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Whole Issue Nebraska Bird Review (September 1979) 47(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

Table of Contents

1979 (Fifty-fourth) Spring Migration and Occurrence Report .......................... 42

The Seventy-eight Annual Meeting ................................................ 54

1979 Fall Field Day................................. 55

Book Reviews.............................................................. 56

Successful Golden Eagle Nest in Southwest Nebraska ............................... 57

Notes ......................................................................... 57

Specialized Insectivory: Beetle-Eatinga Nd Moth-Eating Molossid Bats, Patricia W. Freeman

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The structure and mechanics of insectivores have been little studied. An effort is made here to compare and contrast jaw characteristics of insectivorous bats with those of herbivores and carnivores. Further, in one particular family of bats (Molossidae) jaw modifications are such that animals that take hard-shelled insect prey can be distinguished from those that take soft-shelled insect prey. Beetle-eaters generally have thick jaws, well-developed cranial crests, and fewer but bigger teeth, whereas moth-eaters have thin jaws, little crest build-up, and more but smaller teeth.

Mule Deer Habitat Guidelines, Richard M. Kerr

United States Bureau of Land Management: Staff Publications

The purpose of this Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) Habitat Management Guide is principally to assist BLM managers and biologists in planning for and managing mule deer habitat on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. For many years Federal land management agencies have made the distinction between the Federal responsibility for managing habitat and the State prerogatives of managing native wild ungulate populations. Certainly the two are inseparably linked. These responsibilities, and up to now "symbiotic relationships", are probably best described succinctly in Title 43 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 24.

Outlook -- The …

Whole Issue Nebraska Bird Review (June 1979) 47(2)

Nebraska Bird Review

Table of Contents

1978 (Twenty-first) Fall Occurrence Report ........................................ 22

Addition to 1978 Spring Migration Report .......................................... 33

1978 Christmas Count........................................................... 33

Some Comments on "The Breeding Birds of Nebraska”............................. 38

A Second Nesting Record for Merlins in Nebraska .................................. 39

Great Black-backed Gull near Omaha............................................. 39

Efficiency Of Gains And Carcass Characteristics Of Swine Of Two Degrees Of Fatness Slaughtered At Three Weights, J. D. Neely, R. K. Johnson, L. E. Walters

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Two hundred barrows and gilts were slaughtered at 100, 113 and 127 kg live weight. The sample was comprised of 36 litters, of which six litters within each breed of sire (Duroc, Hampshire and Yorkshire) were classified as fat litters (2.36 cm) and six litters classified as lean litters (2.16 cm) on the basis of litter mean backfat probes taken at 68 kg live weight.

Growth traits were evaluated from 9 weeks of age until the designated slaughter weight. Carcasses from the first replication (18 litters) were evaluated for percentage separable lean, fat and bone and those from the second …

A Study Of Nongeographic Variation In Tatera Leucogaster (Mammalia: Rodentia) From Botswana, Pierre Swanepoel, Duane A. Schlitter, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Specimens of Tatera leucogaster from six localities in Botswana were tested for variation with age, secondary sexual variation, and individual variation. Of the six age classes recognized, categories I, II, and III each formed their own group, whereas cat egories IV, V, and VI were not separable on a morphometric basis and were considered to be adults. Significant secondary sexual variation was found only in depth of braincase in which females were larger. The only character exhibiting unusually high individual variation was length of posterior palatal foramen. All other characters exhibited individual variation within acceptable limits.

A Systematic Review Of The Olive-Backed Pocket Mouse, Perognathus Fasciatus (Rodentia, Heteromyidae), Daniel F. Williams, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Geographic variation in Perognathus fasciatus Wied and the identities of specimens of P. fasciatus and P. flavescens from areas of potential sympatry were investigated. Populations of P. fasciatus from the northern Great Plains, in areas with the highest amounts of precipitation, were the darkest colored and had proportionately the smallest auditory bullae. Size varied clinally in the Great Plains, with larger mice being found in the cooler, northern latitudes. Populations from the arid intermountain basins of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming were largest in size, had the longest tails, were the palest in color, and had the largest bullae. Two races …

Whole Issue Nebraska Bird Review (March 1979) 47(1)

Nebraska Bird Review

Table of Contents

1978 Treasurer's Report ........................................ 2

The Breeding Birds of Nebraska. ...........................................3

Book Reviews .............................................................. 17, 19

Notes ..................................................................... 17, 19

