Poultry or Avian Science Commons^™

Nou Founding Ornithologist, Hypnotist, Physician: Isador Trostler, Rick Wright

Nebraska Bird Review

Eminent radiologist Benjamin H. Orndoff, eulogizing an esteemed colleague some months after his death, noted that Isador Simon Trostler (1869–1957) “as a lad . . . became interested in ornithology and herpetology, sending accounts of his observations and explorations to natural history magazines up to the late [18]90s.” Understandably more interested in Trostler’s role as a “pioneer in radiology,” Orndoff had no more to say about the natural history pursuits of one of Nebraska’s most notable early ornithologists, one of the founders 125 years ago of the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union.

Conversely, we birders have known little or nothing of Trostler’s …

The Nebraska Bird Review (September 2023) 91(3), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Summer Field Report, June–July 2023, by W. Ross Silcock

2023 Limpkin at Crystal Cove Park, Dakota County, NE, by Bill Huser

2022 (34th) Report of the NOU Records Committee, by Mark A. Brogie

Subscription and Organization Information

2023 Limpkin At Crystal Cove Park, Dakota County, Ne, Bill Huser

Nebraska Bird Review

On the morning of October 7, 2023, I observed Nebraska’s second Limpkin (Aramus guarauna) at Crystal Cove Park in South Sioux City, and the bird was subsequently seen by several other observers throughout that afternoon. Photo and video records were obtained (https://ebird.org/checklist/S151656716). The summer and fall of 2023 brought fourteen sightings to Iowa, though it is impossible to determine how many birds were involved (eBird, 2023). One of those sightings occurred in the northwestern part of the state at Bacon Creek Park in Sioux City when a single Limpkin was independently reported by two observers on …

2022 (34th) Report Of The Nou Records Committee, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

The functions and methods of the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee (NOURC) are described in its bylaws (NOURC 2010). 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. Species for which the NOURC seeks documentation (NOURC Review List) can be found at the NOU website www.NOUbirds.org. Starting in 2020, the NOURC decided to deal mainly with those species deemed as Accidental on the “Official List of the Birds of Nebraska.” Casual species and out-of-range species are now summarized in the “Seasonal Reports” of the …

Summer Field Report, June–July 2023, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

There were no new species for Nebraska. This was also a lean season for records of species with few Nebraska records. Probably most significant were continuing Common Ravens in two Sioux Co locations, and possibly the first summer records of Baird’s Sparrow, a recording of the latter currently under NOURC review.

Within-state breeders nesting at new locations. There were several instances of nesting reported away from known breeding areas. These include documented records of first nesting Black-necked Stilts in Cherry Co, Least Terns off river at Offutt Base Lake in Sarpy Co, Mississippi Kite in Adams Co, Yellow-throated Vireo in …

Spring Field Report, March - May 2023, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

First off, I want to reiterate that reports compiled for this Spring Seasonal Report are evaluated against current knowledge as presented in Birds of Nebraska-Online (“BONO”; https://birds.outdoornebraska.gov/). Species whose reports do not add new information on distribution, early or late dates, etc., are listed as having “Routine reports”. Please let me know at [email protected] if you have information that is not in BONO, or if you have additions and/or corrections of information in BONO. Another reminder: if evidence of breeding is observed, please enter the appropriate descriptor in your eBird checklist under “Breeding and Behavior Code”. These descriptors can be …

Nou Spring Field Days And Annual Meeting. Valentine, May 5-7, 2023

Nebraska Bird Review

The NOU Annual Meeting and Spring Field Days was held in Valentine on May 5-7, 2023, with 50 in attendance. Our meetings and meals took place in the Niobrara Lodge. Field trips were led by Robin Harding, William Flack, T. J. Walker, Dave Heidt, Mark Brogie and Don and Janis Paseka. Destinations included Thomas Creek WMA, Cub Creek Recreation Area, the Niobrara Valley Preserve (TNC Property), the river road from Meadville (SW of Springview) to Norden, the Valentine City Park, Valentine Fish Hatchery, Ft. Niobrara NWR, Anderson Bridge WMA, the Minnechaduza Creek crossing north of Kilgore, Steer Creek, Merritt Reservoir, …

Rethinking The Status And Temporal Occurrence Of The American Woodcock In Nebraska Because Of Its Unusual Life History, Joel G. Jorgensen, Stephen J. Brenner

Nebraska Bird Review

Historical distribution and range expansion -- We reviewed existing information to evaluate conclusions by previous authors (e.g., Sharpe et al. 2001, Silcock and Jorgensen 2023) that woodcock have expanded their range west since settlement of Nebraska by Euro-Americans. We also provide additional context about the species’ distribution over time using regional resources.

