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Nebraska Bird Review (March 1998) 66(1), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

NOU Treasurer's Annual Report ... 2

Nebraska's First Curlew Sandpiper ... 3

Addendum to G. M. Sutton Bibliography ... 3

Mystery Duck at Sinninger Waterfowl Production Area ... 4

Bald Eagle Nest Monitoring - Nebraska, 1997 ... 5

Winter Field Report, Dec 1997-Feb 1998 ... 6

Nebraska Christmas Bird Count for 1997 ... 18

Note from the New Editors ... 27

A Note From The New Editors, Bill Clemente, Tom Klubertanz

Nebraska Bird Review

Special thanks go to Dr. Rosiland Morris for her many years of service to the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, especially for her exceptional editorship of The Nebraska Bird Review. I can only hope that the journal will continue to reflect Rosiland's attention to detail and her devotion to excellence.

As the Newsletter noted, I am an Associate Professor of English at Peru State College and an enthusiastic birder here in Nebraska—and during the summer in Ripon, Wisconsin, where my family lives; my wife is an Associate Professor of French at Ripon College. When Betty Allen notified me that NOU Board …

Nebraska Christmas Bird Count For 1997 Statewide Summary

Nebraska Bird Review

The official count period for the 98th National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count was from December 19, 1997, to January 4, 1998. Data were reported from ten locations throughout Nebraska (Fig. 1). Table 1 gives numeric data from the bird counts, with locations listed in alphabetical order. Unusual counts that were noted by the participants are in bold print. For counts of separate forms or subspecies, brackets are used to indicate that the entry is a part of the overall count given for the species. Counts also are given for identifications above the species level, such as "hawk sp." These …

Winter Field Report, Dec 1997 To Feb 1998, W. Ross Silcock, Joel G. Jorgensen

Nebraska Bird Review

As one observer (DH) noted, this was a "weird" winter. January and February were more like March, producing winter reports of species with few such previous reports; the species involved come from all parts of the taxonomic list, from loons to icterids. Almost certainly, a first (in recorded history) was a slam of all the Nebraska grebe species in January, even Red-necked and Clark's! Also in January, a Pacific Loon was reported. As shown in the species' accounts below, the list of rare midwinter species is long.

Another significant, related finding involved early-arriving spring migrants, also a long list. In …

Bald Eagle Nest Monitoring - Nebraska, 1997 Summary Report, John J. Dinan

Nebraska Bird Review

In 1997, 38 Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests in 22 counties were surveyed for breeding activity. Eagles occupied territories at 10 of these sites. These same 10 territories were occupied in 1996. Two separate, mid-July sightings of Bald Eagles along the Niobrara River, one of an adult and three juveniles in Knox County and one of an adult and a juvenile in Holt County, suggests the presence of additional nesting territories. All nest attempts in 1997 were successful, producing a total of 16 fledged young. The Lake Alice nest on the North Platte National Wildlife Refuge fell during …

Addendum To The G. M. Sutton Bibliography, Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

Since the publication of “The George Miksch Sutton Bibliography” (Nebraska Bird Review 65(2): 46-58), additional titles [eight] have come to light. Other additional titles [four] related to Sutton may be of additional interest.

Nebraska’S First Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris Ferruginea), Joel G. Jorgensen, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

During a birding trip on 19 July 1997, we stopped at Funk WPA, Phelps County. While viewing from the north-south road that runs through the marsh at the east end of the marsh, we caught glimpses of a large group of shorebirds behind cattails in an area on the south side of the main marsh and about a third of a mile west of the road. We eventually decided to walk out and get a closer look at the shorebirds. Once we were close enough we were able to see that there were approximately 250 shorebirds. We began sifting through …

Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union, Inc., Treasurer’S Annual Report, 31 December 1997, Elizabeth Grenon

Nebraska Bird Review

1/1/97 balance on cash basis per bank account: Cash $1,519.59 Investments $15,851.40 Total $17,370.99

Total Receipts: Cash $10,790.91 Investments $900.04 Total $11,690.95

Total Disbursements: Cash $7,546.26 Investments $0 Total $7,546.24

Balance 12/31/97: Cash $4,764.26 Investments $16,751.44 Total $21,515.70

Natural History Of The Southern Short-Tailed Shrew, Blarina Carolinensis, Hugh H. Genoways, Jerry R. Choate

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The southern short-tailed shrew, Blarina carolinensis, inhabits a broad range of ecological situations in the southeastern United States and, in many areas, is among the two or three most abundant species of small mammals. Nevertheless, its natural history is poorly known and much of what researchers assumed was fairly well understood about this species actually resulted from work on another species (Blarina brevicauda) and may not be correct in all instances. This problem resulted when modem systematic methods revealed that the wide-ranging and well-studied species known at that time as Blarina brevicauda actually consisted of three species …

Management Of Red Squirrel Feeding Damage To Lodgepole Pine By Stand Density Manipulation And Diversionary Food, Thomas P. Sullivan

Proceedings of the Eighteenth Vertebrate Pest Conference (1998)

The red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) feeds on the vascular tissues of sapling lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) during spring periods in forests of interior British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. This damage may lead to mortality and reduced growth of crop trees in managed stands. Manipulation of stand density by pre-commercial thinning to densities < 1,000 stems/ha is an effective method to lower squirrel populations and feeding damage. Lowering stand density enhances the growth of crop trees, and understory herbs and shrubs as wildlife habitat, while protecting trees from squirrel feeding. This approach has been successful in several forest ecological zones. An alternative management tool is provision of diversionary food (sunflower seed) for those stands susceptible to feeding damage, and where stand thinning has already been completed. Diversionary food can be applied aerially and is very cost effective for protecting managed stands. These techniques may be used to maintain or even enhance species diversity of small mammal communities in those forest stands requiring protection.

Metazoan Parasites And Other Symbionts Of Cetaceans In The Caribbean, Antonio A. Mignucci-Giannoni, Eric P. Hoberg, Doug Siegel-Causey, Ernest H. Williams Jr.

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty and Staff Publications

The parasite fauna in cetaceans from Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the larger Caribbean region is poorly known. We provide the first records for parasite biodiversity among a diverse assemblage of cetaceans from the Caribbean Sea. Internal and external parasites and commensals were collected from stranded whales and dolphins salvaged in Puerto Rico, the United States and British Virgin Islands, Jamaica, and Venezuela between 1989 and 1997. A total of 47 individuals of 16 species of whales and dolphins (15 odontocetes and one mysticete) were examined. Overall, parasites and commensals were found in 34 (72.3%) animals, representing 13 species …