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Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review June 2002 Volume 70 Number 2

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review (http://rip.physics.unk.edu/NOU/) 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, …

"Unnamed", David Wyatt

Nebraska Bird Review

"Unnamed"

A yellow and black bird came to the apricot tree
/="/"> this morning. I'd not seen it
/="/"> before, in any of the yards here. I expect
/="/"> to see such birds in the eastern woods,
/="/"> not in these relatively arid tracts.

I couldn't identify it. Grosbeak? I had
/="/">no Guide, only gloomy thoughts
/="/"> of no specific origin.

The bird stayed for no more than seconds.
/="/">It had a chunk of black on its throat,
/="/"> like a thumbprint. Its wings never
/="/"> were quiet.

Then it flew off, shrieking,
/="/"> and the branch …

Spring Field Report, March-May 2002, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

A significant feature of this report is the fact that 94 observers provided data! E-mail has certainly provided a simple way to report sightings with ease, obviating for many the tedium of compiling a magnum opus four times a year (although the ultra-dedicated Harding and Randolph still filed their standard 40-pager!).

Interesting banding information was, provided for Red-eyed Vireo, Gray Catbird, and Pine Siskin by Ruth Green. The characteristics of the subspecies of Pine Siskin are not well-known anywhere, let alone in Nebraska.

Waterfowl and raptors had few significant sightings, although harriers were noted nesting at a couple of locations …

Nebraska Bird Review Whole Issue Volume 70 Number 2

Nebraska Bird Review

Table of Contents

Spring Field Report, March-May 2002
compiled by W. Ross Silcock..........................46

Species Accounts..........................50

2002 (12th) Report of the NOU Records Committee
compiled by Joel G. Jorgensen ..........................84

"Unnamed" by poem by David Wyatt..........................91

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review March 2002 Volume 70 Number 1

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird ReYiew (http://rip.physics.unk.edu/NOU/) 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, …

2001-2002 Christmas Bird Counts

Nebraska Bird Review

A total of 12 counts are recorded on Tables Two and Three, three more than last year's effort. The Beaver Valley and Grand Island counts are run most years, but we sometimes miss receiving data from them. DeSotoBoyer is run every year but does not always get published here, perhaps because the tally is listed as an Iowa count according to the Audubon Society; however, the area covered is partially in Nebraska, and the participants are mostly Nebraska birders.

The counts reported a total of 138 species this year, up from 133 in 1999 and from 117 in 2000. Nearly …

Winter Field Report, December 2001 To February 2002, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This winter was generally mild with most parts of the state at least somewhat dry. The most interesting avian phenomena were a major incursion of White-winged Crossbills and a warm-up in late January which resulted in several waterfowl species putting in very early appearances. Because of the latter, it was difficult to assess the status (wintering or migrant) of birds reported in late January to early February from major reservoirs and waterfowl concentration spots without some information on ice conditions. Thanks to Larry Einemann, I had detailed information about ice conditions at Branched Oak L, but I would appreciate a …

Nebraska Bird Review March 2002 Volume 70 Number 1

Nebraska Bird Review

Table of Contents

Winter Field Report, compiled by W. Ross Silcock..................2

Species Accounts..................4

2001-2002 Christmas Bird Counts Introduced
and Compiled by Janis Paseka..................22

2001-2002 Christmas Bird Counts for Twelve
Locations..................26

Index To Volume 70

Nebraska Bird Review

Index to Volume 70

Index From Nebraska Bird Review December 2001 Volume 69 Number 4

Nebraska Bird Review

INDEX (12 pages) A-Z

Adams, Betty 23

Alexander, Irene 23

Allen, Elizabeth 3, 47,159

Allison, Mary 22

American, Redstart 184

Amiotte, Sue 48

Andrews, Ron 5

Anhinga 161

Arizona 96

Avocet, American 37, 57, 94, 116, 140, 169, 204

Babbitt, Charles E. 133

Bachel, Elaine 47

Badura, Laurel 47, 160

Barth, Roland 48

Bedows, Elliott 23, 107, 159

Beede, Dillon 22

Benson, Joan 18

Bielenburg, Warren 23

Yellowlegs
Greater 37, 46, 57, 116, 142, 146,148,169
Lesser 38,46, 57, 116, 133, 136-137,140,142,147,169
sp. 204

Yellowthroat, Common 40, 73, 128, 151,158,185

Young, Kay 23

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review December 2001 Volume 69 Number 4

