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Confirmed Spring 1998 Whooping Crane Sightings In The Usa

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review Volume 66 No. 2

Confirmed

Spring 1998 Whooping Crane Sightings in the U.S.A.

State/Obs. Date No. Location

NE 98A-1 2/15-3/25/98 1 Hall Co., Platte River, 3 mi

KS 98A-2 2/19/98 1 Meade Co., 2 mi west of Fowler.

NE 98A-3 3/23-2/9/98 1 Hall/Hamilton Cos., 4 mi.

NE 98A-4 3/27-28/98 1+ Hall Co., 4 mi. south of the

NE 98A-5 3/28-4/1/98 2 Brown Co., 1 mi. South and 1 west

NE 98A-6 3/30/98 1 Hall Co., Platte River, 1 3/4

NE 98A-7 04/03/98 1 Hall Co., 3 mi east and 2 north

NE 98A-8 04/07/98 4 +1 …

Three Poems By Twyla Hansen, Twyla Hansen

Nebraska Bird Review

Twyla Hansen was raised on a farm in northeast Nebraska on land her grandparents farmed as immigrants from Denmark in the late 1800's. And since 1982, she has worked as a horticulturist and arboretum curator at Nebraska Wesleyan University. Twyla Hansen, in the words of Bill Kloefkorn, Nebraska's State Poet, "connects": "Her truths are in those taproots without which poetry would surely expire for lack of nourishment."

She received her B.S from the University of Nebraska. Twyla and her husband Tom live in Lincoln where their yard is maintained as an urban wildlife habitat. In 1989, the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum …

In Memoriam: Charles G. Sibley, Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

On April 12 this year, Dr. Charles Sibley passed away in California. Although a Nebraskan by neither birth nor occupation, his work on hybrid zones among various passerines in the Platte Valley of central Nebraska during the 1950s became a model for modern studies in field approaches to both evolutionary biology and species-level taxonomy. His study also identified for the first time the Platte Valley as a major evolutionary "suture zone" between eastern and western avifaunas. When I arrived at Cornell in 1955, all of Dr. Sibley's graduate students were doing their fieldwork in Nebraska, collecting specimens of the various …

Nou Fall Field Days Count, 1997; May Namc Count, 1998

Nebraska Bird Review

The NOU count during Fall Field Days, September 26-28, focused on areas in and around the Nebraska National Forest and includes reports from 6 counties: Blaine, Thomas, Cherry, Brown, Custer, and Logan. This year's count of 122 species is a record for NOU Fall Field Days; last year, the count registered 116 species. Especially notable sightings included a Red-necked Grebe at Willow Lake in Brown County; a Broad-winged Hawk in the Forest; a Rough-legged Hawk in Thomas County; and a LeConte's Sparrow also at Willow Lake in Brown County.

North American Migration Counts (NAMC) for Lincoln and Sarpy Counties are …

Spring Field Report, March To May 1998, W. Ross Silcock, Joel G. Jorgensen

Nebraska Bird Review

In most respects, this was a routine spring. While a few rarities and several interesting reports appeared, perhaps most interesting was the arrival of the electronic age. Foremost was the start-up of "NEBIRDS," the Nebraska Birding Listserver set up and operated by Robert Price at Kearney. This resource should greatly enhance communication and collective learning amongst birders in the state. We have culled several reports from observations submitted to NEBIRDS, and several reporters now contact us by email. We urge observers to forward their email addresses; if we have questions on their reports, communication would be easy! Submit reports and …

The Mayfly Newsletter, Peter M. Grant

The Mayfly Newsletter

The Mayfly Newsletter is the official newsletter of the Permanent Committee of the International Conferences on Ephemeroptera.

Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I- And Ii-Deficient Knock-Out Mice Are Resistant To Primary But Susceptible To Secondary Eimeria Papillata Infections, Marco L. Schito, Bill Chobotar, John R. Barta

Faculty Publications

Two distinct mechanisms seem to function in reducing oocyst output during Eimeria papillata infections in mice. For naive mice, immunity was afforded by a T-cell-independent gamma-interferon (IFN-γ) response mediated by natural killer (NK) cells. On reinfection, resistance was associated with T-cells and, to a lesser extent, perforin. To determine if antigen presentation with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules was required to control oocyst production by NK cells during primary infection or by T-cells during secondary infection, mutant mice that lacked H2-IAβb (Aβb(-/-)) or β2-microglobulin (β2m(-/-)) were used. Since MHC molecules are required for the maturation of αβ T-cells, Aβb(-/-) and …

Two New Subspecies Of Bats Of The Genus Sturnira, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The last systematic review of the yellow-shouldered bats of the Neotropical genus Sturnira in the Lesser Antilles was in 1976 (Jones and Phillips, 1976). At that point in time, two species--Sturnira lilium and Sturnira thomasi--were known from these islands. Sturnira lilium was represented by five subspecies, beginning with Trinidad and moving northward, these subspecies were lilium on Trinidad (Goodwin and Greenhall, 1961), paulsoni on St. Vincent (de Ia Torre and Schwartz, 19661, luciae on St. Lucia (Jones and Phillip, 19761, zygomaticus on Martinique (Jones and Phillips, 1976), and angeli on Dominica (de la Tom, 1966).

Distribution Of Fishes And Changes In Biotic Integrity In The New River, Tennessee, R. Brian Evans

Masters Theses

Electrofishing samples of fishes were obtained from forty-two localities in the New River system, Tennessee during summer and fall 1996. Eight of forty-two species collected represent new records from the New River: Notropis telescopus, Moxostoma macrolepidotum breviceps, M. carinatum, Lepomis auritus, L. gulosus, L. microlophus, Etheostoma cinereum, and Stizostedion vitreum. Temporal changes in the distribution of fishes were detected by comparing historical collection records with fish samples from 1996. Older records were also employed in the compilation of a modified index of biotic integrity (IBI) that was used to assess changes in fish assemblage health during the past twenty …

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

Table Of Contents And Masthead [March 1998]

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review is published quarterly in March, June, September, and December by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal, and is sent to members not in arrears of dues. Annual subscription rates are (on a calendar-year basis only): $12.50 in the United States; $15.00 in Canada and Mexico; and $17.50 for all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4.00 each;postpaid, in the United States, and $5.00 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary H. Prichard, NOU Librarian, University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in NOU (on a calendar year basis …

Mystery Duck At Sinninger Waterfowl Production Area, York County, Joel G. Jorgensen

Nebraska Bird Review

On the evening of 8 May 1997, I was scanning the shorebirds and ducks at the cattleyard basin of Sinninger WPA, York County. Most of the 300 or so puddle ducks were Bluewinged Teals (Anas discors), but also present were Green-winged Teal (A. crecca), American Wigeon (A. americana), Gadwall (A. strepera), Northern Shoveler (A. clypeata), and a Cinnamon Teal (A. cyanoptera). I eventually noticed a male duck in breeding plumage that superficially resembled a Baikal Teal (A. formosa). All descriptive discussion that follows is of male …

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 …

Randomly Amplified Polymorphic Dna Analysis (Rapd) Of Artemisia Subgenus Tridentatae Species And Hybrids, E. Durant Mcarthur, Joann Mudge, Renée Van Buren, W. Ralph Andersen, Stewart C. Sanderson, David G. Babbel

Great Basin Naturalist

Species of Artemisia (subgenus Tridentatae) dominate much of western North America. The genetic variation that allows this broad ecological adaptation is facilitated by hybridization and polyploidization. Three separate studies were performed in this group using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Fifty-seven 10-mer primers generated nearly 400 markers from genomic DNA obtained from leaf tissue. These studies were (1) a measure of the variability of plants within and between populations and between subspecies using 5 A. tridentata ssp. wyomingensis populations, 2 A. cana ssp. cana populations, and 1 A. cana ssp. viscidula population; (2) an examination of the hypothesis that …

The Elephants Of Africa, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Video review for the following title:

The Elephants of Africa: Nature. Produced by Scorer Associates, 1997. 55 minutes. $19.95 + $4.95 S/H.

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.

