Western Birds Journal

Volume 37, No. 1

Published January 1, 2006

Issue description

Volume 37, number 1 of Western Birds, published 2006

Articles

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    DANIEL S. COOPER (Author)

    SHOREBIRD USE OF THE LOWER LOS ANGELES RIVER CHANNEL: A NOVEL WETLAND HABITAT

    The concrete-lined channel of the lower Los Angeles River in Long Beach supports one of the largest concentrations of shorebirds in southern California during fall migration. Each fall, the Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri), and Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) occur in the thousands of individuals per day, and the American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) and Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) occur in the hundreds. Numbers peak from mid-August through late September, and eight systematic surveys between 9 August and 27 September 2000 yielded in excess of 14,000 birds on four of these counts. Despite the channel’s proximity to the coast, the species composition resembles that at other inland sites in the Southwest more closely than natural coastal wetlands in the region. Because of the channel’s constricted concrete borders, even slight rainfall can raise the water level in the channel, reducing the suitability of the habitat for shorebirds. This effect likely accounts for the area’s relatively light use by shorebirds outside the late summer and fall dry season.

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    PAUL R. MARTIN, FRANCES BONIER, DANIEL D. GIBSON (Author)

    FIRST NEST OF THE YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER FOR ALASKA, WITH NOTES ON BREEDING BIOLOGY

    We discovered a breeding population of Yellow-bellied Flycatchers (Empidonax flaviventris) during the summer of 2004 in a mountainous area northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska. A minimum of 13 males, all apparently paired, were defending territories in open montane forest with patches of thick alder, birch, and willow. Expanses of similar unsurveyed habitat suggested the possibility of a much larger population. A nest with four eggs provided the first evidence of this species’ breeding in Alaska. We recorded behavior at this nest by 24-hour videotaping during incubation and when nestlings were 1 and 8 days old. The nestlings fledged after 15 days. This information extends the known breeding range of the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher west of Canada for the first time and, with other sites of suspected breeding, suggests the species may have a broader breeding distribution in Alaska, particularly in remote stretches of the Yukon River drainage.

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    LORENZO QUINTANA-BARRIOS, GORGONIO RUIZ-CAMPOS, PHILIP UNITT, RICHARD A. ERICKSON (Author)

    UPDATE ON THE BIRDS OF ISLA GUADALUPE, BAJA CALIFORNIA

    We report 56 bird specimens of 31 species taken on Isla Guadalupe, Baja California, between 1986 and 2004 and housed at the Colección Ornitológica del Laboratorio de Vertebrados de la Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada, along with other sight and specimen records. The specimens include the first published Guadalupe records for 10 species: the Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris), Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus), Bonaparte’s Gull (Larus philadelphia), Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens), Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus), Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia), Magnolia Warbler (Dendroica magnolia), Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus), and Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius). A specimen of the eastern subspecies of Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater ater) and a sight record of the Gray-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus) are the first reported from the Baja California Peninsula (and islands). A photographed Franklin’s Gull (Larus pipixcan) is also an island first. Currently 136 native species and three species introduced in North America have been recorded from the island and nearby waters.

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    MICHAEL A. PATTEN (Author)

    DISPERSAL AND VAGRANCY IN THE PYRRHULOXIA

    The Pyrrhuloxia (Cardinalis sinuatus) frequently is considered sedentary. A compilation of extralimital records, however, shows that the species wanders regularly in late fall and winter (chiefly November through March) north and east of its United States range and wanders casually in the spring and summer (May through July) west of this range. There are even six records well outside the species’ normal range. The differing geographic and temporal distributions of extralimital records coincide with two subspecies (nominate C. s. sinuatus in the east and C. s. fulvescens in the west), hinting at the possibility of underlying differences in breeding biology and dispersal timing between the subspecies.

