Volume 1, number 4 of Western Birds, published 1970
The Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis, Blue-footed Booby Sula nebouxii, Brown Booby Sula leucogaster, and Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens have all occurred in the interior portions of the southwestern United States. The frequency of occurrences, and the times of the year these birds appear is far from clear in the current literature.
I have been impressed for some time by the restrictive nature of bird check-lists, used by field observers to tally their “scores” of species seen in an area. While such lists are an invaluable aid to beginning birders, to experienced observers in an unfamiliar area, and to veteran observers in summarizing their observations, too often they constitute the sum of the observer’s records. Lists of birds invariably follow some authority, and being simple lists they mask many interesting problems and discourage the useful accumulation of meaningful biological data. Of course not every observer is personally interested in putting forth effort for the advancement of ornithology, but unconsciously he is making the observations that qualify him to do so. With very little extra effort an observer can increase the value of his observations greatly. Perhaps what is needed to facilitate this is a new form of field check-list.
On 30 May 1970 Xenia and Pierre Devillers and I found a Red-faced Warbler Cardellina rubrifrons at the Brock Ranch situated about 20 miles east of Holtville, Imperial County, California. This bird was alone in a cottonwood, and responded to “squeaking”, descending from the upper portions of the tree. It moved around rather slowly on the outermost portions of the limbs, remaining motionless, with wings partially extended and bill open, for short periods of time, for the temperature was close to 100°
On 22 June 1968, around 16:00, I noticed a dark, uniformly colored swift — that eventually proved to be a Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica — flying over the streets of La Jolla, a suburb in northwestern San Diego. A second individual was found a little later by Xenia Devillers and me; one or both of the swifts were seen again briefly later that evening and observed for two hours on the 23rd (with Clifford R. Lyons) and the 24th.
On 13 September 1969 Richard Webster and I observed an immature Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Erolia acuminata) in the salicornia marsh at Goleta Slough, Santa Barbara County, California. The bird remained in the area until 21 September 1969; during this period it was well observed by many others including Bruce Broadbooks, Ralph G. Mancke, Lawrence Sansone III, Jay M. Sheppard, and G. Shumway Suffel.
Despite the attraction of its varied and abundant birdlife (476 species), New Mexico is poorly known ornithologically. The standard reference work to the birds of the state, The Birds of New Mexico, by Florence Merriam Bailey (1928) is long out of date, and its “replacement”, New Mexico Birds and Where to Find them by J. S. Ligon (1961) has serious limitations.
In this fourth and final issue of Volume 1, the editors of California Birds wish to express their gratitude to those individuals who have helped the magazine through its infancy. Our membership has grown to over 750 as the result of the publicity efforts of many individuals and organizations, and in this respect we are particularly indebted to C. John Ralph, Fred C. Sibley and the staff of Point Reyes Bird Observatory.