Life Sciences Commons^™

Reproductive Success Of American Kestrels (Falco Sparverius) Nesting In Boxes Along An Interstate In Northeastern Tennessee., Jennifer Robertson Powers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nest box programs provide supplemental nest sites for American Kestrels, Falco sparverius. When the availability of nest sites is a limiting factor, the addition of nest boxes can increase local breeding populations. These programs also facilitate the collection of data on breeding kestrels.

This study focuses on an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) nest box trail along Interstate 26 in northeastern Tennessee during the breeding seasons of 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2009. Productivity measures and reproductive success of nesting birds are provided and compared to other programs. The data are analyzed across years and by …

The Fish Crow (Corvus Ossifragus) Reaches Nebraska, Joel G. Jorgensen, Melissa J. Panella, W. Ross Silcock, Kristal J. Stoner

Nebraska Bird Review

The Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus) was formerly endemic to the southeastern United States where it inhabited coastal areas along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts (McGowan 2001). Since the early 1900s, the species has steadily expanded north and west along major river systems (McGowan 2001). Fish Crow range expansion has followed a logical pattern, expanding along major rivers in regions close to established populations, in adjacent states to the south and east of Nebraska. The species was first recorded in Missouri in 1964 (Robbins and Easterla 1992). In 1984, Fish Crow was first reported in Kansas and by 1991 …

Index To Volume 77

Nebraska Bird Review

Albright, Andrew 139

Alcock, David 47

Alexander,

George 15

Irene 15

Allison, Scott 22

Alspaugh, Mack 166

American Ornithologists' Union 112, 116, 167

Andrews, R. 111, 158

Anhinga 120, 131

Ani, Groove-billed 124, 132

Armknecht, Henry 48

Avocet, American 28, 55, 72, 100, 122, 145

Fall Field Days At Valentine

Nebraska Bird Review

Fall Field Days were held in Valentine September 25–27, 2009, with 65 participants registered for the weekend. Dave Heidt organized the meeting and led field trips to Cherry County lakes and marshes. Trips to Smith Falls and along the Niobrara River in Keya Paha and Brown Counties were guided by Mark Brogie. Lanny Randolph led trips to the Ft. Niobrara NWR and the Valentine Fish Hatchery. A total of 133 species was tallied.

On Friday evening Dan Leger, Professor of Psychology at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, gave an impromptu presentation on the microphones and recording equipment he uses …

2009 (21st) Report Of The Nou Records Committee, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

The functions and methods of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union (NOU) Records Committee are described in its bylaws (NOU Records Committee 1986). The committee's purpose is to provide a procedure for documenting unusual bird sightings and to establish a list of all documented birds for Nebraska. All records mentioned here are available to interested persons at the NOU archives at the University of Nebraska State Museum (UNSM), Lincoln, NE. Interested parties should contact the current NOU Librarian, whose address can be found in the latest issue of The Nebraska Bird Review (NBR).

The "Official List of the Birds of Nebraska'" was …

Subscription And Organization Information [December 2009]

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review is published quarterly by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal, and is sent to members not in arrears of dues. Annual subscription rates (on a calendar-year basis only): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada, and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Anita Breckbill, NOU Librarian, c/o Music Library, WMB 30, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0101.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): Active, $15; …

Fall Field Report, August-November 2009, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This was probably the most "normal" fall season in a while, as measured by the small number of late departure dates among summer residents and migrants, early arrival dates among winter residents and migrants, high counts, and rarities. In other words, very little of significance happened. Indeed, in order to provide a spark, I'll even mention three exotics that were reported: a Swan Goose at Fremont 26 November (JRo), a Common Peafowl in Dodge Co 5 August (JWe), and a White-faced Cockatiel caught in a Dixon Co yard 24 August (JJ). None is likely to be a threat to our …

Nebraska Bird Review (December 2009) 77(4), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Fall Field Report, August–November 2009 ... 138

The Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus) Reaches Nebraska ... 155

2009 (21st) Report of the NOU Records Committee ... 160

Fall Field Days at Valentine ... 169

Index to Volume 77 ... 173

Subscription and Organization Information ... 183

Behavior Of Buff-Breasted Sandpipers (Tryngites Subruficollis) During Migratory Stopover In Agricultural Fields, John P. Mccarty, Joel G. Jorgensen, Lareesa Wolfenbarger

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Staff Research Publications

Background: Understanding the behavior of birds in agricultural habitats can be the first step in evaluating the conservation implications of birds’ use of landscapes shaped by modern agriculture. The existence and magnitude of risk from agricultural practices and the quality of resources agricultural lands provide will be determined largely by how birds use these habitats. Buff-breasted Sandpipers (Tryngites subruficollis) are a species of conservation concern. During spring migration large numbers of Buff-breasted Sandpipers stopover in row crop fields in the Rainwater Basin region of Nebraska. We used behavioral observations as a first step in evaluating how Buff-breasted Sandpipers …

Birds Of The Rocky Mountains—Frontmatter, Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Rocky Mountains -- Paul A. Johnsgard

Cover

Jacket copy

Title page

Copyright & funders

Contents

List of Figures

List of Plates

Preface and Acknowledgments

Birds Of The Rocky Mountains—Introduction, Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Rocky Mountains -- Paul A. Johnsgard

The Rocky Mountains represent the longest and in general the highest of the North American mountain ranges, extending for nearly two thousand miles from their origins in Alaska and northwestern Canada southward to their terminus in New Mexico, and forming the continental divide for this entire length. As such, these mountains have provided a convenient corridor for northward and southward movement of both plants and animal life, but on the other hand have produced important barriers to eastern and western plant and animal movements. These effects result nat only from their height and physical nature, but also from their manifold …

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 85, No. 4), Kentucky Library Research Collections

Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Birds Of The Rocky Mountains—Checklist Of Birds Of The Rocky Mountain Parks, Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Rocky Mountains -- Paul A. Johnsgard

Checklist of Birds of the Rocky Mountain Parks:

United States: Rocky Mountain, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier
Canada: Waterton Lakes, Kootenay, Yoho, Banff/Jasper

Symbols: R = breeding resident; r = resident, breeding unproven; S = breeding summer resident; s = summer resident, breeding unproven; M = migrant, including wintering visitors; V = vagrant, out of normal range; X = extirpated from area; * = species also included in the Birds of the Great Plains (Johnsgard, 1979).

A 16-page table

A 2009 Supplement To Birds Of The Rocky Mountains, Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Rocky Mountains -- Paul A. Johnsgard

More than 20 years have elapsed since the publication of Birds of the Rocky Mountains, and many changes have occurred in that region’s ecology and bird life. There has also been a marked increase in recreational bird-watching, and an associated need for informative regional references on where and when to look for rare or especially appealing birds. As a result, an updating of the text seemed appropriate, especially as to the species accounts and the technical literature. The following update includes all those species that have undergone changes in their vernacular or Latin names, have had important changes in ranges, …

It's Not Too Late For The Harpy Eagle (Harpia Harpyja): High Levels Of Genetic Diversity And Differentiation Can Fuel Conservation Programs, Heather R. Lerner, Jeff A. Johnson, Alec R. Lindsay Ph. D., Lloyd F. Kiff, David P. Mindell

Faculty Works

Background: The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) is the largest Neotropical bird of prey and is threatened by human persecution and habitat loss and fragmentation. Current conservation strategies include local education, captive rearing and reintroduction, and protection or creation of trans-national habitat blocks and corridors. Baseline genetic data prior to reintroduction of captive-bred stock is essential for guiding such efforts but has not been gathered previously.

