Zoology Commons^™

Avian Cholera In The Panhandle, 1985–1986, Stephen M. Kerr

Nebraska Bird Review

Between 28 November 1985 and 14 February 1986, over 2,500 waterfowl, 48 Wild Turkeys, and at least one Bald Eagle died due to avian cholera in an area from 5 miles west of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, to 5 miles west of Lingle, Wyoming.

On 28 November a severe snowstorm blanketed the North Platte River valley with 10 inches of snow and wind chills of –20°F. An estimated 50,000 Mallards were concentrated 5 miles west of Scottsbluff, at the headwaters of Spring Creek. The area consists of 2 small dredged channels, 10 feet wide and less than 3 feet deep, and surrounded …

By-Laws Of The Nou Records Committee

Nebraska Bird Review

I. NAME. The name of the committee is the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee, hereafter referred to as “the committee.”

II. STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY. This committee exists to serve the ornithological community in Nebraska, not vice versa. It exists to promote and help maintain a high degree of quality and integrity in Nebraska ornithology. All Nebraska ornithologists should understand this and realize that for the committee to achieve these goals, it needs the support of all interested persons. The committee should be regarded as a logical, convenient clearinghouse in regards to records of Nebraska birds. All ornithologists, professional and amateur, …

1986 Fall Field Day

Nebraska Bird Review

The 1986 Fall Field Day was held at the 4-H Camp at Halsey National Forest on 4 and 5 October. The cloudy, rainy weather, which had been rather general over the state the previous few days, cleared up (the last rain at Halsey was late Friday night), and Saturday and Sunday were clear, which pleased the 51 who attended. Of the rare bird reports submitted, the Lesser Goldfinch, by Jim Minyard, was ranked first, and the Laughing Gull, by Paul and Karla Kaufman, the Prairie-Chickens at Omaha, by Douglas Fritz, and the King Rail, by Wayne Mollhoff, were ranked next. …

“Notes” From Nebraska Bird Review (December 1986) 54(4)

Nebraska Bird Review

CORRECTION TO 1986 SPRING OCCURRENCE REPORT. The q and r tor Dark-eyed Junco in Column l should be in Column 2, and the explanations in the text should likewise be moved.

THE DESOTO NWR EIDERS. The March 1986 issue (NBR 54:10) reported Eiders, probably King or Common, at DeSoto NWR, and that photographs were being circulated for confirmation of the species.

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION MIDWINTER EAGLE SURVEY. The 1986 survey total of 462 Bald Eagles is the second highest total reported for Nebraska, surpassed only by the 746 recorded during last year’s unusually mild winter.—Greg Wingfield, Nebraska Game and …

California Gull In Keith County, Nebraska, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

The status of the California Gull (Larus californicus) in Nebraska has undergone a series of changes in recent years. Rapp et al. (1958) makes no mention of this species for Nebraska, although one was collected 19 March 1933 in Lancaster County (Hudson 1933) and is now an axial skeleton #ZM11152 in the University of Nebraska State Museum (Bray et al. 1986). Johnsgard (1980) lists the species as an extremely rare migrant or vagrant in most of Nebraska, while Rasche (1982) designates it as casual in spring and summer and accidental in autumn in northwestern Nebraska and southwestern South …

Whooping Cranes In Blaine County, Wayne J. Mollhoff

Nebraska Bird Review

On 7 April 1986 John Manning, of Norfolk, and I observed a pair of Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) in southeastern Blaine County, about 20 miles west of Taylor. I was notified by a local rancher, who found them while feeding his cattle that morning. John and I were guided to where the birds were feeding in a field. We observed them from about 1400 to 1500 hours as they fed leisurely. About 1500 hours they took off and flew out of sight, heading toward the Middle Loup River. They were found again in the same field about 1745 …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1986) 54(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 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 should …

“Book Reviews” From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1986) 54(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

The Birds of Nebraska: A Critically Evaluated List, Tanya Bray, Barbara K. Padelford, and W. Ross Silcock, 112 pp., 5½ x 8½, paper, available from Barbara Padelford, Bellevue, Nebraska. The authors of The Birds of Nebraska have examined the records for the 445 species (including Clark’s Grebe) that have been listed for Nebraska (some in error), and classified them as to the reliability of the record and the frequency of occurrence.

Eskimo Curlew A Vanishing Species? J. B. Gollop, T. W. Barry, and E. H. Iversen, 160 pp., 5½ x 8½, Special Publication No. 17 of The Saskatchewan Natural …

1986 (Sixty-First) Spring Occurrence Report

Nebraska Bird Review

Three hundred and four species were recorded in this report, from 22 locations, compared to 296 from 22 in 1985, 293 from 13 in 1984, and 288 from 13 in 1983. The numbered columns are essentially spot checks (a one- or two-day visit to an area, or maybe more than one such visit) or unusual birds reported by visitors to the areas. The symbols used in these columns run from a, for January, through z, for July, and so give some guide to the time, although for the specific time and locality the comments for the particular column should be …

“Notes” From Nebraska Bird Review (September 1986) 54(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

