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Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (December 1986) 54(4)

Nebraska Bird Review

Published quarterly in March, June, September, and December by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal and sent to all members who are not in arrears for dues. Subscriptions (on calendar year basis only) are $10.00 per year in the United States, $12.00 per year in Canada and Mexico, and $12.50 per year in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $3.00 each, postpaid, in the United States; $3.50 elsewhere.

Memberships (on a calendar year basis only): Student, $3.00; Active, $7.00; Sustaining, $15.00; Family Active, $10.00; Family Sustaining, $20.00; Life, $100.00.

All dues and subscriptions should …

Avian Cholera In The Panhandle, 1985–1986, Stephen M. Kerr

Nebraska Bird Review

Between 28 November 1985 and 14 February 1986, over 2,500 waterfowl, 48 Wild Turkeys, and at least one Bald Eagle died due to avian cholera in an area from 5 miles west of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, to 5 miles west of Lingle, Wyoming.

On 28 November a severe snowstorm blanketed the North Platte River valley with 10 inches of snow and wind chills of –20°F. An estimated 50,000 Mallards were concentrated 5 miles west of Scottsbluff, at the headwaters of Spring Creek. The area consists of 2 small dredged channels, 10 feet wide and less than 3 feet deep, and surrounded …

By-Laws Of The Nou Records Committee

Nebraska Bird Review

I. NAME. The name of the committee is the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee, hereafter referred to as “the committee.”

II. STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY. This committee exists to serve the ornithological community in Nebraska, not vice versa. It exists to promote and help maintain a high degree of quality and integrity in Nebraska ornithology. All Nebraska ornithologists should understand this and realize that for the committee to achieve these goals, it needs the support of all interested persons. The committee should be regarded as a logical, convenient clearinghouse in regards to records of Nebraska birds. All ornithologists, professional and amateur, …

1986 Fall Field Day

Nebraska Bird Review

The 1986 Fall Field Day was held at the 4-H Camp at Halsey National Forest on 4 and 5 October. The cloudy, rainy weather, which had been rather general over the state the previous few days, cleared up (the last rain at Halsey was late Friday night), and Saturday and Sunday were clear, which pleased the 51 who attended. Of the rare bird reports submitted, the Lesser Goldfinch, by Jim Minyard, was ranked first, and the Laughing Gull, by Paul and Karla Kaufman, the Prairie-Chickens at Omaha, by Douglas Fritz, and the King Rail, by Wayne Mollhoff, were ranked next. …

“Notes” From Nebraska Bird Review (December 1986) 54(4)

Nebraska Bird Review

CORRECTION TO 1986 SPRING OCCURRENCE REPORT. The q and r tor Dark-eyed Junco in Column l should be in Column 2, and the explanations in the text should likewise be moved.

THE DESOTO NWR EIDERS. The March 1986 issue (NBR 54:10) reported Eiders, probably King or Common, at DeSoto NWR, and that photographs were being circulated for confirmation of the species.

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION MIDWINTER EAGLE SURVEY. The 1986 survey total of 462 Bald Eagles is the second highest total reported for Nebraska, surpassed only by the 746 recorded during last year’s unusually mild winter.—Greg Wingfield, Nebraska Game and …

California Gull In Keith County, Nebraska, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

The status of the California Gull (Larus californicus) in Nebraska has undergone a series of changes in recent years. Rapp et al. (1958) makes no mention of this species for Nebraska, although one was collected 19 March 1933 in Lancaster County (Hudson 1933) and is now an axial skeleton #ZM11152 in the University of Nebraska State Museum (Bray et al. 1986). Johnsgard (1980) lists the species as an extremely rare migrant or vagrant in most of Nebraska, while Rasche (1982) designates it as casual in spring and summer and accidental in autumn in northwestern Nebraska and southwestern South …

A Reclassification Of The Genera Of Scolytidae (Coleoptera), Stephen L. Wood

Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs

A taxonomic revision of the genera of Scolytidae (Coleoptera) in the world fauna is presented. Included are 215 valid genera and 273 invalid generic and subgeneric names. The type-species for each genus-group name was examined, including the type-specimen of the type-species in those taxa where a holotype, lectotype, or neotype has been designated—with the exception of four contemporary genera, the type-series of which are lost, and six fossil genera for which no effort was made to locate the types. Taxonomic keys to the families of the Curculionoidea, and to the subfamilies, tribes, and genera of Scolytidae are presented. Descriptions and …

Full Issue, Vol. 10

Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs

No abstract provided.

