Ornithology Commons^™

Reproductive Isolation And Cryptic Introgression In A Sky Island Enclave Of Appalachian Birds, Gene D. Sattler, Michael J. Braun

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reproductive isolation is central to the speciation process, and cases where the strength of reproductive isolation varies geographically can inform our understanding of speciation mechanisms. Although generally treated as separate species, Black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and Carolina chickadees (P. carolinensis) hybridize and undergo genetic introgression in many areas where they come into contact across the eastern United States and in the northern Appalachian Mountains. The Great Smoky Mountains harbor the last large breeding population of atricapillus in the southern Appalachians, isolated from the species’ main range by nearly 200 km. This population is believed to be reproductively isolated from local …

Experimental Confirmation That Avian Plumage Traits Function As Multiple Status Signals In Winter Contests, Alexis S. Chaine, Allison M. Roth, Daizaburo Shizuka, Bruce E. Lyon

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Status signals are thought to reduce costs of overt conflict over resources by advertising social status or an individual’s ability to win contests. While most studies have focused on single badges of status, recent empirical work has shown that multiple status signals may exist. To provide robust evidence for multiple badges of status, an experimental manipulation is required to decouple signals from one another and from other traits linked to fighting ability. Such experimental evidence is lacking for most studies of multiple status signals to date. We previously found that two plumage traits in golden-crowned sparrows, Zonotrichia atricapilla, were correlated …

The Birds Of Nebraska, Revised Edition 2013, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This summary of the birds of Nebraska has been restricted to those species that have been convincingly reported at least once in Nebraska from historic time to the present. It has also been modified in its current revision to conform very closely in that regard to the most recent Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union’s “Official List of the Birds of Nebraska” (Brogie, 2010; NOU Records Committee, 2011 and annual updates). The N.O.U.’s official state list of birds (455 species as of 2013, including 329 “regular” species, 42 of “casual” occurrence, 68 accidentals, and six extinct or extirpated species) is based on actual …

Residential Edges As Ecological Traps: Postfledgling Survival Of A Ground-Nesting Passerine In A Forested Urban Park, Amy A. Shipley, Michael T. Murphy, Adam H. Elzinga

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Substantial offspring mortality can occur during the postfledging period of birds, but few postfledging survival studies have been conducted within the context of habitat suitability. We conducted a 2-year radiotelemetry study of Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) reproductive success and fledgling survival in a 24-ha forested park in a residential area of Lake Oswego, Oregon. In corroboration of previous research on this species, we found (1) that Spotted Towhees nested closer to the edge between the park and residential neighborhoods than expected by chance, and (2) that pairs nesting near edges produced the largest and most offspring. However, fates were reversed …

Changes In Avian Vocalization Occurrence And Frequency Range During The Winter, Amy I. Oden

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Human population expansion has led to an increase in vehicle traffic and therefore vehicle noise. Traffic and traffic noise has been shown to affect avian abundance, breeding success, density and species diversity on the landscape. Documented changes in avian vocalizations due to traffic noise include shifts in amplitude, frequency, rate, timing, and duration of vocalizations along with a number of behavioral adaptations. During the winters of 2011–2012 and 2012–2013, we recorded and measured the “chick-a-dee” vocalization of Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and the “po-ta-to-chip” vocalization of American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) to determine …

Birds And Birding In Wyoming’S Bighorn Mountains Region, Jacqueline L. Canterbury, Paul A, Johnsgard, Helen F. Downing

Zea E-Books Collection

The Bighorn Mountains consist of a relatively well-isolated north-south mountain range in north-central Wyoming that had their origins during the early Cenozoic era, 50-65 million years ago. The present-day Bighorn range is more than 100 miles in length and has a maximum elevation of 13,167 feet (Cloud Peak), only slightly less than the highest peak in Wyoming (Gannett Peak, at 13,804 feet). The mountains are flanked to the west by the Bighorn River basin, and to the east by the Powder River basin, both of which support only semi-desert vegetation dominated by sagebrush. Elevations of the Powder River basin near …

Spring Field Days And Annual Meeting At Central City

Nebraska Bird Review

The 114th Annual Meeting was held at the Covenant Cedars Bible Camp in Merrick County east of Central City on May 17–19, 2013. The 45+ members and friends in attendance found 163 species, including Eared Grebe, White-faced Ibis, Black-bellied and American Golden Plovers, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Ruddy Turnstone, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Laughing Gull, White-winged Dove, Yellow-throated Vireo, Wood Thrush, 16 warbler species, and 12 sparrow species.

Field trips went to Lakes North and Babcock, Wilkinson WMA, Don Dworak WMA, Headworks Park, Palmer sewage lagoon, Loup River north of Palmer, Loup Junction WMA, North Loup SRA, Kirkpatrick Basin South WMA, Farmer's …

Photo Documentation By Ron And Anne Kruse Of Black-Billed Magpie Nest Cycle In Hall County, Wayne J. Mollhoff

Nebraska Bird Review

Every once in a while a fortunate birder has a chance to witness the sequence of events that make up a breeding season. In May of 2004, NOU members Ron and Anne Kruse of Grand Island had that opportunity and made the most of it. While checking Eastern Bluebird nest boxes on the south side of the northernmost channel of the Platte River east of Locust Street in the City of Grand Island Wellfield property, they found a Black-billed Magpie nest. They returned with a camera and ladder and photographed the nest at two-day intervals for the next three weeks. …

