Report a bird not on your lists

I have tried to add Rock Dove to my list, but it does not appear on yours. Thanks!

Dana – try Rock Pigeon.

Thanks!

You bet!

How about the great white heron(ardea accidentalis), a bird of the same size as the great blue heron(ardea herodias)but all white with yellow legs, frequenting the salt water mangroves of the Florida Keys?(not on Birdpost’s list?)

Chris – the “Great White” is a subspecies of the “Great Blue Heron” and not in the Clements taxonomy as yet and cannot be added to the lifelist. We had to go with one world taxonomy and Clements was the best, in our minds. GREAT SIGHTING THOUGH – wow.

Thanx for the reply Ben. Interesting. I’m fortunate living about 15 miles west of Ft Lauderdale(close to the Everglades)and actually spotted a Great White Heron beside a freshwater lake(very unusual as they prefer saltwater habitats almost exclusively)just 3 miles from my home; with yellow legs, it’s real easy to distinguish from the Great White Egret with black legs. I walk every day 5-10 miles and always spot from 25 to 45 different bird species daily. From the 33 different species spotted today, the unusual ones were limpkin,black-necked stilt,pigeon hawk,bank swallow,purple gallinule,and fulvous tree duck.

Chris, glad to hear they’re still around. We saw one in the Everglades years ago, but haven’t been back lately. They don’t come up the coast this far (Port St. Lucie) as far as I know.

To Ben – I take it that Clements doesn’t recognize the ringed turtle dove(Streptopelia risoria)either? This was a common cage bird that’s become a local resident in Miami,Tampa,and LA; I see it daily, either on the ground or roosting near horse farms.BTW, I use the Robbins,Bruun,Zim Field Guide for N.A. and it lists the turtle dove and the white heron as full species.

To Mary – yes, much more common further south. You can spot the White Heron most easily in the mangroves of the upper Keys, especially near the Card Sound Bridge approaching Key Largo near Ocean Reef Club.