Zoology Commons^™

Tufted Duck At Lake Ogallala: First Record For Nebraska, Stephen J. Dinsmore

Nebraska Bird Review

On 2 December 1999, I was birding at the east end of Lake Ogallala in Keith County. I was scanning the large diving duck flock just above the Keystone diversion dam when I noticed a scaup-like duck with a thin crest. I quickly realized that the bird was a male Tufted Duck. I carefully studied the, bird from 9:32-10:28 a.m. The bird spent all of its time actively foraging with a large flock of Greater and Lesser Scaup. It was approximately the same size as a Lesser Scaup. The head shape was rounded like a scaup, not "peaked" like a …

The 1999·2000 Nebraska Christmas Bird Count, Stephen J. Dinsmore

Nebraska Bird Review

The 1999·2000 Christmas Bird Count (CBC) period included ten counts in Nebraska (Table 2). These counts reported a total of 133 species, a great total for so few counts. Counts were scattered statewide, but most effort was in the eastern half of the state where most of the birders are. The top count this year was Lake McConaughy, where the combination of several lingering rarities, excellent participation, and great count weather led to a new record Nebraska count of 101 species, breaking the old record of 87 species. Other excellent totals were 85 at Harlan County, 84 at Branched Oak-Seward, …

Yellow-Billed Loon At Lake Mcconaughy, Stephen J. Dinsmore, Joel G. Jorgensen

Nebraska Bird Review

On 8 August 1998 we observed a Yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii) at lake McConaughy in Keith County, Nebraska. We arrived at the pull-off on the south end of the dam at 6:25 p.m. and soon spotted a distant loon off the dam. On the basis of the yellow bill, head pattern, and large size, we concluded the bird was a Yellow-billed loon. We studied the bird until 7:33 p.m. and again from 9:03-9:45 a.m. on 9 August. Compared to a Common loon, this bird was huge and large-headed. The neck was very thick with an almost puffy appearance. …

A Century Of Breeding Birds In Nebraska, Jackie Canterbury, Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

With the imminent publication of the Nebraska Breeding Bird Atlas and the turning of a new millennium, it is perhaps an appropriate time to survey the state of breeding birds in Nebraska. Wayne Mollhoft's summary of the N.O.U.'s Nebraska Breeding Birds Atlasing Project (Mollhoff, 2000) provides important data bases for the latter part of the past century, and the historic overview by James Ducey (1988) offers a useful basis for judging the breeding avifauna of Nebraska from about the beginning of the century. The Biological Resources Division of the U. S. Geological Survey's (WSGSBRD) annual Breeding Bird Survey data currently …

Spring Field Report, March To May 2000, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This spring was a fairly normal, although I heard comments about warblers being rather tough to find. The reports did confirm that for many of the migrant northwoods species. There were a few rarities, none represented first state records, however. Foremost of these were White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, blue-morph Ross's Goos~, Common Crane, Band-tailed Pigeon, Hammond's Flycatcher, and Black-throated Gray Warbler. The following birds may join these, although each may have fatal flaws, at least in the eyes of the NOURC: Red Phalarope and Slaty-backed Gull. Other interesting sightings included a Mississippi Kite in Lincoln; Gray Partridges in Scotts Bluff …

Mist Netting At Oliver State Recreation Area, Stephen J. Dinsmore

Nebraska Bird Review

During the fall 2000 migration, I decided to do some mist netting at Oliver State Recreation Area in Kimball County. My main emphasis was to document the occurrence of several species of Empidonax in western Nebraska. limited netting there in fall 1999 was not very successful, but I was more optimistic this year. With that in mind, I obtained the necessary federal and state permits and netted on four dates (26 August, 31 August, 7 September, and 20 September), each chosen to be immediately after the passage of a cold front.

First Record Of An Arctic Tern For Nebraska, Stephen J. Dinsmore

Nebraska Bird Review

On 20 September 2000, I arrived at Lake Minatare in Scotts Bluff County after the passage of a strong cold front the day before. At 11:36 a.m., I noticed two distant Sterna flying east of the lighthouse. Although the distance was great, I could see that one tern was a juvenile Forster's Tern while the other tern was clearly a different species. Even at a distance, I thought I could see a white cheek, a darker gray belly, and pale upperwings, all indications that the bird was an adult Arctic Tern. I then drove to the lighthouse and soon found …

Index To Volume 68

Nebraska Bird Review

Index

Fall Field Report, August-November, 2000, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This fall season was amazing, or as Stephen Dinsmore put it: ''The birding was simply spectacular in western Nebraska this fall," There was something for everyone, whether rarity-chasers, taxonomists, listers, or whatever. There were no fewer than four new species for the state list (pending NOURC approval, of course!), a total of 315 species reported, and fascinating information on western subspecies in the Panhandle.

Numbers of western migrants reached record levels, exemplified by fall totals of 53 Townsend's Warblers, 25 MacGillivray's Warblers, and 28 Western Tanagers. By contrast, eastern migrant warblers in the east were almost non-existent.