Temporal occurrence and abundance -- We used data from woodcock outfitted with satellite transmitters 2021-2022 and compared it with occurrence data from two sources, eBird (eBird.org 2023) from all years through 2022 and the SFRs in the Nebraska Bird Review 1994–2019. We chose not to use SFR data …

The Nebraska Bird Review: A Magazine Of Ornithology Of The Nebraska Region. Volume 91 June 2023 Number 2

Nebraska Bird Review

Spring Field Report, March - May 2023 by W. Ross Silcock …46

Correction to 2022-2023 Christmas Bird Count tally ….70

Rethinking the Status and Temporal Occurrence of the American Woodcock in Nebraska because of its Unusual Life History by Joel G. Jorgensen and Stephen J. Brenner …71

NOU Spring Field Days and Annual Meeting in Valentine, May 5-7, 2023 …..84

Subscription and Organization Information …91

The Nebraska Bird Review: A Magazine Of Ornithology Of The Nebraska Region. Volume 91, Number 1. March 2023, Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union

Nebraska Bird Review

Winter Field Report, Dec. 2022 - Feb. 2023 by W. Ross Silcock

Annual Color Photo Section

Annual Treasurer's Report for 2022 by Jan Johnson

Subscription and Organization Information

2022-2023 Christmas Bird Counts, Don Paseka

Nebraska Bird Review

Sixteen counts were run in the 2022-2023 CBC season. Because of weather and rescheduling issues, the Crawford, Harrison, and Harlan County counts were cancelled. Eight of the counts were completed during the first week of the count period and the other eight were scattered throughout the remainder of the count period. An early December cold snap seemed to drive many of the birds south, but the weather on actual count days was fairly benign: mostly dry with an average high of 34˚F and an average low of 19˚F and with three circles reporting light snow. The total number of species …

The Nebraska Bird Review Annual Color Photo Section

Nebraska Bird Review

Virginia Rail and chick, Washboard Road, North Platte, Lincoln Co., 28 June 2023. Photo by Boni Edwards.

American Coot, Eagle Scout Lake, Hall Co., April 2020. Photo by Colleen Childers.

Hudsonian Godwit, Marsh Wren Community Wetlands, Lancaster Co., 21 May 2022. Photo by Kirill Belashchenko.

American Avocet, N.P. Dodge Park, Omaha, Douglas Co., 2 May 2023. Photo by Thane Dinsdale

Female Cape May Warbler, photographer's backyard, Bellevue, Sarpy Co., 10 May 2022. Photo by Loren Padelford.

Male Cape May Warbler, Ft. Niobrara NWR, Cherry Co., 13 May 2022. Photo by Gordon Warrick.

Tennessee Warbler, Fontenelle Forest Wetlands, Sarpy Co., 24 …

Annual Treasurer's Report For 2022, Jan Johnson

Nebraska Bird Review

No abstract provided.

Winter Field Report, Dec. 2022 - Feb. 2023, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

Since this is a Winter Seasonal Report, it seems appropriate to lead off with notable reports of occurrences that might be considered unexpected for midwinter, of which there were several. A range of species was involved, suggesting an encompassing cause such as climate change. Of interest were northerly wintering groups of waterfowl including Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Ringnecked Duck, and Hooded Merganser. Reports of wintering Tundra Swans, Whitewinged Doves, and Lesser Goldfinches continue to increase, and numerous Redwinged Blackbirds in the northeast in midwinter were unexpected. Also quite unexpected were two Sandhill Cranes wintering in the east, the state’s first …

Impacts Of Eastern Redcedar Juniperus Virginiana L. On Avian Communities In Eastern South Dakota, Jay Holm