GREATER SCAUP IN BOONE COUNTY. On 27 and 28 March 1986 I observed a male Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) 2.5 miles west, 1.5 miles south of Petersburg.—Wayne J. Mollhoff, Albion

PRAIRIE-CHICKENS. On 20 April 1986 I saw a couple of Prairie-Chickens 2 miles north of Eppley Airfield, on Abbott Drive and Crown Point Avenue, Omaha.—Douglas Fritz, Omaha

GLAUCOUS GULL. At about 6 PM on 4 April 1986 Tom Headley, Babs Baldinger, Nancy Thoenes, and I were at Lake North, north of Columbus. Tom saw a large white gull. We put the Questar on it and found that it …

Nebraska Bird Review (September 1986) 54(3), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

1986 (Sixty-first) Spring Occurrence Report … 46

Clark’s Grebe … 64

Book Reviews … 65

Whooping Cranes in Blaine County … 66

Notes … 67

Clark’S Grebe

Nebraska Bird Review

A Clark’s Grebe was taken in Keith County in June 1986, and is now in the State Museum.

1985 Nebraska Nesting Survey, Esther V. Bennett

Nebraska Bird Review

Data on the 1985 nesting season in Nebraska were received from 28 observers and two agencies, reporting on 83 species from 39 counties. Counties in the tabulation are listed in a west to east order, with the northernmost of the approximately equal locations given first. Numbers represent Nest Record Cards, N represents nests for which no Nest Record Card was submitted, E represents eggs, F represents feeding, C represents copulating, CF represents carrying food, FCo represents feeding Cowbird, NM represents carrying nesting material, and Y represents young observed. GPC in the following paragraph represents Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and …

Whooping Crane Roost Site Characteristics On The Platte River, Buffalo County, Nebraska, Gary R. Lingle, Kenneth J. Strom, Jerry W. Ziewitz

Nebraska Bird Review

Whooping Crane (Grus americana) use of the Platte River in Nebraska has been a controversial topic, especially in the last decade. Pressures from water development interests seeking Platte River water conflict with the needs of wildlife and interests from the conservation community. Between spring 1942 and fall 1984 there were 13 confirmed Whooping Crane sightings on or near the Platte River (US Fish and Wildlife Service, 1985). Lingle et al. (1984) described physical characteristics of a Platte River roost site used in 1983. This report describes the physical characteristics of the most recent known roost site on the …

Mottled Duck In Nebraska, W. Ross Silcock, Tanya Bray, Babs Padelford

Nebraska Bird Review

The two major US populations of Mottled Duck occur in Florida and along the Gulf Coast in Louisiana and Texas, with local breeding inland to “southeast Colorado, western Kansas, Oklahoma (rarely), and northeast Texas” (AOU Checklist of North American Birds, Sixth Edition, 1983). Palmer (Handbook of North American Birds, Vol. 2, 1976) notes that Mottled Duck bred in 1963 at Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas, and that some individuals occur inland beyond the usual breeding range during the post-breeding period. Presumably these inland. records pertain to birds from the Texas-Louisiana population, as the Florida birds are generally considered nonmigratory. …

“Book Reviews” From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1986) 54(2)

Nebraska Bird Review

Tales of a Low-Rent Birder, Pete Dunne, 175 pp., 5½ x 8¾, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ, cloth, $15.95. Pete Dunne is director of the Cape May Bird Observatory. These articles were written between 1977 and 1986 and appeared first in the Peregrine Observer.

Migratory Bird Habitat on the Platte and North Platte Rivers in Nebraska, Paul J. Currier, Gary R. Lingle, John G. VanDerwalker, 184 pp., 6 x 9, The Platte River Whooping Crane Trust, 2550 N. Diers Avenue, Suite H, Grand Island, Nebraska 68801, indexed, paper, $11.00 postpaid from the Trust. This is a …

Nebraska Bird Review (June 1986) 54(2), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

The Eighty-fifth (1986) Annual Meeting … 30

1985 Nebraska Nesting Survey … 31

Book Reviews … 36

Whooping Crane Roost Site Characteristics on the Platte River, Buffalo County, Nebraska … 36

Mottled Duck in Nebraska … 39

Notes … 40

“Notes” From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1986) 54(2)

Nebraska Bird Review

MORE 1985 CHRISTMAS COUNT DATA. This data for the Lincoln count is now available: 5:10 AM to 5:15 PM. AM and PM clear. Temp. 31° to 45° F. Wind NW 10–30 mph. Snow cover 0 to 18 inches. Fresh water frozen. Wild food crop poor. Thirty-five observers, 19–30 in 11–13 parties, 5–16 at feeders. Total party-hours 73 (48 on foot, 25 by car) plus 18 hours at feeders, 3.5 owling; total party-miles 320 (54 on foot, 266 by car) plus 87 miles owling.

