Volume 20, No. 3

A. SIDNEY ENGLAND, WILLIAM F. LAUDENSLAYER, JR. (Author)

DISTRIBUTION AND SEASONAL MOVEMENTS OF BENDIRE’S THRASHER IN CALIFORNIA

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The ecology and distribution of Bendire’s Thrasher (Toxostoma bendirei) have been little studied and are poorly understood. Garrett and Dunn (1981:280) classified the species as a “fairly common but very local summer resident on the Mojave Desert” in southern California. California breeding populations are known primarily from the eastern Mojave Desert and scattered locations in and around Joshua Tree National Monument in the southern Mojave Desert (Johnson et al. 1948, Miller and Stebbins 1964, Garrett and Dunn 1981), areas frequently visited by bird watchers and naturalists. However, records from other parts of the Mojave and Colorado deserts suggest that breeding populations of Bendire’s Thrasher may be more widely distributed than currently recognized. Also, the preferred breeding habitat in California is relatively widespread. This habitat is typically described as Mojave desert scrub with either Joshua Trees (Yucca brevifolia), Spanish Bayonet (Y. baccata), Mojave Yucca (Y. schidigera), cholla cactus (Opuntia acanthocarpa, O. echinocarpa, or O. ramosissima), or other succulents (Grinnell and Miller 1944, Bent 1948, Garrett and Dunn 1981).

DANIEL M. TAYLOR, CHARLES H. TROST, BRYAN JAMISON (Author)

THE BIOLOGY OF THE WHITE-FACED IBIS IN IDAHO

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The White-faced Ibis in the United States breeds west of the Mississippi River and south of the 45th parallel (A.O.U. 1983), with the majority nesting in the Great Basin states (Ryder 1967). Historically in Idaho, it has been considered a casual summer visitor and irregular breeder (Larrison et al. 1967, Ryder 1967, Burleigh 1972). In this paper we show that while there were very few records of the White-faced Ibis for the state until the early 1960s, numerous active nesting colonies in Idaho are now known. We also document and describe the foraging of thousands of postbreeding ibises on the extensive mudflats of American Falls Reservoir, which, unlike sites described elsewhere (Bray and Klebenow 1988), were used daily throughout late summer.

MICHAEL W. NEWCOMER, GREGORY K. SILBER (Author)

NOTES: SIGHTINGS OF THE LAYSAN ALBATROSS IN THE NORTHERN GULF OF CALIFORNIA, MEXICO

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The Laysan Albatross, Diomedea immutabilis, the most abundant species of albatross in the north Pacific (Pitman 1985), has recently expanded its breeding range into the eastern Pacific. In May 1986, adults with chicks were discovered on Isla Guadalupe, 230 miles west of Baja California, Mexico (Dunlap 1988), with nesting continuing there at least through 1988 (Oberbauer et al. 1989). Courtship has also been reported at two other sites off Mexico: Alijos Rocks, 185 miles west of Baja California (Pitman 1985), and Isla San Benedicto, in the Islas Revillagigedo, about 230 miles south of the southern tip of Baja (Pitman 1988).

To date, only one account of the Laysan Albatross in the Gulf of California has been published: a single bird seen 5 May 1982, east of Cabo San Miguel, Baja California Norte (Wilbur 1987). Here we provide additional records gathered during fieldwork in the northern Gulf of California.

GREGORY D. JOHNSON (Author)

NOTES: FIRST RECORD OF A PURPLE GALLINULE IN WYOMING

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On 23 September 1986, I collected a juvenile male Purple Gallinule (Porphyrula martinica) near Leazenby Lake, located in Albany County approximately 13 km south of Laramie, Wyoming, on the east side of U.S. Route 287. Leazenby Lake lies in a high (elevation 2240 m) grassy basin between the Laramie and Snowy ranges. According to Wyoming Game and Fish Department records (S. A. Ritter, Wyoming Game and Fish Department nongame bird biologist, pers. comm.), this specimen represents the first Purple Gallinule documented in the state of Wyoming.