Schultz-Werth Award Papers

Eastern redcedar (ERC) (Juniperus virginiana L.) is the most rapidly spreading woody species in the Northern Great Plains due to fire suppression, planting in windbreaks, and overgrazing. Its encroachment has converted already fragmented and/or degraded grassland into woodland, and there is concern that it may negatively impact grassland-obligate/dependent avian species. In this study, I evaluated avian community composition between ERC-encroached and non-encroached grasslands in eastern South Dakota. Six sites each of encroached grassland and non-encroached grassland were selected. Bird surveys were conducted by performing point counts placed equidistantly along a transect for two years. Presence and abundance of each species …

Unraveling A Paradox Of Habitat Relationships: Scale-Dependent Drivers Of Temporal Occupancy-Abundance Relationships In A Cooperatively Breeding Bird, Natasha D.G. Hagemeyer, Mario B. Pesendorfer, Walter D. Koenig, Eric L. Walters

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Context Spatial occupancy and local abundance of species often positively covary, but the mechanisms driving this widespread relationship are poorly understood. Resource dynamics and habitat changes have been suggested as potential drivers, but long-term studies relating them to abundance and occupancy are rare. In this 34-year study of acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus), a cooperatively breeding species, we observed a paradoxical response to changes in habitat composition: despite a reduction in the availability of high-quality breeding habitat, the population increased considerably.

Objectives We investigated the role of annual variation in food availability and long-term changes in habitat composition as predictors …

A Multi-Isotope Approach Reveals Seasonal Variation In The Reliance On Marine Resources, Production Of Metabolic Water, And Ingestion Of Seawater By Two Species Of Coastal Passerine To Maintain Water Balance, Lucas Navarrete, Nico Lübcker, Felipe Alvarez, Roberto Nespolo, Juan Carlos Sanchez-Hernandez, Karin Maldonado, Zachary D. Sharp, John P. Whiteman, Seth D. Newsome, Pablo Sabat

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Tracing how free-ranging organisms interact with their environment to maintain water balance is a difficult topic to study for logistical and methodological reasons. We use a novel combination of triple-oxygen stable isotope analyses of water extracted from plasma (δ¹⁶O, δ¹⁷O, δ¹⁸O) and bulk tissue carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotopes of feathers and blood to estimate the proportional contribution of marine resources, seawater, and metabolic water used by two species of unique songbirds (genus Cinclodes) to maintain their water balance in a seasonal coastal environment. We …

Use Of Amino Acid Isotope Analysis To Investigate Capital Versus Income Breeding Strategies In Migratory Avian Species, Nico Lübcker, John P. Whiteman, Oliver N. Shipley, Keith A. Hobson, Seth D. Newsome

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

1. Income and capital breeding represent opposing ends of a continuum of reproductive strategies. Quantifying nutrient allocation to reproduction is challenging, but recent advances in compound-specific stable isotope analysis hold promise for tracing the source of individual compounds allocated to reproduction.

2. Here, we describe a novel approach of using measured carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope values of individual amino acids (AAs) in pectoral muscle of egg-laying females and egg yolk as a useful tool to quantify the reliance on income versus capital breeding in migrating species. We used white-fronted (Anser albifrons frontalis), lesser snow (A. …

Insect Availability And Parental Care Behavior In A Common Bird, Cole Bourque

Symposium of Student Scholars

Populations of aerially insectivorous birds are declining throughout North America. Urbanization may indirectly contribute to this decline through its negative effects on populations of insects, an important food source in insectivores' diets, where low insect availability may be especially challenging for birds during breeding. How fluctuations in insect populations impact various species at higher trophic levels is an important area of current study for future conservation biology. Here, we examine whether nestling provisioning, brooding and guarding behaviors in a breeding bird—the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)—may be altered depending on the relative insect availability in the environment. We found …

Schramm Park Fall Field Days, Janis Paseka

Nebraska Bird Review

The 2022 NOU Fall Field Days were held at Schramm Park State Recreation Area, south of Gretna in Sarpy County, on September 21-23, with approximately 60 in attendance. The meeting had been scheduled and cancelled twice in the two previous years due to coronavirus concerns. The total species count was 119, including a Sandhill Crane, Prairie Falcon (early for away from breeding area), Winter Wren, and early Snow Bunting. A Limpkin, which had been found in late June at Wehrspann Wetlands mitigation pond in Sarpy County and was still seen through late November in the Wehrspann Lake area, was not …