Ultrastructural Study On The Ovarian Wall And The Oviduct Of The Asellus Aquaticus (Crustacea: Isopoda), B. Melike Erkan

Turkish Journal of Zoology

In this study the ovarium, ovarian wall and oviduct of Asellus aquaticus ( A. aquaticus) (Crustacea: Isopoda) were investigated by stereomicroscopy, phase contrast microscopy and light microscopy. Long, tube-shaped, separate ovaries of A. aquaticus are located dorsolateral to the gut. The germinal zone is confined to the ventral region of the ovary as a thin band. The ovarian wall is composed of a few fibrous layers. The oviduct is located in the anterior one-third of the ovary, not in the central part. The sheath of the oviduct was found to possess some muscle cells, a feature first noted in this …

Intraspecific Heterochrony And Life History Evolution: Decoupling Somatic And Sexual Development In A Facultatively Paedomorphic Salamander, Travis J. Ryan, Raymond D. Semlitsch

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Morphological features such as size and shape are the most common focus in studies of heterochronic change. Frequently, these easily observed and measured features are treated as a major target of selection, potentially ignoring traits more closely related to fitness. We question the primacy of morphological data in studies of heterochrony, and instead suggest that principal sources of fitness, such as life history characteristics, are not only the chief targets of selection, but changes in them may necessitate changes in other (subordinate) elements of the organism. We use an experimental approach to investigate the timing of metamorphosis and maturation in …

Quantifying Community Separation And Increase In Number Of Avian Species With Corresponding Increase In Habitat Complexity, An African Example, Douglas A. James

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The relationship between increase in faunal diversity and corresponding increase in habitat complexity was quantified using shrubland bird communities in western Africa. Vegetational characteristics were measured in circular plots around bird positions. Bird species were then arranged from grassy open habitats to dense shrubland and found to be separated into three distinct communities when subjected to Duncan's multiple range procedure in conjunction with discriminant functions analysis. Random samples classified with respect to bird species showed there were few species in the more abundant open habitats and a disproportionate number of species were packed into the less common but complex shrubby …

Further Records Of Bats From Jordan And A Synopsis, Mazin Botros Qumsiyeh, Zuhair Sami Amr, Ratib Musa Al-Oran

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Recent records along with a synopsis of the known bats of Jordan are given. Twenty-four species of bats are reported from Jordan, including two additional records, Rhinolophus mehelyi and Asellia tridens. Five other bat species are suspected to occur.

A New Grey Mullet Species " Mugil So-Iuy Basilewsky" (Teleostei: Mugilidae)From The Aegean Coast Of Turkey, Murat Kaya, Savaş Mater, Ali Yıldırım Korkut

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Mugil so-iuyis a freshwater fish living in Amu Darya River Basin, Far East Asia. It was first introduced to the area around the Sea of Azov for fish farming but, then migrated to the Black Sea, and from there to the Sea of Marmara. The present study is the first report from the Aegean Sea. Morphometrical and meristic characteristics of the two specimens caught are described.

The Growth Features Of Tench ( Tinca Tinca L., 1758 ) In The Kesikköprüdam Lake, Ahmet Altindağ, Sibel Yi̇ği̇t, Seyhan Ahiska, Şakir Özkurt

Turkish Journal of Zoology

In this study, the growth properties of tench ( Tinca tincaL., 1758) in the Kesikköprü Dam Lake between April 1995 and March 1996 were studied. In the specimens examined, ages ranged from I-VI in both sexes. The population was 51.43% female and 48.57% male. The fork length and weight in ranged from 16.1 to 41.4 cm and from 85 to 1350 g, respectively, and in males from 15.8 to 40.3 cm and from 83 to 1127 g, respectively. Age-length and age-weight relations were calculated according to the von Bertalanffy growth equation. The following values were obtained for females and males, …

A Study On Ecology And Biology Of Microtus Guentheridanford And Alston,1880 (Mammalia: Rodentia) In Turkey, Ercüment Çolak, Mustafa Sözen, Nuri Yi̇ği̇t, Şakir Özkurt

Turkish Journal of Zoology

In this study, ecology and biology of Microtus guentheriwere investigated based on both field and laboratory observations along with its effects on agricultural crops. It was determined that this vole has a shallow burrow with numerous entrances and does not store food in its burrow. In captivity, M. guentherigave litters from September to June and a female produced 42 pups, being seven litters during a reproduction season. The duration of pregnancy varied 20 to 21 days. The average litter size was 5.5 and young were born in an average weight of 3.3 g. The fur developed at an age of …