Whooping Cranes In Blaine County, Wayne J. Mollhoff

Nebraska Bird Review

On 7 April 1986 John Manning, of Norfolk, and I observed a pair of Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) in southeastern Blaine County, about 20 miles west of Taylor. I was notified by a local rancher, who found them while feeding his cattle that morning. John and I were guided to where the birds were feeding in a field. We observed them from about 1400 to 1500 hours as they fed leisurely. About 1500 hours they took off and flew out of sight, heading toward the Middle Loup River. They were found again in the same field about 1745 …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1986) 54(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

Published quarterly in March, June, September, and December by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal and sent to all members who are not in arrears for dues. Subscriptions (on calendar year basis only) are $10.00 per year in the United States, $12.00 per year in Canada and Mexico, and $12.50 per year in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $3.00 each, postpaid, in the United States; $3.50 elsewhere.

Memberships (on a calendar year basis only): Students, $.3.00; Active, $7.00; Sustaining, $15.00; Family Active, $10.00; Family Sustaining, $20.00; Life, $100.00.

All dues and subscriptions should …

“Book Reviews” From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1986) 54(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

The Birds of Nebraska: A Critically Evaluated List, Tanya Bray, Barbara K. Padelford, and W. Ross Silcock, 112 pp., 5½ x 8½, paper, available from Barbara Padelford, Bellevue, Nebraska. The authors of The Birds of Nebraska have examined the records for the 445 species (including Clark’s Grebe) that have been listed for Nebraska (some in error), and classified them as to the reliability of the record and the frequency of occurrence.

Eskimo Curlew A Vanishing Species? J. B. Gollop, T. W. Barry, and E. H. Iversen, 160 pp., 5½ x 8½, Special Publication No. 17 of The Saskatchewan Natural …

1986 (Sixty-First) Spring Occurrence Report

Nebraska Bird Review

Three hundred and four species were recorded in this report, from 22 locations, compared to 296 from 22 in 1985, 293 from 13 in 1984, and 288 from 13 in 1983. The numbered columns are essentially spot checks (a one- or two-day visit to an area, or maybe more than one such visit) or unusual birds reported by visitors to the areas. The symbols used in these columns run from a, for January, through z, for July, and so give some guide to the time, although for the specific time and locality the comments for the particular column should be …

“Notes” From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1986) 54(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

GREATER SCAUP IN BOONE COUNTY. On 27 and 28 March 1986 I observed a male Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) 2.5 miles west, 1.5 miles south of Petersburg.—Wayne J. Mollhoff, Albion

PRAIRIE-CHICKENS. On 20 April 1986 I saw a couple of Prairie-Chickens 2 miles north of Eppley Airfield, on Abbott Drive and Crown Point Avenue, Omaha.—Douglas Fritz, Omaha

GLAUCOUS GULL. At about 6 PM on 4 April 1986 Tom Headley, Babs Baldinger, Nancy Thoenes, and I were at Lake North, north of Columbus. Tom saw a large white gull. We put the Questar on it and found that it …

Nebraska Bird Review (September 1986) 54(3), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

1986 (Sixty-first) Spring Occurrence Report … 46

Clark’s Grebe … 64

Book Reviews … 65

Whooping Cranes in Blaine County … 66

Notes … 67

Clark’S Grebe

Nebraska Bird Review

A Clark’s Grebe was taken in Keith County in June 1986, and is now in the State Museum.