The Nebraska Bird Review, Index To Volume 90

Nebraska Bird Review

From: Abbott, Sydney 56

To: Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha 66, 146

The Nebraska Bird Review Volume 90 December 2022 Number 4

Nebraska Bird Review

Fall Field Report, August - November 2022 by W. Ross Silcock ...126

Remembering Clem Klaphake by Don Paseka ...151

Schramm Park Fall Field Days, Sept. 21-23, 2022 ... 154

Index to Volume 90 ...159

Subscription and Organization Information …175

Remembering Clem Klaphake, Don Paseka

Nebraska Bird Review

Clement (Clem) Klaphake passed away on December 30, 2022, from complications of Parkinson’s disease, which he struggled with for several years. He was born in Melrose, Minnesota, in 1943 and grew up working on his parents’ dairy farm, which included the usual menagerie of other farm animals typical of that time. Perhaps it was the routine of milking twice a day, seven days a week, or the impressive scar on his leg from a boar tusk, but Clem was destined to leave the farm and become a life-long educator. ... After getting his degree in 1971, Clem was hired to …

The Nebraska Bird Review, Subscription And Organization Information (December 2022)

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): $25 in the United States and $35 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $7 each, postpaid, in the United States and $9 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Anita Breckbill, NOU Librarian, c/o Music Library, WMB 30, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0101 (or at the email address listed below).

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

Fall Field Report, August-November 2022, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

All in all, this was a fairly uneventful fall season, although even uneventful seasons have their share of oddities and variations from the norm. A noteworthy event was a fire that took out much of the brushy habitat in Carter Canyon, Scotts Bluff Co (see photo on following page). It will be interesting to read upcoming spring reports to see what effect the fire might have had on numbers of birds that frequent brushy areas, like towhees and buntings. Optimistically, fires have attracted rare woodpeckers, with first to arrive Black-backed, which would be a first documented Nebraska record, and typically …

Summer Field Report, June-July 2022, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

As always, the summer season produces surprises, and this year was no exception. Surprises fall into different categories, though: genuine statewide rarities, within-state distributional rarities, and, of course in summer, nesting records at new locations, population notes, late and early dates and high numbers, increased knowledge about subspecies in the state, and miscellaneous things of interest. These categories are covered separately below after some housekeeping comments.

“Genuine statewide rarities” were led by the first state record Limpkin found by Karen Kader and seen by many in Sarpy Co. Potential 2nd or so state records were a Mexican Duck in Scotts …

2021 (33rd) Report Of The Nou Records Committee, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

The functions and methods of the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee (NOURC) are described in its bylaws (NOURC 2010). 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. Species for which the NOURC seeks documentation (NOURC Review List) can be found at the NOU website www.NOUbirds.org. Starting in 2020, the NOURC decided to deal mainly with those species deemed as Accidental on the “Official List of the Birds of Nebraska”. Casual species and out-of- range species are now summarized in the “Seasonal Reports” of the …

The Nebraska Bird Review. Volume 90 September 2022 Number 3

Nebraska Bird Review

Summer Field Report, June - July 2022 by W. Ross Silcock ….90

2021 (33rd) Report of the NOU Records Committee by Mark A. Brogie … 113

Subscription and Organization Information … 123

Subscription And Organization Information

Nebraska Bird Review

logists’ 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): $25 in the United States and $35 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $7 each, postpaid, in the United States and $9 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Anita Breckbill, NOU Librarian, c/o Music Library, WMB 30, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0101 (or at the email address listed below). Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): Active Household (one or more people) $25; Sustaining Household (one or …

Foraging Habitat Selection Of Shrubland Bird Community In Tropical Dry Forest, Anant Deshwal, Steven L. Stephenson, Pooja Panwar, Brett A. Degregorio, Ragupathy Kannan, John D. Willson

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Habitat loss due to increasing anthropogenic disturbance is the major driver for bird population declines across the globe. Within the Eastern Ghats of India, shrubland bird communities are threatened by shrinking of suitable habitats due to increased anthropogenic disturbance and climate change. The development of an effective habitat management strategy is hampered by the absence of data for this bird community. To address this knowledge gap, we examined foraging sites for 14 shrubland bird species, including three declining species, in three study areas representing the shrubland type of forest community in the Eastern Ghats. We recorded microhabitat features within an …