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review (http://rip.physics.unk.eduINOU/) 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, …

Fall Field Report, August-November 2001, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This Fall Report offers something for everybody. Leading off are significant breeding reports of Ruddy Duck in the Rainwater Basin and Snowy Plover at Lake McConaughy. As observers bird more regularly in late July to early August we are finding that many species begin to move earlier than often realized. There were many reports of birds such as failed breeders, molt migrants, and early-fledged juveniles wandering about. Some of these prove tough identification challenges, too. Early birds were mostly water-related; Eared Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, and Osprey, but also Prairie Falcon in the east, and Rusty Blackbird too. Some …

Nebraska Bird Review- Whole Issue December 2001 Volume 69 Number 4

Nebraska Bird Review

Table of Contents

Fall Field Report, August-November 2001 Compiled
by W. Ross Silcock ..........................158

Species Accounts.......................... 160

Bird Records of Sporting Editor Sandy Griswold on Fowl
Hunting Trips in the Sand Hills from 1887 to 1928
by J. E. Ducey ..........................190

Index for Volume 69, 1-4 ..........................212

Analaysis Of Long-Eared Owl (Asio Otus) Pellets From Eastern Nebraska, Rachel D. Mahan, Emily C. Mahan, Brandon D. Sachtleben

Nebraska Bird Review

A common way to determine the food habits of an owl is to analyze prey remains found within regurgitated pellets, called "owl pellets." We collected and analyzed owl pellets found under a Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) roost in eastern Nebraska as part of two grade school science fair projects. The results are presented here to add to the knowledge about the food habits of this species in Nebraska.

A Bird On The Shoreline, Shelly Clark

Nebraska Bird Review

A Bird on the Shoreline

My daughter tells me she doesn't believe in God.

Her words pour onto the supper table like milk spilling.

In measured silence

she waits for what I will say.

The evening news mumbles in the background,

dog scratching at the door.

I look out the window to September sky opening

its dark blue skirt of night. I tell her

the Piping plovers will be leaving soon, if they haven't already.

Asking her, do you remember the first time we saw them through binoculars,

on the broad sandbar new McConaughy?

You were eight or nine.

How …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review September 2001

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Reyiew (http://rip.physics.unk.edu/NOU/) 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, …

Nou Spring Meeting Bird Count, 18 To 20 May, Camp Calvin Crest (Fremont)

Nebraska Bird Review

NOU Spring Meeting Bird Count

18 to 20 May, Camp Calvin Crest (Fremont)

Summer Field Report, June And July 2001, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

Jaeger at Lake McConaughy; the continuing advance of the Eurasian Collared-Dove; possible breeding or hybridization with Eurasian Collared-Dove of White-winged Dove at Kearney; a resurgence of Black-billed Cuckoos; breeding of Long-eared Owl in Knox County; hummingbirds (including Calliope) in the Panhandle; and interesting information on the Red Crossbills on the Pine Ridge.

Nebraska Bird Review Whole Issue September 2001 Volume 69 Number 3

Nebraska Bird Review

Table of Contents

Summer Field Report, compiled by W. Ross Silcock................................. 106

Species Accounts................................. 108

Bird Hunts of Omaha Sportsmen's Clubs, 1858-1887
by J. E. Ducey .................................133

NOU Spring Meeting Bird Count .................................148

Analysis Of long-eared Owl (Asio Otus) Pellets From
Eastern Nebraska by Mahan, Mahan, and Sachtleben .................................152

A Poem by Shelly Clark .................................155

Comments On Nebraska's Falconiform And Stringiform Bird Fauna, Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

Owing to a lack of long-term survey data, determining whether Nebraska's raptor numbers are stable, increasing, or decreasing is difficult. Unlike our relatively well-monitored gamebirds, no regular surveys have been performed, and raptors barely register on the state's Breeding Bird Surveys or Christmas Bird Counts, owing to their relative rarity. However, a few data-points of interest do exist, which might be worth summarizing.