At L McConaughy, …

Nebraska Bird Review (December 1999) 67(4), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Fall Field Report, August to November, 1999 ... 118

Species Accounts ... 120

Kids on Science (Humor) ... 139

1998 (Tenth) Report of the NOU Records Committee ... 141

Index for Volume 67: 1–4 ... 152

Index To Volume 67

Nebraska Bird Review

Index to Volume 67

1998 (Tenth) Report Of The Nou Records Committee, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

The functions and methods of the 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 appended eight times (Mollhoff 1989, Grenon 1990, 1991, Gubanyi 1996a, 1996b, 1996c, Brogie 1997, Brogie 1998). An update of THE OFFICIAL LIST OF THE BIRDS OF NEBRASKA was last published in 1997 (NOU Records Committee 1997).

This report …

Fall Field Report, August To November, 1999, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This season, partly due to the departure of my co-writer Joel Jorgensen and partly due to mental aging, I have shortened the species accounts by including only data that add to our current knowledge base. I will not routinely list early and late dates and peak counts for each species unless they are significant; readers should refer to past issues of NBR for guidelines as to what are early or late dates and high counts. Observers are, however, urged to report early and late dates and high counts of all migrant species; it is difficult to know if a sighting …

Kids On Science

Nebraska Bird Review

The beguiling ideas about science quoted here were gleaned from essays, exams, and classroom discussions. Most were from 5th and 6th graders.

Table Of Contents And Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (December 1999) 67(4)

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): $14.00 in the United States; $18.00 for all foreign countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4.00 each, postpaid, in the United States, and $5.00 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Prichard, NOU Librarian, University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in NOU (on a calendar year basis only): Active, $15.00; Sustaining, $25.00; Student, $10.00; Family Active, $20.00; Family Sustaining, $30.00; …

Nebraska Bird Review (September 1999) 67(3), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Summer Field Report, June to July, 1999 ... 86

Species Accounts ... 88

The Ultraviolet Birds of Nebraska ... 103

Cooperative Whooping Crane Tracking Project (March 1999–May 1999) ... 105

1998 Nebraska Nesting Report ... 108

Three Poems by Roy Scheele ... 114

1998 Nebraska Nesting Report, Wayne J. Mollhoff

Nebraska Bird Review

Following a hiatus of nearly a decade, this report on the nesting birds of Nebraska reinstates a Nebraska Bird Review tradition that began with an anonymous compilation (apparently by the editor) of the notes from two observers in the 1955 breeding season (Anonymous 1956). By 1965, with the inception of the Cornell Nest Record Card Program, data was collected on standardized cards, with the completed cards being forwarded to Cornell University in New York.

I accepted responsibility for the program several years ago; but by mutual agreement with the/Nebraska Ornithologists' Union leadership, I have delayed work until the Nebraska Breeding …

Three Poems, Roy Scheele

Nebraska Bird Review

At the Kitchen Window

Prodigal

The Patience of the Hawk

Cooperative Whooping Crane Tracking Project March 1999-May 1999

Nebraska Bird Review

A peak population of 182 (164 adult/subadult and 18 juvenile) whooping cranes was reported at Aransas during the winter of 1998-99. An adult plumaged whooping crane, which wintered with sandhill cranes about 90 miles northeast of Aransas in Fort Bend County, was the record 183rd bird in the wintering flock. No birds are known to have been lost at Aransas during the winter. A 1986 colormarked female with a broken leg, last observed at Quivira NWR on December 29, 1998, was not reported during the spring migration, and is assumed to be dead. An estimated 183 whooping cranes migrated north …

The Ultraviolet Birds Of Nebraska, Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

That the visual range of at least some birds extends into the ultraviolet region has been known since the early 1970s, when it was first discovered in hummingbirds and pigeons. The ultraviolet region is that energy consisting of light waves shorter than Violet, and thus beyond human perception. Although UV perception has long been recognized to occur in many insects and other invertebrate groups, scientists had doubted that either birds or mammals have this ability. Instead, it was generally assumed that the vertebrate cornea provides a protective block to ultraviolet waves, perhaps because UV energy can do damage to the …

Summer Field Report, June To July, 1999, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

First of all, I want to thank Joel Jorgensen for helping write these reports for the last few years. Joel has decided to spend his limited free time on Records Committee matters; he is currently Chairman. Over the last few years, Joel has made significant contributions to Nebraska ornithology, particularly through his! meticulous counts of shorebirds in the Rainwater Basin.

