Western Birds Journal

Volume 6, No. 1

Published January 1, 1975

Issue description

Volume 6, number 1 of Western Birds, published 1975

Articles

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    ROGER J. LEDERER, WALTER S. MAZEN, PETER J. METROPULOS (Author)

    POPULATION FLUCTUATION IN A YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD MARSH

    The breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) has been well studied by Willson and Orians (1963) and Willson (1966) and the information presented in this study essentially agrees with their findings. In our study the number of nests, active and inactive, found in 1973 was tenfold greater than that found in 1972 and in 1974 it was fifty percent greater than in 1973. We would like to propose explanations for these different rates of increase in nest building in three consecutive years in the same habitat.

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    J. V. REMSEN, JR., LAURENCE C. BINFORD (Author)

    STATUS OF THE YELLOW-BILLED LOON (GAVIA ADAMSII) IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES AND MEXICO

    Current knowledge of the breeding range, dispersal routes, and wintering range of the Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii) is summarized by Burn and Mather (1974). However, neither these authors nor the AOU Check-list (1957) cite acceptable records for Mexico or the contiguous western United States. The purpose of this paper is to enumerate and analyze the 52 records that have been obtained from this area during the last 19 years. The problems of distinguishing this species from the Common Loon (Gavia immer) in the field and hand are discussed by Binford and Remsen (1974) and Burn and Mather (1974).

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    CRAIG R. KUCHEL, ROBERT A. GARROTT (Author)

    NOTES: BOREAL OWL SIGHTING IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

    On 3 February 1974 at 1400 we located a Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus) approximately 1 km northwest of Soda Butte in the Lamar Valley of northern Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (44° 50' N, 110° 10' W). The sighting occurred in a fairly open stand of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta). When first sighted the owl was perched on a dead limb 2 m above the ground, but later flew 10 m to a live Douglas-fir where it perched 4 m above the ground. Seemingly undisturbed by our presence, the owl allowed us to approach within 5 m to observe and photograph it for nearly an hour (Figure 1).

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    B. RILEY McCLELLAND (Author)

    NOTES: EFFECTIVENESS OF BROWN CREEPER’S CONCEALMENT BEHAVIOR

    During a study of the relationships between forest snags and cavity-nesting birds in the northern Rocky Mountains, I observed the effectiveness of the Brown Creeper’s (Certhia familiaris) cryptic color pattern and behavioral response. The combination made the bird nearly undetectable near its nest site on an Engelmann Spruce (Picea engelmannii) snag. The nest tree was located on the Coram Experimental Forest, Flathead National Forest, northwestern Montana, at an elevation of 5350 feet.

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    NORMAN LAVERS (Author)

    NOTES: THE STATUS OF THE GRAY FLYCATCHER IN WASHINGTON STATE

    Larrison (1970) reported seeing on 31 May 1970 a bird with the field marks and song of the Gray Flycatcher (Empidonax wrightii) in a stand of Yellow Pines (Pinus ponderosa) in Wenas Park, 17 km north northwest of Naches, Yakima County, Washington. This undocumented sight record was the first report of the species in the state. On 13 June 1972 Terence R. Wahl closely observed a bird with the field marks of the Gray Flycatcher in the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, near Othello, Adams County, in willows (Salix) surrounded by sagebrush (Artemisia) (Rogers 1972, T. R. Wahl pers. comm.). Between 26–30 May 1972 Yaich and Larrison (1973) observed and photographed a Gray Flycatcher at Wenas Park in a nest “some 6 feet from the ground at the base of one of the lowermost branches of a small pine tree.” The nest contained two eggs. In a note appended to this report, Larrison described finding two more nests and an additional 10 Gray Flycatchers within 6 km of Wenas Park, 23–28 May 1973. These birds were mainly in Yellow Pine groves, though one nest was in willows. Larrison concluded: “The species is apparently becoming established in at least this part of the state of Washington.”

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    JOEL D. HUBBARD, ALLEN B. CROCKETT, PAULA L. HANSLEY (Author)

    NOTES: SECOND RECORD FOR THE PHAINOPEPLA IN COLORADO

    Prior to 1973, the Phainopepla (Phainopepla nitens) had been reported in Colorado only once (Bailey and Niedrach, Birds of Colorado, Denver Museum of Natural History, 1965:846). However, on 15 December 1973 we discovered a Phainopepla while participating in the annual Christmas Bird Count in Boulder, Boulder County, Colorado. The bird was observed at length and photographed by us for three days, during which time it was seen by approximately 25 others.

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    GUY McCASKIE (Author)

    NOTES: THE SPRAGUE’S PIPIT REACHES CALIFORNIA

    On 19 October 1974 a party of us flushed a Sprague’s Pipit (Anthus spragueii) from a cutover alfalfa field in the Tijuana River Valley just south of Imperial Beach, San Diego County, California. Additional searching of this field on the 19th revealed at least three Sprague’s Pipits, and continued checking of the area during the next two weeks indicated one or two individuals were present through 27 October. On 24 October I collected an adult female weighing 20.3 g from the field, and it is now No. 38980 in the San Diego Natural History Museum.

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    RICHARD D. PORTER, LARRY C. PRITCHETT (Author)

    NOTES: BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER IN UTAH

    On 27 September 1974 we collected a male Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens) in immature plumage at the headquarters of the Desert Experimental Range (1,601 m elev.) in Millard Co., Utah, 75.6 km west of Milford. The specimen (No. 5369, Brigham Young Univ. Life Science Museum, Provo, Utah) weighed 10 g. It was assigned to the race caerulescens by Mrs. Roxie C. Laybourne of the National Fish and Wildlife Laboratory, U.S. National Museum. All but the frontal portions of the bird’s skull were 2-layered and pneumatized.