Subject: FW: Contents of Journal of Field Ornithology, Autumn 1996
Date: Dec 18 21:56:56 1996
From: "Jon. Anderson and Marty Chaney" - festuca at olywa.net


Hi folks,

I was informed by a couple of people that this message was truncated, so =
I'll try it again. Apologies to those who get two full copies.....

I received the Autumn 1996 issue (Vol 67 No 4) of the Journal of Field =
Ornithology, published quarterly by the Association of Field =
Ornithologists. Here's the contents, for those interested.

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net


Diet and Trophic Characteristics of Great Horned Owls in Southwestern =
Idaho. Carl D Marti and Michael N Kochert. pp 499-506. Diet included =
89.2% mammals by number and 91.2% by mass over 14 breeding seasons; =
Kangaroo Rats, montane voles, Peromyscus spp., Great Basin pocket mice =
and Townsend's pocket gophers were most common. Species of prey =
correlated with habitat types (diets in agricultural areas overlapped =
little with those in rangelands).

A Color Band for Spotted Owls. Eric D Forsman, Alan B Franklin, Frank M =
Oliver and James P Ward. pp 507-510. Band made from laminated engraver's =
plastic used on over 8000 birds; of 3788 owls observed >1 year after =
banding, only 4 lost color bands.

Foraging Habitat of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker on the D'Arbonne =
National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana. Charles M Jones and Howard E Hunt. =
pp 511-518. During non-breeding season, birds used the largest live =
pines in the oldest stands with the highest pine frequency and lowest =
hardwood basal area. During breeding season, birds foraged on smaller =
pines in stands with a higher proportion of hardwoods. Thinning of =
stands to increase pine basal area recommended.

A Sexing Technique for California Gulls Breeding at Bamforth Lake, =
Wyoming. Edward F Rodriguez, Bruce H Pugesek and Kenneth L Diem. pp =
519-524. Sex could be accurately determined in this population using =
head-bill length, bill depth and tarsus length.=20

A Microclimate Analysis of Nest-Site Selection by Mountain Chickadees. =
Douglas G Wachob. pp 525-533. Study from Medicine Bow Natl Forest in =
Sierra Madre Mtns of Wyoming; Chickadees were more successful at nest =
boxes within a warmer environment (higher air and vegetation =
temperatures, higher daily solar radiation).

Sexual Size Dimorphism and Determination of Sex in Yellow-legged Gulls. =
Marc Bosch. pp 534-541. From a colony at Medes Islands in NE Spain; =
Males significantly larger than females; Using 2-4 measurements could =
separate 100% of individuals - Head Length alone was almost as accurate =
(99.4%).

Improved Methods for Aging Second-Year and After-Second-Year Male =
Brown-headed Cowbirds. Catherine P Ortega, Joseph C Ortega, Stacia A =
Backensto and Cristin A Rapp. pp 542-548. Totally dark underwing coverts =
are not a reliable method for distinguishing ASY from SY males in =
Colorado in summer; If underwing coverts are light gray, the individual =
can be assumed to be SY; If underwing coverts are totally dark, presence =
of brown in primaries may be used to distinguish SY males.

Effects of Harness-style and Abdominally Implanted Transmitters on =
Survival and Return Rates of Mallards. E.H. Dzus and R.G. Clark. pp =
549-557. Study from Saskatchewan; No difference in duckling survival or =
brood survival to 30 days after hatching between broods whose females =
had harnesses or implants; Return rates of females with harnesses were =
lower than those with implants; subject needs further evaluation.

Does Removal of Old Nests from Nestboxes by Researchers Affect Mite =
Populations in Subsequent Nests of House Wrens? Andrew J Pacejka and =
Charles F Thompson. pp 558-564. House Wrens prefer nestboxes that =
contain old nests to those where old nests have been removed, but remove =
(at least partially) the old nests themselves; Levels of mites are the =
same when researchers remove old nests and when they don't; inclusion of =
old nests in boxes may enhance the attractiveness of artificial nest =
sites.

Age Classification of Laughing Gulls Based on Summer Plumage. Jerrold L =
Belant and Richard A Dolbeer. pp 565-574. From gulls shot at JFK =
International Airport in New York (air traffic safety); 2 and >3 year =
old birds cannot be separated by presence or absence of tail band; Could =
use presence/absence of a distinct black-gray interface on distal =
portion of 5th primary combined with length of black pigmentation =
present on proximal vane of 6th primary to correctly age 98% of 244 =
gulls. Laughing gulls have been considered to first breed at 3 years of =
age; fully developed brood patches in 2-yr-old birds suggest that =
breeding may occur at an earlier age.

Food, Feeding, and Refuelling of Red Knots During Northward Migration at =
San Antonio Oeste, Rio Negro, Argentina. Patricia M Gonzalez, Theunis =
Piersma and Yvonne Verkuil. pp 575-591. On restinga (rocky beach) knots =
C.c. rufa fed on small mussell (Brachidontes rodriguezi) 8-12mm in =
length; knots staged at site for 6-8 days, put on 5g of weight before =
travelling 1700km to next staging area in Brazil.

