Life Sciences Commons^™

Observations On A 40-Year January Bird Census In Boone County, Nebraska, 1978–2017, Wayne Mollhoff

Zea E-Books Collection

For 40 years Wayne Mollhoff conducted a personal bird census every January. He explains: "After having run several Breeding Bird Survey routes, and participated in several Christmas Bird Counts, I became curious to see what might be found on a winter count under the more tightly controlled parameters of a census, as contrasted with Christmas counts done with variable numbers of observers."

The count was set up similarly to the USGS Breeding Bird Survey routes with 50 stops, one-half mile (800 meters) apart, all birds counted for 3 minutes, with birds counted at one stop not counted again at following …

Remembering Paul Johnsgard, Linda R, Brown, Josef Kren

Zea E-Books Collection

Paul A. Johnsgard (1931–2021) was a friend of many, an artist, prolific author, teacher, and humble admirer of all living creatures. It was impossible to find someone at Nebraska Audubon Society or Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union meetings who did not know Paul Johnsgard. His more than 100 published books made him known not just in a community of ornithologists, birdwatchers, and bird lovers in the United States but also abroad. He was a world-renowned ornithologist and naturalist who remained deeply embedded in his local culture and its prairie environment.

We invited about 75 people to write a short memory of Paul. …

H7n9 Influenza A Virus Transmission In A Multispecies Barnyard Model, Angela M. Bosco-Lauth, Anna Rodriguez, Rachel M. Maison, Stephanie M. Porter, J. Jeffrey Root

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Influenza A viruses are a diverse group of pathogens that have been responsible for millions of human and avian deaths throughout history. Here, we illustrate the transmission potential of H7N9 influenza A virus between Coturnix quail (Coturnix sp.), domestic ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus), chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), and house sparrows (Passer domesticus) co-housed in an artificial barnyard setting. In each of four replicates, individuals from a single species were infected with the virus. Quail shed virus orally and were a source of infection for both chickens and ducks. Infected chickens transmitted the virus to quail but not to ducks or …

Nest Records Of Nebraska Birds, Wayne J. Mollhoff

Zea E-Books Collection

Nebraska Ornithologists' Union Occasional Paper Number 9

This publication is an attempt to provide a synopsis of the breeding information accumulated in the past two centuries. As with any compilation like this, other workers would likely come to different conclusions in choosing which records to accept and which to reject. I have tried to state the reasons for my decisions as clearly as possible. Most difficult to categorize are species which are not well documented. Hopefully by laying out the evidence I could find, others will be prompted to do more research, uncover definitive proof, and put more of our …

Biodiversity Scale-Dependence And Opposing Multi-Level Correlations Underlie Differences Among Taxonomic, Phylogenetic And Functional Diversity, Nadejda A. Mirochnitchenko, Erica F. Stuber, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Aim: Biodiversity is a multidimensional property of biological communities that represents different information depending on how it is measured, but how dimensions relate to one another and under what conditions is not well understood. We explore how taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity can differ in scale-of-effect dependence and habitat-biodiversity relationships, and subsequently how spatial differences among biodiversity dimensions may arise. Location: Nebraska, United States. Taxon: Birds. Methods: Across 2016 and 2017, we conducted 2,641 point counts at 781 sites. We modeled the occupancy of 141 species using Bayesian Bernoulli-Bernoulli hierarchical logistic regressions. We calculated species richness (SR), phylogenetic diversity (PD), …

S Is For Sandhill: A Crane Alphabet, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This is a book of cranes, from A to Z, written and illustrated by the world’s foremost authority on the 15 species of these wonderful and ancient birds. It is a book for all ages, and for all who love and marvel at the beauty, order, and variety of the natural world.

