Life Sciences Commons^™

Determining Sex Of Plains Pocket Gophers By Incisor Width, Ronald M. Case, Alan B. Sargeant

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Biologists studying food habits of predators can often determine the prey species but not the sex of the prey from remains found at dens, in stomachs, scats, or pellets of predators. Knowledge of the sex of prey is useful in evaluating predator food habits as well as indicating sex specific differences in prey behavior.

Plains pocket gophers, Geomys bursarius, can be easily identified by the presence of two prominent grooves on the face of each upper incisor. This makes them ideal specimens for studying prey remains. In this paper, we present data that can be used to identify the …

Louisiana Waterthrush Nesting In Fontenelle Forest, Paul Bedell

Nebraska Bird Review

On 5 June 1982, I located a nest of the Louisiana Waterthrush (Seiurus motacilla) in Fontenelle Forest. The location had been determined on 26 April when I, with three others, Tanya Bray, Babs Padelford and B.J. Rose, saw a Waterthrush carrying nesting material. This site was later reported as abandoned. I had first seen a Waterthrush in this area on 15 April and identified it as a Louisiana by its song. On 21 April I saw two foraging together. On the date of the nest building they were silent and easily overlooked; but I heard occasional singing on …

"Index Of Volume 50," From Nebraska Bird Review (December 1982) 50(4)

Nebraska Bird Review

Index of Volume 50 (8 pages)

Accipter sp. 22

Adcock, Dorothy 7, 64

Alexander, Irene 19

Albino 60

Alfalfa 27

Anhinga 75

Ani, Groove-billed 80

Ash, green 29( 4)

Avocet, American 3,7,9, 26, 31, 38, 56, 78

............

Yellowlegs
Greater 8, 26, 31, 55, 79
Lesser n, 26, 31, 55, 79

Yellowthroat, Common 17, 26, 33, 35, 64, 85, 87

Zeillemaker, C. Fred 4(2), 7, 11
Melly 4, 7, 11

Whole Issue Nebraska Bird Review (December 1982) 50(4)

Nebraska Bird Review

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The New A.O.U. Checklist and Nebraska Birds .................74

Book Review .................87

1982 Fall Field Day .................87

Louisiana Waterthrush Nesting in Fontenelle Forest .................88

Notes .................89

Index of Volume 50 .................90

Book Review- Nebraska Bird Review (December 1982)

Nebraska Bird Review

The Kingfisher, David Boag, 120 pp. 6 ½ x 9 ½, Blandford Press, England, Sterling Publishing Co. Inc. New York Hardbound, indexed. $17.95.

This is a handsome book -thick paper, 66 color photographs (of various sizes) by the author. It is about the Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis, of Europe, about half the size of our Belted Kingfisher, and much more colorful. The text is interesting reading, giving the life history of the bird; description and distribution; territory and aggression; courtship and nest-building; eggs and young; food and feeding habits; mortality; myths and legend. And an appendix on photographic techniques, …

Note- Nebraska Bird Review (December 1982), Harold Turner, Steve Shupe

Nebraska Bird Review

Minden Notes. On 14 May 1982 I saw six or so White Pelicans over the Platte, south of Kearney, and a Swainson's Hawk, perched on a fence post, near Minden. I saw Lapland Longspurs 25 December, and then not again until 11 February, when they were present in large numbers. I usually saw Marsh Hawks when I got out this winter, and Rough-legged, and Red-tailed Hawks, and a few Kestrels. Prairie Falcons were not much seen, however. I flushed a Sprague's Pipit, northwest of minden, plus a few Savannah Sparrows. Red Crossbills were common feeders in town, earlier in the …

The New A.O.U. Checklist And Nebraska Birds

Nebraska Bird Review

The Sixth Edition of The A O. U Checklist of North American Birds will be published in 1983. The Fifth Edition was published in 1957, and the last changes in it were by the 33rdSupplement, issued in 1976. The scientific and common names of the birds to be listed in the Sixth Edition, in the order to be used in that edition, are given in a 34th Supplement, published July 1982 as a supplement to The Auk, Vol. 99, No.3. But that supplement, unlike previous ones, contains no explanations or comments. Stuart Keith, Birding XIV (2):40, who in working …

