Ornithology Commons^™

Birds Of The Great Plains: Three Decades Of Change In Great Plains Birds: A 2009 Supplement To The Birds Of The Great Plains: Breeding Species And Their Distribution, Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Great Plains (Revised Edition, 2009) by Paul Johnsgard

Since the 1979 publication of this book much has been learned of breeding bird distributions in North America, largely as a result of the national Breeding Bird Surveys that were initiated in the 1960s and have continued to the present (Sauer, Hines and Fallon, 2008). From these studies long-term regional average densities of breeding birds have been deduced and national maps generated (Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. 2003). There have also been several state-wide studies on breeding birds of the Great Plains, as represented by breeding bird atlases for South Dakota (Peterson, 1995), Nebraska (Mollhoff, 2001), Kansas (Busby and Zimmerman, 2001), …

Birds Of The Rocky Mountains—Species Accounts, Pages 55–63: Loons & Grebes, Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Rocky Mountains by Paul A. Johnsgard

Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata)
Arctic Loon (Gavia arctica)
Common Loon (Gavia immer)
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)
Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena)
Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricallis)
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)

Long-Tailed Jaegers In Western Nebraska, Stephen J. Dinsmore

Nebraska Bird Review

The Long-tailed Jaeger is an accidental migrant in Nebraska with just one accepted record through the mid-1990s. Based on records from adjacent states, especially Colorado (Andrews and Righter 1992) and Wyoming (Faulkner 2010), the species is probably more frequent than these records indicate, and its status is further complicated by possible confusion with Pomarine and Parasitic jaegers. In this article I report details of four records of Long-tailed Jaegers in western Nebraska and comment on the species' identification and status in the state.

Subscription And Organization Information [September 2009]

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 Anita Breckbill, NOU Librarian, c/o Music Library, WMB 30, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0101.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): Active, $15; …

Nebraska Bird Review (September 2009) 77(3), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Summer Field Report, June–July 2009 ... 94

Long-tailed Jaegers in Western Nebraska ... 110

The Official List of the Birds of Nebraska: 2009 ... 112

Accidental and Casual Species for Which the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee Seeks Documentation ... 131

Editorial Staff Change ... 133

Subscription and Organization Information ... 135

The Official List Of The Birds Of Nebraska: 2009

Nebraska Bird Review

The “Official List of the Birds of Nebraska: 2009” contains 454 species.

The duties of NOU Records Committee (NOU Records Committee 1986) include:

A. The committee shall publish an official list of the birds of Nebraska.

B. The official list will include all those species whose occurrence has been reported in Nebraska.

C. The committee shall keep the official list current.

D. The committee shall publish a list of species for which details are requested with every sighting reported.

The 2009 NOU Records Committee has completed the above duties and the following is the result of its endeavors. This work …

Summer Field Report, June-July 2009, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This was an interesting summer, with range expansions of multiple species continuing in all directions, but predominantly northward. Exceptions to the northward trend were Trumpeter Swan, which bred south of its usual western Sandhills range, and Sedge Wren, which may be occurring in June in northeast Nebraska in greater numbers. Moving eastward are Western Wood-Pewee, which now overlaps with westward-moving Eastern Wood-Pewee in Lincoln Co, Cordilleran Flycatcher in the Pine Ridge, and Lesser Goldfinch in the west. Song Sparrow is also expanding south and west. No fewer than 16 species are moving north and/or northwestward. Several species were seen more …

Editorial Staff Change

Nebraska Bird Review

Steve Dinsmore has generously assisted the Nebraska Bird Review editors for nine years, and now he is bowing out. With this issue, Joe Gubanyi is the new technical editor of the NBR. Joe is a professor of biology in the Natural Science Department at Concordia University in Seward. He has a B.S. Ed. from Concordia, an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He has taught biology, genetics, ecology, vertebrate zoology, and ornithology and has led study tours to Belize and Costa Rica. He is the compiler of the Branched Oak–Seward Christmas …

Accidental And Casual Species For Which The Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee Seeks Documentation

Nebraska Bird Review

A list of 117 species (Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Taiga Bean-Goose, Emperor Goose, Brant, Eurasian Wigeon, etc.) for which the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee seeks documentation.

Song Of The North Wind: A Story Of The Snow Goose, Paul A. Johnsgard, Paul Geraghty

Papers in Ornithology

As a boy in North Dakota, Paul Johnsgard measured his winters, not by conventional time units, but in the days it took for the snow geese to return from their wintering grounds to Lake Traverse. In early April, with hip boots, camera, and binoculars, he awaited the arrival of the first flocks from the Gulf of Mexico. Johnsgard was not alone in admiring the beauty and strength of the snow goose. For centuries this bird has signified the passing seasons to the Indians—its white feathers a symbol of the breath of life and a reminder of the roles the birds …

A Nebraska Bird-Finding Guide, 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 330 bird species, including 104 breeders (plus 17 probable breeders) making it the third-most species-rich bird location in the interior U.S.A. (after Laguna …

Wpa News 83 (2009), World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

WPA News (Summer 2009), number 83

Published by the World Pheasant Association

2008 (20th) Report Of The Nou Records Committee, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

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 eighteen times: Mollhoff 1989; Grenon 1990, 1991; Gubanyi 1996a, 1996b, 1996c; Brogie 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008; Jorgensen 2001, 2002, 2003.

