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Recent Northern Records Of The Nine-Banded Armadillo (Dasypodidae) In Nebraska, Patricia W. Freeman, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Examination of the distribution of nine-banded armadillo in Nebraska reveals that these animals may be entering the state from two directions. The animals in Chase, Dundy, and Furnas counties appear to be closely associated with the Republican River and its tributaries and probably reached the state along these riparian habitats from northwestern Kansas and northeastern Colorado. Records in the central and eastern part of Nebraska are not closely tied to one river system. For the specimen from Ord to have followed watercourses, it would have needed to follow the Big or Little Blue rivers, crossed to the Platte River, and …

Masthead And Table Of Contents [December 1998]

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): $14.00 in the United States; $18.00 for all foreign 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 Lou Pritchard, NOU Librarian, University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in NOU (on a calendar year basis only): Active, $15.00; Sustaining, $25.00; Student, $10.00; Family Active, $20.00; Family Sustaining,$30.00; …

Nebraska Bird Review (December 1998) 66(4), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

In Memorium: Harvey L. Gunderson … 114

Parasitic Jaeger at Lake McConaughy … 114

Endemicity and Regional Biodiversity in Nebraska's Breeding Avifauna … 115

Fall Field Report: Introduction … 121

Fall Field Report: Species Accounts … 123

1997 (Ninth) Report of the NOU Records Committee … 147

Bird Banding Notes … 159

Index for Volume 66 … 160

1997 (9th) Report Of The Nou Records Committee, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

The functions and methods of the 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. THE OFFICIAL LIST OF THE BIRDS OF NEBRASKA was first published in 1988 (NOU Records Committee 1988) and has been appended seven times (Mollhoff 1989, Grenon 1990, 1991, Gubanyi 1996a, 1996b, 1996c, Brogie 1997). An update of THE OFFICIAL LIST OF THE BIRDS OF NEBRASKA was last published in 1997 (NOU Records Committee 1997).

This report includes all …

Bird Banding Notes From Ruth Green, Ruth Green

Nebraska Bird Review

On 29 April 1998, while working with school children from the Chadron Public Schools, Ruth banded a Pine Siskin at Nebraska's Chadron State Park, Dawes County. Approximately seven and a half months later, on 12 December, this same bird was recovered beneath a feeder in Springfield, Oregon. The Pine Siskin was dead, perhaps a victim of disease sweeping the siskin population on the West Coast. This particular occurrence is noteworthy for the distance traveled both west and north.

The Summer Tanager pictured below was also banded by Betty. She banded the AHY-F (After Hatching Year, Female) Summer Tanager on 10 …

Fall Field Report, August To November 1998, W. Ross Silcock, Joel G. Jorgensen

Nebraska Bird Review

Larry Einemann kindly pointed out that in the Spring Report all his sightings from Pioneer's Park should have been attributed to Wilderness Park at Pioneer's Boulevard (in Lincoln). Larry noted that Pioneer's Park is a manicured Lincoln city park which is not good for birds except for in the vicinity of the embedded Chet Ager Nature Center. This was my (WRS) error; personally I have trouble even finding the Wilderness Park entrances, let alone naming them properly!

Another correction! John Sullivan pointed out that the 2 Summer Tanagers at Indian Cave SP on 10 August, 1997, were not his sighting. …

In Memorium: Harvey L. Gunderson, Thomas E. Labedz

Nebraska Bird Review

In Memorium: Harvey L. Gunderson

Dear Fellow Birders,

It is with deep regret that I inform you of the death of Harvey L. Gunderson on Tuesday, 23 February, 1999, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Harvey was born in Gary, Minnesota, on 11 June, 1913, and went On to become Associate Director Of the University Of Nebraska State Museum. Along the way, Harvey received a Bachelor’s Degree from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, a Master's Degree from the University Of Minnesota and a Ph.D. from the University Of Michigan.

Harvey was a member Of American Society of Mammalogist (Harvey wrote a text book for …

Endemicity And Regiona[L] Biodiversity In Nebraska's Breedin[G] Avifauna, Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

I estimate that 215 bird species currently breed or have previously bred in Nebraska. This number compares with a total of 330 species that breed or have bred in the Great Plains region south of Canada, as I defined that region in my book on the breeding birds of the Great Plains (Johnsgard, 1979).