1982 Fall Field Day

Nebraska Bird Review

Those who came in Friday to the 4-H Camp at Halsey National Forest ran into rain there or on the way in, but Saturday and Sunday, 2 and 3 October, were bright, but a little too windy and a little too chilly to be perfect. Sixty-three registered for the meeting. Of the birds submitted for consideration, the directors selected the Scarlet Tanager at Scotts Bluff as the best and the Cattle Egret in Sioux Co. as second. (NBR 50:65 and 67). It was decided to have a new field card, on stiffer stock and smaller sized than the present …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (December 1982) 50(4)

Nebraska Bird Review

Published quarterly in March, June, September, and December by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc. as its official journal and sent free to all members who are not in arrears for dues. Subscriptions (on calendar year basis only) are $7.00 per year in the United States and $9.00 per year in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $2.25 each, postpaid.

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.

Karyotypic Relationships Within The Short-Tailed Shrews, Genus Blarina, Sarah B. George, Hugh H. Genoways, Jerry R. Choate, Robert J. Baker

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Short-tailed shrews of the genus Blarina exhibit considerable geographic variation in both diploid number and fundamental number. Four chromosomal groups are recognized within the genus: Blarina brevicauda, FN = 48; 2N = 50, 49, or 48; B. carolinensis, FN = 45 or 44; 2N = 46, 39, 38, or 37; B. c. peninsulae, FN = 52; 2N = 52, 51, or 50; B. hylophaga, FN = 62, 61, or 60; 2N = 52. B. c. peninsulae also may be a distinct species, but exact determination must await location and analysis of a zone of contact with …

Memorials: Vincent H. Arthauld, Kenneth J. Drewry, David L. Mackintosh

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Vincent H. Arthaud, Professor Emeritus of the Animal Science Department, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, died at his home August 7, 1982. He was born September 7, 1911 at Cambridge, Nebraska and was reared on a general livestock farm in Southwest Nebraska. After receiving his B.S. degree in Animal Husbandry in 1936 from the University of Nebraska, he returned to his home area and engaged in general farming. He served with the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945 and joined the Animal Science Department in 1945 as Research Farm Manager. He retired in 1977 following his many years of service as …

1982 (Fifty-Seventh) Spring Occurrence Report

Nebraska Bird Review

1982 (Fifty-Seventh) Spring Occurrence Report

Two hundred eighty-seven species are listed in this report, from 15 locations. The comparable figures for 1981 are 298 species from 12 locations; 1980 298 from 14; and 1979 292 from 12.

The symbols used in the tabulation are:

Ja, Fe, Mr, Ap, My, and Je for the months.

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1982) 50(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

Published quarterly in March, June, September, and December by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc. as its official journal and sent free to all members who are not in arrears for dues. Subscriptions (on calendar year basis amy) are $7.00 per year in the United States and $9.00 per year in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $2.25 each, postpaid.

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.

Whole Issue Nebraska Bird Review (September 1982) 50(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

Table of Contents

Book Reviews .....................50

Note .....................50

1982 (Fifty-seventh) Spring Occurrence Report .....................51

The 1982 Least Tern and Piping Plover Breeding Season on the Lower Platte River, Nebraska .....................68

Note--Nebraska Bird Review (September 1982), George W. Brown

Nebraska Bird Review

BARN OWL NEST. A Barn Owl nested 2.5 miles southwest of Sutherland, Lincoln Co. The Owl selected a ledge above an overhead door in a farm grain elevator building, built of steel. The ledge was about 8 inches wide and 12 feet above the driveway. The door was opened and closed during the nesting and that didn't seem to cause a problem. Six eggs were laid and all hatched. The day I observed the site (28 July 1982) two young had left the nest and the other four were about ready to leave. The female was at the nest and …

Book Reviews- Nebraska Bird Review (September 1982), R.G. Cortelyou

Nebraska Bird Review

A Twitcher's Diary. The Birdwatching Year of Richard Millington, Richard Millington, 192 pp., 6½ x 9½, Blandford Press, England, Sterling Publishing Co. Inc, New York. Hardbound, indexed, $24.95.

