Mexico

ecords from the winter reporting period come from scattered parts of the country, with a particularly large number of records from Oaxaca.Sonora and the northern Yucatan Peninsula produced a remarkable variety of vagrants.On the other hand, Chiapas, Guerrero, and many northern and central states continue to provide few or no records.Limpkins and Snail Kites continued to show up in many areas along the Pacific coast where they were not mapped by Howell & Webb (1995).Flammulated Owls continue to be recorded in numbers around La Cumbre in Oaxaca; there were very few previous records from that state.A particularly interesting contribution is Rob Hamilton's careful observations from a trip to the rarely birded Islas Marias off Nayarit from 23 Jan--8 Feb, which produced six new species for the archipelago and a number of interesting winter records of birds thought to be transients.Sadly, Hamilton reports much habitat damage by introduced mammals on Isla Mafia Magdalena and Is]a Mafia Cleofas.He writes: "Magdalena appears to show the effects of grazing fairly dramatically, both in its dearth of herbaceous understory and the dominance of thorny agaves and other spiny species in the understory left by the grazersi' and Cleofas is now"full of goats and black rats, a mule, some cattle, and sign of cats, • whereas this island did not have any feral animals in the mid-1970s.At least one bird of the Islas Marias, the endemic Lawrence's (Broadbilled) Hummingbird, appears to be in serious decline.However, these are just two of many Mexican islands that have problems caused by introduced mammals.LOONS THROUGH HUMMINGBIRDS A Red-throated Loon was in Cholla Bay, Puerto Pefiasco, Son 15 & 16 Dec (SG, RJ).A Red-necked Grebe was recorded in Puerto Pefiasco 16 Dec (NB).At least 40 active Brown Pelican nests were seen at a traditional nesting site on the nw.side of Isla Maria Cleofas 4 Feb (RAH).A Double-crested Cormorant was at San Bias, Nay., where rare, 11 Jan (SNGH,CW).An estimated 371 active Blue-footed Booby nests were recorded at a traditional nesting site near the se.anchorage of Isla Maria Cleofas 3 Feb (RAH).An estimated 1730 Blue-footed Booby nests with sitting ads.or under construction were reported from the s.end of Isla San Juanito, Islas Mafias, Nay. 10 Feb (AJ, SL).Holsinger reported a Reddish Egret at a large lake in Linares, N.L. in early Feb.At least 2 Bare-throated Tiger-Herons were seen at Mintadero Arroyo e. of Alamos, Son.18 Jan (G&GW), and several were seen along the Rio Cuchijaqui, Son. in mid-Feb (SG).Fifteen Canada Geese, a rare species in Son., were found in the Estero Marfia, Puerto Pefiasco 16 Dec (NB).There was one Snow Goose along the Rio Mayo at Presa Mocuzari, Son.(SG), where rare.Miller estimated 700 Snow Geese at Presa Abelardo R. Rodriguez m Hermosillo, Son. 6 Dec (SM).In Navojoa, Son., 5 Fulvous Whistling-Ducks were with 300 Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks in mid-Feb (SG).Three Blue-winged Teal, formerly unrecorded in the Islas Marias, were seen on Isla Maria Magdalena 6 Feb (RAH).A male Greater Scaup was seen on the Rio San Crist6bal near Las Marlstoas, Nay. 14 Jan (NM-C, RT).One female Hooded Merganser was seen at E1 Golfo de Santa Clara, Son.11 Feb (KG).Three imm.Snail Kites were photographed on the Rio San Crist6bal 14 Jan (NM-C, RT); SNGH and CW saw 5 nearby on the Singayta road 9 Jan; NM-C and RT recorded Snail Kites in the San Bias area in Jan 2000, and Rod Drewien remembers seeing them at San Bias as far back as the 1960s (fide NORTHERN MEXICO NM-C).One Ferruginous Hawk was reported near Bahia Kino, Son. 7 Dec (SM).Around 100 Sandhill Cranes were seen in N.L. near the Tamps.border at km 145 of Hwy 85 (AH).Five Limpkins were along Rio San Cristobal and at Las Marismas 14 Jan, where they had also been seen Jan 2000 (NM-C, RT).A Common Moorhen, a new spedes for the Islas Mafias, was seen on Isla Maria Magdalena 6 Feb Eight Snowy Plovers, also formerly unrecorded in the Islas Mafias, were seen on Isla Maria Cleofas 1 Feb (RAH), and 18 were seen on Isla San Juanito 10 Feb (AJ, SL).A Solitary Sandpiper was seen along the Rio Cuchijaqui (SG).Seven hundred Red Phalaropes were estimated on the boat trip from Isla Maria Magdalena to Isla Maria Madre 8 Feb, while 700 were estimated between Isla Maria Madre and Isla Maria Cleofas on the same date (RAH).Sixteen Heermann's Gulls were estimated on Isla Maria Cleofas 3 Feb (RAH).One first-winter Black-legged Kittiwake was seen at a large gull roost just n. of Mazatlfin, Sin.22 Feb (MDC).A pair of Ruddy Ground-Doves was in Puerto Pefiasco 15 Dec (SG, RJ); this is the 2nd record for Puerto Pefiasco of a species that has recently become somewhat regular in winter in s.Arizona.Around 40 Military Macaws were seen at Mirador E1 Aguila, Nay. 15 Jan (NM-C, RT).The highest daily counts of the endemic race of Yellow-headed Parrots in the Tres Mafias Islands in late Jan and early Feb were 12 on Isla Maria Cleofas and 18 on Isla Maria Magdalena (RAH).One Elf Owl carcass was found on Isla Maria Magdalena 25 Jan (RAH).An Eared Poorwill was seen on Cerro San Juan, Nay.19 Feb on a traditional perch, and 2 were using the same foraging perch 27 Feb (MDC).Grazing and trampling of the understory by goats has probably caused a define in the formerly common Lawrence's (Broad-billed) Hummingbird in the Islas Mafias, where only one was seen 25 Jan, 2 on 7 Feb, and none on 26-27 Jan or 6 Feb on Isla Maria Magdalena, and none were seen on Isla Mafia Cleofas 29 Jan--4 Feb (RAH).On the other hand, Cinnamon Hummingbird, which also has an endemic race on the Islas Mafias, was seen daily 24 Jan4 Feb, with maximum daily counts of 25 on Isla Maria Magdalena and 26 on Isla Maria Cleofas (RAH).A male Anna's Hummingbird was at La Posta, Dgo. 8 Dec (T&DH, FVP, WB).Many Plaincapped Starthroats were seen along the Rio Cuchujaqui mid-Feb (SG).One male Sparklingtailed Hummingbird was seen feeding in flowering lnga at La Bajada near San Blas 16 Jan (NM-C, RT).Two Bumblebee Hummingbirds, a male and a female, were seen on Cerro San Juan, Nay. 15 Jan (NM-C, RT).A female Calliope Hummingbird was at a low elevation for winter at Singayta 13 Jan (SNGH, CW).

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