Volume 39, No. 1

ERIK M. ANDERSEN, CORNELIUS SCHLAWE, STEPHEN LORENZ (Author)

FIRST RECORD OF THE LANCEOLATED WARBLER BREEDING IN NORTH AMERICA

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The Lanceolated Warbler (Locustella lanceolata) is a Eurasian species whose breeding range reaches east to include northern Japan, the Kuril Islands, and the Kamchatka Peninsula. It has been recorded three times previously in North America—twice in the western Aleutian Islands, Alaska, once in California. During our work at Buldir Island, western Aleutian Islands, in 2007, we documented the fourth occurrence of the species and the first nesting record within the political limits of North America.

RODNEY B. SIEGE, ROBERT L. WILKERSON, DAVID F. DeSANTE (Author)

EXTIRPATION OF THE WILLOW FLYCATCHER FROM YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

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The Willow Flycatcher has been declining throughout the Sierra Nevada and within Yosemite National Park since at least the middle of the 20th century. More recently, the number of Willow Flycatchers captured at a bird-banding station in Yosemite declined during the 1990s, with none captured since 2002. We used historical records and digital maps based on remote sensing to identify and survey Yosemite’s most likely breeding habitat for the species. Over the 2006 and 2007 breeding seasons we visited 71 sites, which accommodated 1709 call stations. We detected no territorial Willow Flycatchers, and we conclude that the species no longer breeds in Yosemite National Park. The extirpation of this species from Yosemite, where so much protected, apparently high-quality habitat remains, suggests that causes in addition to direct effects of recent land-management practices have contributed substantially to the decline of the species across the Sierra Nevada.

SABINE NOUVET, SCOTT WILSON, KATHY MARTIN (Author)

BREEDING RECORDS OF THE SURFBIRD, WANDERING TATTLER, AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, AND UPLAND SANDPIPER IN THE SOUTHWEST YUKON TERRITORY

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Knowledge of the breeding behavior and habitat selection of arctic–alpine shorebirds is limited because of these species’ remote habitats, low population densities, and cryptic behavior. We report nests and other observations of definitive breeding of the Surfbird (Aphriza virgata), Wandering Tattler (Tringa incana), American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica), and Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) in the Ruby Range of the southwest Yukon between 2002 and 2007. In most years, there were at least two breeding pairs of the Surfbird, one of the Wandering Tattler, three of the American Golden-Plover, and one of the Upland Sandpiper at our alpine study site covering 9 km². These are the first confirmed breeding records of the Surfbird in the southern Yukon, and they mark the second and third Surfbird and third and fourth Wandering Tattler nests documented in Canada. Despite the lack of previous records for all species, particularly the Surfbird, their consistent recurrence at the site suggests they breed regularly in the region.

SARTOR O. WILLIAMS II, WILLIAM H. HOWE (Author)

BLACK SKIMMER OCCURRENCES IN NEW MEXICO, INCLUDING A HIGH ELEVATION RECORD

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On the morning of 12 May 2007, W. H. Howe and M. D. Howe discovered an adult Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) resting in the company of other waterbirds on the shore of Heron Lake, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, and obtained photographs and videotape to document the record (Figure 1). During 35 minutes of observation (15:10–15:45), the skimmer remained on the shore with the other birds; two hours later, upon their return to the site, the Howes noted a vehicle parked close to where the birds had been and all birds were gone. The skimmer was not seen again despite searches the next morning by D. J. Krueper and J. M. Ruth. Heron Lake, at 2192 m, is situated in the San Juan Mountains of north-central New Mexico and is only some 50 km east of the continental divide; it is in the Chama River valley, a part of the Rio Grande drainage. The Heron Lake skimmer appears to represent an altitude record for the species in the United States and Canada, eclipsing another adult at 2092 m in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains at Pastorius Lake near Durango, La Plata County, 29 April 2004 (N. Am. Birds 58:406). For North America generally, these are approached or matched only by records from the interior highlands of Mexico, including ones to 2000 m in the state of Durango and about 2200 m in the Valley of Mexico (Williams 1982). For the species as a whole, however, no North American record tops those from South America, at 3900 m on the Bolivian altiplano (Fjeldsà and Krabbe 1990).

RYAN P. O’DONNELL (Author)

TERRESTRIAL FOOT-PADDING BY A GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL

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Gulls are known to use a variety of foraging techniques in a variety of habitats (Burger 1988). One behavior, referred to as “foot-paddling,” consists of rapidly alternating raising and lowering of the feet (Simmons 1961a). This behavior can be divided into two functions (Tinbergen 1962). First, on tidal mudflats, in pools of water, and on saturated sand, this behavior suspends sediment in water and creates quicksand, bringing buried invertebrates to the surface or inducing them to move so that they become visible. Second, foot-paddling on solid but moist grassy soil, hereafter referred to as terrestrial foot-paddling, is thought to induce earthworms to come to the surface in response to the vibrations in the soil (Tinbergen 1962, Edwards and Bohlen 1993; but see Sparks 1961).

LUCAS H. DeCICCO, NICHOLAS HAJDUKOVICH (Author)

FIRST RECORD OF THE CASSIN’S VIREO NESTING IN ALASKA

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On 4 June 2005, while birding along the Chilikat River near Haines, Alaska, we observed a pair of Cassin’s Vireos (Vireo cassinii) attending an active nest. The birds were also observed later the same day by Thede Tobish, Jr., Alan DeMartini, and Gary H. Rosenberg. We first heard an adult singing at 06:00 hrs, and at approximately 06:30 hrs followed it to the nest, where it fed four young. We photographed the pair, nest, young (Figure 1), and surrounding habitat during the period of observation. The pair was actively feeding the young and disposing of fecal sacs during our visit. Both adults delivered food to the young, but they were seldom seen for more than a few seconds at the nest. When we approached the nest, both birds became agitated and gave alarm calls. After a short period of discontinuous singing in the early morning, the pair continued to vocalize solely with alarm calls until we departed after 0.5 hour of observation.

