BOOK REVIEW

GUY McCASKIE, 954 Grove Street, Imperial Beach, California91932

Birds of the Lower Colorado River Valley. 1991. Kenneth V. Rosenberg, Robert D. Ohmart, William C. Hunter, and Bertin W. Anderson. Universityof Arizona Press, Tucson. 416 pp., 33 black and white figuresand 6 tables. Price: $40.00 clothbound. The ColoradoRiver, runningfrom its sourcesin the Rocky Mountain areas of Wyomingand Coloradoto its mouthat the headof the Gulf of California,is the only large body of water passingthrough the arid areasof southernNevada, western Arizona, and southeasternCalifornia. The flow of this once mighty river is now controlledand managedfor humanbenefit. There is a seriesof dams,and mostif not all of the wateris divertedbefore it reachesthe delta.This river has always supported a rich varietyof life, but the majorchanges recently imposed by man haveaffected, and stillare affecting,that life. of the Lower ColoradoRiver Valleycovers the birdlifealong that portionof the riverrunning from DavisDam in southernNevada to the Mexicanboundary, summarizing the past and presentstatus of the more than 400 speciesreported from this stretchof the river. All four of the authorswere part of a researchteam conductinga 12-yearstudy of plant--habitat relationshipsalong the lower Colorado River, so know the currentstatus and distributionof the birds in the area. They had accessto Gale Monson's unpublishedfield notes gathered during his 16-year tenure along the ColoradoRiver starting in 1942, andtook full advantage of themto determinerecent changesin statusand distribution.In addition they relied on articlesand notes in variousscientific journals and reportsto determinethe historicstatus of manyspecies and to assurethe inclusionof all recordsfrom the region. The authorsfollowed the format used in most regional books, with the individualspecies accounts taking up mostof the pages.However, the introductory chaptersare lengthierthan thosefound in most similarbooks, taking up more than 100 pages.The introductionpresents a brief but clearpicture of the ColoradoRiver drainagebasin and its dominantvegetation, pointing out the influencethis river has had on the area aroundit, and the influenceman has had upon it. One of the firstchapters outlines the historyof humanuse along the river'scourse, and the resultantchanges in the vegetationand birdlife.Another chaptersummarizes the authors'research, listing the varioushabitats to be found alongthe river,along with the bird speciesutilizing them duringthe variousseasons of the year. This is followedby a chaptercontaining information on typesof conservationfelt to be necessaryto reversethe spiralof habitatdegradation in this region. One chapteris devotedto patternsof birddistribution, giving a generaloverview of thosespecies considered permanent residents,summer and winter visitors,and those speciesregularly migrating along the river and strayinginto the area. A mostuseful featurein this chapteris a seriesof graphsdepicting migration periods for someof the commonerwater and landbirdmigrants regularly using the Lower ColoradoRiver as a flyway. An interestingaddition to the book is a chapteron findingbirds in the Lower ColoradoRiver Valley that will be usefulto birdersand ornithologistsalike visiting the area. This chapteris accompaniedby detailedmaps covering the ten mostproductive areas,along with informationabout the birdsto be foundin each of theseareas. A very usefultable accompanying this chapterlists avian activities among the resident and migrantspecies on an almostweekly basis through the year, allowingthe reader to determinequickly what to expectat any time of the year. The heart of this book, the speciesaccounts, covers the status and habitat preferenceof each of the 400 speciesknown to occuralong the Lower Colorado

