Western Birds Journal

Volume 2, No. 2

Published April 1, 1971

Issue description

Volume 2, number 2 of Western Birds, published 1971

Articles

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    F. Gary Stiles (Author)

    ON THE FIELD IDENTIFICATION OF CALIFORNIA HUMMINGBIRDS

    Adult males of the seven species of California hummingbirds can be quite easily distinguished on the basis of information given in current field guides. However, females and immatures of several species have long presented great difficulties in field identification. Most current field guides, including those of Peterson (1961), do not attempt to distinguish between females of certain species, and immatures are scarcely mentioned. Moreover, one recently-published guide (Robbins, et al., 1966) contains an extraordinary number of inaccurate or misleading statements and illustrations.

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    Guy McCaskie (Author)

    RUSTY BLACKBIRDS IN CALIFORNIA AND WESTERN NORTH AMERICA

    The Rusty Blackbird Euphagus carolinus is normally found east of the Rocky Mountains, breeding north of the Canadian border and wintering in the eastern United States. There are, however, enough records in the West, particularly California, to justify an attempt at interpreting them.

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    NOTES: BLACK SKIMMERS AT THE SALTON SEA, CALIFORNIA

    On the morning of 3 July 1968 Suffel discovered five Black Skimmers Rynchops nigra near the mouth of the Whitewater River at the north end of the Salton Sea. The distinctive black-tipped red bill, with the lower mandible extending well beyond the tip of the upper mandible, made the birds easily recognizable as skimmers, and the uniform black upperparts and white underparts made them identifiable as adult Black Skimmers. It was evident that four of the birds were one size, and the fifth was noticeably smaller. Measurements given by Ridgway (1919) indicate females are appreciably smaller than males, so it would appear that four males and one female were involved.

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    NOTES: FIRST RECORD OF FIELD SPARROW IN CALIFORNIA

    At approximately 13:00 hours on 17 June 1969 I saw a Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla clinging to the poultry wire of one of the wings at the entrance of the Heligoland trap on Southeast Farallon Island, San Francisco County, California. This bird was easily driven into the catching-box and secured. At that time the weight of this individual was 12.5 grams, with only a trace of fat visible beneath the skin. Ossification of the cranium was complete.

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    NOTES: THE LARK BUNTING IN CALIFORNIA

    On 28 and 29 April 1970 we (SRW and WDC) observed 14 Lark Buntings Calamospiza melanocorys, including 6 males, in overgrazed grassland of Yokohl Valley, approximately ten miles southeast of Exeter, Tulare County. Grinnell and Miller (Pacific Coast Avifauna no. 27, 1944) consider it an irregular winter visitor to southern California, and cite only two records to the north of the Tehachapi Mountains in the Central Valley (Dudley, Mariposa County, and Tulare Lake, Kings County). A check of the literature reveals three additional records of single birds for the Central Valley.