This season proved interesting in terms of ranges of breeding birds, as discussed in the accounts. See, for example, Little Blue Heron, the dOWitchers. Black-billed Magpie, White-breasted Nuthatch, Sedge Wren, and the towhees. There seems to be an increasing number …

Table Of Contents And Masthead, From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1999) 67(3)

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): $14.00 in the United States; $18.00 for all foreign countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4.00 each, postpaid, in the United States, and $5.00 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Prichard, NOU Librarian, University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in NOU (on a calendar year basis only): Active, $15.00; Sustaining, $25.00; Student, $10.00; Family Active, $20.00; Family Sustaining, $30.00; …

Nebraska Bird Review (June 1999) 67(2), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Spring Field Report, March to May 1999 ... 42

Species Accounts ... 44

Book Review by Linda R. Brown of Swallow Summer ... 71

Neotropic Cormorant at Sutherland Reservoir ... 72

NOU Fall Field Days Count, 1998; May NAMC Count, 1999 ... 73

Clark’s Nutcracker at Lake McConaughy ... 79

Roseate Spoonbill in Otoe County ... 80

Red-throated Loon at Lake McConaughy ... 81

Two Poems by Don Welch and Drawings by Mark Sanders ... 82

Table Of Contents And Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review June 1999

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): $14.00 in the United States; $18.00 for all foreign countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4.00 each, postpaid, in the United States, and $5.00 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Prichard, NOU Librarian, University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in NOU (on a calendar year basis only): Active, $15.00; Sustaining, $25.00; Student, $10.00; Family Active, $20.00; Family Sustaining, $30.00; …

Book Review: "Swallow Summer" By Charles R. Brown, Linda R. Brown

Nebraska Bird Review

Swallow Summer is a first-person, day-to-day account of Charles and Mary Bomberger Browns' fourteenth field season studying Cliff Swallows in western Nebraska. This story also concerns the three bright undergraduate field assistants who shared the experience of the summer of 1995. Charles communicates their discoveries of Cliff Swallow colony behavior in an everyday conversational manner. It was easy for me to catch the excitement they feel in "discovering the questions." I felt their wonder when as this very cold late breeding season slowly progressed, these researchers discovered that indeed many of the swallows were not breeding at all. This rather …

Clark's Nutcracker At Lake Mcconaughy, Stephen J. Dinsmore

Nebraska Bird Review

On 1 November 1998 I observed a Clark's Nutcracker along the north shore of Lake McConaughy in Keith County. Specifically, the bird was along the road of the Cedar Vue Recreation Area, just east of the main boat ramp. I studied and photographed the bird from 11:32 to 11:50 a.m. I was driving along the entrance road to Cedar Vue when I spotted a bird perched in a dead tree. As I approached the tree, I was thinking about stopping when the bird suddenly took flight. The flight silhouette resembled that of a flicker, although the undulating flight and slower …

Neotropic Cormorant At Sutherland Reservoir, Stephen J. Dinsmore

Nebraska Bird Review

On 2 May, 1998, I observed a Neotropic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) at Sutherland Reservoir in Lincoln County, Nebraska. When I arrived at the lake, I noticed a large number of gulls and cormorants resting on some dead logs near the northwest end of the lake. I scanned the cormorants several times and kept returning to one cormorant that seemed smaller than the nearby Double-crested Cormorants. The bird was sleeping, so size was the only mark I could see well. I studied the bird from 1:54 to 2:20 p.m. I estimated the body was at least 25% smaller than …

Nou Fall Field Days Count, 1998; May Namc Count, 1999

Nebraska Bird Review

The NOU count during Fall Field Days, October 16 through 18, focused on areas in and around the Nebraska National Forest and includes reports from 5 counties: Forest, Blaine, Brown, Cherry, and Thomas. This year's species count, owing in part to inclement weather, registered only 92, far behind the previous year's NOU Fall Field Days record of 122 species.

The North American Migration Count (NAMC) for Pierce County is also included in this report. A total of twelve people in five parties took part in this year's count. The count registered one hour walked and 380 miles covered in 43.5 …

Red-Throated Loon At Lake Mcconaughy, Stephen J. Dinsmore

Nebraska Bird Review

On 8 May 1998 I observed a Red-throated Loon at Lake McConaughy in Keith County, Nebraska. I was scanning Arthur Bay when I spotted a small loon swimming with several Western Grebes. I immediately recognized the bird as a Red-throated Loon in basic plumage. I studied and photographed the bird from 2:25 to 3:13 p.m. The bird was slightly larger and shorter-necked than a Western Grebe. The plumage was quite plain. The throat, cheek, foreneck, and underparts were white. The forehead, crown, nape, mantle, and wings were dark gray with a few pale spots on the mantle. The bill was …

Roseate Spoonbill In Otoe County, Stephen J. Dinsmore

Nebraska Bird Review

On 5 August 1997, W. Ross Silcock and I were birding the heron roost at the Waubonsie Wildlife Area in Fremont County, Iowa. We were hoping to see the Roseate Spoonbill I found there on 4 August (see Dinsmore 1998), and thought there might be a chance it would fly into Nebraska upon leaving the roost. At 5:53 a.m., the bird left the roost. It flew directly over us (in Iowa) and headed to the north with a Great Egret. We continued to watch the bird as it gained altitude and was joined by a second Great Egret. The birds …