MOURC Proceedings Archive - Anhingas Accepted
Duplicates
This is the 1981 to present Records Committee Proceedings archive for
The Loon, journal of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.
The last 2 years are available to MOU members.
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Proceedings
Species: Anhingas
[Anhinga]

[Anhinga] (P) (Anhinga anhinga)Start Date 1936-01-01
RefFirstLastLocationCounty23CommentStatus
55:411982-09-20DuluthSt. Louis(vote 7-0, Loon 55:28-30) Recirculated
61:101982-09-20DuluthSt. Louis(vote 0-10; The Loon 55:28-30) . Not Accepted
55:411982-11-03Otter Tail(vote 4-3, with 7-0 required for acceptance) This identification may well have been correct but the description was brief in detail and casual in tone. It was stated that "the head, neck and upper breast were huffy" (suggesting a female) but there was no elaboration why it wasn't an immature cormorant instead. The bird was seen flying over about 100 yards away, but there was no mention of a light tail tip which the Anhinga should have. Nor was there any description of the flight, which is another difference between cormorants and Anhingas. The tail was only described as "long and fanned," but these are relative and subjective features that should have been described in more detail and even sketched (as this observer has often done with previous observations sent to M.O.R.C.). In sum, it was felt that such an unusual species should have been more completely described. Not Accepted
55:20-301983indexAn Anhinga Over Hawk Ridge in Duluth
56:2031984indexMinnesota's Second Anhinga
57:341984-05-26Louisville SwampScott(vote 7-0; The Loon 56:203) . Recirculated
61:101984-05-26Louisville SwampScott(vote 1-9; The Loon 56:203). Not Accepted
58:421985-04-27CottonwoodLyon(vote 7-0; The Loon 58:46). Recirculated
61:101985-04-27near BuffaloWright(vote 1-9; The Loon 58:46). All ten members vote in cases of potential first state records. The observers in all three records based their identifications on: a long tail about the same length as the head and Spring 1989 neck, with two of the birds fanning their tails out at times; a thin, straight neck tapering into a small head, giving a "headless" impression; and a soaring, buteo-like flight with wings stretched out flat . At the time of these sightings none of the observers or M.O.R.C. members voting for the records felt that Doublecrested Cormorant, the only similar species, could duplicate the shape and flight described . However, in September 1988, one of the observers saw a flock of about 30 cormorants flying over Hawk Ridge in Duluth: many had a tail which appeared the same as the neck-head length, and, more importantly, some of the birds clearly fanned their tails when circling overhead; some individuals held their necks out perfectly straight, with no characteristic cormorant "crook" in the neck , leaving an impression of neck , head and bill tapering to a point; and, when soaring, the cormorants' wings appeared long and flat. On the basis of this sighting, the observer withdrew his earlier Anhinga record, and the Committee felt that the other two records Double-crested Cormorant was not precluded. 13Not Accepted
58:461986indexMinnesota's Third Anhinga
61:101988-07-22StewartvilleOlmsted(vote 1-6). This identification was based on its wing-drying posture and orange-colored bill, but the observers apparently were unaware that cormorants dry their wings in the same way and that the orange at the base of their bill can make the bill itself appear orange. In flight the neck was described as "slightly bent," which also fits cormorant, and, even though the bird was seen perched at close range, there was no mention of the obvious white spotting on the wing coverts which even immature Anhingas would show. Not Accepted
 

Notes:

The information in the above table comes from several different sources. The count in column 1 indicates which of the sources is considered the primary source.
'Accepted' MOURC entries from The MOURC Proceedings
'Not Accepted' or 'Rejected' MOURC entry from The MOURC Proceedings
Accepted MOU records assembled by David Cahlander
Sighting records for ()
Avian information from the occurrence maps, in dark red, assembled by Robert Janssen. Seasonal report for the species/season published in The Loon or The Flicker has been added.
Information from The Loon index assembled by Anthony Hertzel and David Cahlander