The American Ornithologists' Union Checklist of North American Birds, Seventh Edition (1998) and the Forty-second, Forty-third, Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, Forty-eighth, and Forty-ninth Supplements to the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU: 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) contain many taxonomic …

Spring Field Report, March–May 2009, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

The most obvious pattern this spring was early arrivals, especially among the shorebirds. Dunlin arrived record early, and 5 other species were close to record early dates. However, warblers, sparrows, and buntings were pushing early dates and Brown-headed Cowbird was early in numbers.

Winter finches were scarce except for Pine Siskin, which was present in good numbers, although breeding evidence was nonexistent.

Glossy Ibis continued in numbers as did easterly Lazuli Buntings. Nesting was confirmed at a new location for Red-shouldered Hawk; this is currently the only known active site in the state.

It was a great spring for genuine …

Nebraska Bird Review (June 2009) 77(2), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Spring Field Report, March–May 2009 ... 46

Annual Meeting at York ... 69

On-line Studies on Nebraska Ornithology by P. A. Johnsgard ... 78

2008 (20th) Report of the NOU Records Committee ... 80

Subscription and Organization Information ... 91

Annual Meeting At York

Nebraska Bird Review

Eighty-four members and guests were in attendance at the 110th Annual Meeting of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union in York on May 15–17, 2009.

Field trips were led by Joel Jorgensen, Ross Silcock, Kent Skaggs, Mary Bomberger Brown, and Clem Klaphake to North Lake Basin, Hidden Marsh, the Geneva cemetery, Harvard Marsh, and other sites in the Eastern Rainwater Basin. Mary Brown also took a small group to her Piping Plover and Least Tern study locations along the Platte River.

Our Friday evening speaker was Dan Kim, who gave us an account of work he has done with the Whooping Crane …

On-Line Studies On Nebraska Ornithology, Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

In recent years the University of Nebraska has been developing a DigitalCommons Internet library (http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/) that is freely available online, and that includes publications in the humanities and sciences. The DigitalCommons is a national online digital library that serves as a repository for scholarly publishing. It is a collection of a university's scholarly effort that preserves and makes accessible information via the Internet that is produced by that institution. It may include preliminary or final copies of journal articles, theses, dissertations, conference proceedings, books, or other scholarly materials. The University of Nebraska has been an active participant in this national …

Subscription And Organization Information [June 2009]

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 Anita Breckbill, 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): Active, …

Modeling Parasitism Rate And Parasitism Risk: An Illustration Using A Colonially Nesting Songbird, The Red-Winged Blackbird Agelaius Phoeniceus, Max Post Van Der Burg, Larkin A. Powell, Andrew J. Tyre

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Ornithologists interested in the drivers of nest success and brood parasitism benefit from the development of new analytical approaches. One example is the development of so-called “log exposure” models for analyzing nest success. However, analyses of brood parasitism data have not kept pace with developments in nest success analyses. The standard approach uses logistic regression which does not account for multiple parasitism events, nor does it prevent bias from using observed proportions of parasitized nests. Likewise, logistic regression analyses do not capture fine scale temporal variation in parasitism. At first glance, it might be tempting to apply log exposure models …

The Oldest Romance In The West, Paul A. Johnsgard

Paul Johnsgard Collection

FOR A FEW SHORT WEEKS each June, the stately flowering spikes of Great Plains yuccas illuminate Nebraska’s Sandhills and western plains. On each plant, spires of 20 to 60 ivory-white flowers emerge from a radiating array of needle-sharp leaves. The flowers rise above the rest of the vegetation like Roman candles freeze-framed in flight. Entire hillsides are sometimes transformed by this sudden flower display – often along with sprinklings of blue spiderworts, golden yellow hoary puccoons and white daisy fleabanes. After a few weeks the spectacular show is over, but for the yucca the story’s best chapter has barely begun. …

Sociality And Reconciliation In Monk Parakeets (Myiopsitta Monachus), Lynnsey Lee Morrison

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

For animals living within socially complex groups, it is beneficial for all individuals to maintain group cohesion. Conflicts often arise in groups, which could potentially have high costs both to the subordinate and dominant members, and could lead to group instability. It has been shown numerous times that highly social group members participate in affiliative relationships with other group members discriminately. They also perform related behavior patterns such as reconciliation at a high rate, which could strengthen group stability. Reconciliation occurs when an affiliative interaction takes place between two individuals following an agonistic encounter. The rate of affiliation is higher …

Differential Use Of Agricultural Fields And Rangeland Nesting Habitat By Mccown’S Longspur (Calcarius Mccownii) And Chestnut-Collared Longspur (Calcarius Ornatus) In Western Nebraska, Larry Snyder, Bartholomew L. Bly

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Natural Legacy Plan (NNLP) lists both McCown's Longspur and Chestnut-collared Longspur as Tier I and Tier II species of conservation concern, respectively (Schneider et al. 2005). McCown's Longspur is listed as a Tier I species (highest conservation priority) in Nebraska because of regional population declines (Schneider et al. 2005), and because it is also listed on the Partners in Flight WatchList (Fitzgerald and Pashley 2000). The breeding distribution of McCown's Longspur in Nebraska is suggested to be the westernmost counties of the Panhandle (With 1994), although limited information on the breeding ecology of this species exists for Nebraska. …

Subscription And Organization Information [March 2009]

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 Ornithologists’ Union Treasurer’S Report, December 31, 2008

Nebraska Bird Review

One-page spreadsheet constituting the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union treasurer's report at year end (December 31) of 2008. The grand total is $57,072.48.

Winter Field Report, December 2008 To February 2009, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This was one of the more "normal" winters for some time; I base this conclusion on the lack of unusually early or late dates or exceptional counts, as well as the lack of rarities. Although there were 11 species of gulls reported, perhaps we have become jaded by the gull extravaganza that is Lake McConaughy. It was a great winter for Common Redpolls and Snow Buntings as well, which was welcome as these birds do not appear in any numbers most winters. Perhaps the only group of birds that exhibited consistent aberration from the "norm" (I prefer "average") was the …

Nebraska Bird Review (March 2009) 77(1), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Treasurer’s Report, December 31, 2008 ... 2

2008–2009 Christmas Bird Counts in Nebraska ... 3

Winter Field Report, December 2008 to February 2009 ... 18

Differential Use of Agricultural Fields and Rangeland Nesting Habitat by McCown's Longspur (Calcarius mccownii) and Chestnut-Collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus) in Western Nebraska ... 35

75 Years Ago in The Nebraska Bird Review ... 42

Subscription and Organization Information ... 43

2008-2009 Christmas Bird Counts In Nebraska

Nebraska Bird Review

Thirteen Christmas Bird Counts were held in Nebraska in the 2008–09 season, one less than last year. (Beaver Valley was not run this year.) This year fewer participants (184, the fewest since 2000) found more individual birds than last year (146,635 vs 133,106) but fewer species (126, the fewest since 2000).

Temperatures were about like last year, with an average high of 29°F. Most counts reported some snow cover, frozen still water, and some open running water. On the day of the Branched Oak–Seward count, a balmy 51°F was recorded in Lincoln shortly after midnight. By afternoon, the temperature had …

75 Years Ago In The Nebraska Bird Review

Nebraska Bird Review

The following [General Notes] [are] from the Nebraska Bird Review of January 1934 (Volume 11, No. 1), which was sent then, as it is now, to all members of the NOU not in arrears for dues, which in 1934 were $1.00 per year.

Celebrating Darwin's Legacy: Evolution In The Galapagos Islands And The Great Plains, Paul A. Johnsgard

Papers in Ornithology

An exhibition of photographs by Linda R. Brown, Josef Kren, Paul A. Johnsgard, Allison Johnson, and Stephen Johnson; paintings by Allison Johnson; drawings by Paul A. Johnsgard; and related Darwiniana. Sponsored by the Center for Great Plains Studies, James Stubbendieck, director, and the Great Plains Art Museum, Amber Mohr, curator, in honor of the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth (1809-2009) and the 150th anniversary of The Origin of Species (1859).

EXHlBlTORS
Linda R. Brown, Lincoln, Nebraska. B.S. (Pharmacy) University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 1965.
Paul A. Johnsgard, Lincoln, Nebraska. Foundation Professor Emeritus, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. B.S. (Zoology) North Dakota State …

Four Decades Of Christmas Bird Counts In The Great Plains: Ornithological Evidence Of A Changing Climate, Paul A. Johnsgard, Thomas G. Shane

Papers in Ornithology

The rationale for this book has its origins in Terry Root’s 1988 Atlas of North American Wintering Birds, which provided a baseline landmark for evaluating the nationwide winter distributions of North American birds, using data from the National Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Counts birds from 1962-63 through 1971-72. Tom Shane and I speculated that an updated analysis might shed light on the possible effects of more recent climatic warming trends on bird migration and wintering patterns in the Great Plains, a region known for its severe winters and also one of our continent’s important migratory pathways and wintering regions. …