The Breeding Birds Of Nebraska, Paul A. Johnsgard

Paul Johnsgard Collection

This brief annotated list of Nebraska's breeding birds is the direct outgrowth of the work involved in the preparation of a forthcoming book titled "The Birds of the Great Plains," which will include range maps for all species except extinct or extirpated ones, and will also provide information on breeding habitat, nest location, clutch size, incubation period, and breeding biology. The purpose of the present compilation is to provide a convenient summary for Nebraska alone, amplifying some of the more general statements of that book, and pointing out uncertain or interesting situations needing further attention from field ornithologists. It includes …

Review Of Endangered Birds. Management Techniques For Preserving Threatened Species, Ed. Stanley A. Temple, Paul A. Johnsgard

Paul Johnsgard Collection

In 1977 an international symposium brought together scientists having expertise in the conservation and management of the world's endangered species of birds. The resulting publication includes 50 papers that were presented at the symposium, together with some concluding remarks. Although this is certainly an impressive assemblage of papers and topics, it should be noted that only about 40 species are mentioned in the proceedings, as compared with a total of 265 species and 140 subspecies worldwide that are currently believed to be threatened.

Redescription And Comparison Of A Highly Fossorial Mole, Domninoides Mimicus (Insectivora, Talpidae), From The Clarendonian, Patricia W. Freeman

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The holotype of the species, Domninoides mimicus, is based on one tooth. Described in the present report is material containing a practically complete dentition and many postcranial elements which definitely belong with the teeth. This species is closely related to Domninoides valentinensis described by Reed (1962), but some of the antemolars in valentinensis are misidentified. The tooth formulas for valentinensis and for mimicus are given. Development of the cingula on the upper and lower molars in mimicus is conspicuous. Because of similar features in the postcranial bones, the Clarendonian mole may be as fossorial as Scalopus, probably the …

Wolf Howling And Its Role In Territory Maintenance, Fred H. Harrington, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The wolf (Canis lupus) is a wide-ranging social carnivore with a complex spatial organization (MECH, 1972; 1973). The precise manner in which this organization is maintained is unknown, but territory advertisement using olfactory and acoustic modes seems to be involved.

The acoustic mode includes primarily howling. Within a wolf pack, howling may be useful to reassemble separated members (MECH, 1966; THEBERGE & FALLS, 1967), and may communicate information on individual identity, location, and other behavioral and environmental contingencies (THEBERGE & FALLS, 1967). Between packs, however, howling may serve to advertise territory, communicating the locations of packs and thus …

Block And Bridle Annual, 1979

Block and Bridle Annual (1933–2021)

Table of Contents:

Purpose and Emblem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Animal Science Dep't Chairman Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Block and Bridle …

Components Of Variance Associated With Service Sire For Milk Yield And Reproductive Traits, L. P. Johnson, L. Dale Van Vleck

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The association of service sire or sire of fetus with three milk yield traits and two reproductive intervals were investigated. Two procedures for estimation of variance components, Henderson's Method 1 and Method 3, were applied to a model of herd-year-season, sire of cow, and service sire. Analyses were for sire of calf born to initiate second lactation and service sire of the cow in second lactation. About 11,000 second lactation records on Holstein cows were available after editing for breeding and calving dates. Service sires and sires of cows were required to be in artificial insemination. Estimates by Method 1 …

Value Of High Fiber Diets For Grand Swine, D. S. Pollmann, D. M. Danielson, E. R. Peo, Jr.

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of roughages on the utilization of dietary nitrogen, energy and fiber by gravid swine. Water consumption, backfat depletion, pregnancy weight gain, and reproductive performance were used as response criteria.

Effect Of Graded Levels Of Bambermycins On Turkey Growth Performance, R.J. Grant, P.E. Waibel, T.W. Sullivan, C.L. Quarles

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Three experiments were conducted in Minnesota, Nebraska, and Colorado to determine the effect on turkey performance of feeding graded levels of bambermycins (Flavomycin ®1) from one day of age to market weight. The body weight and feed efficiency values are averages for 22-week-old males and 18-week-old females. Bambermycins produced significant (P<.001; P<.05) improvements in body weight or feed efficiency in all three experiments. Composite average body weights at 0, 1.1, 2.2, and 4.4 mg bambermycins/kg diet were 10.40, 10.54, 10.59, and 10.64 kg, respectively. Overall, average feed efficiencies from bambermycins at 0, 1.1, 2.2, and 4.4 mg/kg of diet were 2.76, 2.73, 2.72, and 2.71, respectively.