Twitching is the British term for listing, but Mr. Millington is more than just a lister. He made five visits to get "crippling views" of a Scops Owl, which had been heard and poorly seen on previous attempts. Of course, he is a bird artist (a good one) and a "crippling view" of the Owl is one of the over 200 drawings in the book, including 14in color. The text is …

An Analysis Of Howling Response Parameters Useful For Wolf Pack Censusing, Fred H. Harrington, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) were studied from April 1972 through April 1974 in National Forest in northeastern Minnesota by radio-tracking and simulated howling. Based during 217 of 456 howling sessions, the following recommendations were derived for using howling as a census technique: (1) the best times of day are dusk and night; (2) July, August, and are the best months; (3) precipitation and winds greater than 12 km/hour should be avoided; (of 5 single howls should be used, alternating "flat" and "breaking" howls; (5) trials should 3 times at about 2-minute intervals with the first trial at lower …

Animal Science Newsletter, Summer 1982

Department of Animal Science: Departmental News

Contents:

Animal Science Reunion
Alumnus Receives Honorary Doctor of Science Degree
Gene Schroeder, 1982 Block and Bridle Honoree
Faculty Involved in International Activities
Animal Science Employees Honored
Animal Science Professor Receives UNL Outstanding Teacher Award
Scottish Researcher Visiting Professor
Completion of Animal Science Complex
Academic Quadrathlon Team Competes at Chicago
Animal Science Graduate Students Receive Special Recognition
Dairy Advisory Committee
Staff Members Honored by Industry
Did You Know?
Block and Bridle Club Officers

A Checklist Of The Birds Of Mormon Island Crane Meadows, Gary R. Lingle, Miriam A. Hay

Nebraska Bird Review

Mormon Island Crane Meadows (MICM) was purchased in December 1979 through a cooperative effort of The Nature Conservancy and The Platte River Whooping Crane Critical Habitat Maintenance Trust. This 2,000 acre preserve provides excellent habitat for spring staging migratory water birds and numerous species of other wildlife, In order to determine sound management practices for the area it was necessary to conduct an intensive inventory of the flora and fauna occurring there. This checklist represents the results of the bird inventory.

Notes on the occurrence of avifauna observed on MICM were recorded from 24 March 1980 to 28 July 1981. …

1981 Nebraska Nesting Survey, Esther V. Bennett

Nebraska Bird Review

Data on the 1981 nesting season in Nebraska were received from 14 observers, reporting on 62 species from 25 counties. Counties in the tabulation are listed in a west to east order, with the northernmost of approximately equal locations given first. Numbers represent Nest Record Cards; Y represents young observed; C represents Cowbird eggs found in other nests; N represents nests observed for which no Nest Record Card was submitted; and E represents eggs or egg fragments observed.

Fifty-five species were reported on North American Nest Record Cards. The counties, with column numbers on the tabulation shown in parentheses, and …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1982) 50(2)

Nebraska Bird Review

Published quarterly in March, June, September, and December by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc. as its official journal and sent free to all members who are not in arrears for dues. Subscriptions (on calendar year basis amy) are $7.00 per year in the United States and $9.00 per year in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $2.25 each, postpaid.

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.

A Hoary Redpoll In Dodge County, Rick Manning

Nebraska Bird Review

On 5 February 1982 I observed and photographed a Hoary Redpoll (Carduelis hornemanni) at the bird feeders of Mike Manning. Mike lives approximately 3 miles north of Ames, Dodge Co., Nebraska (R-7-E, T18-N, sec. 28). This bird was first seen, by Mike, on 3 February, in a mixed flock of approximately 300 American Goldfinches (Carduelis tristis), 50 Pine Siskens (Carduelis pinus), and 6 Common Redpolls (Carduelis flammea). The bird was seen repeatedly by me, Mike Manning, Bob Manning, and John Manning. Normally the flock would start feeding about 7:30AM and feed on …

Whole Issue Nebraska Bird Review (June 1982) 50(2).

Nebraska Bird Review

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Eighty·first Annual Meeting .................26

A Check-list of the Birds of Mormon Island Crane Meadows .................27

Book Reviews .................36

A Hoary Redpoll in Dodge County .................37

1981 Nebraska Nesting Survey .................38

Possible Evidence of Fish-eating by a Wild Lesser Sandhill Crane from the Central Platte Valley, Nebraska .................42

Wilson Tout, Secretary .................44

Notes .................46

Wilson Tout, Secretary, Doris Gates

Nebraska Bird Review

Wilson Tout was secretary of the North Platte Bird Club from 1940 to 1944, and members looked forward to his reading of the minutes. They were hardly the kind most organizations would expect. Recently I was able to get copies of Mr. Tout's minutes and two, selected more or less at random, are given below:

NOVEMBER 16, 1940

The North Platte Bird Club met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Tout with 14 members present. Mr. Webster called the meeting to order upon a nod from Mrs. Webster. The minutes of the last meeting were read amid general …

"Book Reviews" From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1982), Neva Pruess

Nebraska Bird Review

Stories About Birds and Bird Watchers, Edited by Mary Beacum Bowers, 234 pp., illustrated, Antheneum. $12.95.

