Western Birds Journal

Volume 42, No. 3

Published July 1, 2011

Issue description

Volume 42, number 3 of Western Birds, published 2011

Articles

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    PETER PYLE, JIM TIETZ, GUY McCASKIE (Author)

    THE 35TH REPORT OF THE CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE: 2009 RECORDS

    Since its 34th report (Pike and Compton 2010), the California Bird Records Committee (CBRC) has accepted records of 176 individuals of 58 species, 2 species pairs, and 1 hybrid, most of which were birds observed in 2009. Two species, the White-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis) and the recently spliced Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis), are added to the California state list, bringing the total to 643 accepted species. We introduce a new tabular format to present CBRC records, similar to that found at the CBRC’s webpage Update to Rare Birds of California (www.californiabirds.org/cbrc_book/update.pdf). In 2011, the CBRC added two species to review list, the Fulvous Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) and Cape May Warbler (Dendroica tigrina).

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    MICHAEL D. WHITE, EDWARD R. PANDOLFINO, ANDREA JONES (Author)

    PURPLE MARTIN SURVEY RESULTS AT TEJON RANCH IN THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA

    The Purple Martin (Progne subis), a species of significant conservation concern in California, once nested widely in oak, sycamore, and coniferous woodlands throughout the state. Currently, the Tehachapi Mountains of southern California are the only area where significant numbers of Purple Martins are known to still nest in oaks. We surveyed for the Purple Martin and other cavity-nesting birds on a portion of Tejon Ranch in the Tehachapi Mountains during summer 2010. We found 23 nesting pairs of Purple Martins, all using cavities in large Valley Oaks (Quercus lobata) at or near the tops of ridges in open savanna settings. The Aorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) was the most abundant other cavity nester in the area and likely creates the cavities used by Purple Martins. The European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), considered a serious competitor of the Purple Martin for nest sites in most of the Purple Martin’s range, was rarely encountered near these nest sites.

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    JAMES E. BRADLEY, JUSTYN T. STAHL, JASON C. FIDORRA (Author)

    RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE AVIFAUNA OF SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND, INCLUDING THE FIRST RECORD OF THE BLUETHROAT IN CALIFORNIA

    Since Sullivan and Kershner (2005) last summarized the birds of San Clemente Island, California, 13 additional species have been recorded on the island, bringing the total number of species documented there to 330. Most notable was the first Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) recorded in North America outside of its limited known range in Alaska. Additionally, we document a first record of the Black-chinned Sparrow (Spizella atrogularis) breeding on the California Channel Islands.

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    STEVEN G. MLODINOW (Author)

    FIRST RECORDS OF THE SHORT-TAILED HAWK AND GRAY HAWK FOR THE BAJA CALIFORNIA PENINSULA

    During late October and early November 2011, I visited the tip of the Baja California Peninsula, from La Paz to San Jose del Cabo, all of which lies within the biogeographic region known as the Cape District, encompassing habitats ranging from desert in the lowlands to thorn forest in foothills and pine–oak woodlands on higher slopes [Woolley 2001]. This portion of the Cape District, at the tip of the world’s second-longest peninsula oriented north–south, is also well known for concentrating vagrant birds. On 30 October 2010, I was walking through a patch of thorn forest at Cadueno, Baja California Sur, when I heard the scold notes of a Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana). I quickly located the source of the tanager’s agitation: an adult Gray Hawk (Buteo platypterus) perched on dead branches just below the canopy. The hawk, no farther from me than 20 m, remained for at least a minute before taking flight (Figure 1). Efforts to relocate it the next day failed. On 3 November 2010, approximately 90 minutes before sunset, I was observing the upper lip of the canyon near the road to San Antonio de la Sierra, Baja California Sur. This arroyo is approximately 22.5 km south of Mexico Highway 1, at an elevation of approximately 700 m. A small hawk came into view high above and quickly disappeared into the sun’s glare. Suspecting the bird to be a Broad-winged Hawk (B. platypterus), I drove on the peninsula, I readied my camera. When it reappeared I took more than a dozen photographs. Unfortunately, the bird quickly soared off to the north. Review of the photographs immediately thereafter (Figure 2), however, revealed that the hawk was a light-morph adult Short-tailed Hawk (B. brachyurus).

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    LAUREN HARTER (Author)

    BOOK REVIEW: Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding: Understanding What You See and Hear

    With an abundance of identification guides available on bookstore shelves, as well as web sites dedicated to the finer points of field identification, there is no shortage of information available to today's birders wanting to challenge themselves with difficult groups of birds. While plenty of references are available for beginners learning how to use field marks and for experts studying molt schedules and specific feather tracts, there is little information to help intermediate birders to learn how to look at birds. Advanced Birding aims to fill that gap; rather than providing a reference for advanced birders, this book is about becoming an advanced birder.

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    ALAN CONTRERAS (Author)

    BOOK REVIEW: On Her Own Terms: Annie Montague Alexander and the Rise of Science in the American West

    This year is the tenth anniversary of the publication of Barbara Stein’s biography of Annie Alexander, whose work to establish and support the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) at the University of California, Berkeley, is not well known except to those with an interest in the history of the entity. Even regular users and supporters of the MVZ may not have any real sense of its origins: after all, our museums have always been there and always will be, right?

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    STEVEN G. MLODINOW (Author)

    FEATURED PHOTO - HAS THE BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHER OCCURRED IN BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR?

    On 7 November 2011, Daniel Galindo and I were walking along the west side of the pond at Posada La Poza in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur. It was about 90 minutes before sunset, and passerines were quite active. In an area of dense low scrub bordering the beach, we encountered a mixed foraging flock consisting largely of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (Polioptila caerulea). From the flock, we heard several times a thin mewing call reminiscent of the California Gnatcatcher (P. californica). Eager to photograph California Gnatcatchers, I pursued what I thought was the calling bird, taking several high-quality photographs before the flock dispersed into the surrounding countryside.