Ornithology Commons^™

1984 (Fifty-Ninth) Spring Occurrence Report

Nebraska Bird Review

Two hundred ninety-three species (and the possibility that one of the Swan sp. was not a Tundra Swan) are listed in this report, from 13 locations. The comparable figures for 1983 are 288 and 2 possibles from 13 location, 1982 287 from 15 locations, and 1981 298 from 12. The symbols used in the tabulations are: . . .

Nebraska Bird Review (September 1984) 52(3), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Spring 1984 Whooping Crane Records in Nebraska … 46

1983 Nebraska Nesting Survey … 47

1984 (Fifty-ninth) Spring Occurrence Report … 51

Notes … 59

Book Review … 68

1983 Nebraska Nesting Survey, Esther V. Bennett

Nebraska Bird Review

Data on the 1983 nesting season in Nebraska were received from 24 observers, reporting on 69 species from 49 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: N represents nests observed for which no Nest Record Card was submitted; and Y represents young observed. GPC in the following paragraph represents Nebraska State Game and Parks Commission. Fifty-four species were reported on 595 North American Nest Record Cards. The counties, with column numbers on the tabulation shown in parentheses, and the contributors …

Spring 1984 Whooping Crane Records In Nebraska

Nebraska Bird Review

The Pierre, S.D., office of the Fish and Wildlife Service has released their records of sightings of the Wood Buffalo flock of Whooping Cranes, and those that pertain to Nebraska are given below.

There are three classes of sightings:

Confirmed Sightings. Observation made by a State or Federal Biologist or officer or by other known qualified observer (trained ornithologist or birder with experience in identification of Whooping Cranes). A photograph may also be used to confirm sightings.

Probable Sighting. No confirmation made by State or Federal Biologist or officer or by other known qualified observer, yet details of the sighting …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1984) 52(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 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.

All dues and subscriptions should be remitted to the Treasurer, Mrs. Jack Shafer, RR2, Box 61, Wood …

“Notes” From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1984) 52(2)

Nebraska Bird Review

DIPPER. In late September or early October 1982 I saw a Dipper on wood stacked in my yard, near the business center of Stanton.—Bruce P. Jundt, Stanton

NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD. On 17 September 1983 I saw a Mockingbird in the shelter belt on our farm.—Mike Erickson, Wayne

BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER. On 8 October 1983 I saw a female Black-throated Blue Warbler in our shelter belt.—Mike Erickson, Wayne

WORM-EATING WARBLER. On 26 April 1984 Layne Johnson, John Chase, Paul Pearson, and I saw a Worm-eating Warbler in the shelter belt on our farm 8 miles north and 1 mile west of Wayne.—Mike …

Birds Of Lake Mcconaughy And The North Platte River Valley, Oshkosh To Keystone, Richard C. Rasche, Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

Cedar Point Biological Station was established in 1975 at a site approximately one mile below Kingsley Dam in Keith County, Nebraska. Since that time, summer ornithology classes have been periodically offered beginning in 1977 when it was taught by Dr. Stephen Fretwell. A variety of ornithologists have kept records of the summer birds of the area. Beginning in 1970, when he first visited the area, the senior author has accumulated a large amount of data covering all seasons of the year, which form the primary basis for the seasonal information in this paper. In addition, much information was contributed by …

“Book Review” From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1984) 52(2)

Nebraska Bird Review

How Birds Work: A Guide to Bird Biology, Ron Freethy, 232 pp., 6 x 9¼, Blandford Press, England, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York, bibliography, indexed, hardbound $19.95, paperback $8.95.

“How Birds Work is a straightforward introduction to the science of ornithology and provides basic information enabling the amateur birdwatcher to understand his ‘quarry’ more easily. As a direct result of reading this book, the behavior of birds will be more readily understood, and in particular the complexities of migration.” Which is a fair summary of the book, although it may over-stress migration. The chapter headings are The …

Nebraska Bird Review (June 1984) 52(2), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Birds of Lake McConaughy and the North Platte River Valley, Oshkosh to Keystone … 26

Some 1983 Summer Birds of the Missouri National Recreation River, Nebraska … 36

The Eighty-third Annual Meeting … 41

Lesser Goldfinch Recorded in Nebraska … 42

Notes … 42

Book Review … 44

Lesser Goldfinch Recorded In Nebraska, Phil Swanson

Nebraska Bird Review

I photographed this Lesser Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria) at Gilbert-Baker Wildlife Area (north of Harrison, Nebraska) about 9:00 a.m. on 20 May 1984. The bird was in the campground area with American Goldfinches. I watched the Lesser Goldfinch with binoculars for a few minutes before I took the photograph and easily noted the field marks. The bird was the black-backed variety (C. p. psaltria).

