Western Birds Journal

Volume 18, No. 2

Published April 1, 1987

Articles

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    Peter R. Gent (Author)

    COLORADO FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS' RECORDS COMMITTEE REPORT FOR 1978-1985

    The last Colorado Field Ornithologists (CFO) Records Committee report in Western Birds was for 1976–1977 (Andrews 1979). The time elapsed since the last report precludes discussion of all records handled by the Records Committee (RC) in this period, so this report covers only first, second, and third state records, and new or very unusual definite breeding records for Colorado from 1978 through 1985.

    The full reports of the RC for this period can be found in Chase (1981, 1982, 1983) and Gent (1984; 1985a, b; 1986). This report discusses 21 additions to, and 8 deletions from, the CFO state list, resulting in a net gain of 13 species from the 427 mentioned by Andrews (1979). Thus, the CFO state list for Colorado currently stands at 440 species, 5 of which are introduced. Andrews (1980) summarized the state list in 1980, and the present list is summarized by Gent (1987).

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    Steven M. Speich, Steven P. Thompson (Author)

    IMPACTS ON WATERBIRDS FROM THE 1984 COLUMBIA RIVER AND WHIDBEY ISLAND, WASHINGTON, OIL SPILLS

    Two major oil pollution events in Washington in 1984 resulted in significant oiling of waterbirds. The first occurred on 19 March 1984, when a tanker ran aground near St. Helens, Oregon, releasing oil into the Columbia River. The second occurred on 21 December 1984, when a vessel released oil into southern Admiralty Inlet off the south end of Whidbey Island in Puget Sound, Washington.

    During both spills, many waterbirds were found dead, and many others were found incapacitated. This paper documents the species of waterbirds oiled in each event.

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    Kevin L. Ellis, Joseph R. Murphy, Gary H. Richins (Author)

    DISTRIBUTION OF BREEDING MALE SAGE GROUSE IN NORTHEASTERN UTAH

    Leks are of central importance to the life cycle of the Sage Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). When a lek or its surrounding habitat is altered or destroyed, Sage Grouse breeding often is reduced or ceases altogether, leading to poor recruitment and population decline (Patterson 1952; Rogers 1964; Peterson 1970; Wallestad 1975; Tate et al. 1979).

    To identify areas in the vicinity of a lek used by females for nesting and brooding, and by males for feeding and loafing (day use), many studies have investigated the movements and distribution of breeding Sage Grouse (Klebenow 1969; Wallestad and Pyrah 1974; Wallestad and Schladweiler 1974; Rothenmaier 1979; Emmons 1980; Schoenberg 1982).

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    Sartor O. Williams III (Author)

    A NORTHERN JACANA IN TRANS-PECOS TEXAS

    At 09:45 on 7 October 1982, Melissa J. Renfro and I found a single Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa) on a pond at a site known as "The Post" (elevation 1200 m), located at the end of a county road about 8 km south-southwest of Marathon, Brewster County, Texas.

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    Steve West (Author)

    GREAT HORNED OWL PREDATION ON CAVE SWALLOWS

    Both Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) and Cave Swallows (Hirundo fulva) occur in the caves of southeastern New Mexico, but no interaction between the two species had been previously recorded.

    On 1 June 1984, Tom and Bobbie Bemis, Ron Kerbo, and I visited Ogle Cave in Slaughter Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Eddy County, New Mexico, to check on the approximately 100 Cave Swallows nesting there. As we rappelled into the cave, we flushed a Great Horned Owl, which was mobbed by Cave Swallows as it left the cave.

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    Jeff Gilligan, Owen Schmidt, Harry Nehls, David Irons (Author)

    FIRST RECORD OF LONG-TOED STINT IN OREGON

    The Long-toed Stint (Calidris subminuta) breeds in northeast Asia and migrates through southeast Asia to India and Australia (King et al. 1978). In Alaska, it is a rare spring and fall visitant to the western Aleutian Islands. There are spring records for the Pribilof Islands, St. Lawrence Island, and the Seward Peninsula (Kessel and Gibson 1978).

    The first Long-toed Stint recorded in North America outside of Alaska was photographed and tape-recorded at the base of the South Jetty of the Columbia River, Clatsop County, Oregon, on 5 September 1981.

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    Charles T. Collins (Author)

    A BREEDING RECORD OF THE DARK-EYED JUNCO ON SANTA CATALINA ISLAND, CALIFORNIA

    A total of 56 species of landbirds has been recorded breeding on the eight Channel Islands off the coast of southern California (Diamond and Jones 1980). Many are permanent resident species breeding every year, while others are migrants or immigrants that only infrequently or briefly establish breeding populations.

    This dynamic equilibrium of the breeding birds of the Channel Islands has been addressed by several authors (Lynch and Johnson 1974; Jones 1975; Jones and Diamond 1976; Diamond and Jones 1980), and predicts that from time to time, additions will be made to the list of breeding species (see Haemig 1986).

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    Carroll D. Littlefield, Gaylin D. Holloway (Author)

    THE FIRST RECORD OF A FOUR-EGG CLUTCH FOR SANDHILL CRANES

    We determined clutch sizes in 815 Greater Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis tabida) nests in Oregon from 1966 through 1984. Of these, 744 (91.3%) nests contained two eggs, 67 (8.2%) one egg, 3 (0.4%) three eggs, and 1 (0.1%)—which we report on here—contained four eggs. The average clutch size was 1.92.

    Three-egg clutches from Sandhill Cranes are rare, but there are records from Florida (Walkinshaw 1973), Idaho (Drewien 1973), Michigan (Walkinshaw 1973), Oregon (Littlefield 1981), and Wisconsin (Gluesing 1974).

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    Floyd E. Hayes, William S. Baker (Author)

    LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE FEEDS ON A DEAD AMERICAN COOT

    In the early afternoon of 8 December 1984, we observed a Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) feeding on the carcass of an American Coot (Fulica americana) along the shore of a marsh at Chula Vista, San Diego County, California.

    For about 2.5 minutes, the shrike tore off and swallowed at least a dozen pieces of meat before flying away. After waiting 30 minutes for the shrike to return, we examined the carcass. The head of the coot was missing; the shrike had been feeding on the blood-clotted meat in the neck area.

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    L. Scott Johnson (Author)

    SONG IN A FEMALE PLAIN TITMOUSE

    Although females of some temperate-zone species sing regularly, in most species females do not sing. However, there have been numerous reports of singing by females that are normally non-singers (reviewed by G. Ritchison, Auk100:105–116, 1983).

    In the titmouse family (Paridae), female song is common in some species and absent in others. Males of the three species of North American crested titmice—the Tufted, Plain, and Bridled Titmice (Parus bicolor, P. inornatus, P. wollweberi)—do sing well-developed true songs.