Half a Century of Ornithology in Texas: the Legacy of Dr. Keith Arnold Edited by Daniel M. Brooks Miscellaneous Publications of The Houston Museum of Natural Science, Number 7 Half a Century of Ornithology in Texas: the Legacy of Dr. Keith Arnold Edited by Daniel M. Brooks Miscellaneous Publications of The Houston Museum of Natural Science, Number 7 ISBN 0-9640348-2-4 Copyright © 2017 Main entry under title: Keith Arnold Original chapters on Ornithology, honoring the life work of Dr. Keith Arnold. ISBN 0-9640348-2-4 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Printed in the USA, Publishers’ Graphics, LLC Cover photograph provided by Steven Cardiff, Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science Published in the USA by the Houston Museum of Natural Science - 5555 Hermann Park Dr., Houston, Texas 77030-1799, USA [email protected] Contributions and views published do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Editors or their affiliated institutions, or the Houston Museum of Natural Science Suggested citation for authored accounts: Authors(s). 2017. Name of Chapter. Pp. XXX-XXX In: Half a Century of Ornithology in Texas: the Legacy of Dr. Keith Arnold (D.M. Brooks, Ed.). Misc. Publ. Houston Mus. Nat. Sci., No. 7, Houston, TX. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword ……………………………………………………………………………...………… 3 Daniel M. Brooks The Legacy of Dr. Keith Arnold …………….………………………………...……….……… 5 G. Fred Collins and Daniel M. Brooks TEXAS ORNITHOLOGY Community ecology of ducks wintering along a southeast Texas urban gradient ……….. 16 Janelle Mikulas, Carla Jerro, G. Fred Collins, Lynn Chamberlain and Daniel M. Brooks Swainson’s Hawk ( Buteo swainsonii ) hunting behavior at an urban population of Free-tailed Bats (Tadarida brasiliensis ) …………………………………………..…….…… 27 Katherine M. Winston, Jeremy R. Winston and Daniel M. Brooks Dispersal of Laughing Gulls ( Larus atricilla ) from a Texas colony ……………..………… 33 Randy Pinkston, G. Fred Collins, Ted L. Eubanks, Jr. and Keith A. Arnold Ecology, behavior and reproduction of an introduced population of Scaly-breasted Munias ( Lonchura punctulata ) in Houston, Texas ………………………………………….. 40 Alyssa R. Conn, Lynn Chamberlain and Daniel M. Brooks Show me the money! ………………………………………………………………………….. 54 Ted L. Eubanks, Jr. NEOTROPICAL ORNITHOLOGY Owl community description in the Napo Basin drainage, Peruvian Amazon …….………. 60 Daniel M. Brooks and Lucio Pando Vasquez Habitat use, sympatry and competition in Carolina (Thryothorus ludovicianus ) and Spot-breasted ( Pheugopedius maculipectus ) Wrens ………………………………………… 66 Timothy Brush and John S. Brush Ornithogeography of the Tamaulipan Biotic Province and collecting expeditions in México …………………………………………………………………………………………. 72 Keith A. Arnold, G. Fred Collins, J. Cal Newnam and Robert A Thomas 1 AVIAN ART A new look at colonial naturalist Mark Catesby …………………………………………… 110 Alan Fedducia Ornate Hawk Eagle ( Spizaetus ornatus ) graphite drawing ………………………………... 124 Craig Farquhar Rufous-naped Wren ( Campylorhynchus rufinucha ) watercolor painting ………………… 126 W. Dennis Shepler Study sketches of owls (Strigidae) of North America ……………………………………… 127 Terry Maxwell ENCOMIA Daniel M. Brooks ……………………………………………………………………………… 136 Peter Cantle ………………………………………………………………………………….… 138 Gary Clark ………………………………………………………………………………...…… 143 G. Fred Collins ………………………………………………………………………………… 145 Ted L. Eubanks, Jr. ……………………………………………………………………………. 147 Nick Garza …………………………………………………………………………………..… 148 John P. O’Neill ………………………………………………………………………………... 150 Randy Pinkston ……………………………………………………………………………...… 151 W. Dennis Shepler …………………………………………………………………………….. 153 Patricia Sikes ……………………………………………………………………………..…… 154 Yuan-Hsun Sun ……………………………………………………………………………….. 155 Meg Byerly Williams ………………………………………………………………………….. 158 2 Foreword I had wanted to do something nice for Dr. Arnold as long as I knew him. Even as a grad student I was having fun, and was generally content with my work. For anyone that’s ever been not content in grad school, you will understand that a lot of what leads to a happy and productive experience is a wonderful Advisor, which Keith Arnold was to a fault. Each time I successfully cleared a hurdle – passing oral and final defenses, completing my first major project in my career, even getting married and having kids, Dr A (as his students called him) presented me with a kind gesture - a book he knew I’d enjoy, or a card with well-thought, kind words inside. Although I was honored to be a speaker at his retirement party, I failed miserably at nominating him for an award to the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) upon his retirement in 2005. Luckily Doug Slack, his long-time friend and professional Colleague in WFSC at A&M, picked up the slack (no pun intended!) and nominated him as a Fellow to the AOU in 2006, the year following his retirement. For years it nagged at me, how I failed to repay this kind man who had done