Western Birds Journal

Volume 39, No. 2

Published April 1, 2008

Issue description

Volume 39, number 2 of Western Birds, published 2008

Articles

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    CHARLES T. COLLINS, MICHAEL D. TAYLOR (Author)

    NEST SPACING IN ELEGANT TERNS: HEXAGONAL PACKING REVISITED

    Within an important breeding colony in southern California, Elegant Terns (Thalasseus elegans) nest in one to several tightly packed clusters. Inter-nest distances within these clusters average 31.2 cm. This value is less than that reported for the larger-bodied Royal Tern (T. maximus) and Great Crested Tern (T. bergii). For Elegant Terns, the modal number of adjacent nests was six (range 5–7). This type of nest arrangement has been previously described as hexagonal packing and now appears to be typical of all Thalasseus terns for which data are available.

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    MARSHALL J. ILIFF, RICHARD A. ERICKSON, MARK J. BILLINGS (Author)

    REASSESSMENT OF TROPICAL PARULA SUBSPECIES IN BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR

    Three records of the Tropical Parula (Parula pitiayumi) from southern Baja California Sur in the 1920s have long been considered to represent the endemic Socorro Island subspecies graysoni. After discovering an adult female Tropical Parula in the same area in May 2006 that did not appear to be graysoni, we examined specimens and the literature, finding that the two 1920s specimens are not graysoni but most consistent with subspecies insularis, occurring primarily on Nayarit’s Tres Marías Islands. The pattern of yellow on the throat, distinct white wing bars, and distinct white tail spots preclude graysoni; the relatively small white tail spots and longer tarsi and tails suggest insularis rather than pulchra of mainland western Mexico.

     
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    AUTUMN R. SARTAIN, ALLISON C. ALBERTS (Author)

    HABITAT FRAGMENTATION AND SCRUB-SPECIALIST BIRDS: SAN DIEGO FRAGMENTS REVISITED

    We resurveyed six fragments of scrub vegetation near San Diego for eight scrub-specialist bird species sampled in two previous studies (Soulé et al. 1988 and Crooks et al. 2001) to determine if species’ distributions are changing over time and whether previously reported patterns of occurrence are persisting. We found that these habitat fragments tended to lose resident populations of scrub-specialist birds over the last 20 years, that the number of species detected was positively related to area, that extirpations were negatively related to area, and that local recolonizations were negatively related to the isolation of the fragment. In addition, sensitivity to fragmentation seems to be related in part to differences in body size and dispersal capability.

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    TYEE G. LOHSE, AARON LANG (Author)

    FIRST DOCUMENTED BREEDING COLONY OF CASPIAN TERNS ON THE COPPER RIVER DELTA, ALASKA

    Since 1980, along the Pacific coast of North America, the population of the Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) has more than doubled in size (Survan et al. 2004), and the species’ range has been steadily expanding north (Gill and Mewaldt 1983). The Caspian Tern first reached southeast Alaska in 1981 (Gibson and Kessel 1992), and two years later it was recorded in south-central Alaska with the sighting of two birds in eastern Prince William Sound (Iselib and Kessel 1989). Caspian Terns have long been suspected of breeding in the Prince William Sound/Copper River delta area, but despite annual observations of the species, including increasing numbers of hatching-year birds and systematic surveys by boat and small plane (Bishop 1999, 2002), nesting in the region has previously gone unconfirmed. Here we report the first nesting of Caspian Terns in south-central Alaska on the Copper River delta and the species’ largest nesting colony in Alaska.

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    ROBERT E. GILL, JR. (Author)

    CASPIAN TERNS NESTING IN ALASKA: PROPHECY, SERENDIPITY, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR REGIONAL CLIMATE-RELATED CHANGE

    In 1982, Richard Mewaldt and I suggested that the Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia), with its current rate of population expansion along the Pacific Coast, could soon be found nesting in Alaska (Gill and Mewaldt 1983). And indeed it was, but not until 1996 (McCaffery et al. 1997), and then in a region of the state far removed from the Copper River delta, where numerous observations had suggested actual nesting may have occurred since the early 1980s (Gibson and Kessel 1992, Lohse et al., this issue)—hence the prophecy part of this story.

