Date: 9/2/25 10:09 am From: Kimball Garrett via groups.io <cyanolyca818...> Subject: [CALBIRDS] CBRC news: Stejneger's Scoter added to California state list
Birders,
The California Bird Records Committee has accepted the record of a
Stejneger's Scoter photographed at the end of Zils Road near Watsonville,
Santa Cruz Co on 15 January 2014. This species is placed on the list after
White-winged Scoter, with a "P" code (photographed, no specimen) and
an asterisk (on review list). The California list now stands at 691 species
(including 17 naturalized non-native species).
[Those not interested in CBRC "sausage making" may wish to skip the
following]
In its initial circulation in 2019 this record received 7 Accept votes and
2 Not-Accept votes. When recirculated its support declined to only 3 Accept
votes. With the publication of some important identification material since
that time, and increased field experience by some Committee members and
outside consultants, the Committee agreed after its January 2025 meeting to
circulate the record again. This new circulation resulted in a 8 Accept to
1 Not Accept vote, and thus the record now stands as accepted. Those
expressing concern about the identification as Stejneger's agreed that the
bird (an adult male) showed characters of Stejneger's but that some key
characters (e,g., exact bill color and bill knob shape) were not easy to
scrutinize given the quality of the photographs. Also, a recent paper
documenting a putative White-winged x Stejneger's hybrid at Nome, Alaska
raised the possibility that the California bird could have been a hybrid.
In the end the Committee consensus dismissed the likelihood the bird was a
hybrid and agreed that the bill color and shape, white "eye slash" shape,
and black sides and flanks confirmed it as Stejneger's.
For further reading on this identification issue, see:
Dunn, J. L.,, Gibson, D. D., Iliff, M. J., Rosenberg, G.H., and Zimmer, K.
J. 2012. Alaska records of the Asian White-winged Scoter. Western Birds
43:220-228.
https://archive.westernfieldornithologists.org/archive/V43/WB43(4)-Dunn_et_al.pdf Garner, M., Lewington, I., and Rosenberg, G. 2004. Stejneger’s Scoter in
the Western Palearctic and North America. Birding World 17: 337-347.
Huhtinen, H., Andrejeff, S., and Kononen, J. 2025. Distinguishing Velvet,
White-winged and Stejneger’s Scoter in female-type plumage based on bill
feathering. Dutch Birding 47: 27-34.
López-Velasco, D., Lonergan, P. and Mullarney, K. 2025. Presumed
Stejneger’s x White-winged Scoter hybrid at Cape Nome, Alaska, in June
2024. Dutch Birding 47:35-38.
