Western Birds Journal

Volume 36, No. 2

Published April 1, 2005

Issue description

Volume 36, number 2 of Western Birds, published 2005

Articles

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    MIKE SAN MIGUEL, TODD McGRATH (Author)

    REPORT OF THE CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE: 2003 RECORDS

    The California Bird Records Committee reached decisions on 256 records involving 90 species and one species pair, endorsing 213 of them. Species new to California were the Cory’s Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), Little Shearwater (Puffinus assimilis), Oriental Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia orientalis), and Magnificent Hummingbird (Eugenes fulgens). The Falcated Duck (Anas falcata) and Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway) were elevated to the main list from the Supplemental List. The Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) was also added to the main list because of the determination by the American Ornithologists’ Union (Banks et al. 2004) that this group of subspecies should be recognized as a full species. With these additions, plus those of the Common Eider (Somateria mollissima), Slaty-backed Gull (Larus schistisagus), and Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus), to be addressed in the next report, California’s bird list stands at 630 species, ten of which are non-native. Potential first state records of the Pink-backed Pelican (Pelecanus rufescens) and European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) were not accepted on grounds of questionable natural occurrence, and a report of Black-capped Petrel (Pterodroma hasitata) was not accepted because of concerns regarding identification.

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    DOUG FAULKNER, COEN DEXTER, RICH LEVAD, TONY LEUKERING (Author)

    BLACK PHOEBE BREEDING RANGE EXPANSION INTO COLORADO

    The breeding range of the Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) has recently expanded into Colorado. Since the first state record in 1972, this species has become a regular visitor, ultimately establishing a satellite breeding population in southwest Colorado. In 1998, observers surveying while floating down the San Miguel River, Montrose County, detected 28 Black Phoebes as well as several nests. Since then, Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (RMBO) staff has monitored the occurrence of Black Phoebe in Colorado. By 2002, through which this paper presents information, the Colorado population of the Black Phoebe, centered along the San Miguel River, numbered probably over 30 pairs.

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    EDWARD R. PANDOLFINO, JAMES W. HELMERICKS (Author)

    CHANGES IN WINTER ABUNDANCE OF THE RUDDY TURNSTONE ALONG THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA

    We used data from Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs) to demonstrate a significant decline over the last 28 years of the Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) population wintering along the coast of California. Of the seventeen CBCs with analyzable data, eight revealed significant decreases, but none revealed an increase. The average number of Ruddy Turnstones counted since 1990 has decreased by 43% compared to the average prior to 1990. Declines were noted on CBCs from north of San Francisco to San Diego. Older data from some of the California CBCs suggested that the higher numbers of turnstones recorded in the late 1970s and 1980s may have reflected a period of unusually high abundance, perhaps part of a cyclic change. Several factors may have contributed to the decrease of the Ruddy Turnstone in California. However, we suspect that the most important is climate change, possibly related to the long-term fluctuations of sea-surface temperature known as the Pacific decadal oscillation. There may have been a decline in the quality of intertidal habitats along the California coast, affecting wintering populations of the Ruddy Turnstone and possibly of the Wandering Tattler (Heteroscelus incanus).

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    MICHAEL C. COUFFER (Author)

    NOTES: CALIFORNIA GNATCATCHER FEEDS BEWICK’S WREN NESTLINGS IN AN ABANDONED RODENT BURROW

    On 14 and 15 April 2004 I documented an adult male California Gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica) repeatedly feeding the nestlings of a pair of Bewick’s Wrens (Thryomanes bewickii) that had built a nest inside the remnant of a rodent burrow in western Riverside County, California.

    Among the many published accounts of interspecific feeding of young in birds (e.g., Skutch 1960, 1961, 1987; Shy 1982; Welty and Baptista 1988), only one involves a gnatcatcher feeding the young of a species other than the parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater): Erickson (1998) described a male California Gnatcatcher feeding fledgling Bushtits (Psaltriparus minimus). True cooperative breeding has not been reported for the California Gnatcatcher (Atwood and Bontrager 2001). An adult male thought to have recently lost its mate “helped” a gnatcatcher pair feed their single fledgling, then later displaced both members of the pair from the territory (Atwood and Bontrager 2001). The gnatcatcher nests in low shrubs, whereas Bewick’s Wren is a cavity nester. Both species are typically intolerant of birds of any other species approaching their nests, and there are no published references of a gnatcatcher repeatedly entering the nest cavity of another species, much less an underground cavity nest.

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    R. BRADLEY BENTER, HEATHER M. RENNER, MARTIN RENNER (Author)

    NOTES: FIRST RECORD OF A SHY ALBATROSS IN ALASKA

    On 4 August 2003 we observed and photographed a large dark-mantled albatross (Figure 1) 18 km northwest of Kasatochi Island, in the Aleutian Islands (52° 13'N, 175° 49'W), Alaska. We identified it as a Salvin’s Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta salvini) (for information on the taxonomy of the Shy Albatross complex, see Cole 2000.) Our observation and photographs provide the first record of this species for Alaska and the 10th record for the North Pacific (Table 1). Of these birds, five were identified as Salvin’s Albatrosses, five as White-capped Albatrosses (T. c. cauta/steadi).

