Anser caerulescens x Branta hutchinsii Status: Uncommon regular winter visitor west and west central; rare casual elsewhere. Records: There are about 48 records, 31 Oct-28 Mar, most in the Panhandle and east to Keith and Lincoln Cos (eBird.org, accessed Dec 2024). Most are associated with Cackling Geese. Reports in the east central and east are fewer: […]
Snow x Ross’s Goose (hybrid)
Anser caerulescens x ANSER rossii Status: Rare regular spring and fall migrant. Taxonomy: Hybridization occurs between Snow Goose and Ross’s Goose, estimated at 4.7% of a sample of around 12,000 Ross’s and Snow Geese in the Central Flyway examined between 1961 and 1968 (Trauger et al 1971, Baldassare 2014). This percentage will likely increase as […]
Redhead x Ring-necked Duck (hybrid)
Aythya americana x Aythya collaris Status: Accidental in spring. Taxonomy: Redhead is known to have hybridized with each of the other four North American Aythya in the wild, Canvasback, Lesser Scaup, Greater Scaup, and Ring-necked Duck (Woodin and Michot 2020). Record: A drake was documented at Flanagan Lake, Douglas Co 4-6 Apr 2020 by Sam […]
Yellow-shafted, Red-shafted and intergrade flickers in Nebraska
Joel G. Jorgensen and W. Ross Silcock | joel.jorgensen@nebraska.gov, silcock@rosssilcock.com | 28 December 2020 The Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) is a common species that has two field identifiable subspecies, the “yellow-shafted” flicker (YSFL) and the “red-shafted” flicker (RSFL). The problem and challenge for Nebraska birders is that YSFLs and RSFLs regularly interbreed and the intergradation […]
GREAT KISKADEE
Pitangus sulphuratus texanus Status: Accidental in spring. Taxonomy: A recent decision by AOS (Chesser et al 2018) rearranged the order of subfamilies within the Tyrannidae, placing Tyranninae (Nebraska-occurring genera Myiarchus, Pitangus, Tyrannus) ahead of Fluvicolinae (Nebraska-occurring genera Contopus, Empidonax, Sayornis, Pyrocephalus). We follow this order of genera. Of ten recognized subspecies (Gill et al 2022), only […]
BLACK PHOEBE
Sayornis nigricans semiatra Status: Accidental in spring. Taxonomy: There are six subspecies, two of which occur in South America and may be a separate species, White-winged Phoebe, and four in central America and Mexico, only one of which occurs north of Mexico, semiatra (Gill et al 2022, but note spelling). The Nebraska record is presumed […]