Status Of Black-Billed Magpie In Nebraska, Wayne J. Mollhoff

Nebraska Bird Review

Black-billed Magpie is currently listed as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); however, it has been in abrupt decline in Nebraska with no evidence that it is beginning to recover. There appear to be at least two causes for this decline. The initial decline began at the end of the first atlas project and went unnoticed at the time. It began after the introduction of famphur (also known by its trade name Warbex), an insecticide introduced to control parasitic warble flies (Hypoderma sp.) in cattle. Die-offs of both magpies and hawks …

Spring Field Report, March 2013 To May 2013, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This spring season was notable for unusual migration patterns. Western birds are showing up in the east in greater numbers each year, with Lazuli Bunting the prime example. There were 17 Lazulis reported east of Grand Island. Black-headed Grosbeak has been a rare find east of Grand Island, with only 5 previous sightings; now there have been 9, including 3 in the extreme east. There were more Black-headeds east than Rose-breasteds west, the reverse of the usual situation. Western Grebes and Sandhill Cranes also came east in greater numbers, as did Cinnamon Teal. On the other hand, there was a …

The Junco Called Cassiar, Rick Wright

Nebraska Bird Review

A well-marked male Cassiar Junco is subtly distinctive. In its overall grayness, the bird closely recalls a Slate-colored Junco, but the darkness of the head, breast, and nape approaches that of a male Oregon Junco, creating a more striking contrast between the "hood" and the rest of the upperparts than is visible in any but the very blackest of male Slate-coloreds. More significant than the colors themselves is their distribution: the blackish nape is sharply set off from the grayer or brownish back, and the dark of the breast meets the paler gray of the flank and the white of …

Nebraska Bird Review (June 2013) 81(2), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Spring Field Report, March–May 2013 ... 50

Status of Black-billed Magpie in Nebraska ... 79

Photo Documentation by Ron and Anne Kruse of Black-billed Magpie Nest Cycle in Hall County … 81

The Junco Called Cassiar … 87

NOU Spring Field Days and Annual Meeting at Central City, May 17–19, 2013 ... 94

Subscription and Organization Information ... 99

Subscription And Organization Information [June 2013]

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.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): Active Household (one or more people) $25; Sustaining …

A Study Of The Niche Structure And Habitat Utilization Of Urban Dwelling Winter Birds, Thomas Huff

Honors Theses

A study was conducted to evaluate the distribution of urban birds relative to differences in habitat as determined by zoning type. A total of 1,948 individual birds and a total of 33 species were sampled across the four different zones (industrial, commercial, residential, and public use.) The industrial use zone contained the highest number of individuals whereas commercial zones contained the fewest. However, the four zones contained approximately equal species richness.

Industrial zones supported the greatest number of cavity nesting and seed eating species. Residential and public use zones contained greater numbers of insectivorous and cup nesting species. In the …

Fluctuating Viability Selection On Morphology Of Cliff Swallows Is Driven By Climate, Charles R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown, Erin A. Roche

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The extent to which fluctuating selection can maintain evolutionary stasis in most populations remains an unresolved question in evolutionary biology. Climate has been hypothesized to drive reversals in the direction of selection among different time periods and may also be responsible for intense episodic selection caused by rare weather events. We measured viability selection associated with morphological traits in cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in western Nebraska, USA, over a 14-year period following a rare climatic event. We used mark-recapture to estimate the annual apparent survival of over 26 000 individuals whose wing, tail, tarsus, and bill had been …

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 89, No. 2), Kentucky Library Research Collections

The Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Function Of The Mold Specific Gene M46, In The Pathogenic Dimorphic Fungus Histoplasma Capsulatum, Davida Lashaundra Crossley

Dissertations

Histoplasma capsulatum (Hc) is a dimorphic fungus that is the etiologic agent for the respiratory infection histoplasmosis. The fungus is found in the environment in contaminated soils of birds and bat excreta as a multi-cellular saprophytic mold. Once the soil is disturbed, spores are released and are inhaled into the lungs. In the lungs, the fungus converts to uni-cellular parasitic yeast (Maresca & Kobayashi, 1989). The conversion from mold to yeast is a requirement for pathogenesis. Previously, several mold specific genes have been isolated by our laboratory from a subtracted cDNA library. One such gene, is M46. M46 is a …

Interrelationships Between Testosterone, Aggression, And Parental Care Of A Temperate-Zone, Resident Songbird, The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis Cardinalis), Margaret Susan Devries

Dissertations

Interrelationships among testosterone (T), aggression, and parental care have received much investigative attention. Within birds, many studies have focused on examining such relationships using species characterized by relatively brief periods of territoriality and breeding. Few have investigated links between circulating T and reproductive behavior in birds that are year-round territorial residents and have lengthy breeding seasons, such as the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). The following six chapters report and discuss findings from this dissertation’s examination of aspects of T production and potential interconnections with circulating T, aggression, and parental care in male and female cardinals. This work suggests …

A Bird In The Binoculars: Understanding Birdwatchers' Potential To Contribute To Sustainable Development And Biological Conservation, Sheri Lynn Glowinski

Dissertations

The three studies comprising this research drew from local economic development and environmental sociology to understand aspects of human dynamics that influence the conservation of birds. Using survey data collected from birdwatchers visiting coastal Alabama, the first study examined the local economic impact of birdwatching tourism and the factors that participants deemed important with respect to their recreation. Birdwatchers spent $103,305 during the four month study period. The total annual economic impact of this recreation on the area was estimated at $937,470, producing a multiplier of 1.48 and the equivalent of 20.3 full time jobs. Infrastructural variables (parking, bathrooms, site …

Sprague's Pipit In Clay County, Philip Chu

Biology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.