In one of the first multi-year surveys of Sandhills avifauna, H. Elliott McClure (1966) summarized raptor abundance data based on three years of study in the Nebraska Sandhills (1 941-1 944). During that period, he typically drove …

1999 (Eleventh) Report Of The Nou Records Committee, Joel G. Jorgensen

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 nine times (Mollhoff 1989, Grenon 1990, Grenon 1991, Gubanyi 1996a, Gubanyi 1996b, Gubanyi 1996c, Brogie 1997, Brogie 1998, Brogie 1999). An update of the OFFICIAL LIST OF THE BIRDS OF NEBRASKA was first published in 1997 (NOU …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review June 2001

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review (http://rip.physics.unk.edu/NOUI) 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 …

1999-2000 Nebraska Nesting Report, Wayne Mollhoff

Nebraska Bird Review

In the interest of expediency, the nesting reports for the 1999 and 2000 seasons are combined. In addition to records from those two years, several other previously unreported records are also included. Full dates are included with each record to minimize confusion.

Observations by the following individuals (identified in the report by their initials) are included in the nesting report: John Brenneman (J.B.), John Dinan (J.D.), Dale Dvorak (D.D.), Jon Farrar (J.F.), Michael Forsberg (M.F.), Joe Gabig (J.G.), Chris Helzer (C.H.), Jan Johnson (J.J.), Alice Kenitz (A.K), Joanne Luebbert (J.L.), Nick Limon (N.L), Leonard McDaniel (L.M.), Wayne Mollhoff (W.M.), Gregory …

Nebraska Ornithologists' Union Treasurer's Report, Calendar Year 2000, Betty Grenon

Nebraska Bird Review

Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc.

Treasurer's Ripor

Calendar Year 2000

Spring Field Report, March-May 2001, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

As this is being written (July 2001 ), the new book Birds of Nebraska (Sharpe, Silcock, Jorgensen; University of Nebraska Press) has just been released. From now on everyone can check early and late dates and high counts as well as distribution within the state and have a much better feel for which sightings are significant. Probably the most outstanding ornithological events this spring were a few record early arrivals (Western and Clark's Grebes, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting) and a large number of "rather early" arrivals; "rather early" means not record early but right up there. There were also some …

The Nebraska Bird Review Whole Issue- Volume 69 Number 2 June 2001

Nebraska Bird Review

Table of Contents

Spring Field Report, compiled by W. Ross Silcock ........................ 46

Species Accounts ........................ 48

Comments on Nebraska's Falconiform and Strigiform bird fauna by Paul Johnsgard ........................ 80

1999 (Eleventh) Report of the NOU Records Committee compiled by Joel G. Jorgensen, ........................ 85

1999 - 2000 Nebraska Nesting Report by Wayne J. Mollhoff ........................ 92

NOU Treasurer's Report, Calendar Year 2000........................ 102

First Record Of A Reddish Egret For Nebraska, Stephen J. Dinsmore

Nebraska Bird Review

On 27 September 2000, I was birding the west end of Lake McConaughy from Marina Landing. At 2:15 p.m., I noticed a few egrets farther east off Cedar Vue. By 2:30 p.m. I had arrived at Cedar Vue and began looking over the egrets. The egrets were loosely scattered in a small area with numerous Great Blue Herons, approximately 400m from the north shore of the lake. There were six egrets present--4 Great Egrets, 1 Snowy Egret, and an intermediate-sized bird that I identified as a white morph Reddish Egret. The Reddish Egret foraged for about half an hour and …

First Confirmed Records Of Dusky Flycatcher For Nebraska, Stephen J. Dinsmore, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

Prior to the fall of 2000, there were no accepted records of Dusky Flycatcher for Nebraska. With the exception of a single sight record by Silcock (17 May 1992) judged "Hypothetical" by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union Records Committee, this species had been unreported in Nebraska. Dusky Flycatchers breed locally in the Black Hills of South Dakota (Peterson 1990) and were presumed to occur in western Nebraska. Here, we report the capture of three Dusky Flycatchers in Kimball County and three additional sight records from western Nebraska.

On 31 August 2000, we were mist netting below the dam of Oliver Reservoir …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review March 2001

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 everywhere else. 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 …

Winter Field Report, December 2000 To February 2001, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

What a difference a year makes! After all sorts of unusual midwinter reports last winter, this winter seemed more normal, as entire species actually left the state for a while. Although not extremely cold, the cool temperatures were persistent in November and December, flushing out many of the semi-hardy species and freezing most bodies of water.

There were, nevertheless, some notable tardies: a first Panhandle winter Wood Duck; a Spotted Sandpiper in December at Harlan County Res; a first December Eastern Phoebe; a third January Gray Catbird; a second December Pine Warbler; a 3rd overwintering Yellow-headed Blackbird; and the farthest …