Western Birds Journal

Volume 14, No. 4

Published October 1, 1983

Issue description

Volume 14, number 4 of Western Birds, published 1983

Articles

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    HELEN M. PRATT (Author)

    MARIN COUNTY CALIFORNIA HERON COLONIES: 1967–1981

    Like all birds dependent on freshwater and marine wetlands, members of the heron family are suffering progressive loss of essential habitat. In addition, agricultural and industrial pollution threatens their capacity to reproduce. Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) and Black-crowned Night-Herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) have declined in parts of their range and have been placed on the National Audubon Society’s Blue List of species “which have recently given or are currently giving indications of non-cyclical population declines or range contractions either locally or widespread” (Tate 1981).

     

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    CHRISTOPHER B. CHAPPELL, BRENDA J. RINGER (Author)

    STATUS OF THE HERMIT WARBLER IN WASHINGTON

    The Hermit Warbler (Dendroica occidentalis) reaches the northern limit of its breeding range in Washington, where its status has been unclear. The Hermit Warbler frequents treetops where it is difficult to observe, and its song resembles those of the Black-throated Gray Warbler (D. nigrescens) and Townsend’s Warbler (D. townsendi). Other than a few references to a preference for tall conifers (Bowles 1906, Dawson and Bowles 1909, Rathbun 1916), mature coniferous forests (Pough 1957), and moderately dense coniferous forests (Cogswell 1957), little was known of its habitat requirements. The few scattered records of Hermit Warblers in Washington prior to 1970 provided little indication of its status, and most authors classified it as uncommon in coniferous forests of western Washington.

    In the 1970s the number of records increased substantially as the number of field observers increased. Consequently, Wahl and Paulson (1977) concluded that the Hermit Warbler’s principal range in Washington was the southern Cascade Range and that it was common in that area. However, its status in other parts of the state and its specific habitat requirements were still uncertain. The purpose of this study was to delineate Hermit Warbler habitat requirements and to synthesize existing information on its distribution and abundance in Washington.

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    TERENCE WAHL (Author)

    REPORT TO MEMBERS

    WFO’s annual meeting was held in Santa Cruz, California, 29 September–2 October 1983. The meeting was co-hosted by the Santa Cruz Bird Club, whose members assisted the local committee. Debi Love Shearwater was convention organizer and did an outstanding job. Jerry Langham ably introduced speakers at the papers presentation which included Birding Santa Cruz County, Aging Jaegers, The Manx Shearwater Group, UCSC Predatory Bird Project, Farallon Islands Birds, and the Survey of Central and Northern California Seabirds: 1980–1983. The banquet speaker, Bruce Eilliott, brought home the need for people like WFO members to assist with management of nongame species by providing good and otherwise unavailable information.

    To the many people who made the meeting and field trips so successful and enjoyable, I’m sure over 100 persons who attended will add thanks to mine. Field outings included pelagic trips which featured the impressive flocks of storm-petrels and other birds and many marine mammals on Monterey Bay, land and water birds of the Santa Cruz area, and a cooperative Sharp-tailed Sandpiper hung-out long enough to allow meeting attendees to see it during off-hours excursions. The weather saved northern resident WFO members from suffering heat-stroke and there was even enough rain to bring a touch of nostalgia.

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    JEFF GILLIGAN, OWEN SCHMIDT (Author)

    NOTES: FIRST VERIFIED CAPE MAY WARBLER FOR OREGON

    This note reports the first verified record of the Cape May Warbler (Dendroica tigrina) from Oregon. We watched a warbler of this species for a little over 2 hours as it fed in alder (Alnus) trees on the Bayocean Sandspit, Tillamook County, Oregon, on 19 October 1980. More than 20 photographs which clearly show identifying marks were obtained.

    The warbler was a male in basic plumage. Its identification was based on the following characteristics, all of which are apparent in at least some of the color transparencies on file with the Oregon Field Ornithologists’ Bird Records Committee (P.O. Box 10373, Eugene, OR 97440). A large, thick whitish wing bar was on the otherwise gray-green wing. A large, dull yellow patch was behind the ear. The breast and sides were yellow, heavily streaked with black, with the streaking extending onto the lower throat. The yellow of the breast faded into the whitish belly and undertail coverts. The undertail was whitish. The top of the head and back were gray-green, flecked with inconspicuous dark markings. The upper tail was similar in color to the back. The face was yellowish, washed with gray on the cheek. The lores were thin and dark and there was a small amount of dark behind the eyes. The rump was yellow, although not as bright as that of the Yellow-rumped Warbler (D. coronata).