Grasslands or potential grasslands make up about 81 percent of the Great Plains' vegetation, and probably represented about 96 percent of Nebraska's original vegetation. Only in the Sandhills region is that vegetation type still essentially intact; the tall-grass prairie of eastern Nebraska is Virtually gone. In …

Index [For Volume 66]

Nebraska Bird Review

Alexander, G. 26

Alexander, I. 26

Allen, A. A. 68

Allen, B. 27, 60, 61, 110

Alt, J. 8

Amiotte, S. 27

Armstrong, M. 60

Aversa, T. 158

Avocet, American 39, 90, 128

Parasitic Jaeger At Lake Mcconaughy, Stephen J. Dinsmore, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

On 5 October, 1997, we joined Joel G. Jorgensen and John Sullivan for a pelagic trip on Lake McConaughy. A similar trip in late September 1996 yielded a Sabine's Gull, but we were really hoping to see a jaeger. From 7:00 to 8:30 a.m. we gradually worked our way from the dam towards the western end of the lake. Besides moderate numbers of Franklin's and Ring-billed Gulls, there were few birds on the lake. At approximately 8:45 a.m. Dinsmore noticed that all of the gulls at the western end of the lake had suddenly taken flight. Less than a minute …

Endemicity And Regional Biodiversity In Nebraska's Breeding Avifauna, Paul A. Johnsgard

Papers in Ornithology

I estimate that 215 bird species currently breed or have previously bred in Nebraska. This number compares with a total of 330 spe¬cies that breed or have bred in the Great Plains region south of Canada, as I defined that region in my book on the breeding birds of the Great Plains (Johnsgard, 1979). An analysis of the relative species diversity of Nebraska's breeding avifauna establishes several areas of unusual species richness and endemicity, these most important being the Missouri Valley and associated middle to lower Niobrara Valley, the Pine Ridge area of the northwestern Panhandle, and the entire Platte …

Managing For Profitability In The Beef Industry Proceedings

University of Nebraska Historical Extension: Bulletin

Moderator - Rick Rasby

Global Perspective of the Beef Industry and Challenges to Remain Competitive — Allan Nation

Low Input Cow/Calf Systems — Dick Clark and Don Adams

Producer Panel, Moderator - Homer Buell

Nebraska's Dynamic Landscape — Jim Stubbendieck

Matching Beef Genetics to the Resources — Jim Gosey

Complimentary Forages/Annuals/Year-Round Grazing

Managing Irrigated Pastures and Meadows for Grazing

Evaluating Pasture Stability

Fish & Wildlife News: November/December 1998

Fish and Wildlife News

Contents:

Region 1 Employees Killed 2
Clinton Signs Refuge Volunteer Bill 4
Tackling Oil Pits 7
Building a Service Museum 9
Special Section: Fisheries Focus 10
Inside Cooperative Research Units 14
NCTC Wants Your Books 16
Honoring Refuge Heroes 17
Real Life “Free Willy” 19
New Agents Step Out 20
Curious Condors Take a Trip 21
Fish & Wildlife...In Brief 23

Cattle, Environment, And Economic Change: A History Of Cherry County, Nebraska’S Cattle Industry, From Earliest Times To 1940, Gail Lorna Didonato

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A modern cattle industry in Cherry County, Nebraska, developed as challenges of land use and pressures of economic change demanded new and flexible adaptation to the unique environment. Located in the Sandhills, a region only opened to legal white settlement after Indian removal in 1878, the area passed through phases of occupation. Open-range cattlemen drawn by lucrative local markets gave way to struggles over land use between farmers and ranchers. Early twentieth century legislation, the 1904 Kinkaid Act, designed to promote farm settlement, in the end, benefited ranchers the most. As the wedge to gain legal access to land ownership, …

Genetics Of The Interval From Weaning To Estrus In First-Litter Sows: Correlated Responses, J. Ten Napel, T. H. E. Meuwissen, R. K. Johnson, E. W. Brascamp

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to evaluate relationships between rebreeding performance and growth performance (n = 3,777 gilts) and rebreeding performance and reproductive performance (n = 2,242 sows). Our data were from a selection experiment for shorter intervals from weaning to estrus after the first parity (IWE), involving Dutch Landrace pigs, in which a selection line and a control line without selection were maintained for eight generations. Relationships were evaluated before and after transforming IWE to normal interval (NI; IWE &#; 7 d), prolonged interval (PI; IWE > 7 d), and incidence of a prolonged interval (INC). Heritabilities of NI, …

University Of Nebraska Animal Science Department Centennial Book Of Memories

Department of Animal Science: Departmental News

This year marks the 1O0-year anniversary of the Department of Animal Science at the University of Nebraska. Our history is a rich one, with many achievements of our students, our research programs, and our service and outreach to the animal industries of Nebraska, the nation, and the world. With over three thousand alumni, we have an outstanding legacy in the development of animal industry leaders.