Methodology/Findings: We assessed levels of genetic diversity, population structure and demographic history for harpy eagles using samples collected throughout a large portion of their geographic distribution in Central America (n = 32) and South America …

Birds Of The Rocky Mountains—Species Accounts, Pages 55–63: Loons & Grebes, Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Rocky Mountains -- Paul A. Johnsgard

Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata)
Arctic Loon (Gavia arctica)
Common Loon (Gavia immer)
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)
Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena)
Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricallis)
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)

Birds Of The Great Plains: Three Decades Of Change In Great Plains Birds: A 2009 Supplement To The Birds Of The Great Plains: Breeding Species And Their Distribution, Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Great Plains (Revised Edition, 2009) by Paul Johnsgard

Since the 1979 publication of this book much has been learned of breeding bird distributions in North America, largely as a result of the national Breeding Bird Surveys that were initiated in the 1960s and have continued to the present (Sauer, Hines and Fallon, 2008). From these studies long-term regional average densities of breeding birds have been deduced and national maps generated (Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. 2003). There have also been several state-wide studies on breeding birds of the Great Plains, as represented by breeding bird atlases for South Dakota (Peterson, 1995), Nebraska (Mollhoff, 2001), Kansas (Busby and Zimmerman, 2001), …

Birds Of The Great Plains: Breeding Species And Their Distribution: New Expanded Edition (2009), Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Great Plains (Revised Edition, 2009) by Paul Johnsgard

This book is the first to describe systematically all of the species of birds known to have bred or to breed at present in the Great Plains, a major ecological unit that encompasses all or part of part of eleven states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. Although the original Great Plains ecosystem—the grassland biome—has been greatly altered by modem agriculture, remnants still exist in national and state parks, grasslands, and refuges, as well as in rural cemeteries, railroad rights-of-way, and small nature reserves. These areas support populations of nearly all …

Long-Tailed Jaegers In Western Nebraska, Stephen J. Dinsmore

Nebraska Bird Review

The Long-tailed Jaeger is an accidental migrant in Nebraska with just one accepted record through the mid-1990s. Based on records from adjacent states, especially Colorado (Andrews and Righter 1992) and Wyoming (Faulkner 2010), the species is probably more frequent than these records indicate, and its status is further complicated by possible confusion with Pomarine and Parasitic jaegers. In this article I report details of four records of Long-tailed Jaegers in western Nebraska and comment on the species' identification and status in the state.

Summer Field Report, June-July 2009, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This was an interesting summer, with range expansions of multiple species continuing in all directions, but predominantly northward. Exceptions to the northward trend were Trumpeter Swan, which bred south of its usual western Sandhills range, and Sedge Wren, which may be occurring in June in northeast Nebraska in greater numbers. Moving eastward are Western Wood-Pewee, which now overlaps with westward-moving Eastern Wood-Pewee in Lincoln Co, Cordilleran Flycatcher in the Pine Ridge, and Lesser Goldfinch in the west. Song Sparrow is also expanding south and west. No fewer than 16 species are moving north and/or northwestward. Several species were seen more …

Accidental And Casual Species For Which The Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee Seeks Documentation

Nebraska Bird Review

A list of 117 species (Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Taiga Bean-Goose, Emperor Goose, Brant, Eurasian Wigeon, etc.) for which the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee seeks documentation.

The Official List Of The Birds Of Nebraska: 2009

Nebraska Bird Review

The “Official List of the Birds of Nebraska: 2009” contains 454 species.

The duties of NOU Records Committee (NOU Records Committee 1986) include:

A. The committee shall publish an official list of the birds of Nebraska.

B. The official list will include all those species whose occurrence has been reported in Nebraska.

C. The committee shall keep the official list current.

D. The committee shall publish a list of species for which details are requested with every sighting reported.

The 2009 NOU Records Committee has completed the above duties and the following is the result of its endeavors. This work …

Subscription And Organization Information [September 2009]

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review is published quarterly by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal, and is sent to members not in arrears of dues. Annual subscription rates (on a calendar-year basis only): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada, and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Anita Breckbill, NOU Librarian, c/o Music Library, WMB 30, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0101.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): Active, $15; …