Temporal Variation in Food Availability and Deit of Blackcaps in Olive =
Orchards. Pedro J Rey, Julio M Alcantara and Alfonso M Sanchez-Lafuente. =
pp 592-603. Sylvia atricapilla in Guadalqivir Valley, Andalusia (Spain); =
Olive availability was main factor in determining variation in diet, =
emphasizing strong dependence of Blackcaps on olive fruits in orchard =
habitats, although arthropods, seeds, other fruits, flowers etc were =
also included in diet.

Effect of Flagging on Predation of Artificial Duck Nests. Eric W Hein =
and Wendy S Hein. pp 604-611. Nest markers commonly used to =
identify/mark locations of nests; mortality rates between flagged and =
unflagged nests in Manitoba did not differ; Flagging may affect =
predation as nests age; Suggest that nests not be flagged, but rather =
use natural objects to aid nest location.

Eastern Screech-Owl Hatches an American Kestrel. Timothy F Breen and =
John W Parrish Jr. pp 612-613. Owl found incubating her egg and that of =
kestrel in late March 1995; 3 owlets and kestrel hatched in early May, =
all appeared normal; kestrel was not present in nest 2 days later, fate =
unknown; Suggest that kestrel eggs and young be removed from screech-owl =
nests when possible.

The Influx of Black-capped Chickadees at Long Point, Ontario in the =
Spring of 1962: a 35-Year Perspective on an Unusual Event. David JT =
Hussell. pp 614-622. Spring influxes of chickadees related to irruptions =
occurring the previous fall, but not all irruptions were followed by =
spring migrations; 1962 spring migration not necessarily related to =
spring temperatures.=20

Effects of Sampling Blood and Uropygial Oil on Breeding Success of =
Antarctic Birds. Nico W van den Brink and Kate Pigott. pp 623-629. =
Sampling of blood and uropygial (preen-gland) oil from Adelie Penguins =
and Southern Fulmars to monitor organochlorine pollutants had no =
significant effects on breeding success of these species.=20

Capture Methods for Crested Caracaras. Joan L Morrison and Steven M =
McGehee. pp 630-636. Research from Florida required capture of birds, =
walk-in traps, bal-chatris, snares, noose carpets, etc. were not =
effective; used "Q-Net" (modified bow net) and a live caracara lure.

Determining Food Intake by Great Cormorants and European Shags with =
Electronic Balances. David Gremillet, Rickmer Dey, Sarah Wanless, Mike P =
Harris and Jana Regel. pp 637-648. Use of automatic scales at Chausey =
Islands, France and Isle of May, Scotland; At Chausey, shags mainly feed =
on sandeels (Ammodytes marinus) and cormorants on rock cook =
(Centrolabrus exoletus); daily mean mass of food acquired by adults =
(includes food brought to chicks) was 890g and 800g for male and female =
cormorants, and 478g and 583g for male and female shags.

Food Habits of Redheads at the Horicon Marsh, Wisconsin. Kevin P Kenow =
and Donald H Rusch. pp 649-659. Prelaying females consumed plant =
material almost exclusively - primarily seeds of moist-soil plant =
species; laying and incubating females consisted mainly of seeds but =
also included 16-17% animal matter; animal foods were 1/2 of diet of =
ducklings <4 weeks of age; older ducklings ate mainly plant matter.

Using Candlers to Determine the Incubation Stage of Passerine Eggs. John =
T Lokemoen and Rolf R Koford. pp 660-668. Candling was easy and used =
simple tools; Effective to age embryos within a day or two; Candling =
often preferable to other methods that rely on egg mass, mass-growth =
curves or immersion of eggs in water. Difficult or impossible to use =
technique on eggs with dense shell (House Wren, shorebirds).

Abundance, Distribution, and Behavior of Common Mergansers Wintering on =
a Reservior in Southern New Mexico. Jack H McCaw III, Phillip J Zwank =
and Robert L Steiner. pp 669-679. Up to 10,900 birds at peak in =
mid-February, 40% adult males; flock sizes averaged 280; birds spent =
majority of time loafing (57%) or sleeping (17.5%), feeding occurred =
during <4% of daylight hours; Diet of birds consisted of Gizzard Shad =
(Dorosoma cepedianum) in 1992-93, in 1993-94 diet comprised mainly of =
threadfin shad (D. petenense) - gizzard shad had grown too large for =
mergansers the second year.

Influence of Radio Transmitters on Prairie Falcons. Mark S Vekasy, John =
M Marzluff, Michael N Kochert, Robert N Lehman and Karen Steenhof. pp =
680-690. Birds at Snake River Birds of Prey Natural Area that wore =
backpack transmitters showed no effect of transmitter on nesting success =
or brood size, territory attendance, prey delivery rates, etc. During =
low prey years, radio-tagged males brought more small birds/reptiles and =
fewer mammals to nest area than control males.

Selection of Foraging Habitat by Mourning Doves: A Structural Approach. =
William D Ostrand, John A Bissonette and Michael R Conover. pp 691-697. =
Study near Fillmore, Utah; Land-use change due to USDA Conservation =
Reserve Program conversion from wheat to grass; structural change in =
habitat makes it less preferable for foraging by doves.

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