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Andersen et al. 36 Boletín SAO Vol. XVII
Photographic evidence of the Veery in Peru (No. 01) – Julio 2007 – Pag: 36-38
Boletín SAO | http://www.sao.org.co/publicaciones/boletinsao/Boletin%20sao.htm| Julio 2007 |
Protegido por – Protected by Creative commons Colombia|
First photographic evidence of Veery (Catharus fuscescens) for Peru
Michael J. Andersen A, Daniel J. Lebbin B & Peter A. Hosner C
A The Macaulay Library, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY 14850 USA.
E-mail: mja43@cornell.edu
B Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, E148 Corson Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA.
E-mail: djl42@cornell.edu
C Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY 14850 USA.
E-mail: pah24@cornell.edu
Abstract
The Veery (Catharus fuscescens) is little known in Peru. We present the first photographic evidence of Veery in Peru
during October 2004. The date of our observation and of other sight-records suggests that Veery is a rare migrant in
extreme eastern Peru.
Key words: Catharus fuscescens, migration, Peru, Veery
Resumen
El Zorzal de Dorso Rojizo (Catharus fuscescens) es poco conocido en Perú. Estamos presentando la primera evidencia
fotográfica de esta especie, tomada en octubre de 2004, en Perú. La fecha de nuestra observación, sumada a otros registros
visuales, sugiere que el Zorzal de Dorso Rojizo es un ave migratoria, rara en el extremo este del Perú.
Palabras claves: Catharus fuscescens, migración, Perú, Zorzal de Dorso Rojizo
Introduction
he Veery (Catharus fuscescens) breeds in forests
across the northern United States and southern
Canada, migrates across the Gulf of Mexico through the
Yucatán Peninsula, Central America and northern South
America, and winters in cerrado and secondary
woodlands in south-central Amazonian Brazil and in
southeast Brazil (Bevier et al. 2004, Remsen 2001,
Willis & Oniki 1993). Remsen (2001) defined the true
winter range for Veery based on 14 specimens collected
between 2 December and 20 February, and considered
all other 91 South American specimens collected outside
these dates to be migrants in passage.
Two sight records exist for Peru, and both lack
photographic or audio documentation. One was seen at
the edge of bamboo by Mark B. Robbins in Tambopata
on 5 November 1980 (Parker 1982, Remsen 2001).
Another was reported as a vagrant in Manu (Walker et
al. 2006) at Amazonia Lodge by Clive Byers 26
November 1994 (Stotz et al. 1985). Three specimens
collected near the border of Peru in Brazil and Chile also
exist. Two fall migrants were collected on 23 October
1959 along the Rio Javarí (Remsen 2001), as well as a
spring vagrant collected on 17 March 1973 at Chapisca,
Chile (McFarlane 1974), which perhaps continued north
into Peru. Five Veery were captured and photographed
in poorly drained stunted forest at two sites in Pando,
Bolivia on 23 October and 1-2 November 2005 (Tobias
& Seddon 2007).
Methods
Between 8 and 18 October 2004, we visited a large
Guadua weberbaueri bamboo patch bordered by mature
terra-firme forest and cleared pasture along the north
bank of the Río Tahuamanu at Oceania, Dpto. Madre de
Dios, Peru (11˚23’S, 69˚32’W), 6 Km. west of Iberia,
itself roughly 130 Km. north of Puerto Maldonado on
the road to Iñapari in Acre, Brazil. We surveyed birds
along 1,220 m of trail in this bamboo patch using mist-
nets (4,843.5 net-m hrs over 6 days) and point counts
(17.0 hrs, 6 mornings before 10:00h).
Results & Discussion
We captured one Veery in a mist-net on 17 October
2004 within Guadua bamboo. In ten days at this site, this
was our only Veery observation. During the same
period, we observed two Swainson’s Thrushes
(Catharus ustulatus); one on 12 October and one, a net-
T
Andersen et al. 37 Boletín SAO Vol. XVII
Photographic evidence of the Veery in Peru (No. 01) – Julio 2007 – Pag: 36-38
Boletín SAO | http://www.sao.org.co/publicaciones/boletinsao/Boletin%20sao.htm| Julio 2007 |
Protegido por – Protected by Creative commons Colombia|
capture, on 13 October 2004. We placed an aluminum
band (598) on its left leg and photographed the bird
before releasing it (Fig. 1). The Veery weighed 24.5 g,
and had a wing chord of 95 mm and a tail of 65 mm,
placing it within the range for Veery, and Swainson’s
and Gray-cheeked Thrushes (Catharus minimus) (Pyle
1997). It had no visible fat deposits in the furculum and
the skull was fully ossified. It had a pale spot on the
innermost greater covert on its left wing, which we
interpret as a retained hatch-year feather (Pyle 1997).