Habitat Selection And Movement Patterns In Sandhills Rodents, Cliff A. Lemen, Patricia W. Freeman

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Using fluorescent pigments, we were able to gather accurate information about the use of habitat and movement patterns of small nocturnal rodents. Use of habitat is strongly affected by the patchiness of vegetation of the sandhills. Microtus ochrogaster occupies the dense grass, Dipodomys ordii occupies the open sandy area, and Perognathus hispidus and P. flavescens occupy a mixed grass-forb zone. Advantages of the fluorescent method over more traditional methods of determining habitat use are presented. There are significant differences in the trails of species at the fine 10-cm scale, but these differences disappear at a larger 3-m scale. The significance …

Environmental Factors Affecting Nocturnal Migrations Of Macrobenthos, C. Timothy Morris

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Nocturnally dispersing macrobenthic invertebrates of the Lafayette River, Norfolk, Virginia were collected from September 4 to October 4, 1982 to determine environmental factors affecting migrations. A total of 55 taxa were identified from 325 surface and bottom nocturnal plankton tows. Peracaridan crustaceans were the dominant (99.0% of the total density) group collected. Six of the commonly collected species showed a significant (P

Blarina Brevicauda, Sarah B. George, Jerry R. Choate, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Blarina Gray, 1838
Blarina Gray, 1838: 124. Type species Corsira (Blarina) talpoides Gray (=Sorex talpoides Gapper = Sorex brevicaudus Say), by original designation. Elevated to generic rank by Lesson, 1842:89.
Brachysorex Duvernoy, 1842:37-41. Type species Brachysorex brevicaudus Duvernoy (=Sorex brevicaudus Say), by original designation.
Talposorex Pomel, 1848:248. Type species Talposorex platyurus Pomel (=Sorex brevicaudus Say), by original designation. Anotus Wagner, 1855:550-55 1. Type species Sorex carolinensis Bachman, by original designation.

1985 Nebraska Nesting Survey, Esther V. Bennett

Nebraska Bird Review

Data on the 1985 nesting season in Nebraska were received from 28 observers and two agencies, reporting on 83 species from 39 counties. Counties in the tabulation are listed in a west to east order, with the northernmost of the approximately equal locations given first. Numbers represent Nest Record Cards, N represents nests for which no Nest Record Card was submitted, E represents eggs, F represents feeding, C represents copulating, CF represents carrying food, FCo represents feeding Cowbird, NM represents carrying nesting material, and Y represents young observed. GPC in the following paragraph represents Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and …

Whooping Crane Roost Site Characteristics On The Platte River, Buffalo County, Nebraska, Gary R. Lingle, Kenneth J. Strom, Jerry W. Ziewitz

Nebraska Bird Review

Whooping Crane (Grus americana) use of the Platte River in Nebraska has been a controversial topic, especially in the last decade. Pressures from water development interests seeking Platte River water conflict with the needs of wildlife and interests from the conservation community. Between spring 1942 and fall 1984 there were 13 confirmed Whooping Crane sightings on or near the Platte River (US Fish and Wildlife Service, 1985). Lingle et al. (1984) described physical characteristics of a Platte River roost site used in 1983. This report describes the physical characteristics of the most recent known roost site on the …

Mottled Duck In Nebraska, W. Ross Silcock, Tanya Bray, Babs Padelford

Nebraska Bird Review

The two major US populations of Mottled Duck occur in Florida and along the Gulf Coast in Louisiana and Texas, with local breeding inland to “southeast Colorado, western Kansas, Oklahoma (rarely), and northeast Texas” (AOU Checklist of North American Birds, Sixth Edition, 1983). Palmer (Handbook of North American Birds, Vol. 2, 1976) notes that Mottled Duck bred in 1963 at Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas, and that some individuals occur inland beyond the usual breeding range during the post-breeding period. Presumably these inland. records pertain to birds from the Texas-Louisiana population, as the Florida birds are generally considered nonmigratory. …

“Book Reviews” From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1986) 54(2)

Nebraska Bird Review

Tales of a Low-Rent Birder, Pete Dunne, 175 pp., 5½ x 8¾, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ, cloth, $15.95. Pete Dunne is director of the Cape May Bird Observatory. These articles were written between 1977 and 1986 and appeared first in the Peregrine Observer.