Growth Rate Of Thoroughbreds: Effect Of Age Of Dam, Year And Month Of Birth, And Sex Of Foal, R. L. Hintz, H. F. Hintz, L. Dale Van Vleck

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Weight, height, and cannon bone measurements were obtained on 1,992 Thoroughbred foals. Colts were heavier than fillies at birth and the differences increased with age. Dams under 7 years of age and older than 11 years had foals of lighter weight at birth than mares 7 to 11 years of age and the differences persisted at 510 days of age. Foals born in April, May, or June were heavier than foals born in January, February, or March. Year of birth also influenced body weight. The trends for height at withers and cannon circumference were similar to those of body weight.

Accuracy Of First Lactation Versus All Lactation Sire Evaluations By Best Linear Unbiased Prediction, G. R. Ufford, C. R. Henderson, J. F. Keown, L. Dale Van Vleck

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Variances of errors of prediction for sire evaluations which included only first records and for those with records of all lactations were compared for bulls of Ayrshire, Guernsey, Jersey, and Brown Swiss breeds used by artificial insemination with daughters having Dairy Herd Improvement records processed at the New York Dairy Records Processing Laboratory. The model for best linear unbiased prediction included fixed effects of sire group and herd-year-season of freshening and random effects of sires within group, sire-by-herd interaction (to account for environmental correlation among paternal sisters), cow within sire and herd, and residual. Variances of solutions for group effects …

Computing Algorithms For Sire Evaluation With All Lactation Records And Natural Service Sires, G. R. Ufford, C. R. Henderson, L. Dale Van Vleck

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Models for sire evaluation by best linear unbiased prediction procedures which consider all lactation records, an environmental correlation among paternal half-sisters in the same herd, herd-yearseason effects, genetic groups, and sires within groups are described. The computing algorithms are outlined briefly. Attention is drawn to a mimeographed publication of 46 pages (12) which describes in detail the computing algorithms for a model including an interaction between sire and herd (the environmental correlation) and a model which does not include the environmental correlation.

Genetic And Herd-Year Variation In Type Traits Of Brown Swiss Cows, A. M. Moreno, G. R. Wiggans, L. Dale Van Vleck

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Type classification records of 15,697 Brown Swiss cows by 1955 sires in 852 herds were analyzed with a cross-classified (herd-year and sire of cow) model. Fractions of variance due to herd-year effects ranged from 8% for mammary system to 17% for body capacity. Within herd-year heritabilities ranged from 24% for feet and legs to 43% for final score. Descriptive traits were analyzed by the same model except that each category was treated as a binomial variable. Proportions of variance due to herd-year effects for the descriptive traits were generally below 10%. Heritabilities were generally below 15%.

An Approximate Procedure For Determining Prediction Error Variances Of Sire Evaluations, G. R. Ufford, C. R. Henderson, L. Dale Van Vleck

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Prediction errors of sire evaluations can be obtained directly from the inverse of the appropriate coefficient matrix. Considerably more effort is required to obtain the inverse in practical situations than can be justified for publication of a confidence figure. An approximate prediction error variance, k/(n + 20), is used currently in the Northeast Artificial Insemination Sire Comparison where n is the number of daughters and k is an appropriate breed constant corresponding to the residual variance. This procedure, however, does not account for distribution of sires across herds nor several lactations per daughter. Thus, the diagonal elements of the sire …

Extending Partial Lactation Milk And Fat Records With A Function Of Last-Sample Production, G. R. Wiggans, L. Dale Van Vleck

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Holstein production records (364,328) from the Northeast were used to develop a procedure to extend in-progress and terminated records. A function was developed involving last-sample production which accounts for systematic influences in estimating remaining yield, which is yield from day of last sample to day 305. Last-sample production was used because remaining yield is estimated more accurately from last-sample production than from cumulative yield. The function is: estimated 305-day yield = yield in first n days + [(b₁ + b₂n) last production + (b₃ + b₄√n)/last production)] • (305-n). The coefficients (b's) were estimated …

Fluctuations In Sire Evaluations, D. C. Bolgiano, L. Dale Van Vleck, R. W. Everett

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Large fluctuations in an artificial insemination sire's evaluations concern both dairymen and artificial insemination studs. Characteristics of three bulls with high initial values which dropped on later evaluations were compared with those of 17 "normal" bulls. Characteristics included genetic yield, management, genetic trend, environmental trend, and size of herds where daughters freshened, genetic merit of mates, and average age at freshening of daughters in first lactation. Evidence suggests that fluctuations are from preferential treatment of daughters of some sires as well as randomness inherent in methods of sampling and evaluating sires.

