Western visitors were in the limelight on the record number of 11 AOS Christmas Counts conducted in the winter of 1972-73. Probably most noteworthy were the Groove-billed Anis at Panama City. One bird had been first seen on October 16, 1971, and a pair, thought to be breeding during the spring of 1972, at a pond in the city limits. None were noted the summer of that year, but in the fall numbers from 2 to 5 were observed at the same pond where 3 were recorded on the Bay County Christmas Count. The next sighting was one the last of March and then none until 4 appeared in fall, 1973; in addition, one was found at Navarre on the October 6 Pensacola Fall Count. The Panama City observations are the farthest eastward for the groove-billed species, although somehow it reached Missouri and Ohio in the fall of 1972 (see American Birds, Vol. 27, No.1, page 69). In addition, it is considered usual in Louisiana and has also appeared in Mississippi (Ibid. page 73; Vol. 27, No.3, page 628–see also reports of the Central Southern Region in Vol. 26).
Author: Robert R. Reid, Jr.
Volume Number: 21 Year Published: 1973
Issue Number: 1-2
Page Number: 2
Link to article: http://birdlife.aosbirds.org/1973/Vol 21 No. 1, 2_1973_p2-9.pdf
Link to the full issue of BirdLife: http://birdlife.aosbirds.org/1973/Vol 21 No. 1, 2_1973.pdf
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