Hi all

We've just provisionally added Hooded Crane (Grus monacha) to the ABA and AOU base lists on the basis of the bird currently present at Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge near Chattanooga, Tennessee; one was also apparently recorded in Idaho the previous year. Photo of the Tennesse bird (which looks a real cracker!) at http://www.bigyear2011.com. Note that this record is still subject to official acceptance; if the relevant authorities decide to reject the record it will subsequently be removed from any BUBO lists.

Thanks to Chris W for alerting us to this one.

Cheers

Andy

I'm sure I read somewhere that this was a known escape.

Steve

No idea personally. Any info from our American friends?

Andy

The Hooded Crane is a known escapee and will never been accepted to the ABA list.

Hi Keith

Do you have a reference for this? From what I'd heard there was nothing to suggest this bird was one of the escaped Idaho birds from 2006 and no other escapes known of, but plenty of reasons to think that it could be a wild bird. Of course whether the weight of evidence would be enough to convince a rarities committee is debatable, but at the moment we've erred on the side of letting BUBO Listers enjoy a tick for a while at least!