Volume 11, No. 4

JOHN S. LUTHER (Author)

FOURTH REPORT OF THE CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE

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This report contains the decisions of the California Bird Records Committee agreed upon in 1979 and in the first half of 1980. Currently the committee consists of Laurence C. Binford, David DeSante, Richard Erickson (Vice Secretary), Kimball Garrett, Lee Jones, Paul Lehman, John Luther (Secretary), Guy McCaskie, Benjamin D. Parmeter and Philip Unitt. Former members Jon Dunn, Arnold Small and Richard Stallcup also worked on the records reported in this paper.

It is with tremendous thanks that the committee acknowledges all of the observers who took the time to submit their records. Without them the committee would not function. Please continue to support the committee in the documentation of rare birds as they occur in California.

FRITZ L. KNOPF, JOSEPH L. KENNEDY (Author)

FORAGING SITES OF WHITE PELICANS NESTING AT PYRAMID LAKE, NEVADA

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The food habits of White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) have been surveyed repeatedly at Pyramid Lake, Nevada (Hall 1925, Bond 1940, Alcorn 1943, Marshall and Giles 1953, Woodbury 1966). Those surveys, based on fish regurgitated by chicks, showed that pelicans captured predominantly Tui Chubs (Gila bicolor) and Carp (Cyprinus carpio). The chub is an abundant fish indigenous to the lake, whereas the Carp occurs in low numbers. Pelicans were believed to capture Carp at surrounding wetlands.

White Pelicans traditionally nest on Anaho Island in Pyramid Lake. Although the island is now a national wildlife refuge for the species, the relevance of the lake fishery or the fisheries of surrounding wetlands to continued use of that site is poorly understood. The objectives of this study were to determine where pelicans forage in the Pyramid Lake region and to document chronological patterns in their use of the wetlands.

CARROLL D. LITTLEFIELD (Author)

NEW BIRD RECORDS FROM MALHEUR NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, OREGON

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Since Marshall (1959) first published unusual bird records at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Harney County, Oregon, several other reports have appeared (Kridler and Marshall 1962, Kridler 1965, Littlefield and McLaury 1973). The purpose of this report is to present data on species that had not been recorded on the refuge before 1973.

Formerly, most species new to the refuge were collected when possible and placed in either the refuge museum or the U.S. National Museum. Changes in refuge policy and visitor attitudes now preclude collection. The following accounts are for species new to the refuge since the last published report (Littlefield and McLaury 1973).

STEPHEN A. LAYMON (Author)

WESTERN BIRD PHOTOGRAPHERS

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Ray Ekstrom became a naturalist, birdwatcher, artist and photographer beginning in the mid-1940s in rural Siskiyou County, California, where anyone who pursued nature study was regarded as suspect. For years Ray was a closet birdwatcher, hiding his binoculars whenever a car would pass. He began photographing his surroundings at an early age and in 1965 tried his first bird photographs.

Today considered Siskiyou County's premier photographer and certainly one of northern California's top wildlife photographers, Ray has worked mainly in central and coastal northern California, southern Oregon, and the Canadian Rockies. He has exhibited at many photo shows in northern California.

Peggy L. Svoboda, Kimberley E. Young, Virgil E. Scott (Author)

RECENT NESTING RECORDS OF PURPLE MARTINS IN WESTERN COLORADO

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The Purple Martin (Progne subis) is considered a rare summer visitor or local breeder in western Colorado. Scattered records of these visitors occur from May through July (Bailey and Niedrach, Birds of Colorado, Vol. II, Denver Mus. Nat. Hist., Denver, 1965: 550). These birds usually nest in abandoned woodpecker cavities in trees of the transition zone or higher montane woodlands (Johnston, Condor 68:219-228, 1966). Most west slope records of Purple Martins during the breeding season have been made in the transition zone at elevations of 2600 m or more (Bailey and Niedrach 1965). The only Purple Martin breeding records prior to 1978 have been from the headwaters of Apishapa Creek in western Las Animas County in June 1872 (Sclater 1912 cited by Bailey and Niedrach 1965) and from Fort Lewis, La Plata County, where they nested in hollow trees and latticed ventilators (Morrison 1886, 1888 cited by Bailey and Niedrach 1965). Until recently, due to lack of breeding records, the Purple Martin was considered a migrant or accidental straggler in Colorado (Kingery and Graul, Colorado bird distribution latilong study, Colo. Field Ornithol. and Colo. Div. Wildl., 1978:33). As a result of the sightings reported herein, the first addendum to the Latilong Study shows the Purple Martin breeding in southwestern Colorado (Bardwell and Thomas, C.F.O. Journal 14:66-69, 1980). Andrews (C.F.O. Journal 14:82-87, 1980) also lists the Purple Martin as a confirmed breeder in Colorado in the last 15 years.

Harriet R. Huber, T. James Lewis (Author)

FIRST RECORDS OF THE RED-FOOTED BOOBY IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES

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A Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) visited Southeast Farallon Island, 43 km west of San Francisco, California, on 26 August 1975. A second individual visited the same locality on 12 October 1975. These are the first reported occurrences of the species in the western continental United States. The other mainland United States records have been in Florida, Texas, and Louisiana (Woolfenden 1965, Palmer 1962).

 

RICHARD L. KNIGHT, DANA C. RYAN (Author)

AN UNUSUAL CASE OF BARN SWALLOW MORTALITY

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On 4 June 1978, we found a dead, adult Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) hanging from a twisted loop of horsehair suspended from an empty, adherent Barn Swallow nest beneath a secondary highway bridge in Franklin County, Washington. The 10-meter-long wooden bridge, situated 1 meter over an irrigation canal in a farmland area, contained 45 active Barn Swallow nests. The looped horsehair, incorporated into the nest rim, was twisted several times around the swallow's neck, causing death by strangulation. Of the 45 active swallow nests on the bridge, 43 had eggs (mean = 3.8) while 2 contained young (mean = 3.0).

Richard L. Knight, Jeff Skriletz, Dana C. Ryan (Author)

FOUR ADDITIONAL CASES OF BIRD MORTALITY ON BARBED-WIRE FENCES

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Avery et al. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report FWS/OBS-78/58, 1978) recently summarized known avian mortality at man-made structures. In addition, Fitzner (Raptor Research 9:55–57, 1975) reported collisions of one Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) and one Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) with barbed-wire fences. This note describes four additional cases of barbed-wire-caused mortality.

On 22 September 1973, in Whatcom County, Washington, Skriletz found a dead Barn Owl (Tyto alba) hanging by its right wing from the top strand of a 3-strand barbed-wire fence. The fence was located in an area characterized by marshes and wet meadows.

Jeanne A. Conry, Bruce E. Webb (Author)

INTERGRADE JUNCOS (JUNCO HYEMALIS MEARNSI X J. CANICEPS CANICEPS) IN EASTERN COLORADO

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The foothills of the Colorado Front Range provide wintering habitat for several races of the Junco complex. One can easily observe Gray-headed Junco (Junco caniceps caniceps) as well as five recognizable forms of Dark-eyed Junco (J. hyemalis). Listed in general order of occurrence, these forms include Pink-sided Junco (J. h. mearnsi), dark-hooded forms of Oregon Junco (J. h. oreganus), Slate-colored Junco (J. h. hyemalis), and White-winged Junco (J. h. aikeni).

Among one mixed Junco flock coming to feeders along Bluebell Canyon in Boulder County, Colorado, were two individuals which, by plumage characteristics, appeared to be vividly marked intergrades between caniceps and mearnsi. The flank color (typically gray in caniceps and warm buff in mearnsi) of both intergrades was a warm rusty-buff.