Last Sunday, a consultant working for a pipeline company found and photographed a tropical/Couch’s type kingbird in Fayette County, Illinois, not far from Lake Carlyle (an artificial lake, which is the largest body of water totally within the state’s borders.) Not knowing any Illinois birders, he e-mailed his pictures to the secretary of the Illinois Ornithological Records Committee, Doug Stotz. Doug contacted downstate birders, two of whom- Dan Kassebaum and Mark Seiffert- went out and relocated the bird. The word spread.
I was intending to devote this week’s blog to my breeding bird surveys in Wadsdworth, Illinois when I received the call Monday night from Travis Mahan, of Decatur, Illinois. This is a mega rarity. Dan and Mark photographed a kingbird a few years ago that was one or the other but it was impossible to determine which. This time, though, Dan took numerous shots that show every detail. The bill shape (long and heavy), primaries of even length, and very gray back are all indicative of the more likely tropical. (John Bates of the Field Museum told me that a bird in Michigan was definitively identified by DNA obtained from fecal matter, but the Illinois birders were more pro-active and on Thursday the bird was mist netted: measurements confirm that the individual is indeed a tropical.)
I called Andy Sigler and he said he would pick me up at 2 am on Tuesday, so we could get to the site a little after 6. When Andy came by a few hours later, he was vexed by the downstate weather report that called for solid rain. As a birding tactician, Andy is one of the best I have met, and from long experience and study he knows the variables involved in refinding rarities. He was not optimistic: “Thunderstorms often drive the rarities away. And even if the bird is there, how will we find it in pelting rain?”
As we came within sight of the location, there were two cars. We tried to determine if the people were spread out (bad) or clustered at one spot (good). It turned out that there were only two birders: Craig Taylor, who drove down from Chicago on Monday and did see it briefly but decided to stay over, and Mark Seiffert. They said the rain had just stopped but they had not found the bird yet. Andy had just launched into a carefully reasoned argument why the bird was gone when Mark spotted it perched on a branch with its gray back towards us. His feat was a remarkable display of visual acuity. We all had excellent views as the kingbird occasionally flew from place to place.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the bird was how sadly bedraggled it appeared- the feathers were matted as if the bird was soaked. Mark said the bird looked like it had been drenched and then kicked. Even wet birds, though, will preen and apply oil so that they maintain their smooth look. The bluebird, wood-pewee, and redwings had just weathered the same storm but they all looked healthy. I doubted the bird would survive Tuesday, especially since more precipitation was forecast, but as of Thursday afternoon it was still hanging on as the dribble of birders from the north continued unabated. (I will post a photo of the bird when I get the ok from the photographer)