This very readable collection of short, general interest articles could be subtitled "The Best of Bird-Watchers' Digest". The 38 pieces included all appeared in that journal during its first years, and since BWD is itself a reprint publication, almost everything initially saw print elsewhere. The editor has chosen well and has arranged the stories covering a considerable range of topics and styles, into six general categories. Six double page drawings and a number of smaller ones, by artist Bob Hines, make it an …

The Eighty-First Annual Meeting

Nebraska Bird Review

The first two thirds of May 1982 were much wetter than usual in Nebraska, and many of the people coming to the meeting drove in rain Friday until they got to within 150 miles or so of Chadron, and after they got home after the meeting encountered rainy weather again. But 21 and 22 May were dry and sunny in the meeting area. There was the usual get-together Friday night, at the meeting headquarters at Camp Norwesca, just south of Chadron State Park. At the business meeting Saturday afternoon the following officers were elected: Mrs. Ruth Green, Bellevue, president; Mr. …

Possible Evidence Of Fish-Eating By A Lesser Sandhill Crane From The Central Platte Valley, Nebraska, Myra Mergler Niemeier, Paul E. Niemeier

Nebraska Bird Review

Centrarchid fish scales, probably those of the Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus), were found in the crop of a Lesser Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis canadensis) from the Central Platte Valley, Nebraska, in March, 1976. Scales were primarily from age class II fish. Fish total length was estimated at 100.60 mm.

Notes--Nebraska Bird Review (June 1982), T. A. Hoffman, Lee Morris, Ida May Heywood, Lee Morris, Jeanne Dueker, Ruth C. Green, Mabel B. Ott, Jeanne Dueker

Nebraska Bird Review

Notes include stories of Goshawks along the Platte River near Morse Bluff in northwest Saunders County; rainwater basins water level up and hosting Snow Geese, White-fronted Goose, Buff-breasted Sandpipers, Golden Plovers, Whimbrels, Soras; Woodcock near Peru; in York County seeing a Prairie Falcon, Eastern Bluebirds, and Northern Shrike, plus an electrocuted Great Horned Owl with a rooster Pheasant in its clutched talons; a Broad-tailed Hummingbird near Chadron; a large flock of crows in Holdrege; bird-banding in the Bellevue area; a Blue Grosbeak banded at Chet Ager Nature Center near Lincoln; a Blackpoll Warbler near Norfolk; and bullsnakes feeding on young …

Morphometric And Geographic Relationships Of Short-Tailed Shrews (Genus Blarina) In Kansas, Iowa, And Missouri, Nancy D. Moncrief, Jerry R. Choate, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Shrews of the genus Blarina from Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri were studied morphometrically and karyologically. The ranges of two species, B. brevicauda and B. hylophaga, overlap in a broad zone across southern Iowa and northern Missouri. Morphometric analyses revealed an unexpectedly large amount of cranial variation in B. brevicauda, and confirmed the presence of that species in the Kansas River Valley of northeastern Kansas. Considerable mensural overlap was found in geographic areas in which B. hylophaga and B. brevicauda are sympatric, evincing the need for further karyotypic and morphometric studies in those areas. No formal taxonomic changes are …

Systematic Review Of The Antillean Bats Of The Natalus Micropus-Complex (Chiroptera: Natalidae), Jose Alberto Ottenwalder, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Nongeographic and geographic morphometric variation in Antillean populations of bats of the Natalus micropus-complex were analyzed using univariate and multivariate statistical techniques. Samples of males and females from Jamaica and the Dominican Republic revealed females to be significantly larger than males in three measurements and males were significantly larger than females in two measurements. Generally, low coefficients of variation were found in samples of both sexes. The highest value obtained was 5.7 for length of phalanx 1 (digit III) in the sample from Old Providence Island. Two species—Natalus micropus and N. tumidifrons—were recognized within this complex. The …