MOURC Proceedings Archive - Whistling-Ducks, Geese, Swans, Ducks Accepted
Duplicates
This is the 1981 to present Records Committee Proceedings archive for
The Loon, journal of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.
The last 2 years are available to MOU members.
Families
Whistling-Ducks, Geese, Swans, Ducks
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Proceedings
Species: Whistling-Ducks, Geese, Swans, Ducks
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Ross's Goose
[Taiga Bean-Goose]
Brant
Mute Swan
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
[Whooper Swan]
Garganey
Cinnamon Teal
Eurasian Wigeon
Mottled Duck
Tufted Duck
Greater Scaup
King Eider
Common Eider
[Somateria eider]
Bufflehead
Barrow's Goldeneye
Smew

Smew (A) (Mergellus albellus)Start Date 0000-00-00
RefFirstLastLocationCounty23CommentStatus
57:341984-10-06Mahnomen(vote 4-3, with 7-0 required for Acceptance). The description did fit a female Smew quite well in all respects, but, because of the extreme rarity of this species, the minority were uneasy about the possiblity of it being an escape, of it being a hybird or aberrant individual of some other species, and because the early fall date is inconsistent with other extralimital Smew records. Not Accepted
172:401999-03-17Anderson County ParkJackson(record #99-55, vote 10-0). All ten members vote on potential first state records. At the 5 December 1999 meeting, the question of origin was discussed and voted on, and by majority vote (8-2) the individual was accepted as being of probable wild origin. At the same meeting, the photograph of the individual was also discussed and voted on, and by majority vote (7-3) the photo was accepted as identifiable on its own. As a result of these votes, this species was accepted to the state list as an unqualified Accidental — i.e., with no qualifying “o” or “s” subscripts. The Loon 71:194Accepted
73:1681999-03-17Anderson County ParkJackson(record #99-55, AO origin vote 10-0, The Loon 73:72-77). Note that all ten members vote on questions of origin. A previous vote on the origin of this bird had been taken, with a majority voting this to be most likely a wild bird, listed as “Accidental” with no qualifying subscript (The Loon 73:72). However, after this vote, additional research into the status of this species in captivity revealed it to be kept in game farms more often than previously thought. Accordingly, another origin vote was taken, and it was accepted as “Accidental (o)” — e.g., the possibilities of captive vs. wild origin are about equal. Recirculated
avian
information
1999-03-17Jackson3/17 Jackson (first state record) (first county record)
First state record 3/17 Jackson (Anderson Marsh) KB.
75:412002-11-06Island LakeSt. Louis(record #2002-81, vote 7-0 on identification, vote 0-10 on wild origin). The identification of this adult female shot by a duck hunter, confirmed by the photos taken of the bird, was straightforward and unanimously accepted. However, the record was not accepted on the basis of origin, with the unanimous vote determining that the duck had most likely escaped or been released from captivity. (Note that all ten MOURC members, the seven regular members plus the three alternates, vote on questions of origin.) Prior captivity is indicated by one of the duck's hind toes having been cut off (a practice of many waterfowl collectors) and Eurasian Collared-Dove, 23 June 2002, Herman, Grant County. Photo by Peder Svingen. by the seriously frayed condition of the outer primaries and many of the rectrices. Not Accepted
76:1522004-03-112004-03-17Oronoco and RochesterOlmsted(record #2004-072, identification Accepted 7-0, origin Not Accepted 0-10). All ten members vote on questions of origin. Close-up photographs of this adult male confirmed its identification, but showed frayed or damaged flight feathers. Though not necessarily indicative of captive origin, the bird allowed close approach and seemed tame. Captive origin was implied by the following observation: “With my scope I could see that the right hallux (or rear toe) was missing. Looking closely, it clearly appeared to have been clipped, not having been torn or otherwise missing due to injury — judging from the clean and nicely healed scar. The left hallux was intact and complete. A clipped right rear-facing toe is usually indicative of an escaped bird since, as a general rule, captive bred waterfowl are marked in this manner (but also by other methods).” This represents the second known occurrence of an escaped or released Smew in Minnesota; the first was an adult female with a clipped hallux and frayed flight feathers (The Loon 75:44-45). This species is included on the state list with an “o” subscript, i.e., the possibilities of captive vs. wild origin are about equal, based on one Accepted record at Anderson County Park, Jackson County, 17 March 1999 (The Loon 75:44-77). Not Accepted
 
 One spring record (1999).

Notes:

The information in the above table comes from several different sources. The count in column 1 indicates which of the sources is considered the primary source.
'Accepted' MOURC entries from The MOURC Proceedings
'Not Accepted' or 'Rejected' MOURC entry from The MOURC Proceedings
Accepted MOU records assembled by David Cahlander
Sighting records for ()
Avian information from the occurrence maps, in dark red, assembled by Robert Janssen. Seasonal report for the species/season published in The Loon or The Flicker has been added.
Information from The Loon index assembled by Anthony Hertzel and David Cahlander