Western Birds Journal

Volume 49, No. 2

Published April 1, 2018

Issue description

Volume 49, number 2 of Western Birds, published 2018

Articles

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    JEANNE TINSMAN, MARTIN MEYERS (Author)

    NEVADA BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE REPORT FOR 2016

     In 2016, the Nevada Bird Records Committee (NBRC) reviewed 86 reports from the period 27 November 1965–28 October 2016; 76 were endorsed. One new species was added to the Nevada list following endorsement of the fist state record, the White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis). The state list also grew by an additional species as a result of the split of the Western Scrub-Jay (formerly Aphelocoma californica) since both the resulting California Scrub-Jay (A. californica) and Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay (A. woodhouseii) are regular breeding species in Nevada. The Nevada state list stands at 488 species, of which 141 are currently on the review list.

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    DANIEL A. AIROLA, STAN KOSTKA, CORINNA ELWOOD (Author)

    ATTEMPTS TO ESTABLISH COLONIES OF THE PURPLE MARTIN IN NEST BOXES IN CALIFORNIA: FIRST SUCCESS AND EVALUATION OF FAILURES

     The Purple Martin (Progne subis), designated a species of special concern by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, has been reported using nest boxes in California only a few times, in contrast to its extensive adoption of nest boxes in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia and long-term use of them in eastern North America. We installed and monitored nest boxes and artificial gourds at Shelter Cove along California’s northwest coast, where a substantial population of nesting martins is threatened by loss of snags. We placed three nest boxes at one nesting area in 2002, and, after the martins used two boxes in 2007, we added 15 boxes and seven gourds in groups at six other sites early in 2008. From 2008 to 2011, martins used up to 11 boxes and two gourds, as well as nesting in snags, utility poles, and buildings. We monitored their nesting success in 2008, when three of fie occupied boxes successfully fldged young. We also installed boxes or advised on attempts to establish box-nesting colonies at six other sites elsewhere in northern California, none of which were successful. Reasons for failure may include too great a distance from the nearest source population, improper placement, and the martins’
    unfamiliarity with a novel type of nest site. Our experiment at Shelter Cove represents the fist successful use of nest boxes designed and placed for Purple Martins in California and suggests boxes may be an effective tool for securing and recovering Purple Martin populations in California.

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    WILLIAM S. CLARK (Author)

    THE ALASKA RED-TAILED HAWK

     Grinnell (1909:211) described a new subspecies of the Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis alascensis, as “always blackest dorsally, and decidedly smaller” than a “large series” of Western Red-tailed Hawks, B. j. calurus, at that time the only subspecies of B. jamaicensis recognized in western North America. He based his description of this “Alaska Red-tailed Hawk” on four specimens collected in 1907 in southeast Alaska (Figures 1–3), two of which he designated as the type specimens. Grinnell compared the adult type, MVZ 51 (♂), with adults of calurus and found it darker dorsally, with a wider dark subterminal tail band, stronger flnk barring, and wider black shaft streaks on the belly. The other three specimens comprise a juvenile (MVZ 41), also designated as a type, and both of its parents. The latter (MVZ 42, ♀; MVZ 43, ♂) are more typical of alascensis in having the breast rufous (Figures 2 and 3). Grinnell wrote that the juvenile type specimen is also darker above and has the dark tail bands wider than those of juvenile calurus; he saw no suggestion of a dark morph in alascensis. So far as known, the range of alascensis comprises the temperate rain forests of southeast Alaska and coastal British Columbia, including the Queen Charlotte Islands (now Haida Gwaii) and western Vancouver Island (see Hellmayr and Conover 1949, Wheeler 2003).

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    PAUL E. LEHMAN (Author)

    RIVER WARBLER (LOCUSTELLA FLUVIATILIS) AT GAMBELL, ALASKA: FIRST RECORD FOR NORTH AMERICA

     During the late afternoon on 7 October 2017 at Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, local residents and bird photographers Sue Bryer and Clarence Irrigoo Jr., as well as visiting birder Ebbe Banstorp, were in the village’s “near boneyard.” The several boneyards at Gambell are midden sites that support a relatively lush growth of two species of Artemisia (wormwood), which provides food and cover for migrating landbirds. At the east end of the near boneyard, Bryer flshed a small passerine, which she was able to photograph only in flght. Shortly thereafter, visiting birder Monte M. Taylor also obtained brief views of the bird in flght. Upon reviewing Bryer’s photographs, Taylor saw enough detail to radio me that I should quickly come over to see a bird resembling a Blyth’s Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus dumetorum), an Asian species previously documented at Gambell twice in fall (Lehman and Ake 2011).

