Western Birds Journal

Volume 38, No. 3

Published July 1, 2007

Issue description

Volume 38, number 3 of Western Birds, published 2007

Articles

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    MARSHALL J. ILIFF, GUY McCASKIE, MATTHEW T. HEINDEL (Author)

    THE 31ST REPORT OF THE CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE: 2005 RECORDS

    The California Bird Records Committee reached decisions on 242 records involving 91 species and one species pair evaluated during 2005, endorsing 182. New to California were Parkinson’s Petrel (Procellaria parkinsoni), Ringed Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma hornbyi), Slaty-backed Gull (Larus schistisagus), and Green Violet-ear (Colibri thalassinus). Adjusted for these additions, California’s bird list stands at 632 species, ten of which are nonnative. A Falcated Duck from 1969 (Anas falcata) and a Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) accepted from May 2000 predate previous records and thus become the state’s earliest of those species.

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    JEAN-LUC E. CARTRON, MICHAEL D. MEANS, DAVID L. HAWKSWORTH, DEBORAH M. FINCH (Author)

    COLONIZATION OF THE EASTERN BLUEBIRD ALONG THE RIO GRANDE IN NEW MEXICO

    During the 20th century the Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) expanded its range westward, mainly as a result of anthropogenic alteration of habitats. Along the Rio Grande in New Mexico the species’ numbers in winter have recently increased spectacularly, and from 1999 through 2004 four records of breeding were published. Here we report 30 further nestings in just 2005 and 2006. In all 30 cases, the birds nested in the cottonwood riparian forest along the river following fire, postfire habitat rehabilitation, or fuel reduction work, all leading to partial or complete removal of the understory vegetation. The Eastern Bluebirds’ observed nesting season lasted from late March through the end of July. Most (17) nesting was in nest boxes, with an observed mean productivity of 1.43 fledglings per nest attempt in 2005 (n = 7) and 2.1 fledglings per nest attempt in 2006 (n = 10).

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    JOSEPH B. BUCHANAN (Author)

    INCREASING WINTER ABUNDANCE OF THE MARBLED GODWIT IN WASHINGTON

    In the first half of the twentieth century the Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) was considered a rare species in Washington (Jewett et al. 1953). Its status has changed since that time, and it is now locally common in migration and winter in coastal Washington (Buchanan 2005). The extension of the winter distribution is particularly unusual in that the new range is substantially north of the species’ contiguous range in central California and also well north of isolated areas of winter occurrence in northern California and southern Oregon (Gratto-Travor 2000). In this paper I present data that illustrate a change in the Marbled Godwit’s abundance during winter in coastal Washington over the last several decades.

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    MARY J. ELPERS, JEFF B. KNIGHT (Author)

    PELLET-CASTING BY A WESTERN SCRUB-JAY

    Pellet casting in birds of prey, particularly owls, is widely known. It is less well known that a wide array of avian species casts pellets, especially when their diets contain large amounts of arthropod exoskeletons or vertebrate bones. Currently pellet casting has been documented for some 330 species in more than 60 families (Tucker 1944, Glue 1985). Among the passerines reported to cast pellets are eight species of corvids: the Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) (Lamore 1958, Tarvin and Woolfenden 1999), Pinyon Jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) (Balda 2002), Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis) (Strickland and Ouellet 1993), Black-billed Magpie (Pica pica) (Trost 1999), Yellow-billed Magpie (Pica nuttalli) (Reynolds 1995), American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) (Verbeek and Caffrey 2002), Northwestern Crow (Corvus caurinus) (Butler 1974), and Common Raven (Corvus corax) (Temple 1974, Harlow et al. 1975, Stiehl and Trautwein 1991, Boarman and Heinrich 1999). However, the behavior has not been recorded in the four species of Aphelocoma jays (Curry et al. 2002, Woolfenden and Fitzpatrick 1996, Curry and Delaney 2002, Brown 1994). Here we report an observation of regurgitation of a pellet by a Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica) and describe the specimen and its contents.

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    ANJA M. SCHILLER, KEITH W. LARSON, JOHN D. ALEXANDER (Author)

    A WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW WITH THREE LEGS

    On 15 October 2004, while mist-netting at the Seven Mile Guard Station (elevation 1285 m; 42° 42′ 18″ N, 122° 4′ 26″ W) in the Klamath Ranger District of Winema National Forest, Oregon, we caught an immature Gamel’s White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii) with three legs. On examination, we found that the third leg originated from the right side of the cloaca (Figure 1). The leg was divided into two sections, the upper part (tibia) being fleshy, thick, and pink, ending in yellow scar tissue (Figure 2). The lower section of the leg (tarsus) was much thinner with little tissue over the bone, brownish in color, and ending with two partially formed digits (without claws) representing the toes normally directed forward and one hallux (with a claw). The leg was nonfunctional, hanging below the bird when perched. The sparrow appeared healthy in all other respects and was released after examination.