Editorial Staff Change

Nebraska Bird Review

Steve Dinsmore has generously assisted the Nebraska Bird Review editors for nine years, and now he is bowing out. With this issue, Joe Gubanyi is the new technical editor of the NBR. Joe is a professor of biology in the Natural Science Department at Concordia University in Seward. He has a B.S. Ed. from Concordia, an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He has taught biology, genetics, ecology, vertebrate zoology, and ornithology and has led study tours to Belize and Costa Rica. He is the compiler of the Branched Oak–Seward Christmas …

Nebraska Bird Review (September 2009) 77(3), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Summer Field Report, June–July 2009 ... 94

Long-tailed Jaegers in Western Nebraska ... 110

The Official List of the Birds of Nebraska: 2009 ... 112

Accidental and Casual Species for Which the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee Seeks Documentation ... 131

Editorial Staff Change ... 133

Subscription and Organization Information ... 135

Distribution, Habitat Characteristics, Prey Abundance And Diet Of Surf Scoters (Melanitta Perspicillata) And Long-Tailed Ducks (Clangula Hyemalis) In Polyhaline Wintering Habitats In The Mid-Atlantic Region: A Comparison Of Shallow Coastal Lagoons And Chesapeake Bay Environs, Paige G. Ross, Mark W. Luckenbach

Reports

To the best of our knowledge there are no published data on sea duck winter habitat use in the higher salinity portion of the lower Chesapeake Bay or in adjacent coastal bays along the Atlantic margin of the Delmarva (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) peninsula. Within these regions both SUSC and LTDU have been observed in shallow water environments (Ross, pers. obs.), yet little is known about their habitat use or feeding habits in these areas. Importantly, these two adjacent areas, which are separated by as little as 20 km, differ in several key environmental components.

In this study we documented the …

Song Of The North Wind: A Story Of The Snow Goose, Paul A. Johnsgard, Paul Geraghty

Papers in Ornithology

As a boy in North Dakota, Paul Johnsgard measured his winters, not by conventional time units, but in the days it took for the snow geese to return from their wintering grounds to Lake Traverse. In early April, with hip boots, camera, and binoculars, he awaited the arrival of the first flocks from the Gulf of Mexico. Johnsgard was not alone in admiring the beauty and strength of the snow goose. For centuries this bird has signified the passing seasons to the Indians—its white feathers a symbol of the breath of life and a reminder of the roles the birds …

A Nebraska Bird-Finding Guide, Paul A. Johnsgard

Papers in Ornithology

Persons living in Nebraska often feel that they are living in a cultural wasteland; its citizenry preoccupied with violent sports such as hunting and football. Yet many are unaware that they are actually residing in one of the prime locations in the entire world for observing and enjoying some of the most aesthetically appealing of all the world's biological attractions. The area around Kingsley Dam and Lake McConaughy, for example, is known to have attracted more than 330 bird species, including 104 breeders (plus 17 probable breeders) making it the third-most species-rich bird location in the interior U.S.A. (after Laguna …

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 85, No. 3), Kentucky Library Research Collections

Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Fecal-Sac Ingestion By Spotted Towhees, Jenny E. Mckay, Michael T. Murphy, Sarah Bartos Smith, Jennifer K. Richardson

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Altricial nestlings encase excrement in fecal sacs that parents remove by either ingesting them or transporting them away from the nest. Ingestion may allow energetically or nutritionally deprived parents to recapture energy or nutrients that might be lost because of nestlings' inefficient digestion (the "parental-nutrition hypothesis"), but ingestion may also permit parents to avoid flights from the nest that interfere with parental care (e.g., brooding young; the "economic-disposal hypothesis"). We used a hypothetico-deductive approach to test the two hypotheses' ability to account for fecal-sac ingestion by the Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus). We confirmed the parental-nutrition hypothesis' predictions that …