Western Birds 23:45-47, 1992 45 River,along with informationon their breedingand food habitswhere appropriate, and additionalcomments about each specieswhere informative.Hypothetical spe- ciesare listedin a separateappendix, which includes only those ten speciesfelt likely to haveoccurred, omitting obvious escapees and misidentifications. The speciesaccounts vary in lengthfrom more than four pages,as in the caseof the well-studiedClapper Rail, to a few linesfor suchaccidental and casualstragglers as the Least Storm-Petreland Le Conte's Sparrow,and includespecies added to the listas recently as the winterof 1989-1990, suchas the Yellow-billedLoon. There are lengthy and very informative accounts of the decline, disappearance, and reintroduction of the Harris' Hawk, the colonization and decline of the Brown- crestedFlycatcher, and the colonizationand successof the Great-tailedGrackle to name just a few. In additionthere are dishearteningaccounts of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo,Vermilion Flycatcher, Bell's Vireo, and SummerTanager, all dependenton cottonwoodsand willows, and all decliningas rapidlyas the habitatupon which they depend.However, it is encouragingto learn that the Lucy'sWarbler has adaptedto the widespreadand ever increasingsaltcedar, thus increasing in numbersafter nearly disappearingfrom the river valley in the 1950s. Perhapsthere is hope for other . For thoseinterested in statelists, the accountsinclude five species recorded only on the Arizonaside of the riverthat are not yet documentedas occurringin California, and one speciesrecorded only on the Californiaside of the rivernot yet documented as occurringin Arizona.However, as is evidentfrom species'accounts such as those of the UplandSandpiper and Kentucky Warbler, it isdifficult to determinefrom which sideof the river many of the recordscome. I would have liked to see more documentingphotographs included. The fine photographof a Red-neckedGrebe on Lake Havasuin 1981 and the Mew Gull at Davis Dam in 1979 are stillthe only soliddocumentation for thesespecies' occur- rencesin Arizona.Why not includea pictureof the NorthernJacana photographed at Mittry Lake in 1986 and the RustyBlackbird photographed in Lake HavasuCity in 1982? I encourageauthors of futureworks of thisnature to followthe exampleset in The Birdsof BritishColumbia by R. WayneCampbell et al. (RoyalBritish Columbia Museum,1990), whereeven specimensof significantrecords are photo-represented. The authorsindicate that only thosesight records accompanied by writtendetails, and reviewedby either them or the appropriate state review committees,are included.However, I find the undocumentedsighting of the Least near Imperial Dam in 1955 included,this record having never been reviewedby the CaliforniaBird RecordsCommittee. This only leadsme to askhow manyother such recordsare included.Even more disturbing is the inclusionof a few recordsthat have beenrejected by the appropriatestate review committee, such as that of the Painted Buntingnorth of Blythe in 1982. My only majorcriticism of the book is the virtuallack of referencesfor specific recordsof rarities, unseasonableoccurrences, racial identifications,and the location of specimensand photographs, an unfortunatetrend that is apparentin a numberof recentworks of this nature. Thus, the curiousreader will find him or her selfunable to learn more aboutsuch remarkable records as that of a Common Nighthawkcollected near Bard in 1924, a Green Kingfisherseen in the Topock Marsh in 1988, an unseasonablePectoral Sandpiper at MartinezLake on 30 December1957, or the White-wingedJuncos at Ehrenbergand east of Yuma withoutdoing much detective work. Datesfor specificrecords are generallycorrect, though the factthat the Pinyon Jay in Blythe is publishedas being presenton 5 Januaryinstead of 7 January suggestssome errors do exist. The book containsfour appendices,one of which is an informativesummary of Christmas Bird Counts conductedat the Bill Williams Delta, Parker, and Martinez/ Yuma, listingthe birdsto be found in winter,and their relativeabundance at these

46 three locationsat that time of the year. Another appendixgraphically shows the abundance,seasonal status and habitatpreference of all the birdsknown to occur alongthe Lower ColoradoRiver, and is an excellentsource of visualinformation to be usedin conjunctionwith the speciesaccounts. An extensivebibliography preced- ing the index includesmost, if not all, major ornithologicalpapers coveringthe birdlifealong the ColoradoRiver. In summaryI foundthe book to be well written, relativelyerror free, and full of usefulinformation. It has muchto offerthose interested in the habitatrequirements of thosespecies regularly occurring along the ColoradoRiver, and suggestionsfor thoseactive in conservation.I consider it a mustfor any one interestedin the status and distributionof the birdsof Arizona,California, or Nevada,and a fine additionto any libraryon the birdsof NorthAmerica.

Lucy'sWarbler Sketch by Tim Manolis 47 BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEES

Pleasesend detailed descriptions and photographs documenting rare bird sightings to the addresses below.

Arizona: Janet Witzernan,4619 E. Arcadia Lane, Phoenix, AZ 85018 California:Michael A. Patten, P.O. Box 8612, Riverside,CA 92515 Colorado:CFO RecordsCommittee, Denver Museum of NaturalHistory, City Park, Denver, CO 80205 Idaho:Dr. C.H. Trost,Department of BiologicalSciences, Campus Box 8007, Idaho State University,Pocatello, ID 83209 New : John P. Hubbard, 2016 Valle Rio, Santa Fe, NM 87501 Oregon:Oregon Bird RecordsCommittee, P.O. Box 10373, Eugene,OR 97440 Utah:Utah Ornithological Society, Ella D. Sorensen,3868 MarshaDr., WestValley City, UT 84120 Vancouver,British Columbia: Wayne C. Weber,303-9153 SaturnaDr., Burnaby, B.C. V3J 7K1 Washington:Phil Mattocks,915 E. Third Ave., Ellensburg,WA 98926

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