Cranes exhibit complex behavior, pair-bonding, and fascinating social interactions. They migrate huge distances, crossing continents, oceans, and mountains between their nesting and wintering areas. Seven of the world’s 15 crane species are listed as “vulnerable,” three as “endangered,” one as “critically endangered,” and only three as of “least …

Friendship At The Feeding Station, Anisha Pokharel

Zea E-Books Collection

A young steppe eagle and his mother fly to Nepal from Mongolia, where Griffy, a Himalayan griffon, chases the hungry Steppe from the feeding station, but Garuda, a white-rumped vulture, intervenes and becomes Steppe's friend. Steppe's mother is angered at first, but learns the lesson that each species has its role to play.

Designed by Breanna Epp with Maeve Lausch

Paul Johnsgard: Comprehensive Vita And Bibliography, Paul A. Johnsgard

Papers in Ornithology

A current curriculum vitae and comprehensive bibliography for Paul A. Johnsgard, Foundation Regents Professor Emeritus at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Johnsgard has been the author of (at least) 91 books, 140 journal articles or chapters, 100 reviews or popular articles; the subject of 7 profile articles; and the director for 12 Ph.D. dissertations and 12 M.S. theses—all listed here. Dates covered are 1953 through 2020. Dr. Johnsgard is also an illustrator and photographer.

Updated January 2021.

Wyoming Wildlife: A Natural History, Paul Johnsgard, Thomas D. Mangelsen

Zea E-Books Collection

This book surveys Wyoming’s mammal, bird, reptile, and amphibian faunas. In addition to introducing the state’s geography, geology, climate, and major ecosystems, it provides 65 biological profiles of 72 mammal species, 195 profiles of 196 birds, 9 profiles of 12 reptiles, and 6 profiles of 9 amphibians. There are also species lists of Wyoming’s 117 mammals, 445 birds, 22 reptiles, and 12 amphibians. Also included are descriptions of nearly 50 national and state properties, including parks, forests, preserves, and other public-access natural areas in Wyoming. The book includes a text of more than 150,000 words, nearly 700 references, a glossary …

Wyoming’S Ucross Ranch: Its Birds, History, And Natural Environment, Jacqueline Lee Canterbury, Paul Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This book profiles 60 of the most abundant, characteristic, and interesting birds that have been regularly reported from the Ucross Ranch and the adjacent Powder River Basin. The 20,000-acre Ucross Ranch lies on the western edge of the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming. Ucross is a textbook example of the prairie grassland/ shrubland habitat type referred to as the sagebrush steppe, a landscape that is an icon of Wyoming’s vast open spaces. We focus especially on those species that occur year-round or are present as breeders during the summer months, and we place emphasis on a unique group of …

Relationships Among Biodiversity Dimensions Of Birds In Nebraska, Nadejda Mirochnitchenko

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is a multi-dimensional concept that can be decomposed to measure information about taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional variation within communities. Although the dimensions of biodiversity are interrelated, the assumption that measuring one dimension of diversity can inform about patterns in another dimension does not necessarily follow from theory or empirical study. The relationships among biodiversity dimensions is not well understood, nor how differences among dimensions could influence conservation decision making. Using the avian community as a study system, we explored the relationships of breadth metrics from the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions among each other and across …

Bird Population Changes Following The Establishment Of A Diverse Stand Of Woody Plants In A Former Crop Field In North Dakota, 1975– 2015, Lawrence D. Igl, Harold A. Kantrud, Wesley Newton

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Changes in the coverage of trees and shrubs on the North Dakota landscape since Euro- American settlement have likely had a pronounced impact on bird species that favor woody vegetation. Long- term data sets on breeding bird populations in wooded habitats in North Dakota or in the Great Plains are scarce. In 1975 a wildlife habitat plot was established in a 10.5 ha cropland field with a long history of small- grain production. Th e objective of this article is to evaluate the successional changes in bird populations as the habitat at this site became more biologically and structurally complex …

To Live And Fly In La: Using Bird Strike And Management Program Information To Improve Safety At Airports In The Los Angeles Basin, Todd J. Pitlik, Elizabeth Hermann, Eric Peralta, Brian E. Washburn