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    ROBER M. BOGARDUS, KENT A. HATCH, LANDON R. JONES (Author)

    GREAT HORNED OWL DIURNAL RESPONSE TO A PASSERINE DISTRESS VOCALIZATION

    The Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) is considered a crepuscular and nocturnal predator that preys primarily on small mammals (Cromrich et al. 2002). It is an opportunistic feeder, however, and has a diet broader than that of any other North American owl (Marti and Kochert 1996). There is extensive indirect evidence (pellets, prey remains, etc.) that the Great Horned also hunts diurnally (Earhart and Johnson 1970, Jaksic et al. 1981, Bosakowski et al. 1989, Bogiatto et al. 2003, Ganey and Bloch 2005). However, direct observations of this behavior are rare, and how often Great Horned Owls actually hunt during the day is unknown. Owls’ use of sound to detect prey in the dark is also well documented (Payne 1971, Konishi 1973, Marti 1974), but the use of audio detection by Great Horned Owls during the day has not been reported. In this paper, we describe our observation of a Great Horned Owl attempting to take a distressed American Robin (Turdus migratorius) during daylight hours.

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    STEVE N. G. HOWELL (Author)

    A CALIFORNIA SPECIMEN OF THE WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER

    While examining specimens at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ), University of California, Berkeley, I came across a specimen of the Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus pacificus) that lay misidentified as a Short-tailed Shearwater (P. tenuirostris). The bird was collected in Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, California, on 1 April 1915 by A. G. Vroom, in “Read’s Yard” (apparently somewhere in the town). It was originally kept in the collection of O. P. Silliman (when the identification as the Short-tailed was made), which was later donated to the MVZ.

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    JOSÉ ALFREDO CASTILLO-GUERRERO, JUAN PABLO CEYCA, ERIC MEL-LINK (Author)

    A NESTING RECORD OF THE MASKED BOOBY FROM GUERRERO, SOUTHERN MEXICO

    The Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra) nests on tropical islands around the world (Nelson 1978, Pitman and Jehl 1998). In the eastern Pacific Ocean it nests on oceanic islands hundreds of kilometers from the coast, including the Rocas Alijos (Baja California), Clarión and San Benedicto (in the Revillagigedo Islands), and Clipperton (Pitman and Jehl 1998, AOU 1998). Its main feeding area is near and west of Clipperton and the Revillagigedo Islands, on the border of the Northern Equatorial Countercurrent (Pitman and Jehl 1998). There are no previous reports of this species breeding on near-shore islands in the eastern Pacific. Here we report the nesting of two pairs of Masked Boobies at Morros del Potosí (17° 31' N, 101° 29' W).

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    CARROLL D. LITTLEFIELD (Author)

    PREDATION BY THE SONORAN WHIPSNAKE ON BIRDS IN SOUTHWESTERN NEW MEXICO

    Snake predation of bird eggs and nestlings is well documented (e.g., Best 1974, Skutch 1976, 1999, Nolan 1978, Finch 1981, Facimore and Fretwell 1980, Rodriguez-Robles 2002), and there are accounts of adult birds being killed by snakes, particularly rat snakes (Elaphe spp.) and Gopher Snakes (Pituophis catenifer), at nest sites (e.g., Blem 1979, Joern and Jackson 1983, Brown and Brown 1996, Stake 2001). Away from nests, rattlesnakes (Crotalus spp.) reportedly have preyed on adult birds ranging in size from the Field Sparrow (Spizella arborea; in Best 1974) to the Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; Bendire 1895), but more unusual are observations of nonvenomous snakes capturing birds older than fledglings. Skutch (1989) rescued a female Scarlet-rumped Tanager (Ramphocelus passerinii) from the jaws of a 1-m-long unidentified green snake in Costa Rica, and here I report attempts at predation on four passerines and two hummingbirds by the Sonoran Whipsnake (Masticophis bilineatus). Agile and capable of very rapid movement, this frequently arboreal serpent generally inhabits riparian woodlands, rocky bajadas, and madrean woodland in southeastern Arizona (Bezy and Enderson 2003) and southwestern New Mexico (pers. obs); its range in Mexico extends south in canyons and on mountain slopes to Oaxaca. All encounters were at the Bioresearch Ranch (TBR) headquarters, within the Central Peloncillo Research Natural Area, 12 km southeast of Rodeo, Hidalgo County (31° 50' N, 109° 01' W), in the madrean archipelago of mountains in far southwestern New Mexico. The surrounding vegetation consists primarily of madrean evergreen woodland (Brown 1994) at an elevation of 1648 m. A feeding station at the headquarters generally attracts large numbers of birds, and the observed whipsnake attacks occurred near feeders. Following is a brief account of these encounters.