KEVIN B. CLARK, MARK DODERO (Author)

CURRENT STATUS OF THE CACTUS WREN IN NORTHWESTERN BAJA CALIFORNIA

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The distribution of the Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) in northwestern Baja California is something of an enigma. Although widely distributed over most of the peninsula, the species is absent from many areas of seemingly suitable habitat in cactus-filled maritime succulent scrub. Immediately north of the border along the coast, Cactus Wrens were historically widespread, though they are now declining rapidly as increasingly frequent fire and continuing urbanization constrict available habitat. Here, we summarize published and unpublished information on Cactus Wrens in northwestern Baja California, including the recent rediscovery of what may be the region’s only large population of the declining San Diego Cactus Wren (C. b. sandiegensis).

DAVID FIX (Author)

BOOK REVIEW: Rare Birds of California

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With the appearance of Rare Birds of California, edited by Robert A. Hamilton, Michael A. Patten, and Richard A. Erickson, the historic record of the pursuit of rare birds for fun and for science in the Golden State is presented. And it has been served up large. The book is a distillation of the work of the California Bird Records Committee over its first 37 years. All records submitted to the committee, as well as other reports and evidence, are here compiled in a single annotated listing. As well as a distillation, the book is a celebration, filled with photographs and documentary artwork attesting to the talents and zeal of California birders.

STEVE N. G. HOWELL (Author)

BOOK REVIEW: Bird Voices of Northern California: An Audio Guide to Bird Identification

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Bird sounds are an important component of field identification, and these days numerous compilations of recordings are available, usually for families of birds or for geographic regions. This pair of CDs (hereafter Bird Voices) includes the voices and other sounds of 190 species found in northern California, ranging from the Marbled Murrelet to the House Sparrow, from the Sandhill Crane to the Wrentit. The region covered is not defined but appears to be truly northern California (north of Sonoma county), rather than including central California. The species covered are listed on a simple insert (adorned with some nice color photos), which notes that the recordings were made primarily by LeValley, with help from the California Department of Fish and Game, Sean McAllister, Mark Higley, and Seth Bunnell. The insert also informs us that most recordings were made in Humboldt, Trinity, and Siskiyou counties, and that Fix wrote and spoke the accompanying narration."

ENRIQUETA VELARDE (Author)

BOOK REVIEW: Gulls of the Americas

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This book constitutes a superb reference guide for the identification and plumages of the 36 gulls that occur in the western hemisphere (22 breeding in North America, 10 in South America, 4 visitors), and it surely constitutes the best comparative and comprehensive reference book on gull plumages published to this date. The authors’ profuse use and adequate selection of photos provide the reader with rich comparative visual material.

J. MICHAEL REED (Author)

BOOK REVIEW: Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Nevada

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The first bird atlas I owned was Montana Bird Distribution, 2nd ed., by P. D. Skaar, published in 1980. Resolution was poor, with winter and summer occupancy each presented in 47 grid cells—an average pixel size (to use today's jargon for spatial resolution) of over 3100 square miles! The obvious upside to poor resolution, however, was that maps for nine species fitted on a single page, making the entire atlas only 66 pages long. Using the options found on manual typewriters, Montana Bird Distribution managed to convey information on the distribution and relative abundance of species, confidence of records in the grid cells, spring arrivals, and state rarities.

STEVE N. G. HOWELL, DEBRA L. SHEARWATER (Author)

FEATURED PHOTO - ATTEMPTED KLEPTOPARASITISM BY A SOUTH POLAR SKUA ON A LAYSAN ALBATROSS

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As a group, the skuas and jaegers are well known as kleptoparasites, i.e., species that pirate food from other species. In general, the victimized species are smaller than the kleptoparasites, but sometimes victims are larger, the best-known instance of this being the Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) relative to the Great Skua (Catharacta skua) (Furness 1987, Spear et al. 1999). Attacks by skuas on albatrosses have been reported on only a few occasions, but such attacks are rarely successful, and those noted to date have involved the relatively large Brown (or Subantarctic) Skua (C. antarctica) (Spear et al. 1999).

Rare Birds of California

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Scientific, artistic, and inspirational, this 600-page book synthesizes the work of the California Bird Records Committee from 1970 through 2006, putting every vagrant to California in its geographical and historical context. It is generously illustrated with color and black and white photography, including the best photographs ever taken in California of rare birds. Maps and charts depict spatial and temporal distributions, and the interpretive text adds value far beyond the lists of records. Rare Birds of California can be sitting in your library within a few short days! A discount of 10% is available on every copy sold to a WFO member or for every order of ten books or more. Shipping and handling are an additional $6.00 per copy. California sales tax is 8.25% per copy. Including tax, shipping, and handling, the total amount per copy is $64.46 for members or $70.95 for nonmembers.

Western Field Ornithologists’ 33rd Annual Meeting

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Abstracts are now being accepted for presentations at the 33rd annual meeting of Western Field Ornithologists, to be held 9–12 October 2008 in San Mateo, California.

Oral presentations should reflect original research or summarize existing unpublished information and should be presented in a manner that will be of interest to serious amateur and professional field ornithologists. Papers presented at other conferences will be considered provided that the material has not already been published.