The fully ossified skull and mostly adult greater coverts
suggest this bird was an adult.
Fig. 1. This Veery (Catharus fuscescens) was captured on 17 October 2004 at Oceania, Dpto. Madre de Dios, Peru (inset shows
throat and breast of the same individual). Note uniformly reddish-brown upperparts, pale gray flanks that contrast with the
wing, gray lore and lack of buffy eye-ring. Additional photographs of this bird are available from MJA and DJL upon request.
(Photo: DJL).
This is the first photographic evidence of Veery in
Peru. The timing of our observation and the other reports
suggests that Veery is a rare migrant in extreme eastern
Peru, and is consistent with a more western fall
migration route suggested by Remsen (2001) and Stotz
et al. (1992). If the stunted forests of Pando, Bolivia
represent an additional important wintering area as
Tobias & Seddon (2007) suggest, then our bird may
have been a winter resident. Researchers in eastern Peru
should maintain a watchful eye for Veery so as to better
document its status as a migrant.
Acknowledgments
DJL is grateful to Raul Baez Huayllapuma for assistance
in the field, INRENA for permission to conduct research
in Peru, and to Fulbright for supporting this research.
Mark B. Robbins made valuable comments to the
manuscript and Christopher L. Wood had helpful
suggestions regarding the limits of identification and
aging of Catharus thrushes.
Literature cited
Bevier, L., Poole, A. F. & W. Moskoff. 2004. Veery (Catharus fuscescens). The Birds of North America Online. (A.
Poole, Ed.) Ithaca: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Accessed online (17 July 2007) at
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu./BNA/account/Veery/.
Andersen et al. 38 Boletín SAO Vol. XVII
Photographic evidence of the Veery in Peru (No. 01) – Julio 2007 – Pag: 36-38
Boletín SAO | http://www.sao.org.co/publicaciones/boletinsao/Boletin%20sao.htm| Julio 2007 |
Protegido por – Protected by Creative commons Colombia|
McFarlane, R. W. 1974. Unusual avian migrants in Tarapacá. IDESIA (Chile) 3: 181-184.
Parker, T. A. III. 1982. Observations of some unusual rainforest and marsh birds in southeastern Peru. Wilson Bulletin 94:
477-493.
Pyle, P. 1997. Identification guide to North American birds, Part I Columbidae to Ploceidae. Slate Creek Press, California.
Remsen, J. V., Jr. 2001. True winter range of the Veery (Catharus fuscescens): lessons for determining winter ranges of
species that winter in the tropics. Auk 118: 838-848.
Stotz, D. F., Fitzpatrick, J. W. & D. Willard. 1985. Birds of Amazonia Lodge and vicinity. Accessible at
http://www.amazonialodge.com/birds.html. Updated by Ramiro Yabar, latest revision 2005. Accessed on 18 Feb 2007.
Stotz, D. F., Bierregaard, R. O., Cohn-Haft, M., Petermann, P., Smith, J., Whittaker, A. & S. V. Wilson. 1992. The status
of North American migrants in central Amazonian Brazil. Condor 94: 608-621.
Tobias, J. A. & N. Seddon. 2007. Nine bird species new to Bolivia and notes on other significant records. Bulletin of the
British Ornithologist’s Club 127: 49-84.
Walker, B., Stotz, D. F., Pequeño, T. & J. W. Fitzpatrick. 2006. Birds of the Manu Biosphere Reserve. p23 - 49 in
Patterson, B. D., Stotz, D. F. & S. Solari. Mammals and birds of the Manu Biosphere Reserve, Peru. Fieldiana 110.
Willis, E. O. & Y. Oniki. 1993. New and reconfirmed birds from the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, with notes on disappearing
species. Bulletin of the British Ornithologist’s Club 113: 23-34.