On Saturday, October 10, we will celebrate these one hundred years of achievement with several activities in Lincoln. Enclosed you will find descriptions of the program during the middle of the day, held "at home" …

Grassland Birds And Habitat Structure In Sandhills Prairie Managed Using Cattle Or Bison Plus Fire, Randall Griebel, Stephen L. Winter, Allen Steuter

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Grassland birds are known to respond to specific changes in habitat structure, such as plant height and density. However, the response of grassland bird communities to management induced changes in the regional habitat mosaic are less well understood. Grazing by ungulates and fire regimes play an important role in defining the habitat mosaic in the Great Plains. We provide information on bird abundance, distribution, and habitat structure from similar sandhill prairie landscapes managed traditionally with grazing by cattle (Bos taurus) and by a dynamic bison (Bos bison)-plus-fire regime. Although the two management regimes are dissimilar, only …

Fish & Wildlife News: September/October 1998

Fish and Wildlife News

Contents:
Mexican Wolf Pup Born in Wild 3
Group Proposes “Fishable Waters Act” 6
NCTC Offers “Virtual Tour” 8
Special Section: Recent LE Successes 10
Rare Fish on the Rebound in AZ 13
Service Firefighters Heed the Call 14
Web Group Sets the Standards 14
Prairie Learning Center Opens 15
The Adventures of Two Tigers 17
A Look at Midway Atoll NWR 18
Boating Campaign Promotes Clean Fun 20
Sevilleta NWR Goes Back in Time 21
Fish and Wildlife...In Brief 23

Table Of Contents And Masthead [September 1998]

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): $14.00 in the United States; $18.00 for all foreign 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 Lou Prichard, NOU Librarian, University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in NOU (on a calendar year basis only): Active, $15.00; Sustaining, $25.00; Student, $10.00; Family Active, $20.00; Family Sustaining,$30.00; …

Nebraska Bird Review (September 1998) 66(3), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

A Half Century of Winter Bird Surveys in Lincoln and Scottsbluff ... 74

Summer Field Report, June to July, 1998, Introduction ... 84

Species Accounts ... 86

Book Review: Baby Bird Portraits by George Miksch Sutton ... 100

1998 Midwinter Eagle Survey and Ten-Year Summary Tables ... 101

Central Nebraska Public Power Facilities Eagle Count ... 108

Nebraska Bird Count for 1997 Addendum ... 110

Bald Eagle Counts At Two Facilities Owned And Operated By The Central Nebraska Public Power And Irrigation District, Mark M. Peyton, Rodger Knaggs

Nebraska Bird Review

Since 1988 the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (Central) has provided, free to the public, a bald eagle viewing facility in its Johnson #2 Hydroelectric Plant south of Lexington, Dawson County, and since 1990 a facility near the outlet of the Kingsley Hydroelectric Plant at Lake Ogallala in Keith County.

Central provides binoculars and viewing scopes at both locations as well as personnel to answer questions and provide assistance. These individuals also conducted daily eagle surveys at the facilities.

Nebraska Bird Count For 1997 Addendum

Nebraska Bird Review

Site and Party Data

Observers

Total Species

Total Individuals

CW Birds

Summer Field Report, June-July, 1998, W. Ross Silcock, Joel G. Jorgensen

Nebraska Bird Review

First, some housekeeping is in order. . . . You will also notice the new order of species (AGAIN!!), reflecting the latest American Ornithologists' Union Checklist, published this spring. The most noticeable change concerns the placement of shrikes and vireos between flycatchers and corvids; but the order of species within some genera also differs, especially among the waterfowl, where, for instance, swans now follow the geese.

And now let's turn to the birds! As in most summers, many species went about their business in routine fashion, hence the notation "Routine Reports" for many.

We encourage observers to note and to …

1998 Midwinter Eagle Survey For Nebraska Including Summary Tables For The 1980-1998 Period From The Nebraska Game And Parks Commission, John J. Dinan

Nebraska Bird Review

Mild temperatures were prevalent in the weeks prior to this year's survey; however, temperatures cold enough to form a thin layer of ice on some reservoirs and lakes occurred between aerial surveys. Three of the aerial surveys were conducted on the 6th and 7th of January and one was conducted on the 13th. The survey route that includes the Platte River from Kearney to Plattsmouth and the Loup River was not surveyed this year because of persistent foggy conditions.