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    FAITH RIGOLOSI, FLOYD E. HAYES (Author)

    ATTEMPTED KLEPTOPARASITISM OF A WHITETAILED KITE BY A PEREGRINE FALCON

     Kleptoparasitism, the intraspecific and interspecific stealing of food already procured, is an opportunistic method of foraging used by many species of birds (Brockmann and Barnard 1979). The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) is known to kleptoparasitize a variety of bird species, including large gulls (Larus spp.), the Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus), Bald Eagle
    (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius), Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus), Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca), Bonelli’s Eagle (Aquila fasciata), Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus), Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), Merlin (Falco columbarius), Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), Carrion Crow (Corvus corone), and Common Raven (Corvus corax) (Bent 1937, Meinertzhagen 1959, Dekker 1980, 1999, 2003, Longrigg 1981, Zuberogoitia et al 2002, Moshkin 2009, White et al. 2002, 2013). In this note we report the fist documented incident of a Peregrine Falcon attempting to kleptoparasitize a White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus).

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    JEFFERY T. WILCOX (Author)

    ONSHORE FORAGING BY AN EARED GREBE

     The eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) is an aquatic, largely halophilic, species that inhabits open waters of the western half of North America (Jehl 1988, Grinnell and Miller 1944). A diving bird, it feeds primarily on benthic invertebrates (cramp and Simmons 1977, Winkler and cooper 1986, Jehl 1988, roberts et al. 2013) but also gleans invertebrates from the water surface (fjeldså 1981). eared Grebes
    breed colonially in large freshwater lakes and marshes throughout the western United States and canada, but at other life stages are uniquely adapted to use water of high salinity (Boe 1994, ryser 1985). immediately after breeding, eared Grebes migrate to large inland saline lakes with abundant food sources, where they congregate and molt, becoming flghtless (Jehl 1988, ryser 1985, cogswell 1977). once the molt has ended and food resources are exhausted (between october and february), large numbers of eared Grebes depart these inland saline lakes and spend the remaining winter months in open ocean (Jehl 1988). The species overwinters primarily in the Gulf of Mexico (Jehl and McKernan 2002), but coastal waters the entire length of california—including the channel islands (Howell 1917)—may host large wintering populations as well (Grinnell and Miller 1944). At Mono lake, a large saline lake in eastern california, eared Grebes feed on brine shrimp (Artemia monica) and brine fles (Ephydra hians), the latter often gleaned from the emergent bases of tufa towers (Jehl 1988). Here, i report a previously undescribed terrestrial gleaning behavior on a sandy ocean beach.

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    ANDREW N. STILLMAN, FRANKIE TOUSLEY (Author)

    NOVEL FUNCTION OF FLUTTER DISPLAY IN THE BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER

     Reported for a diverse array of avian taxa, flght displays span a wide range of behavioral functions, most commonly associated with territoriality, courtship, or threat defense (Sutherland 1963, Mather and Robertson 1992). Picoides woodpeckers engage in a variety of flttering aerial displays, including the dramatic “butterfly flght” associated with pair bonding in the Downy (P. pubescens), Hairy (P. villosus), and Red-cockaded (P. borealis) woodpeckers (Kilham 1962, Jackson 1994). However, for many woodpecker species including the Black-backed (P. arcticus), flttering displays occur in the context of territory defense and function as a threat display to deter intruders (Lawrence 1967, Short 1971, Tremblay et al. 2016). To remain consistent with other published sources (Short 1971, Tremblay et al. 2016) we refer to this behavior as the “fltter aerial display.” During the fltter aerial display in Picoides woodpeckers, an individual engages in a quivering, mothlike flght with rapid, shallow wingbeats. The wings are extended outward in line with the body and bowed slightly downward at the distal ends. The tail is spread, revealing the outer rectrices. The flght is usually directed toward an intruder and accompanied by territorial calls.

