Western Birds Journal

Volume 10, No. 4

Published October 1, 1979

Issue description

Volume 10, number 4 of Western Birds, published 1979

Articles

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    JOHN S. LUTHER, GUY McCASKIE, JON DUNN (Author)

    THIRD REPORT OF THE CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE

    The California Bird Records Committee is moving with enthusiasm and dedication. Records reviewed by the committee through 1974 were reported by Winter (West. Birds 4:101-106, 1973) and Winter and McCaskie (West. Birds 6:135-144, 1975). The number of reports submitted has been increasing the last 2 years. Continue to be patient and helpful as you make the committee a success by your participation. We need your detailed observations and photographs of the species presently on the review list.

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    DAVID A. MANUWAL, NAOMI J. MANUWAL (Author)

    HABITAT SPECIFIC BEHAVIOR OF THE PARAKEET AUKLET IN THE BARREN ISLANDS, ALASKA

    We are not aware of any published accounts of the behavior of the Parakeet Auklet (Cyclorrhynchus psittacula). Previous studies of this species have centered on its ecology in the Bering Sea (Bédard 1969a, 1969b, Sealy 1968, Sealy and Bédard 1973). Our intent is to discuss and relate the basic behavior patterns of this species to the reproductive cycle and components of the nesting environment.

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    DAVID A. MANUWAL, NAOMI J. MANUWAL (Author)

    HABITAT UTILIZATION AND MIGRATION OF LAND BIRDS ON THE BARREN ISLANDS, ALASKA

    The Barren Islands (58°55′N, 152°10′W) in the northwestern Gulf of Alaska are the breeding stations for the largest marine bird populations in the region (Bailey 1976); however, little is known about the land birds breeding on or migrating through these islands. The only information available on land birds of the Barren Island area is by Isleib and Kessel (1973) and Bailey (1976). Rausch (1958) described the birds of Middleton Island, an isolated island in the northcentral Gulf of Alaska. In this paper, we briefly discuss the habitat utilization of breeding and migrant birds of the Barren Islands and the timing of their migration. Shorebirds are included because they utilized terrestrial habitat.

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    VERNON M. HAWTHORNE (Author)

    NOTES: USE OF NEST BOXES BY DIPPERS ON SAGEHEN CREEK, CALIFORNIA

    The Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) is a fairly common breeding bird along streams of the Sierra Nevada. Densities of four pairs per 1.6 km of stream have been recorded in favorable situations (Grinnell and Miller 1944:328). On Sagehen Creek in eastern California, 13 km north of Truckee, Nevada County, I found only one pair of Dippers in 1974 and again in 1975, along 8 km of stream. Recessed rock faces of the sort favored by Dippers for nesting are essentially non-existent along Sagehen Creek, and I concluded that lack of nest sites might be limiting the population. Von Jost’s (1970) report of successful use of nest boxes by European Dippers (C. cinclus) led to the present experiment. Twelve boxes were erected along Sagehen Creek. All were built of ¾ inch plywood following the design (20 cm wide, 18 cm deep, 16 cm high) recommended by von Jost. The boxes were numbered consecutively from the headwaters downstream.

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    DOUGLAS W. DANFORTH (Author)

    NOTES: AN AZTEC THRUSH IN ARIZONA

    In the morning of 30 May 1978 I found an Aztec Thrush (Ridgwayia pinicola) at 1700 m feeding on a wet dirt road at the bottom of Huachuca Canyon, Huachuca Mountains, Cochise County, Arizona. My field notes describe the bird thus:
    “Sooty brown head, back, upper breast, and wings. Belly and lower breast white. Breast has dark spots clustered along the cline between the brown hood and white breast. Face with a hint of light malar streak and definite light stripe above the eye. Wings with white spots in primaries and secondaries. Tail short and dark with white spots at tip and white oval spots at the upper base next the rump. A black vertical patch from the legs up to the side of the rump under the wings. Beak dark, legs and feet pink.”

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    JOSEPH R. JEHL, JR. (Author)

    NOTES: PINE CONES AS GRANARIES FOR ACORN WOODPECKERS

    Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) are well known for storing acorns in communal storehouses or “granaries,” which are usually in the trunk and main branches of a large tree. Other locations are sometimes used (e.g., fence posts, eaves of buildings), including sites from which the eventual retrieval of acorns is impossible (hollow trees, through open windows of cabins; Ritter, Condor 23:1-14, 1921; Henshaw, Condor 23:109-118, 1921; MacRoberts and MacRoberts, Ornithol. Monogr. 21, 1976). Under certain conditions holes or crevices of almost any size or shape may be sufficient to “release” storage behavior (Ritter, Scientific Monthly 31:253-257, 1930; Gignoux, Condor 23:118-121, 1972). This note reports acorn storage in pine cones. The location is particularly inappropriate because 1) the acorns are not retrievable, and 2) the storage site itself is of an impermanent and transitory nature.

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    RICHARD C. CASTETTER, HERBERT O. HILL (Author)

    NOTES: ADDITIONS TO THE BIRDS OF THE NEVADA TEST SITE

    Since the establishment of the Nevada Test Site (112 km NW of Las Vegas) in 1950, there has been only one comprehensive study of the birds in its 3,500 km². Hayward et al. (1963) published the first report, which resulted primarily from the collection of 900 specimens. More recently, the birds in a Larrea-Ambrosia community of southwestern NTS have been well documented by Herbert O. Hill (1971, 1972, 1973) under the International Biological Program/Desert Biome studies. The nature of work carried on here by the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) makes it impossible to allow unrestricted access to ornithologists.

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    ROBERT N. HASENYAGER, JORDAN C. PEDERSON, ALBERT W. HEGGEN (Author)

    NOTES: FLAMMULATED OWL NESTING IN A SQUIRREL BOX

    On 1 July 1977 an adult and two downy young Flammulated Owls (Otus flammeolus) were discovered in an artificial nest box in southeastern Utah. The nest box was 1 of 12 placed at various heights and exposures in selected Ponderosa Pines (Pinus ponderosa) to determine if Abert Squirrels (Sciurus aberti) would use artificially constructed nest sites. The boxes measured 30.5 cm × 30.5 cm × 50.8 cm, were constructed of pine, had a hinged, sloping roof and a 6.4 cm diameter entrance hole positioned 6.4 cm from the top of the box (Pederson et al., Habitat requirements of the Abert Squirrel on the Monticello District, Manti-LaSal National Forest of Utah, Utah Div. of Wildl. Res. Publ. No. 76-9, 108 p.). The occupied nest box was placed against the trunk of the Ponderosa at a height of 12.5 m and faced northeast. The tree, one of a clump of three left after the harvest, had a height of 19.8 m and a diameter at breast height of 35.6 cm. Examination of this box in 1974-1977 showed use by Abert Squirrels, Red Squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) and Common Flickers (Colaptes auratus). When the box was examined again on 17 October 1977, no evidence of the adult or young was found. Successful fledging of the young is assumed.