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wildlife-aircraft collisions (wildlife strikes) pose a serious safety risk to aircraft. Wildlife strikes can be evaluated at different levels, include efforts to examine these problems at the national, regional, or state level, or for an individual airport. Similarly, wildlife strikes involving individual wildlife species or guilds can be examined at varying scales. Although wildlife strike analyses at the national, regional, or species/guild level are valuable, airport-specific analyses are essential for the effective implementation and evaluation of integrated wildlife damage management programs as these actions are conducted at the airport level. The species that present hazards to safe aircraft operations varies …

The North American Quails, Partridges, And Pheasants, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This book documents the biology of six species of New World quails that are native to North America north of Mexico (mountain, scaled, Gambel’s, California, and Montezuma quails, and the northern bobwhite), three introduced Old World partridges (chukar, Himalayan snowcock, and gray partridge), and the introduced common (ring-necked) pheasant. Collectively, quails, partridges, and pheasants range throughout all of the continental United States and the Canadian provinces. Two of the species, the northern bobwhite and ring-necked pheasant, are the most economically important of all North American upland game birds. All of the species are hunted extensively for sport and are highly …

Common Birds Of The Brinton Museum And Bighorn Mountains Foothills, Jackie Canterbury, Paul Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

Part I. The Brinton Museum and Its Birds

Part II. Profiles of 48 Common Local and Regional Birds: Ring-necked Pheasant, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Sandhill Crane, Killdeer, Eastern Screech-Owl, Great Horned Owl, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Calliope Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, Red-naped Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Western Wood-Pewee, Say’s Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, Black-billed Magpie, American Crow, Common Raven, Tree Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Black-capped Chickadee, Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, House Wren, American Dipper, Mountain Bluebird, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Vesper Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, …

Sandhill And Whooping Cranes, Jeb Barzen, Ken Ballinger

Wildlife Damage Management Technical Series

As sandhill crane populations continue to grow in the United States, so too does crop damage, property damage to homeowners, and the risk of crane collisions with aircraft. Whooping crane populations also continue to grow, but with a global population of about 500 individuals (as of 2017), damage is rare and problems often require different solutions due to the species’ endangered status. The behavioral characteristics and habitat needs of sandhill and whooping cranes set the stage for conflict between these birds and people. Recognizing behavioral differences between territorial and non-territorial cranes greatly improves the effectiveness of any management effort.

Human-Wildlife …

The North American Geese: Their Biology And Behavior, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

The eight currently recognized species of North American geese are part of a familiar group of birds collectively called waterfowl, all of which are smaller than swans and generally larger than ducks. They include the most popular of our aquatic gamebirds, with several million shot each year by sport hunters. Our two most abundant waterfowl, the Canada goose and snow goose, have populations collectively totaling about 15 million individuals. Like swans, the lifelong pairbonding of geese, their familial care, and prolonged social attachment to their offspring are legendary. Their seasonal migratory flights sometimes span thousands of miles, and the sight …

The North American Grouse: Their Biology And Behavior, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

The ten currently recognized species of grouse in North America have played an important role in America’s history, from the famous but ill-fated heath hen, a primary source of meat for the earliest New England immigrants, to the ruffed grouse, currently one of the most abundant and soughtafter upland game birds in more than 40 states and provinces. This book summarizes the ecology, reproductive biology, and social behavior of all ten of the extant North American grouse species. It also describes the current status of grouse populations, some of which are perilously close to extinction. The social behavior of grouse …

At Home And At Large In The Great Plains: Essays And Memories, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This volume presents fourteen essays (some updated) that originally appeared in Prairie Fire, a monthly free newspaper that for seven years (as of 2015) has carried important messages of social, environmental, and economic issues in a mature and nonpartisan manner to tens of thousands of residents of Nebraska, western Iowa, eastern Colorado, and southern South Dakota, and by mail to subscribers in the rest of the world. These essays discuss the North American east-west ecological boundaries, spring migration events, birds at the bird feeder, feathered survivors of a glacial past, the threatened sharp-tailed grouse of Nebraska and South Dakota, and …

