The following species were identified correctly and often have photographs or a specimen accompanying the record however, how the species arrived in British Columbia is in question.  For example, some of the following species are known to be kept in captivity and as a result, may have been inadvertently released and thus does not constitute a wild bird.  In other instances, the museum specimen may have been mis-labelled, or perhaps the individual was shipped by accident or on purpose and released and as such did not arrive in British Columbia naturally.  Records contained in this appendix can be moved to the species account section should more information come to light or should future patterns of occurrence suggest natural origin.  Some instances involve birds that may have been correctly identified but lacking sufficient details for a first confirmed record for the province (ie: photo or specimen)

 

Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus):

There are two records of Lesser White-fronted Goose that have been documented with photographs in British Columbia. The first report was of a bird found at Martindale Flats, in Saanich, during the Victoria Christmas Bird Count on December 15, 1990, and stayed to at least January 21, 1991 (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.) This record occurred at the correct time of year that a naturally occurring vagrant would occur in the region. This area also regularly supports large numbers of wintering geese and other waterfowl, suggesting that the bird may be a natural vagrant (Campbell et al. 1990a). The origin of this bird comes into question due to the abundance of private waterfowl collectors in southwest British Columbia and western Washington who have been documented keeping this species in private collections making the origin questionable do to the fact that escaped bird is a distinct possibility (R. Toochin Pers. Comm.). The second report of the species in the province is of an adult bird that spent almost four months wintering at Jericho Park in Vancouver between December 1991 - April 1992 (Jones 1992). Although the timing of the record is consistent with a wintering vagrant, its presence within an urban park is more suggestive of an escaped bird. As with the previous record, however, its true origins cannot be known with certainty.

Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna):

There are many reports of Common Shelduck from various parts of British Columbia with most coming from the Lower Mainland region (R. Toochin Pers. Com.). In all cases origin is complicated to ascertain as this species is commonly kept in captivity (R. Toochin Pers. Com.).  A recent observation is very intriguing of an adult found by Peter Hamel and Margo Hearne at Sandspit Airport on Haida Gwaii on November 29, 2022 (P. Hamel Pers. Comm.). This bird appeared with many migrating Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) and Greater White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons) during a huge southeasterly storm (P. Hamel Pers. Comm.). Given the location, time of year and that the bird did not stay more than a few minutes before flying with the geese it was traveling with south, this record could refer to a bird of wild origin. Unfortunately, until more records occur to develop a true vagrancy pattern, this bird’s true origins cannot be known with certainty.

Intermediate Egret(Mesophoyx intermedia):

This record involves a specimen that was reported to have been taken in Burrard Inlet, Vancouver on May 25, 1879 (Macoun and Macoun 1909). The validity of the specimen was questioned by Munro and Cowan (1947) and the manner it was acquired was claimed on entirely hypothetical grounds. Brooks (1923c) suggested that the record involved a substitution in the form of a dried skin, which was subsequently mounted. Kermode (1923a, 1923b) states that the specimen had “every appearance of having been mounted from a bird in the flesh”. This species occurs across Africa south of the Sahara, as well as in South and Southeast Asia, to China, Japan, New Guinea and Australia (del Hoyo et al. 1992). The only record for North America is a specimen record of an adult male in breeding plumage found at Buldir Alaska on May 30, 2006 (Lorenz and Gibson 2007).

Demoiselle Crane (Anthropoides virgo):
This record involved a bird found in the previous winter in California (Hamilton et al. 2007). The bird was with a flock of Sandhill Cranes, but the record was not accepted by the California Bird Records Committee due to origin concerns as they are kept in private collections and zoos (Hamilton et al. 2007). The bird was found by Dave Evans and was photographed at Telkwa High Road near Smithers on May 2, 2002 (Bain 2002c, Cecile 2002c, Toochin et al. 2014). A record from Gustavus, on the Panhandle of Alaska might well also pertain to this bird and does not appear on the Checklist of Alaska Birds (Gibson et al. 2017). This species is found in central Eurasia, ranging from the Black Sea to Mongolia and Northeastern China (del Hoyo et al. 1996). There is also a small breeding population in Turkey (del Hoyo et al. 1996). These cranes are migratory birds with birds from western Eurasia migrating to spend the winter in Africa whilst the birds from Asia, Mongolia and China will spend the winter in India (del Hoyo et al. 1996). 

Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti): 

Records of Humboldt Penguin from the waters of British Columbia have been widely published in the past (Campbell et al. 1990a). It is not likely that Humboldt Penguins found off the coast were caged birds escaped from zoos or dispersed 10,000 km by swimming here from their range off Peru or Chile (Van Buren and Boersma 2002). The upper limit of a Humboldt Penguin's thermo-neutral zone is approximately 30 C (Drent and Stonehouse 1971) This species has a natural thermal barrier of 25-30 C where they will overheat and die making unaided and natural trips across the equator into the Northern Hemisphere very unlikely (Van Buren and Boersma 2002).  Humboldt Penguins would experience water and air temperatures in excess of 30 C, and active swimming would further increase the heat load by generating metabolic heat (Van Buren and Boersma 2002). A penguin in warm water would be restricted to panting to eliminate excess heat, which would prevent the bird from either foraging or transiting (Van Buren and Boersma 2002). Thus, while a Humboldt Penguin traveling from Peru or Chile to Alaska might be able to find food, it would probably not survive the high tropical temperatures (Van Buren and Boersma 2002). Their occurrence is more likely the result of transport and release by fishermen (Anonymous 1978b, Campbell et al. 1990a). None have been accepted by the AOU (now called the AOS) (Chesser et al. 2017).

Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) Records in British Columbia:

1.(1) adult Summer 1944: J. Bourling: on the beach at Rose Spit (Campbell et al. 1990a)

2.(1) adult September 1, 1975: Long Beach, PRNP (Campbell et al. 1990a)

3.(2) adults June 9-25, 1978: Egg Island, Quatsino Sound (Campbell et al. 1990a)

4.(1) adult June 14, 1978: Quasino Sound (Campbell et al. 1990a)

5.(1) adult June 20, 1978: Mitlenach Island (Campbell et al. 1990a)

American Woodcock (Scolopax minor):  

There is a single sight record of an adult with good accompanying field notes that was found by the late Glen R. Ryder in good habitat in North Surrey on March 5, 1960 (G. Ryder Pers. Comm.). Unfortunately, there was no photograph accompanying the record at it was not accepted by Campbell et al. (1990b). This species breeds in eastern North America southern Canada south to the Gulf Coast states (Dunn and Alderfer 2011). The American Woodcock breeding has expanded slightly westward since the 1980’s and now includes parts of the eastern Great Plains (Hamilton et al. 2007). Most of the 30 vagrancy records in North and Middle America have been at or very near the continental divide (Hamilton et al. 2007). There are accepted records for western Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico (Patten et al. 1999).  There is one record for California that was accepted by the California Bird Records Committee and involves a single bird that was found and photographed at the Iron Mountain Pumping Station in San Bernardino Country from November 3-9, 1998 (Patten et al. 1999, Hamilton et al. 2007).  An incredible record was of a bird, shot in France, in late October 2006 (Ferrand et al. 2007). Eventually a confirmed vagrant migrant found in British Columbia is highly possible. 

House Swift (Apus nipalensis): 

There is no doubt that a dead House Swift was found by Derek Tan near the Delta port container terminal on May 18, 2012 (Szabo et al. 2017). University of British Columbia Beaty Biodiversity Museum Cowan Tetrapod Collection catalogue number B017056 (Szabo et al. 2017). The issue is how the bird likely made it to this location (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.). This species is distributed in Nepal, northeast India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, south and southeast China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and south-east Asia (Clements et al. 2017). Container ships that come to the Delta port facility come from China and other areas of Southeast Asia which are located in areas of this species range and the bird could have become trapped inside the cargo hold and made it to Delta Port before escaping the ship and dying nearby (J. Fenneman Pers. Comm.). This species is migratory, but more a short distance migrant and making a huge, prolonged flight across the Pacific Ocean on its own to where the specimen was found highly unlikely (Brazil 2009).

White-cheeked Starling (Spodiopsar cineraceus): 

An adult bird was found and photographed by Adrian Dorst, and subsequently seen by many observers at the Tofino Airport from April 27-29, 2016 (A. Dorst Pers. Comm.). The breeding range covers central and north-east India, China, Korea, Japan and south-east Siberia (Feare and Craig 1998, Brazil 2009). In winter, birds from colder regions migrate south to southern and eastern China, South Korea, southern Japan, Taiwan and northern Vietnam with vagrants reaching the Philippines, Thailand and Myanmar (Robson 2002).  There is a sight record (no photograph) from Homer, Alaska that probably got there by riding aboard a ship and was observed from May 1-6, 1998 (West 2002). This record does not appear on the Alaska Checklist of birds (Gibson et al. 2017). Though it has a large breeding range, it is a short distance migrant in Asia (Brazil 2009).  The identification of the bird is correct, but it is hard to know the exact origin as it might have originated from a ship, either as a passenger that rode on board across the Pacific Ocean naturally with no human assistance or was in a cage as a pet that accidentally escaped captivity (J. Fenneman Pers. Comm.). 

Yellow Grosbeak (Pheucticus chrysopeplus): 

An adult female was found and by Peter Hoodspith and seen by a few observers at 303-266 Jensen Avenue, in Parksville on July 22, 2011 (P. Hoodspith Pers. Comm.). This species was reported with full field notes, but unfortunately no photographs. The Yellow Grosbeak is a popular cage bird and records anywhere in the United States and Canada are often treated as escapees (Hamilton et al. 2007). This includes birds found anywhere along the United States and Mexican border (Hamilton et al. 2007). This species has a limited range along the Pacific slope of Mexico and Guatemala (Howell and Webb 2010).

We would like to thank Jamie Fenneman for his contributions on the first version of this article.

We would also like to thank the late Glen Ryder for giving details years ago about his American Woodcock sighting before he passed away. We wish to thank Adrian Dorst for passing along information on the White-cheeked Starling.  We also would like to thank Peter Hoodspith for providing us with good details about the Yellow Grosbeak. Also like to thank Jamie Fenneman for tracking down information relevant to the Nazca Booby, House Swift, Blue Rock-Thrush, the White-cheeked Starling.

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