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    MARK J. BILLINGS, GUY McCASKIE (Author)

    NOTES: HUDSONIAN GODWIT IN BAJA CALIFORNIA

    On 28 August 2004, Claude G. Edwards, Michael U. Evans, Martha Heath, and Billings headed toward Ensenada in Baja California for a day of birding. At about 10:00, at the Río Guadalupe estuary near La Misión, Billings spotted an unfamiliar bird and quickly determined that its overall size, shape, and grayish-brown coloration indicated a Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica). Among those present, only Edwards had ever seen this species before. The location was a shallow freshwater estuary separated from the ocean by a wide sandbar. The estuary has exposed mud flats and is surrounded by pickleweed (Salicornia sp.) and Saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima). At first the observers were looking east towards the sun, under a marine layer, resulting in a hazy image of the bird. As they began discussing the identity of the bird, Billings realized that it was no longer present. They then walked upstream along the estuary’s northern shore and relocated it. At distances as close as 12 m, and under better lighting conditions, they were able to study the bird with the aid of Billings’ Swarovski STS 80-mm HD spotting scope. At one point, the bird raised its wings and showed dark wing linings, eliminating the similar Black-tailed Godwit (L. limosa).

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    ERIC MELLINK, MÓNICA RIOJAS-LÓPEZ (Author)

    NOTES: NEW BREEDING LOCALITIES FOR THE SNOWY PLOVER IN WESTERN MEXICO

    The breeding status of the Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) along the western coast of Mexico is only partially known. On the western coast of the peninsula of Baja California it was documented thoroughly by Palacios et al. (1994). Along the Gulf of California coast of the peninsula there are only two known or suggested locations (Page et al., 1995), and few places seem to be suitable. The continental Pacific coast of Mexico has salt flats associated with coastal lagoons, which could provide breeding habitat for this species. However, the plover’s breeding distribution here has not been completely assessed, and the only known breeding locations are the delta of the Colorado River (Mellink et al. 1996), Playa Ceuta, Sinaloa (X. Vega pers. comm.), and Oaxaca (Binford 1989). It has been thought that other breeding locations along the western coast are likely (Binford 1989, Howell and Webb 1995).

    While searching for Gull-billed Tern (Sterna nilotica) colonies along the western coast of México in 2003 and 2004, we noticed evidence of Snowy Plover breeding at three previously unknown locations, which we report here (Figure 1). After encountering a Snowy Plover, we surveyed the area using binoculars and spotting scope. At each of these sites, we spent between 2 and 5 hours. Our data represent basically breeding records, but numbers of breeding pairs in each area cannot be estimated.

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    STEVEN G. MLODINOW (Author)

    NOTES: CLARK’S GREBE IN WESTERN WASHINGTON

    Until 1985, when the two taxa were formally split by the American Ornithologists’ Union (1985), Clark’s Grebe (Aechmophorus clarkii) was long considered conspecific with the Western Grebe (A. occidentalis). As field identification of Clark’s and Western Grebes can be difficult, the status and distribution of these species, particularly the less numerous Clark’s, is still being worked out (cf. Marshall et al. 2003). To understand this species’ occurrence in western Washington better, I reviewed records of Clark’s Grebe submitted to WOSNews, a publication of the Washington Ornithological Society, from July 1993 (when field notes were first published in WOSNews) through February 2004.

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    Alvaro Jaramillo (Author)

    BOOK REVIEWS: Gulls of North America, Europe and Asia: by Klaus Malling Olsen and Hans Larsson. 2004. Princeton University Press. 608 pages, over 800 color photographs. Hardback, $55. ISBN 0-691-11997-X

    Many of us started identifying gulls with the aid of Peter Grant’s classic Gulls: A Guide to Identification, and for over two decades that work has remained our main reference for tricky identifications. Malling Olsen and Larsson’s new gull book (hereafter Gulls) aims to replace Grant. The authors state that Gulls is a guide to the identification and distribution of the gulls of the Holarctic and should be judged only as such; I will concentrate on these aspects of the book.

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    Steve N. G. Howell (Author)

    BOOK REVIEWS: Hummingbirds of North America: With Jon L. Dunn. 2004. The Advanced Birding Video Series. Peregrine Video Productions, 7583 Estate Circle, Niwot, CO 80503; 303-652-3678; www.peregrinevideo.com

    This series made its ambitious debuts in 1997 and 1999 with two videos covering North American gulls. Now it has tackled hummingbirds, a family famous for its powers of flight and iridescent colors, two attributes well suited to media capturing movement. As well as a conventional video cassette, this title (hereafter Hummingbirds) is available as a DVD that can be played on computers with CD drives and DVD software; the latter medium allows one to move around quickly within the video, which runs three hours. My review discusses layout and content as well as pros and cons of the media used.

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    ROBERT A. HAMILTON, PETER A. GAEDE (Author)

    FEATURED PHOTO: PINK-SIDED × GRAY-HEADED JUNCOS

    Rich in variation, Dark-eyed Juncos offer endless opportunities for study. The five subspecies groups (Slate-colored, Oregon, Gray-headed, White-winged, and Guadalupe) currently include 15 recognized subspecies (A.O.U. 1957, 1983), with the distinctive subspecies mearnsi (Pink-sided) plausibly considered a sixth group. Although it is easy to become overwhelmed by such complexity—the late Ernst Mayr (1942) termed the species a systematist’s “nightmare”—here we embrace only the modest goal of illustrating and reviewing one form of introgression, that between the Pink-sided Junco (J. h. mearnsi) and the Gray-headed Junco (J. h. caniceps). Junco h. mearnsi is generally considered part of the Oregon group, but in this discussion—purely for the sake of clarity and with no taxonomic implications—we treat it as a taxon separate and apart from the Oregon Junco, which consists of seven other subspecies.