Western Birds Journal

Volume 7, No. 1

Published January 1, 1976

Issue description

Volume 7, number 1 of Western Birds, published 1976

Articles

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    PHILIP W. MATTOCKS, JR., EUGENE S. HUNN, TERENCE R. WAHL (Author)

    A CHECKLIST OF THE BIRDS OF WASHINGTON STATE, WITH RECENT CHANGES ANNOTATED

    The last comprehensive treatment of the birds of Washington State was by Jewett et al. (1953). Since then several studies have been published (Alcorn 1962; Larrison and Francq 1962; Larrison and Sonnenberg 1968; Wahl and Paulson 1971, 1972, 1973, and 1974) and more than fifty species not cited by Jewett et al. have been attributed to the state’s avifauna. However, no systematic review of these attributions and no compilation of relevant bibliographic material has been attempted since 1953.

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    JOSEPH R. JEHL, JR. (Author)

    NOTES: THE NORTHERNMOST COLONY OF HEERMANN’S GULL

    The major breeding grounds for Heermann’s Gulls (Larus heermanni) are islands in the Gulf of California, especially Isla Raza, where an estimated 80,000 pairs nest (Lindsay, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 4, 30:309–355, 1966). On the western side of the Baja California peninsula only one colony has been reported, at Isla San Roque (27°09′ N) (Grinnell, Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool. 32:1–300, 1928). In August 1922 A. W. Anthony (Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 4, 14:277–330, 1925) visited San Roque and reported that the colony seemed to have been destroyed by fishermen.

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    F. L. KNOPF (Author)

    NOTES: ANCIENT MURRELET IN UTAH

    On 8 May 1974 I discovered a specimen of the Ancient Murrelet (Synthliboramphus antiquus) on Gunnison Island in Great Salt Lake, Utah. The carcass was found on the east shore of the island, in a bare-sand area which I walked through daily. The pectoral muscles had been removed and the entire carcass was coated with salt crystals. It appeared that the bird died in the Great Salt Lake since it was found too far from the shoreline for salt spray to account for the heavy crystalline coating. The carcass was likely removed from the water and carried to the point where I discovered it by one of the more than 15,000 California Gulls (Larus californicus) nesting on the island.

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    RICHARD A. WILT (Author)

    NOTES: UNUSUAL BIRDS IN THE VICINITY OF PIPE SPRING, ARIZONA

    Arizona north of the Grand Canyon and west of the Kaibab Plateau has been largely neglected by ornithologists. My two-year stay (October 1972–October 1974) at Pipe Spring National Monument, Mohave County, Arizona resulted in a number of interesting observations which are presented below. Two species were recorded in Arizona for the first time.

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    P. D. SKAAR (Author)

    NOTES: EASTERN PHOEBE IN MONTANA

    On the afternoon of 16 September 1974 I saw an Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) about 11 miles east and 3 miles north of Vida, McCone County, Montana. A “gestalt” identification was made immediately, since I am very familiar with the species in the east and midwest. I then spent about 15 minutes watching the bird in good light at about 50 feet through a 20x scope as it caught insects over a cattail-margined sump below the dam of a small reservoir and as it perched on a fence that traversed the sump.

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    REVIEW

    Utah Birds: Check-list, Seasonal and Ecological Occurrence Charts and Guides to Bird Finding. William H. Behle and Michael L. Perry. 1975. Utah Museum of Natural History. v + 144 p., 30 charts, 5 maps, 1 b&w photo. $3.50. Available from the above museum, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112.