Temperatures recorded during the 1998 survey were variable, ranging from 5 to 40 degrees F. The Niobrara River was 50 to …

Book Review: Baby Bird Portraits By George Miksch Sutton: Watercoiors In The Field Museum By Johnsgard, P. A. (1998), John J. Janovy Jr.

Nebraska Bird Review

George M. Sutton's baby bird portraits are his most captivating works. The subjects are isolated against a stark, raw-paper background, and they stare out at the viewer with eyes typically naive but alert. Sutton's artistic mastery of the foot is integral to the underlying biology in these pictures: sturdy and sure against the table for a ruffed grouse, curled inward and near useless for a gallinule on dry land, and almost casually clutching a twig, the hallux resting loosely, for a newly fledged grosbeak. The match between these pictures and Paul Johnsgard's text is perfect. In his first two paragraphs, …

"A Half-Century Of Winter Bird Surveys At Lincoln And Scottsbluff, Nebraska", Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

Since 1900, the National Audubon Society has sponsored annual "Christmas bird counts" during the two-week period encompassing Christmas; and as a result, long-term data on winter bird populations have accumulated, especially for some locations. The first two such counts in Nebraska were made in 1909 and in 1912 in Lincoln. While similar counts were made in Omaha from 1909 to 1911, no further counts were conducted elsewhere in the state until the 1940's. Beginning in 1947 and continuing to the present, an unbroken series of counts were made in Lincoln, usually by members of the University Place Bird Club, the …

A Half-Century Of Winter Bird Surveys At Lincoln And Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Paul A. Johnsgard

Papers in Ornithology

Since 1900, the National Audubon Society has sponsored annual "Christmas bird counts" during the two-week period encompassing Christmas; and as a result, long-term data on winter bird populations have accumulated, especially for some locations. The first two such counts in Nebraska were made in 1909 and in 1912 in Lincoln. Beginning in 1947 and continuing to the present, an unbroken series of counts were made in Lincoln, usually by members of the Uni¬versity Place Bird Club, the Audubon Naturalist's Club, or the Wachiska chapter of the National Audubon Society. For Scottsbluff, an unbroken set of counts extends from 1949 to …

Bats Of The Antillean Island Of Grenada: A New Zoogeographic Perspective, Hugh H. Genoways, Carleton J. Phillips, Robert J. Baker

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The island of Grenada is the southernmost of the Lesser Antilles, lying 130 km north of Trinidad and 135 km north of the Venezuelan mainland. It measures 34 km north to south and 19 km east to west and has an area of 312 square km. Grenada and the Grenadines northward to Bequia stand on the large submarine Grenada Bank. At 183 m depth, the bank is 179 km long. The Grenadines cover the bank to its northern end, but the bank extends for 39 km south of Grenada with no islands. During the last Ice Age, Grenada and the …

Genetic And Phenotypic Parameters For Carcass Traits Of American Shorthorn Beef Cattle, F. Pariacote, R. E. Hunsley, L. Dale Van Vleck

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Carcass measurements were taken on 1,292 steers and collected by the American Shorthorn Association. The sires were purebred or appendix-registered Shorthorn. Because all dams were not Shorthorn, genetic fractions of breeds of origin were determined for each dam. Measurements for hot carcass weight; dressing percentage; fat thickness; ribeye area; kidney, pelvic, and heart fat (KPH); marbling; and yield grade were analyzed jointly with a multivariate REML algorithm to estimate heritabilities of and genetic and phenotypic correlations among the traits. The sire model chosen as best fit of the data included fixed effects of herd of origin (377 classes), slaughter group …

Parameter Estimates For Direct, Maternal, And Grandmaternal Genetic Effects For Birth Weight And Weaning Weight In Hereford Cattle, J. Dodenhoff, L. Dale Van Vleck, Stephen D. Kachman, R. M. Koch

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Birth and weaning weights adjusted for age of dam from four lines of Hereford cattle were analyzed to determine the relationships among grandmaternal, maternal, and direct genetic effects. Three lines were selected for 1) weaning weight (WWL), 2) yearling weight (YWL), and 3) an index of yearling weight and muscle score (IXL). The fourth line was an unselected control line (CTL). Numbers of observations ranged from 1,699 (CTL) to 2,811 (WWL), and number of animals in the pedigree file ranged from 2,266 to 3,192. Two animal models were used to obtain estimates by REML using an average information method. Model …