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    CARROLL D. LITTLEFIELD (Author)

    NOTES: OREGON’S FIRST RECORDS OF THE GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE

    The Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) was first recorded in Oregon on 16 May 1980, when an adult male was seen by numerous observers at Malheur Field Station (MFS), ± 50 km SSE of Burns, Harney Co., Oregon. The individual was consistently observed within 10 m as it fed with Yellow-headed (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) and Brewer’s (Euphagus cyanocephalus) blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater). The grackle was considerably larger than the associating icterids, and the long tail formed the characteristic vee or keel. The eye color was yellow. A photograph of the bird was published in American Birds (Rogers 1980a). Following the initial sighting, several other Great-tailed Grackles were found in Oregon during 1980 and 1981.

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    RALPH S. WIDRIG (Author)

    NOTES: A BRISTLE-THIGHED CURLEW AT LEADBETTER POINT, WASHINGTON

    On 1 May 1982 I found a Whimbrel-like shorebird feeding alone at the high tide mark on an exposed sandy beach at Leadbetter Point, Pacific Co., Washington (Figure 1). The bird closely resembled a Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus), but seemed to be more warm brown in color and to have a more erect posture. When flushed at about 30 m the bird gave a slurred call somewhat like that of a Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola), but lower in pitch. The call was given only once as the bird flushed.

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    LYMAN V. RITTER, KATHRYN PURCELL (Author)

    NOTES: CAVITY-NESTING BREWER’S BLACKBIRDS

    Nest sites of the Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) are unusually diverse—on the ground in weedy cover, in stump crevices, shrubs or trees (Verner and Boss, California wildlife and their habitats: Western Sierra Nevada, USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Report PSW-37, Berkeley, CA, 1980). In Washington, Dawson and Bowles (The Birds of Washington, Occidental Publishing Co., Washington, 1909:47) described nesting “in cavities near the tops of some giant fir stubs, none of them less than 150 feet from the ground.” We have found no other reference to cavity nesting by Brewer’s Blackbirds.

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    BRUCE ELLIOTT (Author)

    NOTES: HOUSE WREN BREEDS IN CLIFF SWALLOW NEST

    On 25 June 1983 I observed a Northern House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) feeding an undetermined number of nestlings in a nest of a Cliff Swallow (Hirundo pyrrhonota). The nest was located under the Bradley Road Bridge spanning the Salinas River in southern Monterey County, California, and was approximately 20–25 m above the river bank. Two additional swallow nests, one active, were immediately adjacent to the one used by the wren. Approximately 300 other active swallow nests were on the outer border of the bridge, separated from direct view of the wren nest by a lateral support beam.

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    HELEN DOWNING (Author)

    NOTES: A WHITE IBIS NEAR SHERIDAN, WYOMING

    A 7-year-old ranch boy, Charles Collins, found “a funny white bird” in a small marshy pond near his home on Lower Piney Creek about 40 km SSE of Sheridan, Wyoming, on 12 September 1976. His father, Bruce Collins, identified it as a White Ibis (Eudocimus albus). Marian Collins (not a relative) and I arrived at the pond at about 0730 on 13 September. The pond, situated in a pasture, was not more than 8 m across and had cattail (Typha) growth and two tree stumps standing in water near its center. The rest of the pasture was rather level and dry with short grass clipped off by the cattle present. The entire valley is made up of such pastures, some plowed and planted fields, some native grasses and sagebrush (Artemisia), cottonwoods (Populus) and willows (Salix) along the stream plus large brushy areas. Low hills rise on either side. Several marshy ponds are in the area—two quite extensive. Piney Creek flows generally from southwest to northeast through the valley.

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    TIMOTHY D. REYNOLDS, DOUGLAS P. SHOREY (Author)

    NOTES: UNUSUAL BEHAVIOR OF THE HORNED LARK

    At 0720 (MST) on 12 May 1976, while conducting bird census work on the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) 2 km west of Atomic City, Bingham Co., Idaho, we noticed a Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris) dead on the road and a conspecific acting strangely nearby. Observing the birds from our vehicle, we recorded the following information from a distance of 5 m.