The Birds Of Nebraska, Revised Edition 2013, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This summary of the birds of Nebraska has been restricted to those species that have been convincingly reported at least once in Nebraska from historic time to the present. It has also been modified in its current revision to conform very closely in that regard to the most recent Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union’s “Official List of the Birds of Nebraska” (Brogie, 2010; NOU Records Committee, 2011 and annual updates). The N.O.U.’s official state list of birds (455 species as of 2013, including 329 “regular” species, 42 of “casual” occurrence, 68 accidentals, and six extinct or extirpated species) is based on actual …

Birds And Birding In Wyoming’S Bighorn Mountains Region, Jacqueline L. Canterbury, Paul A, Johnsgard, Helen F. Downing

Zea E-Books Collection

The Bighorn Mountains consist of a relatively well-isolated north-south mountain range in north-central Wyoming that had their origins during the early Cenozoic era, 50-65 million years ago. The present-day Bighorn range is more than 100 miles in length and has a maximum elevation of 13,167 feet (Cloud Peak), only slightly less than the highest peak in Wyoming (Gannett Peak, at 13,804 feet). The mountains are flanked to the west by the Bighorn River basin, and to the east by the Powder River basin, both of which support only semi-desert vegetation dominated by sagebrush. Elevations of the Powder River basin near …

Predictors Of Regional Establishment Success And Spread Of Introduced Non-Indigenous Vertebrates, Criag R. Allen, Kristine T. Nemec, Donald A. Wardwell, Justin D. Hoffman, Mathew L. Brust, Karie L. Decker, Daniel Fogell, Jennifer Hogue, Aaron Lotz, Thaddeus Miller, Marcy Pummill, Luis E. Ramirez-Yañez, Daniel R. Uden

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Aim To provide the first analysis of predictors of both establishment and spread, both within and across taxa, for all vertebrate taxa within a region.We used Florida, USA, as our study system because it has a well-documented history of introduction and invasion, and is a hotspot for biological invasions.

Location Florida, USA.

Methods We analysed non-indigenous species (NIS) data from peninsular Florida – which included both successful and unsuccessful introductions from all vertebrate classes – to determine the best predictors of both establishment and spread for fish (65 species), herpetofauna (63 species), birds (71 species) and mammals (25 species). We …

Patterns Of Incubation Behavior In Northern Bobwhites (Colinus Virginianus), Jonathan S. Burnam, Gretchen Turner, Susan Ellis-Felege, William E. Palmer, D. Clay Sisson, John P. Carroll

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Patterns of incubation and nesting behavior for many species of birds, especially those with cryptic nests, have been difficult to obtain due to logistical and technological limitations. As a result, little is known about the daily attendance rhythms and behavioral patterns of many species, including the Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), despite this species being one of the most studied birds in the world. Incubation represents parental investment in offspring, and a multitude of factors may affect investment behaviors, including reproductive ecology, sex and age of parent, habitat quality, clutch age, and timing in the nesting season. Most Northern Bobwhite nests …

Pleistocene Faunal Fossils From Bayangol I Site, Bulgan Aimag, Mongolia, Takao Sato, Fedora Khenzykhenova, Toshiaki Tsurumaru, Masao Ambiru, Jun Takakura, Yoshiaki Otsuka, Shigeo Iida, Natalya Schepina, Batmunkh Tsogtbaatar

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

During excavation of the Bayan-gol I Palaeolithic site in the Bulgan Aimak, Mongolia, some faunistic remains were recovered attributable to Aves (two species), Anura (two species), and mammals (three species). The fossil remains bear a considerable similarity to the corresponding species of today in Mongolia.