Projection Factors For Goat Lactation Records, G. R. Wiggans, L. Dale Van Vleck, F. N. Dickinson

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Projection factors based on production on the last day of sampling were developed for dairy goat milk and fat records. The 305-day lactation was divided into 13 stages varying from 10 to 40 days. The shortest stages were in early lactation. Sets of factors were developed for four ages at freshening, two seasons, two levels of herd production, and two breed groups. These classifications were necessary to avoid bias and improve accuracy. Cumulative yield factors also were developed with the same grouping of records. These factors are used when production for the last sample day is not available.

Niobrara-Missouri River Fishery Investigations, Larry W. Hesse, Gene Zeurlein, Roger Vancil, Leonard Koziol, Brad Newcomb, Leigh Ann Retelsdorf

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

The Niobrara River heads in the table lands of eastern Wyoming and flows 786 kilometers (km) eastward across Nebraska joining the Missouri River near the town of Niobrara, Nebraska. The Niobrara is the largest Missouri River tributary between the last two mainstem impoundments (Lake Francis Case and Lewis and Clark Lake). Fish movement up the Niobrara is prevented by Nebraska Public Power District's (NPPD's) Spencer Hydroelectric Dam, 63.3 km upstream from the river mouth. The lower reach of the river is turbid and carries a considerable load of sand, silt, and organic debris into the Missouri River. The mean annual …

Nebraska Rainbow Trout, Nebraska Game And Parks, G. Zeurlein, L. Hesse, J. Seeb, L. Wishard

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

Chapter 1 Lethal and Preferred Temperatures of Lake McConaughy Rainbow Trout Versus Domestic Strain Rainbow Trout By R. Vancil, G. Zuerlein and L. Hesse

Chapter 2 A Nitrifying Filter-Cooling Condenser System for Total Water Re-use in Cold-Water Fish Holding or Rearing Applications By L. Hesse, G. Zuerlein and R. Vancil

Chapter 3 Biochemical Genetic Analysis of Two Strains of Nebraska Rainbow Trout By J. Seeb and L. Wishard

The self-sustaining rainbow trout population living in Lake Mcconaughy and the North Platte River tributaries is unique to the Great Plains region. The population spends most of its adult life in the …

Rabbits (Genus Sylvilagus) Of Nicaragua, Terry L. Yates, Hugh H. Genoways, J. Knox Jones Jr.

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The rabbits (genus Sylvilagus) of Nicaragua are herein reviewed systematically. Geographic and nongeographic variation has been assessed based on examination of 124 museum specimens constituting 28 samples of Sylvilagus floridanus from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, and 15 samples of S. brasiliensis from Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Morphological features of the skin and skull were analyzed using various univariate and multivariate statistical techniques. Analysis of geographic variation in S. floridanus indicates that rabbits of this species in Nicaragua are referable to the subspecies S. f. costaricensis, rather than to S. f. hondurensis as previously believed. Based on our …

Sperm Morphology, G. Lawrence Forman, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Bishop and Austin (1957) in their study of variation in mammalian spermatozoa suggested that the sperm of each mammalian species was probably unique. Although complete volumes have been written on the ultrastructure of spermatozoa (for example Baccetti, 1970), particularly of humans and domestic animals, there is still relatively little information available on the comparative gross morphology of spermatozoa. McFarlane (1963), Forman (1968), and Forman et at. (1968) made significant contributions to our understanding of the use of sperm morphology in establishing systematic and phylogenetic relationships of birds and mammals. However, there have been very few similar studies published to this …

The Parasitic Coelenterate, Polypodium Hydriforme Ussov, From The Eggs Of The American Acipenseri From Polyodon Spathula, Glenn L. Hoffman, E. V. Raikova, V. Ch. Suppes

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

No significant differences in macro- and micromorphology were found between the parasitic stolon and free-living polyps of Polypodium sp. obtained from infected eggs of the North American acipenseriform fish Polyodon spathula and corresponding developmental stages of Polypodium hydriforme Ussov, parasitic in the Volga sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus). Therefore, both the American and the European forms of Polypodium belong to the species P. hydriforme Ussov

Review Of Fish Pathology, Glenn L. Hoffman

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

This excellent, somewhat Scottish text (the editor and most contributors live in Scotland), consists of 14 well-illustrated and informative chapters: 1. The Aquatic Environment by A. L. S. Munro; 2. The Anatomy and Physiology of Teleosts by A. E. Ellis, R. J. Roberts, and P. Tytler; 3. The Pathophysiology and Systematic Pathology of Teleosts by R. J. Roberts; 4. The Immunology of Teleosts by A. E. Ellis; 5. Neoplasia of Teleosts by Joan Budd and R. J. Roberts; 6. The Virology of Teleosts by Janet Liversidge and A. L. S. Munro; 7. The Parasitology of Teleosts by Ted Needham and …