Hi folks,

Another journal in - this one's the quarterly one of the Association of =
Field Ornithologists, Inc., Volume 67, Number 3, Summer 1996. Here's =
what's inside..

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net


Loss of an Abdominally Implanted Radio Transmitter by a Wild Blue-winged =
Teal. Pamela R Garrettson and Frank C Rohwer. pp 355-357. Although =
carried by bird for at least 26 days, abdominally implanted transmitter =
apparently expelled through oviduct, as it was half covered in eggshell. =


Supplementary Head Molt in Cape White-eyes: A Consequence of Nectar =
Feeding? Adrian JFK Craig and Patrick E Hulley. pp 358-359. This =
species feeds on nectar during early winter, which can result in =
forehead feathers matted with nectar and pollen. Some birds then shed =
these feathers. May occur in white-eyes and in other short-billed =
nectar-feeders.

Non-Breeding Site Fidelity in Northern Shrikes. Christopher C Rimmer =
and Charles H Darmstadt. pp 360-366. Banding data suggests that N =
Shrike is faithful to winter territories and, possibly, to migration =
stopover sites.

Use of a Geographic Information System to Facilitate Analysis of =
Spot-mapping Data. Jack W Witham and Alan J Kimball. pp 367-375. A new =
program (BIRDMAP) was written to reduce the time required to produce =
species composite maps with GIS.=20

Intersexual Vocal Communication in the Red-winged Blackbird. Nathan R =
Hovekamp. pp 376-383. Study at UWisconsin-Madison campus; females gave =
2 basic vocalizations that overlapped or followed mates' songs in time. =
As males got farther from center of territory, females shifted from =
answering with type-1 songs to type-2 songs.

Nestling Kentucky Warblers and Cowbird Attacked by Brown-headed Cowbird. =
Jay M Sheppard. pp 384-386. Female adult cowbird apparently attacking =
nestlings in Patuxent, Maryland.

Band Sizes of Southeastern Brazilian Hummingbirds. Yoshika Oniki. pp =
387-391. Gave band length recommendations for 31 species of hummers.

Technique for Implanting Radio Transmitters Subcutaneously in Day-Old =
Ducklings. Carl E Korschgen, Kevin P Kenow, William L Green, Michael D =
Smith and Louis Sileo. pp 392-397. Transmitters (1.5g) implanted on =
back of Canvasback duckling while under a general anesthetic =
(isoflurane). Evaluations indicate that the procedure is reliable =
method for marking ducklings.

Individual Variation in the Advertising Call of Male Northern Saw-whet =
Owls. Ken Otter. pp 398-405. Suggests that individual owls can be =
identified suing sonagraphic analysis of calls, in combination with =
knowledge about the location of the singer.

Vegetation Around Parasitized and Non-Parasitized Nests Within Deciduous =
Forest. Margaret C Brittingham and Stanley A Temple. pp 406-413. Study =
from Baraboo Hills, Wisconsin suggests that species nesting within small =
forest openings mey be particularly vulnerable to cowbird parasitism. =
However, do not recommend management at micro-habitat level; instead =
recommend minimizing risk of parasitism through landscape-level =
management where large areas of contiguous forest are maintained.

An Inexpensive Compact Automatic Camera System for Wildlife Research. =
William R Danielson, Richard M DeGraaf, and Todd K Fuller. pp 414-421. =
Used a converted Olympus AF-10 to document nest predation events.

Productivity of the Spruce Grouse at the Southeastern Limit of Its =
Range. Scott D Whitcomb, Allan F O'Connell Jr and Frederick A Servello. =
pp 422-427. Study from Mount Desert Island, Maine in patchy Black Spruce =
habitat; Predation on hens was high, only 30% of chicks survived to late =
summer. Production (number of chicks/female) was less than 1. =
Immigration from neighboring populations may be required to maintain =
viable populations.

Age and Sex Determination of Monomorphic Non-Breeding Choughs: A =
Long-Term Study. Guillermo Blanco, Jose L Tella, and Ignacio Torre. pp =
428-433. At Los Monegros, NE Spain, Discriminant Function Analysis of =
tarsus lenght and bill width predicted sex of non-breeding choughs with =
100% accuracy. Plumage characteristics provided separation of 3 distinct =
age classes.

Growth and Provisioning of Shiny Cowbird and House Wren Host Nestlings =
Gustavo H Kattan. pp 434-441. In Cauca Valley, Colombia, rapid growth =
and early fledging result in short nestling period for cowbirds, which =
outcompete nestmates in obtaining parental resources.

A Technique to Spray Dyes on Birds. Helmut Wendeln, Rolf Nagel and Peter =
H Becker. pp 442-446. Refillable hairspray bottle rigged into a =
contraption to mark Barn Swallows that are sitting in a resting box.

Effectiveness of Predator Exclosures for Pectoral Sandpiper Nests in =
Alaska. Veronica B Estelle, Todd J Mabee and Adrian H Farmer. pp =
447-452. North Slope study found that exclosures protect nests from =
Arctic Fox predation.

Accuracy of Aging Duck Broods in the Field. James O Evrard. pp 453-455. =
Test of field skills of crew of biologists/technicians/students found =
that they matched estimated duckling ages with known ages. (Damn fine =
crew....)

Mass Loss and Probability of Stopover by Migrant Warblers During Spring =
and Fall Migration. Sara R Morris. pp 456-462. Study from Appledore =
Island, Maine of Northern Waterthrushes, Magnolia Warblers and American =
Redstarts. Mass loss, potentially as a result of loss of foraging time, =
tends to result in fall migration stopover, but not in the spring.=20

The Use of Radio Telemetry to Measure the Feeding Behavior of Breeding =
European Golden-Plovers. Mark J Whittingham. pp 463-470. From the =
Pennines, Durham, UK - Teesdale Natl Nature Reserve, new method for =
measuring feeding behaviour by counting the number of changes in pulse =
pattern; this method proved more accurate than counting the total number =
of pulses. Feeding rates and overall behaviour of birds not affected by =
the transmitters.

Mass Mortality Events of Eared Grebes in North America. Joseph R Jehl =
Jr. pp 471-476. Large-scale mortality events have been documented in the =
West for more than a century, the most persistent causes are adverse =
weather during migration and disease. The cause of the largest event, =
involving 150,000 individuals at the Salton Sea in 1992, has yet to be =
determined.

Red-breasted Mergansers in an Urban Winter Habitat. pp 477-483. In =
Boston's Inner harbor, mergansers arrived in mid-to-late Dec., peaked in =
population in late Jan-early Feb., and left by 1st week of April. Birds =
surfaced with and ate fish after 6.4% of their dives and escaped =
pirating gulls by hiding under piers.

- end -