Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 17 of 17

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Observations On A 40-Year January Bird Census In Boone County, Nebraska, 1978–2017, Wayne Mollhoff Sep 2023

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 Mar 2023

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. …


Nest Records Of Nebraska Birds, Wayne J. Mollhoff Feb 2022

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 …


The Intersection Of Past And Present, Hannah Welzbacker May 2021

The Intersection Of Past And Present, Hannah Welzbacker

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

Science often faces a crossroad between the past and present. Ever changing technology allows us to make new discoveries while at the same time, elements from past cultures need preserving. The three stories in this portfolio all highlight the intersection of past and present and how they can coexist. The first story focuses on a technological breakthrough that allows local researchers to better understand nocturnal migrations using acoustic monitoring. The second story explains the controversial Mayan Train project moving through South America and the implications for the economy, environment and culture. The final piece captures how members of the Blackfeet …


S Is For Sandhill: A Crane Alphabet, Paul A. Johnsgard Apr 2021

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 Mar 2020

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


Wyoming Wildlife: A Natural History, Paul Johnsgard, Thomas D. Mangelsen Jun 2019

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 Feb 2019

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 …


The North American Quails, Partridges, And Pheasants, Paul A. Johnsgard Oct 2017

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 Aug 2017

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, …


The North American Geese: Their Biology And Behavior, Paul A. Johnsgard Jul 2016

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 Jun 2016

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 Jul 2015

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 Jul 2013

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 Jul 2013

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 …


Robert Edward Tucker, Sr. Papers, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections Jan 2010

Robert Edward Tucker, Sr. Papers, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection consists of Robert Edward Tucker, Sr.’s ornithology field notes and journals concerning observations in the Chatham County area & the Georgia coastal islands. Most materials are handwritten and include daily observations from 1984-1997.

Find this collection in the University Libraries' catalog.


Muscongus Bay, Marine Wildlife Inventory And Evaluation, Alan E. Hutchinson, Sandra J. Lovett Feb 1984

Muscongus Bay, Marine Wildlife Inventory And Evaluation, Alan E. Hutchinson, Sandra J. Lovett

Maine Collection

Muscongus Bay, Marine Wildlife Inventory and Evaluation

by Alan E. Hutchinson and Sandra J. Lovett

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

Augusta, Maine, February, 1984.

Contents: Preface / Acknowledgment / List of Tables / List of Figures / Introduction / Resource Inventory / Resource Evaluation / Resource Impact Assessment / Conclusions and Recommendations / References / Appendix