The Eighty-Third Annual Meeting

Nebraska Bird Review

Almost perfect weather greeted the 59 who registered for the eighty-third Annual Meeting, held at Camp Norwesca, near Chadron State Park, 19 and 20 May 1984. There was a slide show (including a bird identification quiz) Friday night. Saturday there were bird trips to Sowbelly Canyon and Gilbert-Baker Wildlife Area, north of Crawford, and on over to the Wyoming border; to Soldiers Creek, near Fort Robinson; to Beaver Valley, north of Hay Springs; and a shorter, morning only, visit to the Jeanne Dueker home, south of Chadron. At the paper session and Annual Meeting, Saturday afternoon, Mrs. Joyce Brashear read …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1984) 52(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 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.

All dues and subscriptions should be remitted to the Treasurer, Mrs. Jack Shafer, RR2, Box 61, Wood …

Seasonal Lekking Behavior Of The Greater Prairie-Chicken In Illinois, Scott A. Simpson

Masters Theses

Spring behavior of prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) has been studied extensively, however there is little information on fall-winter lekking activity. Greater prairie-chickens were observed weekly on a lek from 25 September 1982 to 23 June 1983 during morning and evening hours in Jasper County, Illinois. The peak number of prairie-chicken males on the lek occurred in February although hen attendance did not occur until 10 March 1983. All spring lekking activities were higher compared to that of the fall-winter period. Fall-winter lek activity was aggression which centered on probably brief, less intense male aggression which probably establishes or maintains …

Whole Issue Nebraska Bird Review (December 1983) 51(4)

Nebraska Bird Review

A New Nesting Species for Nebraska ... 86
Book Reviews ... 87
A Second Black-shouldered Kite in Nebraska,
with Notes on Its Food Habits ... 88
Pine Siskin Nests at Wayne State College ... 89
1983 Fall Field Day ... 89
A Mississippi Kite in Hall County, Nebraska ... 90
Notes ... 91
Index of Volume ... 97

A New Nesting Species For Nebraska, Gary Lingle

Nebraska Bird Review

The Chuck-will's widow (Caprimulgus carolinensis) is considered a highly local but regular migrant and presumed summer resident in Nebraska. Although it is known to breed in Kansas and Oklahoma, there were no nest records for Nebraska (Johnsgard, 1980). Egg dates for Kansas range from 21 April to 31 May (Johnsgard, 1979). On 4 June 1983 a Chuck-will's widow's nest with 2 eggs was discovered in a bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa)–red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) woodland at Camp Merrill, Saunders Co. (Sec 29 T17N RSW), approximately 6 miles southeast of Linwood (Janett Waever, pers. comm.) The …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1983) 51(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 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.

All dues and subscriptions should be remitted to the Treasurer, Mrs. Jack Shafer, RR2, Box 61, Wood …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1983) 51(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 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.

All dues and subscriptions should be remitted to the Treasurer, Mrs. Jack Shafer, RR2, Box 61, Wood …

Breeding Status Of Selected Bird Species In The Niobrara Valley Preserve Area, Nebraska, Michael J. Mossman, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

INTRODUCTION

The Niobrara Valley Preserve is located in north-central Nebraska and includes a variety of relatively undisturbed grassland, woodland, and wetland habitats. The diversity of habitats, in conjunction with the area's central geographic location near the 100th meridian, results in a diverse avifauna with many species and subspecies occurring at or near the western, eastern, southern, or northern edge of their breeding ranges. Several pairs of sibling species and subspecies are found here within their narrow band of sympatry. The breeding list of the Preserve and environs includes at least 105 species (Brogie and Mossman 1983), several of which are …

Scaring Of Carrion Crows (Corvus Corone Corone) By Species-Specific Distress Calls And Suspended Bodies Of Dead Crows, Luzia Naef-Daenzer

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

In Switzerland, carrion crows can cause considerable damage to sprouting corn fields when feeding on the germinated corn. I tried to evaluate a method to prevent these damages. The use of species-specific distress calls, for the first time described by Frings and Jumber (1954), seemed to be the most promising method. Agronomes and biologists have applied it in field studies to several different bird species causing damage in agriculture and on airports (e.g., Gramet, 1962; Brough, 1968). However, the literature either describes single actions or several different scaring devices being used together. To be able to judge the method, quantitative …

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. …

Key To Trematodes Reported In Waterfowl, Malcolm Edwin Mcdonald

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

This key is the second in a series for identification of the helminths reported in waterfowl (Family Anatidae, Order Anseriformes). The first was a key to nematodes (McDonald 1974).