Bird Red List And Its Future Development In Mongolia, Sundev Gombobaatar, D. Samiya, Jonathan M. Baillie

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

With the involvement of the World Bank, Zoological Society of London, Dutch Government and National University of Mongolia, the volumes of Mongolian Red Lists of Fish, Amphibians and Reptiles, Birds and Mammals were completed, and Mongolia is now among the few nations that have up-to-date conservation assessments for all vertebrates. Of the 476 assessed native bird species of Mongolia, 10% were categorized as regionally threatened including Near Threatened. A further 0.6% were categorized as Critically Endangered (CR), 1.7% as Endangered (EN), 3.3% as Vulnerable (VU), and 4.4% as Near Threatened (NT). Almost 90% of Mongolian birds are categorized as Least …

Rocky Mountain Birds: Birds And Birding In The Central And Northern Rockies, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

“The Rocky Mountain region has fascinated me ever since I traveled to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks as a teenager, and saw for the first time such wonderful birds as ospreys, American dippers, and Lew­is’s woodpeckers.”

This book is in part based on the author’s earlier Birds of the Rocky Moun­tains (1986, revised 2009), but over a third of the original text has been eliminated. The rest has been updated, expanded and modified to be less technical and more useful to birders in the field. Bird enthusiasts will find viewing loca­tions and updated contact information for hundreds of sites in …

A Nebraska Bird-Finding Guide, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

Nebraska lies in the transition zone between North American eastern and western avifaunas and is home to more than 200 breeding and 150 migrant species. This definitive guide to Nebraska birdwatching by the state’s preeminent ornithologist includes a county-by-county rundown of the best sites, a calendar of migrations, an annotated checklist of regularly occurring Nebraska birds, and recommendations for optical equipment, publications and reference materials, and contact information for conservation and ornithological groups. It features 48 maps as well as photographs and drawings by the author.

Paul Johnsgard, Foundation Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, is …

How Birds Combat Ectoparasites, Dale H. Clayton, Jennifer A. H. Koop, Christopher W. Harbison, Brett R. Moyer, Sarah E. Bush

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Birds are plagued by an impressive diversity of ectoparasites, ranging from feather-feeding lice, to feather-degrading bacteria. Many of these ectoparasites have severe negative effects on host fitness. It is therefore not surprising that selection on birds has favored a variety of possible adaptations for dealing with ectoparasites. The functional significance of some of these defenses has been well documented. Others have barely been studied, much less tested rigorously. In this article we review the evidence--or lack thereof--for many of the purported mechanisms birds have for dealing with ectoparasites. We concentrate on features of the plumage and its components, as well …

The Relative Importance Of Patch Area And Perimeter–Area Ratio To Grassland Breeding Birds, Christopher J. Helzer, Dennis E. Jelinski

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Habitat fragmentation has been implicated as a major cause of population decline in grassland birds. We tested the hypothesis that a combination of area and shape determines the use of grassland patches by breeding birds. We compared both species richness and individual species presence in 45 wet meadow grasslands in the floodplain of the central Platte River, Nebraska. Bird data were collected through the use of belt transects and supplemented by walking and listening outside transects. Our data supported our primary hypothesis that perimeter–area ratio, which reflects both the area and shape of a patch, is the strongest predictor of …

Disaccharide Intolerance Of European Starlings, Leonard R. Askham

Proceedings of the Seventeenth Vertebrate Pest Conference 1996

The use of disaccharides to discourage bird depredation to agricultural crops has elicited some interest during the last few years. Data developed in these trials indicate that several avian species are intolerant to sucrose because of the lack of sucrase enzymes in their digestive systems. Based on this research it is hypothesized that progressively increasing rates and volumes of solutions would elicit consistent adverse stress reactions. Furthermore, that if birds were intolerant to sucrose, because of their co-evolutionary development with plants, then they should lack the ability to digest lactose. The data developed in these trials does not support either …