so much for me and was a wonderful role model. Then I began to think along the lines of a Festschrift – a monograph or anthology of published manuscripts and memoirs dedicated to an honored individual. Sadly, in most cases such Festschrifts are done after the honoree is deceased; while the contributors can enjoy the contents and pat each other on the back, the honoree will never get to see the finished product. With that I pondered the idea of coordinating a Festschrift in honor of Dr A while he was still here to enjoy it! So I gnawed on this idea in the back of my mind for several years before finally springing to action. Sadly, what finally did catalyze action was the passing of yet another mentor, who I was never able to convey my thanks to. When that unfortunate event happened I was done waiting around – the very next morning I contacted Dr. A with my idea, which he humbly approved, after intimating what a pleasant surprise it was. We then got to work on creating an author list, and the project began to take shape. The initial invitation to authors was sent out 13 February 2017. At that time I was considering having only sections on Texas Ornithology (thus the title) and Memoirs (Encomia). However I also let the authors know that Dr A was especially fond of owls and wrens. Many people already knew he was very fond of owls, but wrens held several important firsts for him – his first publication ever (around 60 years ago!) was on Carolina Wrens, his first major research project was his PhD work on Thryothorus wren niche separation in Costa Rica, and his first piece of artwork in his private collection (which has grown vastly over the years) was of a Carolina Wren painted by Anne Pulich. As the project unfolded, another small section of the book on Neotropical Ornithology formed. After that, there were several individuals who wanted to contribute, but weren’t sure how exactly. Thankfully all of these individuals had the gift of a genuine artistic flair - thus another section was born, appropriately named Avian Art. These additional two sections were partly due to contributions of his faves, owls and wrens. 3 When the initial invite was sent out, I included a plea to shoot for first drafts by the end of April. Some contributions began to appear in March, and they continued to flow in through August. Once comments and edits were returned, within a couple of weeks I usually received a fresh copy back, and then quickly sent final galley proofs for approval. This process continued until we had the completed Festschrift at hand, with everyone’s contributions. Here’s to you Dr A – heartfelt thanks from all of us, and enjoy reading! - Daniel M. Brooks Keith Arnold ca. 2007 (Photo by Kathy Adams Clark) 4 The Legacy of Dr. Keith Arnold G. Fred Collins 1 and Daniel M. Brooks 2 1Kleb Woods Nature Center, 20303 Draper Rd., Tomball, TX 77377 - [email protected] 2Houston Museum of Natural Science, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, 5555 Hermann Park Drive, Houston, Texas 77030-1799 Keith A. Arnold was born in Jackson, Michigan on 23 September 1937 during the Great Depression. His father, Berchard Arnold, was also a native of Michigan, born in 1904 in Hillsdale. Berchard was one of eight children; he had to quit school in the eighth grade to help support the large family when his father died. He held a variety of jobs but began working in a factory at the beginning of World War II. He also had a home delivery service for coffee, tea and other related products for several years. Keith Arnold’s mother, Dorothy Arnold, was born in 1903 near Hillsdale, Michigan. Dorothy was one of 11 children, and was raised on the family farm until she went to live with her grandparents for high school and college. She entered Hillsdale College at the age of 16 and earned a degree that included coursework in five languages. She taught in public schools until her marriage. She then turned all of her attention to the task of raising her family. When her four children were all in school, she began substituting before finally returning full-time to the classroom. Keith’s oldest sister became a registered nurse and had a long career. His older brother graduated from Kalamazoo College and went into the food services business, where he remained until retirement. His younger sister worked as a computer programmer for a major furniture company until her retirement. The entire clan of four siblings demonstrated a great work ethic. They were also prolific, all having two or three children each expanding the Arnold family legacy. Early influences When Keith was five he was trying to navigate the front porch steps with his sled. He tripped on the icy stairs and ended up in the hospital with a broken femur, and was put in a cast from waist down. During that time, his mother read him several Thorton Burgess books. These enchanting books about animals and nature are beautifully illustrated and were extremely popular in the early 20 th century.