The trematodes show the greatest variety of forms among the helminth parasites of waterfowl, including over half of all species reported; sometimes this group also includes the greatest part of the worms in a single bird. Over 500 species of trematodes have been reported in waterfowl. Almost all of these have been included in the present set of keys; it was not possible, however, to obtain the descriptions of a few …

An Analysis Of Migration Schedules Of Passerine Birds In Nebraska, Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

An Analysis of Migration Schedules of Passerine Birds in Nebraska

The format of this paper follows my earlier one on non·passerine species (NBR 48:26-36). Eastern Kingbird. Seventy-three initial spring sightings range from 24 March to 29 May with a median of 3 May. Half of the records fall within the period 1-7 May. The range of 126 final fall sightings is from 4 August to 14 October, with a median of 9 September. Half of the records fall within the period 116 September.

Western Kingbird. The range of 117 initial spring sightings is from 30 April to 26 May, …

An Analysis Of Migration Schedules Of Non-Passerine Birds In Nebraska, Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

One of the major components of the Nebraska Bird Review since its inception has been the annual spring migration and occurrence report, and in more recent years the fall occurrence report has become equally important. Yet, other than an uncompleted effort by W. F. Rapp, Jr. to summarize the first 25 years of spring migration data, these records apparently have not been analyzed by anyone. Part of the problem is the sheer mass of data to be assimilated, and a second issue is the question of how to classify certain species, for the analysis of a winter visitor required different …

A Ground Dove At Desoto Nwr, Loren Padelford, Babs Padelford

Nebraska Bird Review

A Ground Dove was sighted at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge on 18 November 1979, for about ten minutes around 11 AM, in the hedgerows opposite the entrance to the nature trail, south of the swimming beach.

It was a small dove, only slightly longer but chunkier than Tree Sparrows sitting in the same small tree. There was gray scalloping on the head and breast, the eye was dark, the beak light colored at the base, with the rest appearing dark. The wing was grayish with black speckling from shoulder to tip. We noticed a short tail when the bird was …

Evaluation Of Potential Wild Turkey Habitat In Eastern Illinois, Cara B. Daugherty

Masters Theses

Reestablishment of the wild turkey has been successful in the southern part of Illinois where large established tracts of woodland occur. However, turkeys are capable of surviving in areas with less forest cover, if food, nesting materials and protection are available. This project evaluated the potential turkey habitat of a 14-county area of eastern Illinois along the drainage of the Wabash River. Six potential release sites were selected and the habitat evaluated. In these areas, oak (Quercus spp.) and hickory (Carya spp.) were the dominant tree species. Disturbance from human populations was determined in each of …

Coccidian Parasites Of Wild Turkeys, Meleagris Gallopavo Silvestris, In Illinois, D. Michael Watkins

Masters Theses

Fecal samples from 124 wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris), collected in three southern Illinois counties, were examined for coccidia. Three and two tenths percent (4) of the birds sampled were infected with Eimeria of apparently four different species. These species were tentatively designated as: E. meleagridis, E. adendeides, E. meleagrimitis and E. subrotunda.

Whole Issue Nebraska Bird Review (September 1977) 45(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1977 (Fifty-second) Spring Migration and Occurrence Report .............................34

Poor-wills in Lancaster and Saunders Counties............................42

The Swanskin ............................................. 45

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

Notes ......................................................................... 51

Breeding Birds And Vegetation Of The Central Illinois Floodplain Forest, Daniel Edward Varland

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Blood Parasites Of Illinois Wild Turkeys, Ulrike G. Guenthner

Masters Theses

Blood smears, from 152 wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) killed during hunting seasons in southern Illinois, were examined for blood parasites. Haemoproteus meleagridis infected 34% of the 83 adult and 19% of the 69 immature turkeys. Of the infected birds, 54% had one or two infected cells per 5000 erythrocytes and 78% had one to five. Infection rates were significantly higher in counties along the Mississippi River than in Pope County, located about 40 miles east of the river. Other parasites specifically searched for but not found were Leucocytozoon, Plasmodium, Trypanosoma and microfilaria.

Whole Issue Nebraska Bird Review (September 1975) 43(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1975 (Fiftieth) Spring Migration and Occurrence Report ... 46

Young Mountain Plover Seen in Kimball County ... 54

Notes ... 57

A Sutton's Warbler? ... 62

Scott's Oriole Reported ... 64

1975 Fall Field Day ... 66

A Junco Is a Junco Is a Junco ... 67