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    ERIC MELLINK, MÓNICA RIOJAS-LÓPEZ (Author)

    NOTES: NESTING OF FORSTER’S TERN IN A TROPICAL COASTAL LAGOON, CUYUTLÁN, COLIMA, MEXICO

    Forster’s Tern (Sterna forsteri) nests mostly from central Canada to the central United States and has scattered colonies along both coasts of North America, south to northern Baja California along the west coast and to northern Tamaulipas along the east coast (Palacios and Alfaro 1991, Howell and Webb 1995, AOU 1998, McNicholl et al. 2001, Molina and Garrett 2001). In much of Mexico, Forster’s Tern is a common winter resident (Howell and Webb 1995, AOU 1998). During 2005, while doing field work on gulls and terns nesting in Laguna Cuyutlán, Colima, Mexico, we discovered 10 pairs of Forster’s Terns nesting.

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    STEVEN G. MLODINOW, DOUG SCHONEWALD, DENNY GRANSTRAND (Author)

    NOTES: GIANT CANADA GOOSE IN WASHINGTON

    On 4 December 2004 Granstrand found and photographed Washington’s first fully documented Giant Canada Goose (Branta canadensis maxima) of apparently wild origin near Yakima, Yakima County (Figure 1). On 15 January 2005 he found another at Ice Harbor Dam, Walla Walla County (Mlodinow et al. 2005). Figure 1 shows that the bird at Yakima had white extending back from the top of the cheek patch as well as a white bar across the forehead. Both marks typify maxima, though occasionally other subspecies of the Canada Goose display them, as do some intergrades (Hanson 1997). Additionally, maxima is typically somewhat whiter breasted than B. c. moffitti (Hanson 1997), the common large Canada Goose of Washington and surrounding states and provinces (Johnsgard 1975, Bellrose 1976), and this is evident in Figure 1. Also detectable in the photograph is that the white cheek strap meets the base of the bill. This mark is often present in maxima and is atypical of other taxa (B. Jones in litt). Granstrand also noted this bird’s wing being larger than the nearby examples of moffitti and its proportionally longer neck (not readily evident in the photograph because of the bird’s posture), both features suggesting maxima (Hanson 1997).

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    KURT RADAMAKER, GUY McCASKIE (Author)

    NOTES: FIRST VERIFIABLE RECORD OF THE FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER FOR MEXICO

    On 31 March 1996 we observed two Flesh-footed Shearwaters (Puffinus carneipes) about 10 nautical miles west of Islas Los Coronados in northwestern Baja California, Mexico. The birds were seen about midday, during a pelagic birding trip arranged by the Cooper Ornithological Society. The skies were clear with a light wind, resulting in excellent viewing conditions. We watched the shearwaters carefully as they circled the boat several times over 15 minutes, and Radamaker made brief notes of the field marks.

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    JULIAN D. AVERY, GREGORY S. KELLER (Author)

    NOTES: FIRST RECORD OF THE EASTERN SCREECH-OWL IN NEW MEXICO

    Early on the morning of 18 November 2003, Avery encountered a calling Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio) in an elm tree (Ulmus sp.) adjacent to the campus of Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, Roosevelt County, New Mexico. The bird was then photographed and tape-recorded on 20 November by Avery and Keller (Figure 1).

    The bird was identifiable as an Eastern Screech-Owl by its sustained tremolo call and intermediate rufous plumage. In the Great Plains, 7% of all Eastern Screech-Owls are of the rufous morph (Sibley 2000). Local Western Screech-Owls (M. kennicottii) should not be rufous, as in the Western any coloration other than gray is known only in subspecies M. k. kennicottii of the coastal Pacific Northwest (Cannings and Angell 2001). The Eastern Screech-Owl at Portales gave a 3- to 4-second tremolo call on one pitch, repeating it approximately every 15 seconds. These bouts of singing often lasted for 20 minutes or more.