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    STEVE N. G. HOWELL (Author)

    THE SHORT TALE OF A MELANISTIC BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER

    At the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ), University of California, Berkeley, I re-examined a controversial specimen of a dark-plumaged shearwater, collected on 19 December 1910 in Monterey Bay by Rollo Beck (MVZ specimen number 18691). Beck was evidently puzzled by this bird and tentatively identified it as a Christmas Shearwater (Puffinus nativitatis). Loomis (1918:116) described the specimen, presented its measurements, featured a photo of it, and carefully re-identified it as a Black-vented Shearwater (P. opisthomelas) representing “a peculiarly significant example of melanism.” Notwithstanding this, Everett (1988:97) asserted that the specimen “is actually a typical Short-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus tenuirostris)… The reason Loomis re-identified the specimen as opisthomelas is unknown.” The bird was labeled as a Short-tailed Shearwater when I examined it at the MVZ on 1 February 2007, but it is not recorded who identified it as such (C. Cicero pers. comm.). Everett, unlike Loomis, offered no rationale for his opinion.

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    STEVE N. G. HOWELL (Author)

    BOOK REVIEW: Albatrosses, Petrels, and Shearwaters of the World

    Albatrosses and petrels, often referred to collectively as tubenoses, are among the most remarkable of birds, living as they do in the marine environment where human beings are little more than occasional, almost alien, visitors. Because of the difficulties in simply viewing tubenoses at sea, and because many species look similar, these birds pose many identification challenges. Peter Harrison’s classic Sebirds: An Identification Guide, published in 1983, and his follow-up photographic guide published in 1987, kindled the nascent pelagic dreams of land-based birders. Today it is easy to criticize Harrison’s books for some clunky illustrations and errors, but they were genuine contributions that set the stage for subsequent progress. Almost 25 years later a new guide to these birds’ identification worldwide would be welcome. Is this book (hereafter APSW) a worthy successor to Harrison? Has it incorporated what has been learned and published in the past 20 years?

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    DAVID LUKAS (Author)

    BOOK REVIEW: Introduction to Birds of the Southern California Coast

    The southern California coast is a deservedly renowned hotspot for birdwatchers, a place where birds of colder northern waters mingle with a fascinating mix of warm-water birds. In places along this coast the movements of migrating birds are nothing short of astounding. And the southern coast offers a number of important, though now much reduced, estuaries and coastal marshes that attract a scintillating variety of species that somehow manage to cope with the onslaught of development and pollution.

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    MICHAEL P. FORCE, SOPHIE W. WEBB, STEVE N. G. HOWELL (Author)

    FEATURED PHOTO - IDENTIFICATION AT SEA OF HAWAIIAN AND GALAPAGOS PETRELS

    Petrels of the genus Pterodroma are among the most enigmatic of seabirds, often nesting on remote islands, ranging far from land, and posing identification challenges. The Hawaiian and Galapagos populations of the Dark-rumped Petrel (Pterodroma phaeopygia) were recently elevated to species rank by the AOUP (2002) as the Hawaiian Petrel (P. sandwichensis) and the Galapagos Petrel (P. phaeopygia), respectively (we use the term “Dark-rumped Petrel” hereafter to refer to the species pair). These taxa appear very similar, and some authors have considered them “doubtfully distinct” at even the subspecies level (Jouanin and Mougin 1979). The Galapagos Petrel averages larger in linear dimensions, whereas the Hawaiian Petrel averages heavier (Simons and Hodges 1998, Tomkins and Milne 1991). There is considerable overlap in all standard measurements, however, and no single variable is sufficient to support the recognition of the two populations as subspecies by the standard 75% rule when the formula presented by Patten and Unitt (2002) is applied to the measurements tabulated by Tomkins and Milne (1991). Genetic and vocal differences have also been reported (Browne et al. 1997, Tomkins and Milne 1991). Here we offer preliminary suggestions for distinguishing these taxa at sea. We believe the characters we describe here will enable the specific identification of birds seen reasonably well, and we encourage observers to test and refine our criteria. We were unable to obtain good photos from Hawaiian waters and have instead used photos from California, which show the characters of the (presumed) Hawaiian Petrels we have seen around Hawaii. The upper photo on this issue’s back cover of a presumed Galapagos Petrel was taken by George Armistead on 21 July 2005 near Isla San Cristobal, Galápagos; the lower photo of a presumed Hawaiian Petrel was taken by Malcolm and Michael Boswell off Fort Bragg, Mendocino County, California, on 13 August 2006.