Western Birds Journal

Volume 1, No. 3

Published July 1, 1970

Issue description

Volume 1, number 3 of Western Birds, published 1970

Articles

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    Jay M. Sheppard (Author)

    A STUDY OF THE LE CONTE’S THRASHER

    The Le Conte’s Thrasher (Toxostoma lecontei) can be identified by its moderately decurved bill, medium size (9.5 in.), and plain gray-brown colors. The dark black-brown tail contrasts with the upperparts and more so with the paler underparts. The Le Conte’s has a pale buffy crissum while its nearest two relatives, the California (T. redivivum) and Crissal (T. crissale) Thrashers, are larger and darker and have cinnamon (California) or deep cinnamon-rufous (Crissal) crissums. Fortunately, over much of its range the Le Conte’s Thrasher does not come into direct contact with these two related species. After the summer molt (complete for adults and incomplete for young of the year), the body plumage is considerably darker than that found from November to July. There is no sexual dimorphism beyond possible minute differences in size.

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    NOTES: A BREEDING RECORD FOR SPOTTED SANDPIPER IN MONTEREY COUNTY

    On 8 June 1970, while following the partially dry bed of the Salinas River, approximately four miles west of the town of Salinas, a Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia) flew from a stretch of short open grass ahead of me and fluttered off, feigning a broken wing. A careful search of this area resulted in my finding one downy young; there were probably others, so well concealed that I failed to find them. Later in the morning two other Spotted Sandpipers were seen farther down the river, so it would appear that at least two pairs of these sandpipers were nesting here.

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    NOTES: FOUR THICK-BILLED MURRE RECORDS FOR MONTEREY BAY

    On 27 August 1964 I identified a living adult female Thick-billed Murre Uria lomvia arra, which had been delivered to the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History by Patrick McGreal of Sacramento, California. The bird had been found on the local beach in weakened condition with oil on its plumage. Incomplete molting had left the flight feathers badly worn. The white maxillary marking was clearly visible and bill measurements left no doubt as to identification of this bird. To my knowledge this was the first record of the species on the West Coast of the United States south of British Columbia, a range extension of over 10° latitude beyond its previous casual southern record. There are no known records for the States of Oregon or Washington.

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    NOTES: THE BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD IN CALIFORNIA

    The Broad-billed Hummingbird Cynanthus latirostris is a fairly common and widespread species in Mexico whose range barely extends into the southwestern United States. It is a summer visitor from southwestern New Mexico (Cloverdale Mountains) to south central Arizona (Baboquivari Mountains) (A.O.U. Check-list, 1957); it has straggled as far east as west Texas (Chisos Mountains) (R. H. Wauer, pers. comm.). In Arizona it occurs between mid-March, occasionally the first week of March, to mid-September, occasionally to 1 October; one remained near Tucson to 4 December 1960 (Phillips et al., The Birds of Arizona, 1964).

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    NOTES: A SHORT-TAILED ALBATROSS RECORD FOR WASHINGTON STATE

    On 3 May 1970, at a point about 38 miles west of Westport, Washington, a Short-tailed Albatross Diomedea albatrus in sub-adult plumage was photographed at a “feed” of pelagic birds chummed in to a boat. The bird was not actually recognized as anything unusual by the birders present at the time, but was identified from a slide by Dr. George E. Watson of the Smithsonian Institution.

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    Guy McCaskie (Author)

    THE BLACKPOLL WARBLER IN CALIFORNIA

    The American Ornithologists’ Union (1957) indicates the Blackpoll Warbler (Dendroica striata) migrates from its extensive breeding grounds in Alaska and Canada to its winter range in South America via the West Indies, and returns by the same route. The only record cited for the southwestern United States and northern Mexico is an accidental occurrence in New Mexico (Fort Webster).

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    NOTES: A WARBLING VIREO WINTERING IN CALIFORNIA

    On the morning of 13 December 1969 I observed a Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus) in the back yard of my home on Canon Drive in Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County, California. The bird was observed regularly between this date and 12 March 1970, and was photographed (fig. 1). The bird was frequenting the magnolia and oak trees as well as several elderberry bushes situated in my yard, which is located near a creek edged with many oak trees and a few sycamore trees together with much cultivated shrubbery.