Western Birds Journal

Volume 27, No. 4

Published October 1, 1996

Issue description

Volume 27, number 4 of Western Birds, published 1996

Articles

  1. Cover image V27(4)

    W. DAVID SHUFORD, CATHERINE M. HICKEY, REBECCA J. SAFRAN, GARY W. PAGE (Author)

    A REVIEW OF THE STATUS OF THE WHITE-FACED IBIS IN WINTER IN CALIFORNIA

    The White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi) has been classified as a Bird Species of Special Concern in California (Remsen 1978, S. Laymon pers. comm.) and a potential candidate for federal threatened or endangered status (USFWS 1991, Trapp 1995) because of population declines in the western United States, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s (USFWS 1985, Ryder and Manry 1994). Although the breeding status of the ibis in this region has been reviewed (Ryder 1967, USFWS 1985, Ryder and Manry 1994), little has been published on its abundance and distribution in winter. Here we summarize data on the winter distribution, abundance, and habitat use of the White-faced Ibis in California during the last half century. We also estimate the current winter population size and review historical population trends.

  3. Cover image V27(4)

    CATHERINE M. HICKEY, PHIL CAPITOLO, BRETT WALKER (Author)

    FIRST RECORD OF A LANCEOLATED WARBLER IN CALIFORNIA

    On 11 September 1995, on Southeast Farallon Island, 42 km west of San Francisco, California, we found and banded a Lanceolated Warbler (Locustella lanceolata), the first recorded in the state.

    Strong northwest winds characterized the weather of the week preceding 11 September. The morning of 9 September brought diminished southeast winds and high cloud cover. At approximately 1540 on 11 September, Hickey and Capitolo were censusing birds near the east landing of the island with the intention of catching any unbanded birds. Hickey spotted a small, brown bird scampering like a mouse to hide under the dead vegetation near a mist-net. She slowly approached the bird as it scurried short distances. At this time, Capitolo saw it dart into the opening of an auklet burrow, after which Hickey successfully flushed the bird into the net. Hickey and Capitolo had no previous experience with the genus Locustella and were unable to identify the bird at the time of capture.

  4. Cover image V27(4)

    ERIC MELLINK, EDUARDO PALACIOS, SALVADOR GONZÁLEZ (Author)

    NOTES: ON NESTING BIRDS OF THE CIÉNEGA DE SANTA CLARA SALTFLAT, NORTHWESTERN SONORA, MEXICO

    The Ciénega de Santa Clara is a 20,000-hectare brackish wetland on the east side of the delta of the Río Colorado in Sonora, México. It has developed as a result of the discharge of brine from the Wellton–Mohawk Irrigation District, in southwestern Arizona, through the Wellton–Mohawk Main Outlet Drain Extension, since 1977. The northern third of the ciénega is covered by dense cattails (Typha domingensis), Common Reed (Phragmites communis), and bulrush (Scirpus americanus). The southern two-thirds of the wetland consist of unvegetated evaporative saltflats (Glenn et al. 1992). The area is important for conservation, yet little effort has been devoted toward its birds. Investigations have focused mainly on its vegetated portion, which supports a large population of the endangered Yuma Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris yumanensis; see Eddleman 1989) and of wintering waterfowl. The use of the saltflats by birds has been mostly overlooked. Only Eddleman (1989) has reported on the birds he recorded there, and none was a breeding Yuma Clapper Rail.

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    SHIRLEY WELLS, LUIS F. BAPTISTA, STEPHEN F. BAILEY, HELEN M. HORBLIT (Author)

    NOTES: AGE AND SEX DETERMINATION IN ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRD BY MEANS OF TAIL PATTERN

    While banding Anna’s Hummingbirds (Calypte anna) on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, southern California, between 1970 and 1976 (Wells et al. 1978), Wells noted three predominant color patterns on the outermost rectrices of the birds handled (Figure 1). By pulling the outermost rectrix on one side of fledglings and then subsequently recapturing these marked individuals and noting the shape, color, and pattern of the regrown rectrices, she confirmed that these patterns were age- and sex-specific. This method of sexing may be applied to nestlings as well as fledglings and adults. We describe these differences for banders and population biologists interested in sex ratios or life tables to enable them to determine the sex and age of Anna’s Hummingbirds. Our confirming data are based on an examination of 121 specimens in the collections of the California Academy of Sciences (CAS), San Francisco, California, and the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ), Berkeley, California. These included 79 females and 42 males.