Western Birds Journal

Volume 50, No. 3

Published July 1, 2019

Issue description

Volume 50, number 3 of Western Birds, published 2019

Articles

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    ROBERT A. MILLER, JAY D. CARLISLE, JOSEPH G. BARNES, ROSS D. HALEY, MACKENZIE R. JEFFRESS (Author)

    WINTER DISTRIBUTIONS AND HABITAT ASSOCIATIONS OF RAPTORS ACROSS NEVADA

     Raptors wintering in Nevada comprise both local breeders and migrants from long distances, making winter surveys valuable for evaluating trends within multiple regional populations. We evaluated data on Nevada's wintering raptors recorded over six years from two programs—the statewide road-based surveys coordinated by the Nevada Department of Wildlife and the boat-based surveys of Lake Mead and Lake Mohave led by the National Park Service. Observations were suffiient for us to develop well-performing predictive models of the distribution and habitat use of seven species plus all species of Accipiter pooled. The distribution of the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was stable over the six years, while the density of the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) increased in 2018. Numbers of some of the other species may vary cyclically, possibly over a period three to six years, as expected for species that feed on small mammals. Patterns of the American Kestrel (Falco sparverius), Prairie Falcon (F. mexicanus), and Accipiter hawks were similar, possibly the result of these species focusing on the same prey in winter. Among the species whose models performed well, a positive correlation with pasture and fallow cropland was the most frequent habitat association, ranking high for all. Accipiter hawks and the American Kestrel were associated positively with a moderate degree of human modifiations of the habitat other than agriculture, but the Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius), Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus), Ferruginous Hawk (B. regalis), and Prairie Falcon showed a strong negative association with all levels of such development.

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    DAVID VANDER PLUYM (Author)

    THE ALEUTIAN CACKLING GOOSE IN ARIZONA

     There is little published information about the occurrence of the Aleutian Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii leucopareia) in Arizona. Formerly listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, this subspecies has rebounded, leading to an increase in numbers occurring outside its core range, including Arizona. Since the fist in 1975, at least 24 well-founded records for Arizona have accumulated,
    one supported by a specimen, two by band recoveries, and 20 by diagnostic photographs. Since 2013 the Aleutian Cackling Goose has occurred in Arizona annually between November and February. It is most frequent along the Colorado River, but records extend as far east as Willcox, Cochise County.

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    GARY H. ROSENBERG, DAVID VANDER PLUYM, LAURENS HALSEY (Author)

    ARIZONA BIRD COMMITTEE REPORT, 2015–2017 RECORDS

     The Arizona Bird Committee reviewed 287 records and updated the Arizona bird list through 2017, adding eight species: the Common Crane (Grus grus), Lesser Sand-Plover (Charadrius mongolus), Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma tethys), Juan Fernandez Petrel (Pterodroma externa), Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Ardenna pacifia), Pine Flycatcher (Empidonax affiis), California Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica), and Little Bunting (Emberiza pusilla). These bring the Arizona state list to 563 species in good standing.

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    LEO C. GASKINS (Author)

    A HOUSE FINCH’S SUCCESSFUL USE OF A BARN SWALLOW NEST

     The ability to adapt to and thrive in human-dominated landscapes has allowed the House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) to become one of the most widely distributed songbirds in North America and has allowed the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) to become the widest-ranging swallow in the world (Alsop 2006). As a result of adapting to nest on artifiial structures and the House Finch’s introduction to the east coast of the United States (Aldrich and Weske 1978), these species’ overlap increased greatly. Both species inhabit disturbed areas (Badyaev et al. 2012) and construct cup-shaped nests, but House Finches use twigs, grasses, leaves, and a lining of fier materials, while Barn Swallows use dried mud and grass with a lining of feathers or hair (Alsop 2006). As the chicks grow, a characteristic ring of feces forms around the edge of House Finch nests (Evenden 1957), but Barn Swallow chicks defecate over the edge rather than on the edge of a nest (Spencer 2005). Additionally, unlike House Finches,
    Barn Swallows reuse the same nests many times, and the nest structures themselves can persist for years (Møller 1994). Here I present an observation of a House Finch occupying an abandoned Barn Swallow nest, an occurrence documented rarely.