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    MICHAEL L. CASAZZA, CORY T. OVERTON, JOHN Y. TAKEKAWA, TOBIAS ROHMER, KENNETH NAVARRE (Author)

    BREEDING BEHAVIOR AND DISPERSAL OF RADIO-MARKED CALIFORNIA CLAPPER RAILS

    The San Francisco Bay estuary is highly urbanized, and as a result roughly 80% of its historic tidal marshes have been lost (Goals Project 1999). The California Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus), now restricted to the San Francisco Bay estuary (Gill 1979), is listed as endangered by both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1973) and California Department of Fish Game (Leach et al. 1976). Secretive birds found in the dense vegetation of tidal salt marshes, California Clapper Rails forage on crustaceans and other salt-marsh invertebrates (Eddleman and Conway 1998). California Clapper Rails usually lay eight eggs and often resent after failed nesting attempts (Eddleman and Conway 1998). The sexes are similar in plumage, but males tend to be larger. Recent estimates of the population range between 1200 and 1500 individuals (Harvey 1988, Garcia 1995, Albertson and Evens 2000). Because California Clapper Rails are difficult to observe little is known about their dispersal and breeding behavior. Radio telemetry on individual birds, however, provides a valuable tool for investigating these and other aspects of California Clapper Rail ecology.

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    RICHARD C. HOYER (Author)

    BOOK REVIEW: Birds of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska

    This book is essentially a “status and distribution” account of a fascinating avifauna, with a notable departure from the standard in that the accounts are quantified on the basis of actual surveys, specimens, and archived or published photos. As the first in a Series in Ornithology, the format is that of a scientific paper appearing in a journal, opening with an abstract and introduction followed by sections titled “Study Area,” “Methods,” “Annotated List,” “Discussion,” and “Literature Cited.” Lengthy appendices, a gazetteer of island names, and an index (to bird names only) conclude the volume.

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    NATHAN PIEPLOW (Author)

    BOOK REVIEW: Birding Colorado: Over 180 Premier Birding Sites at 93 Locations

    I have purchased and used in the field at least two birding guides in the Falcon series (Birding Minnesota and Birding Texas) and found them the glitzier cousins of the ABA/Lane guides, geared towards more casual or less experienced birders. The latest title in the series, Hugh Kingery’s Birding Colorado, fits the mold perfectly. Novice and intermediate birders should be thrilled by it; more serious target-oriented birders will find it an excellent basic reference but not a superlative addition to the canon.

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    DAVID E. QUADY (Author)

    FEATURED PHOTO - GREAT GRAY OWLS NESTING IN FRESNO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

    At two meetings in June 1772 of the Royal Society in London, Johann Reinhold Forster described the specimens of birds, fishes, and mammals that Hudson’s Bay Company naturalists had collected and sent to England on their summer 1771 trade ships (Houston et al. 2003). Among them were five birds new to science. Andrew Graham, the factor at Severn River, provided most of these, including a specimen and accompanying notes that enabled Forster (1772) to describe a “fine non-descript [i.e., undescribed] owl,” which he named the Grey Owl, Strix nebulosa. The other four were the birds we now know as the Eskimo Curlew (Numenius borealis), Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus), Blackpoll Warbler (Dendroica striata), and White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys).

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    Western Field Ornithologists’ 33rd Annual Meeting, 9–12 October 2008, San Mateo, California

    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.

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    RARE BIRDS OF CALIFRONIA

    Edited by Robert A. Hamilton, Michael A. Patten, and Richard A. Erickson: 600 pages, many photographs, original paintings and sketches, maps, and charts. Originating from the California Bird Records Committee, this book summarizes and interprets all reports of rare birds in California. A work of art as well as a work of science, it offers value to birders throughout North America. It stands as a landmark in our understanding of bird migration, distribution, and vagrancy.