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    GORGONIO RUIZ-CAMPOS, GONZALO DE LEÓN-GIRÓN, PHILIP UNITT (Author)

    WESTERN SCREECH-OWL (MEGASCOPS KENNICOTTII CARDONENSIS) IN THE SIERRA LA ASAMBLEA, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MÉXICO

    From 6 to 9 June 2016 Ruiz-Campos and León-Girón participated in a biological exploration of the Sierra La Asamblea, an isolated mountain range in the central desert of Baja California, lying about 25 km east of Laguna Chapala and about 65 km northwest of Bahía de los Angeles. Reaching a maximum elevation of 1661 m above sea level, the Sierra La Asamblea can be considered a sky island, having some plant species characteristic of transitional chaparral such as Rhus ovata (sugarbush), Juniperus californica (juniper), Ephedra californica (California ephedra), and Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) as well as plants more typical of the lower surrounding desert such as Brahea armata (blue palm) and Prosopis glandulosa (honey mesquite). The plants of the Sierra Asamblea have been surveyed to substantial degree by Bullock et al. (2008), but our visit in June 2016 was the first by biologists focusing on birds.

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    JOSEPH L. VEVERKA , TYLER H. COLEMAN (Author)

    NESTING OF THE CRESTED CARACARA IN ORGAN PIPE CACTUS NATIONAL MONUMENT, ARIZONA

    In the United States, breeding of the Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway) has been documented in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and Arizona (Morrison and Dwyer 2012, Jenness 2015). In Arizona, the caracara has been long familiar to the Tohono O’odham (Rea 2007), but the first nest reported in the scientific literature was found in 1960, in the Tohono O’odham Nation (Levy 1961). More nests were discovered there in the 1970s (Levy 1961, Ellis et al. 1988). From 1986 to 1988, Levy (1988) observed 21 nests in this area. Only two nests were known outside the Tohono O’odham Nation at that time, one west of Tucson (in 1964) and one north of Tucson (in 1988). In the last decade at least 15 active nests have been found in Arizona outside of the Tohono O’odham Nation, north and west of Tucson in the North Altar Valley and on the Santa Cruz Flats (D. Jenness pers. comm.).

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    Ryan A. Phillips (Author)

    BOOK REVIEW: Raptors of Mexico and Central America

    There are numerous comprehensive bird guides that cover regions in the neotropics, including Mexico and Central America, but no previously published guides for this region are dedicated solely to raptors. Furthermore, most guides do not accurately illustrate the shapes and plumages of raptors, making raptor identification in the neotropics challenging without exhaustive experience. The much anticipated Raptors of Mexico and Central America is the first guide dedicated to raptors in Mexico and Central America and the first to correctly illustrate them as they would be observed in the field. Those who have had the opportunity to experience the neotropics will greatly appreciate this book, as it allows for detailed study of elusive species. Raptors are arguably among the most challenging of taxa to identify, owing to their highly variable plumage, behavior, and generally low abundance. In the neotropics, many raptors are a challenge simply to observe, making a book of this magnitude a respectable feat and an important contribution to the avian literature.

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    W. DAVID SHUFORD, DAVID E. QUADY (Author)

    IN MEMORIAM JON P. WINTER, 1941–2014

     Jon Winter, the secretary of the California Bird Records Committee during the fist seven years of its existence, died of heart failure on 3 June 2014 at the age of 73 in Santa Rosa, California, his home for 42 years. He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Christine, his two daughters, Danielle and Erin, and twin grandsons, Bryson and Wyatt.

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    DEBORAH J. HOUSE (Author)

    FIRST RECORD OF MELANISM IN A MYIARCHUS FLYCATCHER

    On 25 May 2008, I observed an aberrantly plumaged Brown-crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus tyrannulus) at the China Ranch Date Farm near Tecopa, in southeastern Inyo County, California (35° 48´ N, 116° 11´ W). Apart from rufous flight and tail feathers, this bird was almost entirely brownish-black—see photo on the outside back cover of this issue of Western Birds.