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    HIRAM RAFAEL MORENO-HIGAREDA, GORGONIO RUIZ-CAMPOS, HORACIO DE LA CUEVA (Author)

    RIDGWAY’S RAILS CLIMBING SHRUBS AT HIGH TIDE

     The Light-footed Ridgway’s Rail (Rallus obsoletus levipes) is considered endangered in the United States under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and is protected in Mexico under the Norma Ofiial Mexicana (NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010) as “in danger of extinction” (“P,” DOF 2010, Ortiz-Pulido 2018). It is a cryptic species that inhabits coastal wetlands and lagoons from Santa Barbara, California, in the southwestern United States to Bahía de San Quintín in the northwest portion of the Baja California península, Mexico (Bent 1926, van Rossem 1929). This species is highly dependent for its survival on the halophytic vegetation cover provided by California cordgrass (Spartina foliosa) and pickleweed (Salicornia spp.) (Foin and Benchley-Jackson 1991). Here we describe an unreported, or at least uncommon, behavior for this species.

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    RYANS TERRIL, AMES M. MALEY, WHITNEY L. E. TSAI, KEVIN B. FISTANIC, ROWDY J. FREELAND, ANNA FRANCESCHELLI, BRYCE LEWIS-SMITH, LEEZA L. LU, JEREMY B. YODER (Author)

    TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS FEEDING IN JOSHUA TREE INFLORESCENCES

     The Tricolored Blackbird (Agelaius tricolor) is endangered (Birdlife International 2018) and declining rapidly (Cook and Toft 2005, Meese 2017), designated as threatened by the state of California (Calif. Dept. Fish and Wildlife 2019), and nearly endemic to the California ecoregion (Kelsey 2008). It breeds somewhat nomadically (Hamilton 1998), which behavior has hampered its conservation. For its declining population to be managed, it is essential that the resources on which it depends for food and habitat be understood (Skorupa et al. 1980). Here we describe a previously unknown behavior of the Tricolored Blackbird, foraging in the inflrescences of a common plant.

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    BRYCE C. LAKE (Author)

    NORTHWEST LIMIT OF THE BREEDING RANGE OF THE RUDDY DUCK

     This note describes the status of the Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) as breeding in Alaska and updates the northwest extent of the species’ breeding range in North America. That distribution now includes wetlands just south of the Arctic Circle, within the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge (NWR).

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    MICHAEL C. COUFFER (Author)

    THE CURRENT NORTHERNMOST BREEDING PAIR OF THE CALIFORNIA GNATCATCHER

     During the spring of 2015, I documented a pair of California Gnatcatchers (Polioptila californica californica) nesting in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, in Grasshopper Canyon north of the town of Castaic and west of Castaic Lake. I located one pair with three dependent juveniles and three nests: one nest from a previous year, one recently active nest, and one nest built and
    occupied during the observation period. I found these gnatcatchers 13.8 km north of the northernmost pair of the California Gnatcatcher previously reported to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS; data available by request to the offies in Ventura or Carlsbad, California).

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    John Parmeter (Author)

    IN MEMORIAM - JERRY R. OLDENETTEL, 1942–2019

     Jerry Oldenettel, an outstandingfiure in New Mexico fild ornithology during the past quarter century, passed away on 11 April 2019, aged 76. It would be diffiult to overstate
    Jerry’s contributions to New Mexico ornithology, or his impact on the state’s birding community.

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    LOGAN KAHLE (Author)

    FIRST RECORD OF THE EASTERN MEADOWLARK FOR CALIFORNIA

     In the summer of 2018, in a meadow in northeastern California, Calvin Lou and I found a singing male Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) showing characteristics of either the nominate subspecies S. m. magna or of S. m. argutula (photograph on this issue’s back cover). The bird was seen from 10 June to 30 July. This represents the fist documented and accepted record of this species in California (California Bird Records Committee record #2018-057) and one of few in the West. Here I describe its identifiCation, habitat, and the species’ status in the West.