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    DANIEL M. TAYLOR (Author)

    NOTES: AMERICAN CROWS MOVE INTO SOUTHERN IDAHO TOWNS

    The American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) is now a common year-round resident in southern Idaho towns (pers. obs., C. Trost pers. comm.). Yet this was not always so. Larrison et al. (1967) and Burleigh (1972) found crows common in a variety of open habitats, but not specifically in towns. Burleigh (1972) sometimes listed a town in his county-status summaries, but this reference represented a general area. For example, for Ada County he stated that American Crows were “apparently resident at Boise” but continued with “on November 7, 1957, numerous flocks were seen in the open fields.” He cited Newhouse (1960) as stating that the American Crow was common at Council, and Davis (1935) listed it as a winter visitor at Rupert; but these authors were referring to the region around these towns, not within them. The only specific reference to American Crows within a town by either Larrison et al. (1967) or Burleigh (1972) was the latter’s of “a noisy flock of sixteen birds noted well within the town limits of McCall March 19, 1967; ground that day covered with several feet of snow.” Apparently the fact that they were within town was noteworthy.

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    Steve N. G. Howell (Author)

    BOOK REVIEWS: Hawks from Every Angle: How to Identify Raptors in Flight: by Jerry Liguori. 2005. Princeton University Press. 132 pages, 339 color photos, 7 b/w photo plates, 2 maps. Paperback $19.95 (ISBN 0-691-11825-6); hardback, $55.00 (ISBN 0-691-11824-8).

    Hawks are among the most spectacular birds in North America, and there have been several raptor-identification books published in recent years—so why another? In 1988, Hawks in Flight, by Pete Dunne, David Sibley, and Clay Sutton, broke new ground in North America by taking raptor identification beyond Peterson’s field-mark system. Identifying raptors in flight is as much art as science, and it is difficult at best to convey what exactly it is that experienced hawk watchers use to name birds at long range, and at those real-life angles birds assume. Hawks in Flight still stands as a landmark, with numerous superb line drawings and a good number of (poorly reproduced) black-and-white photos showing hawks “as they really are.” Hawks from Every Angle also attempts to distill decades of hard-won knowledge into a field-friendly format. It is perhaps inevitable to liken Liguori’s work to a succinct, more standardized version of Hawks in Flight, with the benefit of color photos, but these differences are attributes and will help make Hawks from Every Angle the new bible for hawk watchers.

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    Steve N. G. Howell (Author)

    BOOK REVIEWS: Raptors of the World: by James Ferguson-Lees and David A. Christie. 2005. Princeton University Press. 320 pages, 118 color plates. Paperback $29.95 (ISBN 0-691-12684-4).

    Whereas I loved Jerry Liguori’s book (reviewed above), which was written by someone knowledgeable and passionate about hawks, with something valuable to say, I find the present work has little to recommend it beyond an attractive cover painting. It is a condensed “field guide” version of the monumental book by the same title (and authors) published in 2001. Like so many books in this genre, however, the original Raptors of the World should have omitted New World species, with which the authors and artists lack familiarity. This condensed edition recognizes 338 species, an increase of 25 (one newly described, 24 split) over the 2001 edition, but is this National Geographic approach to publishing any justification for killing thousands of trees? Only the most myopic of birdwatchers will take on their travels a field guide limited to raptors, and regional field guides covering all species now exist for most parts of the world. Beyond being flawed in concept, the content and illustrations are weak at best when it comes to the New World, so this book is unlikely to help with identifications as challenging as those in the genera Buteogallus or Accipiter.

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    STEVE N. G. HOWELL, JESSIE H. BARRY, JAMES E. PIKE (Author)

    FEATURED PHOTO: DELAYED PREFORMATIVE MOLT IN THE BARN SWALLOW

    The Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) is among those passerines whose molt follows the “complex basic strategy” (Howell et al. 2003). This means that adults have only a single (prebasic) molt each plumage cycle, whereas first-year birds have an additional preformative molt (traditionally termed the first prebasic molt) in their first plumage cycle, bridging the period between juvenile plumage and entry into the adult cycle. In most passerines the preformative molt is partial, but in swallows it is complete, or nearly so. That is, the young birds replace all of their feathers with a plumage essentially identical to that of the adult, and this plumage is worn through their first breeding season. In North American Barn Swallows (H. r. erythrogaster) both the definitive prebasic and preformative molts take place primarily on the winter grounds, the former between August and February, the latter between October and April (Pyle 1997). Thus the latest first-cycle birds should complete growth of their outer primaries in April.