Ornithology Commons^™

A Low Intensity Sampling Method For Assessing Blue Crab Abundance At Aransas National Wildlife Refuge And Preliminary Results On The Relationship Of Blue Crab Abundance To Whooping Crane Winter Mortality, Bruce H. Pugesek, Michael J. Baldwin, Thomas V. Stehn

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

We sampled blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) in marshes on the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas from 1997 to 2005 to determine whether whooping crane (Grus americana) mortality was related to the availability of this food source. For four years, 1997 - 2001, we sampled monthly from the fall through the spring. From these data, we developed a reduced sampling effort method that adequately characterized crab abundance and reduced the potential for disturbance to the cranes. Four additional years of data were collected with the reduced sampling effort methods. Yearly variation in crab numbers was high, ranging …

Whooping Crane Collisions With Power Lines: An Issue Paper, Thomas V. Stehn, Tom Wassenich

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Collision with power lines is the greatest source of mortality for fledged whooping cranes (Grus americana) in the Aransas-Wood Buffalo population (AWBP) that migrate between the Northwest Territories, Canada to the Texas coast. This paper compiles 45 documented whooping crane mortalities from power line strikes in North America and provides known information on crane / power line interactions. A map of the AWBP whooping crane migration corridor was derived with 100 and 200-mile wide corridors delineated showing the location of known mortalities. Recommendations are provided to try to reduce this major threat facing whooping cranes.

A Year-Long Study Of Food Consumption By Captive Whooping Cranes At The International Crane Foundation, Jessica J. Stocking, Michael S. Putnam, Nathanial B. Warning

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Throughout 2002, we recorded daily food consumption by 12 pairs of captive whooping cranes (Grus americana). For 7 pairs we recorded food consumption throughout the entire year while there were large continuous gaps in measurements of food consumption for 5 pairs that raised chicks that year. Birds received both a maintenance and breeder diet, and for both we converted food consumption to energy intake (Joules/g body mass) using the combined fall weights of female and male. We compared daily energy intake with 6 meteorological variables (involving temperature, wind speed and humidity), photoperiod (natural and artificial) and egg laying …

Resolutions Passed By The North American Crane Working Group, Tenth North American Crane Workshop Zacatecas City, Zacatecas, Mexico, North American Crane Working Group

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Florida Crane habitat resolution
Florida has the largest population of non-migratory sandhill cranes in the world and winters a significant portion of the eastern population of greater sandhill cranes. And in Florida, efforts are underway to introduce migratory and non-migratory whooping cranes. In order to successfully establish and sustain these populations, appropriate habitat needs to be available. About 40% of Florida’s best crane habitat has been lost between 1973 and 2003, and the amount has increased since then. Because of this, these valuable populations of cranes are finding it more difficult to locate suitable habitat. We the NACWG by this …

Volatile Compounds From The Integument Of White Leghorn Chickens (Gallus Gallus Domesticus L.): Candidate Attractants Of Ornithophilic Mosquito Species, Ulrich R. Bernier, Sandra A. Allan, Brian Quinn, Daniel Kline, Donald Barnard, Gary Clark

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Candidate kairomones of ornithophilic mosquito species are reported from GC/MS analysis of compounds from the skin on the back, the feet, and feathers from the back of White Leghorn chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus). Hexane and ether extracts of chicken feathers differ significantly in attractiveness of Culex spp. mosquitoes. The active (hexane) extracts contained an abundance of alcohols, ketones, and diones. The inactive (ether) extracts contained aldehydes, which also were in the hexane extracts. Analysis of hexane extracts from chicken feet, skin, and feathers demonstrated the qualitative similarity in the compounds collected with subtle differences observed in the quantitative …

A Guide To The Tallgrass Prairies Of Eastern Nebraska And Adjacent States, Paul A. Johnsgard

