Rare Bird Report #: 97-B-07

IDAHO BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE
RARE BIRD REPORT FORM

SPECIES:

Common Moorhen

HOW MANY:

1, mature

REPORTER:

Jim Holcomb
76 N. Mirage St.
Nampa, ID 83651
Phone: 466-6030

REPORTER EMAIL:

jnbholcomb@earthlink.net

OTHER OBSERVERS:

Bird found by Jim Holcomb

Other observers: Jay Carlisle carlislejay@ yahoo.com; Harry Krueger; Dave Lawrence lawde13@cableone.net; RL Rowland; Spencer Walters spencerw100@yahoo.com; Cliff Weisse, and others.

DATE REPORT PREPARED:

Dec. 19, 2007

DATE SIGHTING OCCURRED:

Dec. 5 to Dec. 15, 2007

LOCALITY OF OBSERVATION:

Nampa, Idaho, Cnayon Co., 3100-3800 South Powerline Rd. at Wilson Spring Ponds. Specific loc. is the middle section of the North Pond and just north of the fishing dock. The pond is adjacent to the parking lot. Property of the Idaho State F&G

HABITAT:

Large spring fed pond with perimeter a mix of Russian olive trees, cattails, and high banks of weeds and grasses.

CONDITIONS:

Moorhen was observed daily from Dec. 5-15, 2007 with a mix of weather occuring during this time from night temps of 18 degrees to a day high of 50 degrees. Spring water feeds the ponds and prevents it from freezing, even in the coldest winter temps. for the area. Bird stays in one local of the pond not more than 300 feet diameter and observation distance ranged from 40 feet to 200 feet with the sun to the back when first observed. Optics: Nikon Fieldscope, 20-40x60.

DID YOU TAKE NOTES?:

No, not at all

DID YOU CONSULT FIELD GUIDE OR OTHER REFERENCES?:

Yes, later the same day

WHAT GUIDE(S) OR REFERENCE(S) DID YOU CONSULT?:

National Geographic FG to the Birds of North America and NAS's The Sibley Guide to Birds

DESCRIPTION:

Bird is mostly gray and slightly smaller and slimmer than the A. coots nearby. The long white broken line along the side of the body first caught my attention and then lots of white was observed on the lateral side of the tail feathers. The back was brown and the bill, somewhat chicken-like, was pale yellow on the front half and rose/gray colored on the base half. While foraging in the shallows, the moorhen's legs were greenish and the feet were not padded or lobed like the coot. Later when next to a coot, the bill was noticed to be much less massive than the coot bill.

BEHAVIOR:

The moorhen's area of activity was rather small, about 200 feet which included 3 islands of the pond. The bird would forage for about 15-20 minutes in the shallows, a weedy island bank or more briefly, in a Russian olive tree, then swim to another location and forage. Sometimes it would go behind an island but would return to view swimming across the pond to another foraging location. In the midst of this area of activity would be many ducks and coots. The mallards, grn.-winged Teal and Wood Ducks paid not attention to the moorhen, but an occasional coot would follow or semingly push the moorhen out of the coots immediate area. The moorhen behaved as a loner.

HOW AND WHEN DID YOU POSITIVELY IDENTIFY THE BIRD, AND WHAT CLINCHED THE IDENTIFICATION FOR YOU?

When I first saw the bird I thought "coot" with some form of hybrid or genetic variation, but then thought it was a moorhen but with subdued bill coloring. My last sighting of a c. moorhen was in breeding plumage at Henderson, NV.

I had the NG bird guide in the car nearby and found the winter plumage of the moorhen in the book was exactly the bird I was looking at on the pond.

HOW DID YOU ELIMINATE SIMILAR SPECIES, AND WHAT WERE THEY?

The A. coot was eliminated with the bird book check and the comparison on the pond when the two birds were close together. Most notable was the lack of the white on the side of the coot and the much larger white bill of the coot. I see soras and V. rails frequently at the ponds and although similar, they were never considered in the identification.

EXPERIENCE WITH THIS SPECIES (AND SIMILAR SPECIES):

I am not greatly familiar with the moorhen, seeing it most frequently at the sewage ponds in Henderson, NV in March, 2006, and a couple of times in central Calif. in the 1970s.

GENERAL BIRDING EXPERIENCE:

I started birding in 1961 before the term "birding" existed, after taking a college ornithology course. Five years of military service in MT, AK & OR, and 30 years work as ranger in the Natl. Pk. Svc. have provided locations for me to bird and expand my knowledge and experience. I don't regard myself as an expert but rather an advanced birder.

WERE PHOTO(S), VIDEO, AND/OR AUDIO OBTAINED BY YOU?:

Photo by Jonathan Stoke, taken 12/12/07, used by permission: