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“Book Reviews” From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1987) 55(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

Life Histories of North American Diving Birds. A. C. Bent. xiv + 240 + 55 pp. ot photographs. 5.375 x 8.5, Dover Publications, Inc. New York, paper, $6.95. Life Histories of North American Gulls and Terns. A. C. Bent. x + 338 + 93 pages of photographs, 5.375 x 8.5, Dover Publications, Inc. New York, paper $8.95. Dover has reprinted their original reprints of these books in the Bent series with no changes.

Wild Animals I Have Known. Ernest Thompson Seaton. xxvi + 356, 5 x 7.75, Penguin Books, New York, paper, $7.95. If this sounds familiar, …

“Notes” From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1987) 55(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

FUNK LAGOON. We were at the Funk Lagoon 2 July 1987, toward dusk. We saw two Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, five American Bitterns, two Great Egrets, thirty Great Blue Herons, five Double-crested Cormorants, numerous Coots, Blue-winged Teal, Yellow-headed and Red-winged Blackbirds, Killdeer, a flock of Short-billed Dowitchers, and several unidentified shore birds.—George W. Brown, Kearney

WOOD DUCK CARRYING EGG. On 24 April 1987, Gail Roebuck was hiking along the north Stream Trail in Fontenelle Forest and heard Wood Duck calls. She looked up to see the female carrying something in her bill. The Duck dropped the object along the edge of the …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1987) 55(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

Published quarterly in March, June, September, and December, by the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union, Inc., as its official journal and sent to all members who are not in arrears for dues. Subscriptions (on a calendar year basis only) are $10.00 per year in the United States, $12.00 per year in Canada and Mexico, and $12.50 per year in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $3.00 each, postpaid, in the United States; $3.50 elsewhere.

Memberships (on a calendar year basis only): Students, $3.00; Active $7.00; Sustaining $15.00; Family Active $10.00; Family Sustaining $20.00; Life $100.00.

All dues and subscriptions …

A Nebraska Specimen Record Of Clark’S Grebe, Aechmophorus Clarkii (Lawrence), Thomas E. Labedz

Nebraska Bird Review

Clark’s Grebe, formerly known as light-phase Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis clarkii), was elevated to full species status (A. clarkii) in 1985 (American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) 1983, 1985). This paper presents the first recorded occurrence in Nebraska of Clark’s Grebe and is documented with a specimen. Identification of Clark’s Grebe in the field is discussed, and a comparison is made of the Nebraska specimen with specimen s reported in recent literature.

Nebraska Bird Review (September 1987) 55(3), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

1987 (Sixty-second) Spring Occurrence·Report … 50

Red Knot and Red Phalarope photographs … 64

Book Reviews … 65

A Nebraska Specimen Record of Clark’s Grebe, Aechmophorus clarkii (Lawrence) … 68

Notes … 72

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 63, No. 3), Kentucky Library Research Collections

The Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Wpa News 17 (1987), World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

WPA News (August 1987), number 17

Published by the World Pheasant Association

Wpa News 16 (1987), World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

WPA News (July 1987), number 16

Published by the World Pheasant Association

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 63, No. 2), Kentucky Library Research Collections

The Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Bird Territories: A Key To Understanding Bird Behavior, Robert A. Askins

Biology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Diving Birds Of North America: 5 Comparative Pair-Forming And Copulatory Behaviors, Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

All species of loons, grebes, and auks are monogamous, with adults forming strong pair bonds that are established or reestablished each year, probably during the spring prenesting period. The extent of remating by birds mated the previous year in these groups is still largely undocumented, though at least in alcids it is fairly high, given the relatively long life-spans and the tendencies of the birds to return year after year to essentially the same territory and sometimes to the same nest site. Such conditions would promote reestablishment of contracts between previously paired birds, since it is not believed that in …

Diving Birds Of North America: Literature Cited, Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

14 pages, with more than 500 references.

Diving Birds Of North America: Frontmatter, Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

Contents
List of Illustrations and Tables
Preface

Diving Birds Of North America: Species Accounts — Loons (Gaviidae), Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

Loons are large diving birds having long, straight, and acutely pointed bills, with feathers covering the lores (region between eye and bill) and extending to the linear nostrils. There are 10 functional primaries and 22–23 secondaries, the inner secondaries shorter than the primaries. Molting of the remiges (flight feathers) is simultaneous, and the wings are not used for underwater propulsion. The 16–20 rectrices (tail feathers) are short and stiff. The body feathers are shiny and water-resistant; aftershafts and adult down feathers are present. The legs are set extremely far back on the body, making standing very difficult and walking or …

Diving Birds Of North America: Species Accounts — Grebes (Podicipedidae), Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

Grebes are small to medium-sized diving birds having bills that vary from short and rather blunt tipped to long and acutely pointed, with bare lores and head feathers not extending to the linear or oval nostrils. There are 11 functional primaries and 17–22 secondaries, the inner secondaries longer than the primaries. Molting of the primaries is simultaneous; the wings are not used for underwater propulsion, which is provided by the feet. The rectrices are soft, rudimentary, and hidden. The body feathers are small, water-resistant, and shiny. Aftershafts and adult down feathers are present. The legs are set extremely far back …

Diving Birds Of North America: 3 Comparative Egocentric And Locomotory Behaviors, Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

As used here, "egocentric behavior" means those categories of individual survival and maintenance behaviors that are exclusive of such social interactions as aggressive, sexual, and parental behaviors, which will be considered in detail in the individual species accounts and also will be separately summarized in chapter 5. A discussion of the ecological aspects of foraging behavior will also be deferred until chapter 4, though behavioral aspects of underwater locomotion and prey catching will be considered here.

Diving Birds Of North America: 1 General Attributes And Evolutionary Relationships, Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

Loons, grebes, and auks comprise a rather large number of species of aquatic diving birds that are fairly unfamiliar to most people, inasmuch as they tend to spend much of their time well away from shore and, when approached on the water, usually dive inconspicuously and reappear a considerable distance away. Thus in many areas grebes, simply called "helldivers," are often confused with coots or even diving ducks. Many people know loons only by their wild, penetrating cries and romantically associate them with northern woods and lakes, while auks are symbolic of arctic coastal cliffs. But ornithologists can find fascinating …

Diving Birds Of North America: 4 Comparative Diets And Foraging Ecologies, Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

Auks, loons, and grebes are birds whose anatomies and behaviors have been sharply influenced by their foraging niche adaptations. In each species these have evolved through natural selection over extended periods of geologic time as a reflection of available food resources, the presence of competing species, and the limitations on innate variations in anatomy, physiology, and behavior imposed by available genetic mutations and recombinations. To a very considerable degree the auks, loons, and grebes seem to have adjusted to the effects of interspecific competition by evolving differences in bill shape and body size that sometimes open specific new foraging niche …

Diving Birds Of North America: Index, Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

This index is limited to the English vernacular and Latin names of species and subspecies of loons, grebes, and auks discussed individually in this book. Complete indexing is confined to entries for the English vernacular names of species as used in this book. The principal account of each species is indicated by italic page numbers.

[Publisher’s note: The PDF files of the complete book and all chapters have been converted to text via optical character recognition, and may be word-searched from Adobe Reader or Acrobat.]

Diving Birds Of North America: Appendices, Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

Sources of Scientific and Vernacular Names
Keys to Identification of Loons, Grebes, and Auks
Key to Families of Loons, Grebes, and Auks
Key to Species of North American Loons
Key to Species of North American Grebes
Key to Species of North American Auks
Major North American Auk Colonies
Summer Abundance and Breeding Status of Grebes at Selected National Wildlife Refuges

Diving Birds Of North America: Species Accounts — Auks (Alcidae), Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

Auks are small to medium-sized diving birds having bills that are variably pointed and compressed but never acuminate and are sometimes covered with colorful horny sheaths in breeding adults. Feathering densely covers the lores and often extends to the nostrils, which vary from linear to oval. There are 10 functional primaries and 15–19 secondaries; the greater secondary and primary coverts are usually lengthened. Molting of the primaries is usually simultaneous but is gradual in some species; the wings are used for underwater propulsion, and the feet are then used mainly for steering. The 12–18 rectrices are short and normal in …

Diving Birds Of North America: 2 Comparative Distributions And Structural Adaptations, Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

The geographic distributions of the loons, auks, and grebes are primarily reflections of the evolutionary histories of each of the groups, past climatic and geologic phenomena, and present-day climatic and ecological conditions. Thus all the loons and auks are Northern Hemisphere birds, which presumably have never been able to bridge the tropical barrier into the Southern Hemisphere, where seemingly suitable breeding habitat might exist in, for example, southern South America and Tierra del Fuego. Indeed, the breeding distribution of the Northern American loons is distinctly arctic oriented, with the greatest species density north of the boundaries of arctic tundra in …

Diving Birds Of North America: Color Plates, Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

1. Arctic loon, adult in breeding plumage. Photo by author.
2. Red-throated loon, nesting adult. Photo by Kenneth W. Fink.
3. Yellow-billed loon, adult in breeding plumage. Photo by Kenneth W. Fink.
4. Common loon, nesting adult. Photo by Kenneth W. Fink.
5. Pied-billed grebe, adult in breeding plumage. Photo by author.
6. Least grebe, adult and young. Painting by Mark E. Marcuson.
7. Red-necked grebe, nesting adult. Photo by author.
8. Eared grebe, adults with young. Photo by Kenneth W. Fink.
9. Horned grebe, nesting adult. Photo by Kenneth W. Fink.
10. Western grebe, adult with young. Photo by …

Diving Birds Of North America [Complete Book], Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

Considering the great nostalgic attraction of such birds as the common loon for people who have lived at least part of their lives around the lakes of Canada and the northern United States, and given the endearing visual appeal of species like puffins and auklets, it is rather surprising that there are so few books on these groups of aquatic birds. During my childhood summers at our Minnesota lake cottage I used to spend hours watching loons and red-necked grebes, and I marveled at their wonderful diving ability and powerful voices. Much later, the wild puffins and massed breeding colonies …

Diving Birds Of North America: 6 Comparative Life Histories And Reproductive Success Rates, Paul A. Johnsgard

Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard

It is now well recognized that, like behavior, a species' life history characteristics, such as age at sexual maturity, clutch sizes, and incubation, brooding, and fledging patterns, are evolved traits that may be strongly influenced by a variety of ecological factors. Within the auks, loons, and grebes one can find variations in the age at sexual maturity and time of first breeding ranging from as little as 1 to as many as 5 or 6 years, average clutch sizes that range from 1 to 4 eggs, and substantial variations in adult survival rates and maximum longevity. However, compared with such …

Wpa News 15 (1987), World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

WPA News (March 1987), number 15

Published by the World Pheasant Association

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 63, No. 1), Kentucky Library Research Collections

The Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of The Diet, Feeding Behavior, And Habitat Use Of Mallards (Anas Platyrhynchos) And Black Ducks (Anas Rubripes), Michael J. Bennett

Biology Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Breeding Bird Populations In A Proposed Wetland Treatment Area Of Northern Minnesota, Joann M. Hanowski, Gerald J. Niemi

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

A census of breeding bird populations was taken in a 40- hectare wetland near Biwabik, Minnesota, prior to the use of this wetland for phosphorus removal from treated wastewater. The wetland was comprised of four distinct habitat types: shrub swamp, black ash (Fraxinus nigra) forest, open coniferous forest, and closed coniferous forest. We used a line transect (about 4 km in length) to document species composition, relative species abundance, and habitat associations of the bird community. A total of816 individuals (mean= 204) and 45 species (mean = 34) were observed during four censuses in June and July, 1985. Two distinct …

Yellow Rail (Coturnicops Novaborancensis) With Dark Plumage From Arkansas, Douglas A. James

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.