Papers in Ornithology

Contents

Part 1: Ecology of the Tallgrass Prairie

Part 2: Plants of the Tallgrass Prairies:
Checklist of Prairie & Grassland Plants of Nebraska; Relative Frequencies of Grasses, Spring Creek and Nine-mile Prairies; Twenty Most Abundant Fall Forbs, Spring Creek and Nine-mile Prairies; Typical Shrubs, Forbs, Grasses & Sedges of Eastern Nebraska Tallgrass Prairies; English: Latin Name Equivalents of 370 Tallgrass Prairie Plants; Latin: English Name Equivalents of 370 Tallgrass Prairie Plants Identification Keys to Some Common Nebraska Grassland Forbs

Part 3: Animals of the Tallgrass Prairies
Greater Prairie-chickens and Native Prairies; Seasonal Checklist of Nebraska Tallgrass Ecoregion Birds (Gage County); …

The Birds Of Nebraska, Revised Edition 2007, Paul A. Johnsgard

Papers in Ornithology

Persons living in Nebraska often feel that they are living in a cultural wasteland; its citizenry preoccupied with violent sports such as hunting and football. Yet many are unaware that they are actually residing in one of the prime locations in the entire world for observing and enjoying some of the most aesthetically appealing of all the world's biological attractions. The area around Kingsley Dam and Lake McConaughy, for example, is known to have attracted more than 300 bird species, including 104 breeders (plus 17 probable breeders) making it the third-most species-rich bird location in the entire U.S.A. (after Laguna …

A Guide To The Natural History Of The Central Platte Valley Of Nebraska, Paul A. Johnsgard

Papers in Ornithology

This book has been written in the hope that visitors to the Platte Valley may gain a greater appreciation for it through learning some of its animals and plants in addition to the Platte Valley's star spring attraction, its sandhill cranes. Besides the cranes, we have a world-class migration of geese and ducks, a slightly later migration of shorebirds, including what is probably the buff-breasted sandpiper's most important spring staging area between its South American wintering grounds and its arctic breeding grounds. Nebraska also has what may be the largest surviving population of greater prairie-chickens of any state, and an …

Eurasian Tree Sparrow—A First Record For Nebraska, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

On Thursday, 01 February 2007, Scott Raasch of rural Madison County called to say he had what he believed to be a Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) coming to a feeder at his house just east of Enola. The bird had been present for about a week, although he had just identified the species upon purchasing a new field guide. He reported that the bird was very wary and only stayed for a short time at the feeder. The bird was most often observed in the early morning or just before dusk.

Dave Heidt and I arrived the …

Fall Field Report, August-November 2007, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This was essentially a normal fall season in Nebraska, with no major weather events or significant shifts in breeding or migration ranges, although a possible exception is a first record of Lesser Goldfinch breeding in the state. One observer made the point, though, that the hard freeze in the spring affected seed and fruit crops for fall, most conspicuously resulting in fewer large American Robin flocks. Excellent water conditions in the Rainwater Basin were welcome, but few herons and egrets were present, and no unusual breeding events were reported there.

As winter approached, however, increased numbers of a few finch …

Nebraska Bird Review (December 2007) 75(4), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Fall Field Report, August-November 2007 by W. Ross Silcock ... 98

Eurasian Tree Sparrow—A First Record for Nebraska by Mark A. Brogie ... 118

NOU Fall Field Days at Halsey, September 28-30, 2007 ... 121

Index to Volume 75 ... 125

Subscription and Organization Information ... 135

Subscription And Organization Information [December 2007]

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): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Lou Pritchard, NOU Librarian, c/o University of Nebraska State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): …

Index To Volume 75

Nebraska Bird Review

Accipiter species 22-23

Ahlering, M. A. 60

Alexander, Irene 19

Allen, Sue 19

Allwine Prairie Preserve 15

American Ornithologists' Union 93

Ames CBC 17-30

Amiotte, Sue 61

Anderson, Chris 19

Anderson, T. R. 120

Ani, Groove-billed 88

Aubushon, Kathy 18

Avocet, American 41, 76, 106, 122

Halsey Fall Field Days

Nebraska Bird Review

The 2007 NOU Fall Field Days were held at the 4-H Camp in the Nebraska National Forest near Halsey on September 28-30, 2007. Among the approximately 45 in attendance were two first time attendees: Juanita Rice of Fairmont and Tim Hajda of Broken Bow.