Migratory Bird Habitat on the Platte and North Platte Rivers in Nebraska, Paul J. Currier, Gary R. Lingle, John G. VanDerwalker, 184 pp., 6 x 9, The Platte River Whooping Crane Trust, 2550 N. Diers Avenue, Suite H, Grand Island, Nebraska 68801, indexed, paper, $11.00 postpaid from the Trust. This is a …

Nebraska Bird Review (June 1986) 54(2), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

The Eighty-fifth (1986) Annual Meeting … 30

1985 Nebraska Nesting Survey … 31

Book Reviews … 36

Whooping Crane Roost Site Characteristics on the Platte River, Buffalo County, Nebraska … 36

Mottled Duck in Nebraska … 39

Notes … 40

“Notes” From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1986) 54(2)

Nebraska Bird Review

MORE 1985 CHRISTMAS COUNT DATA. This data for the Lincoln count is now available: 5:10 AM to 5:15 PM. AM and PM clear. Temp. 31° to 45° F. Wind NW 10–30 mph. Snow cover 0 to 18 inches. Fresh water frozen. Wild food crop poor. Thirty-five observers, 19–30 in 11–13 parties, 5–16 at feeders. Total party-hours 73 (48 on foot, 25 by car) plus 18 hours at feeders, 3.5 owling; total party-miles 320 (54 on foot, 266 by car) plus 87 miles owling.

CORRECTION TO 1980 MIGRATION REPORTS. In the reports covering the first half of 1980 (NBR 48:73) …

The Eighty-Fifth (1986) Annual Meeting

Nebraska Bird Review

The Tout Bird Club was host for the eighty-fifth Annual Meeting 17 and 18 May 1986, which was based at the University of Nebraska Research Center at North Platte. Seventy-six people attended the banquet, and that probably was the maximum attendance. There was a slide show Friday night, Saturday morning was for birding. In the afternoon Tom Hupf, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Grand Island, presented the slide show “Rainwater Basin Wetland Project” and led a discussion afterward. The business meeting followed. It was announced that the Groove-billed Ani (NBR 53:78), reported by Maysel Kiser and others, was the …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1986) 54(2)

Nebraska Bird Review

Published quarterly in March, June, September, and December, by the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union, Inc., as its official journal and sent to all members who are not in arrears for dues. Subscriptions (on a calendar-year basis only) are $10.00 per year in the United States, $12.00 per year in Canada and Mexico, and $12.50 per year in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $3.00 each, postpaid, in the United States, $3.50 elsewhere.

Memberships (on a calendar-year basis only): Students, $3.00; Active, $7.00; Sustaining, $15.00; Family Active, $10.00; Family Sustaining, $20.00; Life, $100.00.

All dues and subscriptions should be …

End Matter, Vol. 8

Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs

No abstract provided.

Descriptive Ethology And Activity Patterns Of Black-Footed Ferrets, Tim W. Clark, Louise Richardson, Steven C. Forrest, Denise E. Casey, Thomas M. Campbell Iii

Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs

Aspects of the aboveground ethology and activity patterns of the black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigipes) are described for a population in northwestern Wyoming as a first step in building a descriptive ethogram and quantification of activity patterns. We observed at least 237 individual ferrets for 208 hr on 441 occasions from 2 December 1981 through 25 September 1984. Mainenance behaviors (locomotion, alert, grooming, and sunning, defecation and urination, digging, and predation) and social behavior (reproduction, ontogeny, maternal, play, agonistic) are described as well as some ferret-human interactions. Ferret vocalizations are subjectively described. We located ferrets during most months including …

Full Issue, Vol. 8

Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs

No abstract provided.

Description And History Of The Meeteetse Black-Footed Ferret Environment, Tim W. Clark, Steven C. Forrest, Louise Richardson, Denise E. Casey, Thomas M. Campbell Iii

Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs

The black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) occupied area lies in the western Big Horn Basin, Park County, Wyoming. Cody, a nearby town, shows a record high temperature of 40.5 C and a low of -43.3 C, with 173 days each year below 0 C. Area geology is dominated by Absaroka volcanics. Soils are shallow (0.5 m) and underlain by unconsolidated gravels; well-drained, medium-textured clay-loams (ca 1 m in depth); or clays derived from shale parent materials. Vegetation is characterized by a wheatgrass-needlegrass shrubsteppe type (Agropyron/Stipa/Artemisia). Prior to white settlement, the area hosted a diverse large mammal community. …