countable while in captivity and a
bird
    is considered still under the influence of captivity after its
release
    until it regains the activities and movements of a bird which had
not
    been captured. A bird is under the influence of captivity during its
    initial flight away from its release point and during subsequent
    activity reasonably influenced by the captivity, such as initial
    perching and preening or early sleeping or roosting near the release
    point. A nocturnal species released during daylight which goes to
roost
    near the point of release is considered under the influence of
captivity
    until the next nightfall when it has left its roost and begun normal
    nocturnal activities.

OK OK what about the Anna's Hummingbird in Grand Marais or the Anna's in
the Twin Cities. YES the homeowner put out a shelter heated box and
added food in thier so the hummingbird can be sort of protected while
it fed and also a place to roost in if the hummingbird to choose to
roost in those heated boxes. In all those cases the hummingbird was
able to freely fly and go about its business outdoors and not under
human control.  The hummer still had to deal with the weather/predators
and etc.. It was treated no differently than Carolina Wrens coming to
heated feeders with grubs in it.

In this case the bird was lured into a basement and doors were shut. The
hummingbird is now in captivity. When birders came to photo the hummer
it was a captive bird and if those birders wanted to know if they can
count it They have two options, either go by the listing rules and not
count the bird but just admired it or go ahead and add the bird to
thier personal list. Either way its your choice.

Now in my opinion I am sure the hummingbird will be added onto the
Minnesota Bird List. The hummingbird was seen outdoors on its own
coming to thier feeder. It wasn't initially ID as a Costa till it was
filmed by some TV crew and a birder knew its identity when he saw the
clip on TV. The bird was housed in a basement and was confided and its
movement were controlled by the homeowner. Its just like that Calliope
Hummingbird record. The Hummingbird looked like a Calliope but no one
was absolutely sure until it was mist netted and positive ID was than
made. So the hummingbird was unidentified, lured in the basement,
filmed, and than it was identified.

So I am fairly certain it will be added to the state list. Again I am
not speaking for MOURC because I am not a MOURC member I am just giving
my opinion regarding to adding the bird to the state list. Also
remember MOURC doesn't govern listing rules/nor creates them or spends
time with them. They don't care about lists or listing rules.

I hope this helps.

Mike Hendrickson