Wayne Mollhoff spoke on Friday night about the progress on the new breeding bird atlas: "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Atlas," and on Saturday night, Bob Rooney did a multimedia presentation entitled "A Sandhills Odyssey."

Field trips to Cherry, Logan, and Brown Counties were led by Clem Klaphake, Mark Brogie, and Dave …

Summer Field Report, June-July 2007, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This summer was a "something for everyone" season. Ecologists, already excited by the apparent ability of Greater Prairie-Chickens to lek in improbable habitats, such as corn fields and dirt edges of Rainwater Basin playas, will welcome the use by Lark Buntings and Vesper Sparrows of wheat stubble fields with a growing corn crop. The Vesper Sparrows of the east, a different subspecies from those in the north and west, have been at the mercy of full-tillage cropping systems, but now have a reprieve and may even be increasing because of no-till and minimum tillage methods currently in vogue due to …

Nebraska Bird Review (September 2007) 75(3), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Summer Field Report, June-July 2007 by W. Ross Silcock ... 70

2006 (18th) Report of the NOU Records Committee compiled by Mark A. Brogie ... 86

Subscription and Organization Information ... 95

Subscription And Organization Information [September 2007]

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): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Lou Pritchard, NOU Librarian, c/o University of Nebraska State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): …

2006 (18th) Report Of The Nou Records Committee, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

The functions and methods of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union (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 updated two times (NOU Records Committee 1997, 2004).

The "Official List" has been appended sixteen times: (Mollhoff 1989; Grenon 1990, 1991; Gubanyi 1996a, 1996b, 1996c; Brogie 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006; Jorgensen 2001, …

Wpa News 79 (2007), World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

WPA News (Summer 2007), number 79

Published by the World Pheasant Association

Spring Field Report, March–May 2007, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

INTRODUCTION

Extremes of weather conditions and resulting variation in water conditions were noteworthy this spring. The west was very dry, but the Rainwater Basin had ample rains resulting in excellent breeding conditions for various waterbirds, notably Eared Grebe and American Coot. Shorebird numbers were unremarkable, although there was plenty of variation between species. Indeed, Dunlin, with record numbers, and Ruddy Turnstones were numerous. Arrival dates were pushing early but not record early. Species earlier than average were American Golden-Plover, Mountain Plover, Black-necked Stilt, White-rumped Sandpiper, and Stilt Sandpiper.

Increasingly associated with wetlands, albeit unrelated to water levels, Greater Prairie-Chicken continued …

A Preliminary Survey Of Southeast Nebraska Grassland Habitat And Potential Henslow’S Sparrow Habitat, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

INTRODUCTION

The decline in numbers of Henslow’s Sparrows in North America (Sauer et al. 2001) is generally considered to be due to reduction in the extent of its preferred breeding habitat, “relatively large fields consisting of tall, dense grass, a well-developed litter layer, standing dead vegetation, and sparse or no woody vegetation” (Herkert et al. 2002). Since 1985, however, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has allowed payments to landowners by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to idle croplands and to seed them to various grasses. This has provided habitat that appears to …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (June 2007)

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): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada, and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Lou Pritchard, NOU Librarian, c/o University of Nebraska State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): …

Nebraska Bird Review Whole Issue (June 2007) 75(2)

Nebraska Bird Review

Spring Field Report, March–May 2007 ... 34

A Preliminary Survey of Southeast Nebraska Grassland Habitat and Potential Henslow’s Sparrow Habitat ... 53

Remembering Sue Amiotte, Mildred Gross, and Izen Ratzlaff ... 61

NOU Annual Meeting at North Platte, May 18–20, 2007 ... 63

Subscription and Organization Information [masthead] ... 67

[Nou] Annual Meeting At North Platte [May 18-20, 2007]

Nebraska Bird Review

The 108th Annual Meeting of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union was held in North Platte at the Sandhills Convention Center/Quality Inn on May 18–20, 2007. Field trips to surrounding counties for the 60 members and friends in attendance were organized by T. J. Walker and led by Robin Harding. Lanny Randolph, Wayne Mollhoff, and T. J. Walker.

Friday evening’s speaker was John Sidle, Threatened and Endangered Species Specialist with the United States Forest Service in Chadron, who spoke about efforts to monitor populations of Burrowing Owls and associated species, such as Ferruginous Hawks and Black-footed Ferrets.

Saturday evening, Dr. Josef Kren, …

Remembering Sue Amiotte, Mildred Gross, And Izen Ratzlaff

Nebraska Bird Review

This past spring the NOU lost three longtime members whose contributions to the organization are noteworthy. In March, Amelia "Sue" Amiotte passed away in Kearney. In April, we lost another loyal member in the person of Mildred Gross. Mildred was born in 1920 and, with her husband Everett, was a familiar sight at NOU meetings for decades. In May, Izen Ratzlaff lost her battle with cancer.

Bird-Friendly Development Guidelines

Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP)

INTRODUCTION
• Background
• Need for Policy and Action
• Policy Context
• Relevance to New, Existing and Heritage Buildings

DESIGN-BASED DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES FOR BIRD-FRIENDLY BUILDINGS
• Glass
• Visual Markers
• Strategies for Creating Visual Markers
• Strategies for Muting Reflections

LIGHT POLLUTION
• External Lighting Fixtures
• Types of Lighting
• Preferred Lighting
• Discouraged Lighting

BUILDING MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS
• Reducing Light Pollution from Interior Lights
• Cleaning During the Day
• Internal Location of Greenery

SITE DESIGN STRATEGIES
• Lighting
• Other Site Features
• Comprehensive Bird-Friendly Site Strategy

CONCLUSION
• Glossary

Henslow’S Sparrow Status In Nebraska, W. Ross Silcock, Joel G. Jorgensen

Nebraska Bird Review

Henslow's Sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii) is a grassland species of considerable conservation concern endemic to southern and eastern North America (Herkert et al. 2002; Reinking 2002). Annual declines of about 7.5% from 1966 to 2000 (Sauer et al. 2001) and the extirpation of breeding birds from large portions of the historic range have led to the sparrow being listed as a species of "Highest Concern"' on the Partners in Flight National Watch List (PIFNWL:http://www.partnersinflight.org/cont_plan/PIF3_Part2WEB.pdf).

While the Henslow's Sparrow is not listed as federally threatened or endangered, most species on this list are prime candidates for such consideration. The Nebraska …

2006–2007 Christmas Bird Counts In Nebraska

Nebraska Bird Review

Despite snow and ice storms which forced postponement of several counts and prevented participation by a number of birders, all 14 counts which were held last winter took place again this winter. The total number of species (131) was two more than last year's 129, and the total number of individuals was 177,590, down some 30,000.

Waterfowl numbers were about normal. Canada Goose numbers were down 16,000 from last year, but this is a number which fluctuates on that scale from year to year. Northern Pintails are becoming more abundant on Christmas Counts. Their tallies in the early 1990s were …

Nebraska Bird Review Whole Issue (March 2007) 75(1)

Nebraska Bird Review

NOU Annual Treasurer’s Report for 2006 ... 2

Winter Field Report, December 2006 to February 2007 ... 4

Henslow’s Sparrow Status in Nebraska ... 13

2006–2007 Christmas Bird Counts in Nebraska ... 17

Subscription and Organization Information [masthead] ...31

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (March 2007)

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): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada, and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Lou Pritchard, NOU Librarian, c/o University of Nebraska State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): …