Western Birds Journal

Volume 7, No. 3

Published July 1, 1976

Issue description

Volume 7, number 3 of Western Birds, published 1976

Articles

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    GILBERT S. GRANT, NORMAN HOGG (Author)

    BEHAVIOR OF LATE-NESTING BLACK SKIMMERS AT SALTON SEA, CALIFORNIA

    The Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) was first found nesting at the south end of Salton Sea, Imperial County, California in 1972 (McCaskie et al. 1974). Five nests were found in 1972, three in 1973 (McCaskie 1973), and three in 1974 (McCaskie 1974). Nesting had been suspected at the north end of the sea, but was not confirmed until 16 August 1975 when the authors, Sandra Grant and Jeanne Hogg discovered eight nests on a small barnacle-covered island in the northeast corner of the sea.

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    JACK REDDALL (Author)

    COLORADO FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS OFFICIAL RECORDS COMMITTEE REPORT 1972 THROUGH 1975

    The Colorado Field Ornithologists established an Official Records Committee in May 1972 to deal primarily with the problem of validating sight reports of rare and unusual species occurring in Colorado, and to review records of species reported for the first time from within the state. In addition, the Records Committee was charged with updating and maintaining the Official State List of the Birds of Colorado.

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    RICHARD E. JOHNSON, GEORGE E. HUDSON (Author)

    BIRD MORTALITY AT A GLASSED-IN WALKWAY IN WASHINGTON STATE

    Many studies have dealt with the spectacular bird losses during migration that occur in the eastern United States at airport ceilometers (Spofford 1949, Howell et al. 1954, Johnston 1955, Johnston and Haines 1957), TV towers (Tordoff and Mengel 1956, Brewer and Ellis 1958, Kemper 1958, 1964, Kemper et al. 1966, Stoddard and Norris 1967, Graber 1968, Taylor and Anderson 1973) and tall buildings (Overing 1936, 1937, 1938a, 1938b, Pough 1948). From these have come an increased knowledge of the biology of migratory species and, in certain cases, suggestions leading to a decrease in the number of birds killed (Tordoff and Mengel 1956, Cahalane 1966).

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    WILLIAM C. SHUSTER (Author)

    NOTES: NORTHERN GOSHAWK NESTING DENSITIES IN MONTANE COLORADO

    The Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) is a rarely seen bird of prey found throughout the mountain regions of Colorado. Because of its reticent manner, very little has been written on Northern Goshawk population densities in Colorado or any other part of the United States. Recently, a five year study was completed in Alaska which showed a nesting density ranging from one nest per 46 km² to one nest per 373 km² (McGowan 1975). Although this nesting density is lower than those found in similar studies in Finland which showed densities of one nest per 22–100 km² (Hogland 1964) and one nest per 16.4 km² (Hakala 1969), no other study has been reported in the United States. In Colorado, very few active nests have been reported, and as a result, state and federal agencies have described the Northern Goshawk as rare or occasional.

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    DONALD M. BALTZ, G. VICTOR MOREJOHN (Author)

    NOTES: EVIDENCE FROM SEABIRDS OF PLASTIC PARTICLE POLLUTION OFF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

    Pollution by plastic particles is well documented in the Atlantic Ocean and has recently been reported from the Pacific Ocean (Colton et al. 1974; footnotes 11 and 12). Small polyethylene cylinders are used in the fabrication of plastic products and have been found in the effluent of plastic manufacturing plants (Colton et al. ibid.). Ingestion of plastic particles has been reported for eight species of fishes and one chaetognath by Carpenter et al. (1972); for Atlantic species of petrels, terns and gulls by Rothstein (1973) and by Hays and Cormons (1974); and for unidentified seabirds by Colton et al. (op. cit.). Bond (1971) found whitish or orange synthetic spheres in 20 Red Phalaropes (Phalaropus fulicarius) found dead on beaches of the San Diego area.