Poultry or Avian Science Commons^™

The Effect Of Floor Density On Growth Performance And Carcass Characteristics Of French Guinea Broilers, Samuel N. Nahashon, Nathaniel Adefope, Abravi Amenyenu, James E. Tyus Ii, D. Wright

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

The floor density required for optimal growth performance of different avian species and varieties is highly variable. Little is known of the required floor density for optimum performance of the French guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) broiler. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of varying floor densities on growth performance and carcass characteristics of the French guinea broiler. In 3 replicates, 687 one-day-old French guinea keets were weighed individually and randomly assigned to floor pens covered with pine wood shavings at 69, 60, 53, and 47 birds/pen, equivalent to densities of 15.6, 13.6, 12, and 10.7 birds/m2, …

Molt Migration By Giant Canada Geese In Eastern South Dakota, Charles D. Dieter, Bobby J. Anderson

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

We captured giant Canada geese (Branta canadensis maxima) in 7 counties in eastern South Dakota during the summer molting period, 2000–2003. We attached very high frequency (VHF) transmitters to 150 adult female geese with brood patches, and leg bands to 3,839 geese. We documented molt migrations using VHF telemetry and indirect band recovery at locations north of South Dakota. Telemetry of radio-collared female geese during the breeding season indicated that 56% of nonbreeders, 81% of unsuccessful breeders, and 19% of successful female breeders embarked on a molt migration. Five of 34 geese that underwent molt migrations moved to …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

Projected Climate Change Effects On Nuthatch Distribution And Diversity Across Asia, Shaily Menon, M. Zafar-Ul Islam, A. Townsend Peterson

Peer Reviewed Publications

We used ecological niche modeling approaches to explore climate change implications for one family of birds, the Sittidae, in Asia. Quantitative niche models based on present-day distributions for each of 13 species were projected onto future climate change scenarios. Species’ potential distributional areas tended to be predicted to retract along their fringes, and at lower elevations along mountain ranges. As observed in other studies, montane systems were relatively more robust to the horizontal effects of climate change on species’ distributions compared to flatland systems, so range contractions were focused in Southeast Asia and peninsular India.

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

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, …

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 …

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 …

2008 Ksu Insortmil/Usaid Poultry Experiment In West Africa, S. Issa, J. D. Hancock

INTSORMIL Presentations

INTSORMIL (funded by USAID) promotes the use and marketability of sorghum and millet in developing nations around the world.

A key objective is to provide technology transfer that will improve production, storage, marketing, and utilization of sorghum and millet.

An additional objective is to build human capital via student training and collaboration with colleagues in targeted regions of the world.

Justification: We were approached by potential collaborators from the National Institute for Agronomic Research in Niger (INRAN).

Sorghum is the second most produced cereal (after millet) in Niger.

Locally produced sorghum is generally less expensive than imported corn, yet imported …

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 …

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.

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

Performance Comparison Between The Use And Nonuse Of An Enteric Health Medication Program Across Five Consecutive Commercial Broiler Flocks, Joey Lynn Bray, C. S. Taylor, T. E. Cherry, J. Carey

Faculty Publications

A study was conducted to examine broiler performance and carcass yield across 5 consecutive commercial broiler flocks after the removal of roxarsone (ROX) and growth-promoting antibiotics (GPA) from the feed. Over a 1-yr period, approximately 552,000 broilers were reared in 4 solid-walled, tunnel-ventilated houses, divided into 2 paired-house facilities, and were assigned 1 of 2 dietary treatments. The treated group received basal diets containing salinomycin, ROX, and GPA, whereas the control group received the same diets without ROX and GPA. Average BW were recorded for 200 sample birds/treatment per flock at 18, 35, and 48 d of age. Average BW, …

Cooperation And Competition: Nepotistic Tolerance And Intrasexual Aggression In Western Bluebird Winter Groups, Janis L. Dickinson, Melody Euaparadorn, Katherine Greenwald, Chandreyee Mitra, Daizaburo Shizuka

Papers in Ornithology

Two hypothesized benefits of delayed dispersal are access to resources and prolonged brood care (or parental nepotism). Resource abundance (mistletoe wealth) is a key factor influencing whether sons stay home in western bluebirds, Sialia mexicana, but nepotism is also observed. Western bluebird sons commonly remain in their family groups throughout the winter, whereas daughters usually disperse before winter. Because pairing often takes place in winter groups, with newly formed pairs settling on exclusive all-purpose territories in spring, selection for sexual competition and nepotism co-occur and may simultaneously influence patterns of aggression within groups. We measured aggression at mealworm feeder …

Sexual Differentiation Of The Zebra Finch Song System: Potential Roles For Sex Chromosome Genes, Michelle L. Tomaszycki, Camilla Peabody, Kirstin Replogle, David F. Clayton, Robert J. Tempelman, Juli Wade

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Recent evidence suggests that some sex differences in brain and behavior might result from direct genetic effects, and not solely the result of the organizational effects of steroid hormones. The present study examined the potential role for sex-biased gene expression during development of sexually dimorphic singing behavior and associated song nuclei in juvenile zebra finches.

Results

A microarray screen revealed more than 2400 putative genes (with a false discovery rate less than 0.05) exhibiting sex differences in the telencephalon of developing zebra finches. Increased expression in males was confirmed in 12 of 20 by qPCR using cDNA from …

Letter From The Dean, Lalit Verma

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Planted Grasslands And Native Sod Prairie: Equivalent Habitat For Grassland Birds, Kristel K. Bakker, Kenneth F. Higgins

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Little is known about how avian relationships to tracts of native sod prairie compare with avian relationships to single and multiple species of cool- and warm-season grassland plantings. We compared grassland bird species richness and density in 5 grassland cover types (n = 97) in the tallgrass prairie region of eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota, 2001–2004. Grassland bird species richness was significantly higher in native sod prairies than it was in all planted cover types except warm-season mixes. Grasslands dominated by exotic species did not support as many grassland bird species or have species densities as high as grasslands …