CORRECTION TO 1980 MIGRATION REPORTS. In the reports covering the first half of 1980 (NBR 48:73) …

The Eighty-Fifth (1986) Annual Meeting

Nebraska Bird Review

The Tout Bird Club was host for the eighty-fifth Annual Meeting 17 and 18 May 1986, which was based at the University of Nebraska Research Center at North Platte. Seventy-six people attended the banquet, and that probably was the maximum attendance. There was a slide show Friday night, Saturday morning was for birding. In the afternoon Tom Hupf, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Grand Island, presented the slide show “Rainwater Basin Wetland Project” and led a discussion afterward. The business meeting followed. It was announced that the Groove-billed Ani (NBR 53:78), reported by Maysel Kiser and others, was the …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (June 1986) 54(2)

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 should be …

Hybrid Bluebird Update, Barbara L. Wilson, Jim Minyard, Hope Minyard

Nebraska Bird Review

The female Mountain Bluebird and male Eastern x Mountain Bluebird nesting in Dawes Co. (NBR 53: 67) successfully fledged two broods, each with four young, in the summer of 1985. Young from the first nesting fledged in the last week of June. About 1 July the parents renested. Since the pair was observed copulating, it is highly probable that the hybrid male was the father of the young to be raised.

In mid-July the eggs hatched, but at this time the female became obviously ill. She sat on a fence with feathers ruffled and did not feed the young. …

1985 Treasurer's Report & 1986 Annual Meeting Announcement From Nebraska Bird Review (March 1986) 54(1).

Nebraska Bird Review

1985 Treasurer's Report

1986 ANNUAL MEETING, NORTH PLATTE, 17-18 MAY

"Book Reviews," From Nebraska Bird Review (March 1986) 54(1).

Nebraska Bird Review

From Laurel Hill to Siler's Bog: The Walking Adventure of a Naturalist. John K. Torres, 228 pp., 6.25 x 8.25, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C. Flexibound, $12.95.

Bird Conservation 2, Stanley A. Temple, editor, 182 pp., 6 x 9, The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wis. No index, $17.50 cloth, $12.95± paper.

Aviary Birds in Color, Frank Woolham, 176 pp., 6 x 7.75, Blandford Press, UK, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York, paperbound, $7.95.

Common Black-Headed Gull In Nebraska, Loren Padelford, Babs Padelford

Nebraska Bird Review

About noon on 18 November 1985 B.J. Rose (14937 N St., Omaha, Neb. 68137) saw a gull flying over the Hartford Sand & Gravel Co.'s sandpit lake, a mile north of Venice, Douglas Co. Because of the size and flight pattern he expected it to be a Kittiwake, but when he got the binoculars on it he saw the white wedge along the outer wing, similar to that of a Bonaparte's. However, except for the white outer primaries, the underwings were uniformly dark. It was an adult winter-plumaged bird with a dark spot behind the eye, bill brownish color (not …

Nebraska Bird Review (March 1986) 54(1), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Table of Contents

Treasurer's Report.................2

1985 Christmas Count.................3

1985 (Twenty-eighth) Fall Occurrence Report .................7

Notes .................16

Hybrid Blue bird Update.................26

Book Reviews .................27

Common Black-headed Gull in Nebraska.................28

1985 Christmas Count

Nebraska Bird Review

The Christmas count includes 101 species, two more than last year, and three species (compared to two last year) were recorded as present during the count period but not recorded on the count day on any count. Two additional localities (Beaver Valley, northwest Boone Co., and Norfolk) brought the total reporting areas to ten. Fourteen species, compared to eighteen last year, were reported from all localities this year. The total investment count this year was 124,642, compared to 345,092 last year and 43,652 in 1983. The Red-winged Blackbird count for Omaha last year was 255,806; this year it was 32. …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (March 1986) 54(1).

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.

"Notes," From Nebraska Bird Review (March 1986) 54(1).

Nebraska Bird Review

CORRECTION TO CRESCENT LAKE ITEMS. Mark J. Heisinger's name was misspelled in the Crescent Lake items in the December issue -- NBR 53, pages 53 and 80 (twice), and Kevin J. Brennan was misspelled the first time mentioned on page 72.

HERON ROOKERY. When South Sioux City pilot Gene Martin flew over an area of mature cottonwoods along the Missouri River, near Homer, Neb., on 15 June 1985 he spotted about 30 heron nests in the tree tops. This was near the Thurston Co. line. The following morning Art Huser, of Sioux City, Iowa, and I located the rookery from …

"1985 (Twenty-Eighth) Fall Occurrence Report," From Nebraska Bird Review (March 1986) 54(1).

Nebraska Bird Review

Two hundred eighty-five species (plus the possibility that the Empidonax species was one not listed) from eleven "full-time" locations and eight "spot check" locations are listed in this report. Comparable figures for previous years are 278 from 12 locations in 1984, 262 from 10 locations in 1983, and 269 from 10 locations in 1982.

The information is presented in a rough west (left) to east (right) order, with locations of about the same longitude listed with the northernmost first. Two dates indicate the first and last records for the period.

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (December 1985) 53(4)

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 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): Student, $3.00; Active, $7.00; Sustaining, $15.00; Family Active, $10.00; Family Sustaining, $20.00; Life, $100.00.

All dues and subscriptions should …