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The Birds of Nebraska, Revised Edition 2013 University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Zea E-Books Zea E-Books 7-3-2013 The Birds of Nebraska, Revised Edition 2013 Paul A. Johnsgard University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook Part of the Biodiversity Commons, Ornithology Commons, Population Biology Commons, and the Poultry or Avian Science Commons Recommended Citation Johnsgard, Paul A., "The Birds of Nebraska, Revised Edition 2013" (2013). Zea E-Books. 17. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/17 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Zea E-Books at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Zea E-Books by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. June 27. 2013c THE BIRDS OF NEBRASKA PAUL A. JOHNSGARD SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN LINCOLN, NE 68588-0118 Revised edition, 2013 Copyright © Paul Johnsgard TABLE OF CONTENTS Part 1. Introduction Birdwatching Through the Year in Nebraska 4 Fundamentals of Birdwatching 8 Optical Equipment and Acoustic Aids 8 Reference Materials 10 Vernacular and Technical Names of Birds 12 Backyard Birding Opportunities 13 Monitoring Bird Populations 14 Sources of Information on Finding Birds in Nebraska 15 Maps of Nebraska Vegetation, Landforms and Counties Following p. 16 Part 2. The Birds of Nebraska Introduction 17 Family Tinamidae (Tinamous) 19 Family Anatidae (Waterfowl) 29 Family Odontophoridae (New World Quails) 31 Family Phasianidae (Pheasants, Grouse & Turkeys) 32 Family Gaviidae (Loons) 34 Family Podicipedidae (Grebes) 35 Family Phaethontidae (Tropicbirds) 36 Fanily Ciconiidae (Wood Storks) 36 Family Fregatidae (Frigatebirds) 36 Family Phalacrocoracidae (Cormorants) 37 Family Anhingidae (Anhingas) 37 Family Pelecanidae (Pelicans) 37 Family Ardeidae (Herons & Egrets) 38 Family Threskiornithidae (Ibises & Spoonbills) 41 Family Cathartidae (New World Vultures) 42 Family Pandionidae (Osprey) 42 Family Accipitridae (Hawks & Eagles) 42 Family Rallidae (Rails & Coots) 47 Family Gruidae (Cranes) 50 Family Charadriidae (Plovers) 50 Family Recurvirostridae (Stilts & Avocets) 52 Family Scolopacidae (Sandpipers & Snipes) 53 Family Laridae (Gulls & Terns) 62 Family Stercorariidae (Jaegers) 68 Family Alcidae (Auks) 68 Family Columbidae (Pigeons & Doves) 68 Family Cuculidae (Cuckoos) 68 Family Tytonidae (Barn Owls) 69 Family Strigidae (Typical Owls) 69 Family Caprimulgidae (Nightjars) 70 2 Family Apodidae (Swifts) 74 Family Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) 74 Family Alcedinidae (Kingfishers) 76 Family Picidae (Woodpeckers) 76 Family Falconidae (Falcons) 79 Family Psittacidae (Parrots) 81 Family Tyrannidae (New World Flycatchers) 81 Family Laniidae (Shrikes) 87 Family Vireonidae (Vireos) 87 Family Corvidae (Crows, Jays & Magpies) 88 Family Alaudidae (Larks) 92 Family Hirundinidae (Swallows) 92 Family Paridae (Chickadees & Titmice) 94 Family Sittidae (Nuthatches) 96 Family Certhiidae (Creepers) 96 Family Troglodytidae (Wrens) 97 Family Polioptilidae (Gnatcatchers) 99 Family Cinclidae (Dippers) 99 Family Regulidae (Kinglets) 99 Family Turdidae (Thrushes) 100 Family Mimidae (Mockingbirds, Thrashers & Catbirds) 104 Family Sturnidae (Starlings) 105 Family Motacillidae (Pipits) 105 Family Bombycillidae (Waxwings) 106 Family Ptilogonatidae (Silky Flycatchers) 107 Family Calcariidae (Longspurs and Snow Buntings) 107 Family Parulidae (New World Warblers) 108 Family Emberizidae (Sparrows) 120 Family Cardinalidae (Cardinals) 128 Family Icteridae (Blackbirds, Orioles & Meadowlarks) 131 Family Fringillidae (Finches) 135 Family Passeridae (Old World Sparrows) 139 References 140 Index 149 3 Part 1 Birdwatching Through the Year in Nebraska Many Nebraskans are unaware that they are actually residing in one of the prime locations in the entire world for observing and enjoying some of the most aesthetically appealing of all the world’s biological attractions. The area around Kingsley Dam and Lake McConaughy, for example, is known to have attracted more than 300 bird species, including 104 breeders (plus 17 probable breeders) making it the third-most species-rich bird location in the interior U.S.A. (after Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in southern Texas and Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Management Area in central Kansas). More impressively, the spring congregations of cranes and waterfowl along the Platte River Valley have recently been ranked by Roger Pasquier (writing in Forbes Magazine, 1997) as the greatest bird spectacle on earth. It has been estimated that bird-watching activities in the U.S.A. have increased 155 percent during the past decade, or at a more rapid rate than all other outdoor sports including walking, skiing and hiking, whereas fishing, hunting and tennis have all actually declined in popularity. Moneys now spent on wildlife recreation (over $100 billion) now exceeds total cash receipts from all livestock sales (“Wildlife Recreation,” in The Main Street Economist, April, 2004), and in 2006 birders added $36 billion to the U.S. economy. About 63 million people in the U.S.A. feed or watch birds at home, and there are at least 48 million adult bird-watchers. In Nebraska alone an estimated 23.l million dollars per year are spent by the public on non-consumptive bird-related activities, and about 800 people are employed in jobs supported by non-consumptive bird-related areas (Bird Conservation, spring, 1997, pp. 6-8). Every month of the year has its own bird-related attractions in Nebraska, as the following monthly breakdown will suggest. January January in Nebraska is our coldest and dreariest month, and a good time for feeding birds and enjoying them through the windows. White-throated and white-crowned sparrows are welcome visitors to feeders now, as are American goldfinches and other typical finches, such as purple finches (rarely) and (increasingly) house finches. Dark-eyed juncos and eastern or spotted towhees scratch industriously in the snow for food, and in the countryside species such as horned larks, American tree sparrows, Harris’ sparrows, and sometimes Lapland longspurs gather in open fields to search for seeds. During some years red-breasted nuthatches appear at suet feeders to join wintering downy, hairy and (in the east) red-bellied woodpeckers, and even less often red crossbills and (rarely) evening grosbeaks make their appearances, especially in western parts of the state. In the Panhandle and Pine Ridge other winter visitors might include Steller’s jays, Bohemian waxwings, Clark’s nutcrackers, mountain chickadees, Cassin’s finches and gray- crowned rosy-finches. Northern cardinals now begin to sense the lengthening days, and by mid-January a few males may begin sing, to be joined later in the month by European starlings and sometimes a few precocious house finches. For the adventurous birders, this month offers the temptation to drive to Kingsley Dam near Ogallala for the annual spectacle of several hundred bald eagles that annually gather there, and the chance– see some rare waterfowl, loons or gulls as well. This is the best time for seeing rough-legged hawks and other uncommon to rare northern visitors, such as snowy owls. February By February the days are perceptibly lengthening, and the end of winter seems almost in sight. Winter birds still gather at feeders, but American crows are on the move northward, as are vanguard individuals of American robins, red-winged blackbirds, and bluebirds. By shortly after Valentine’s day the first sandhill cranes can be expected to arrive on the Platte river, at least if it has become ice-free. They usually arrive on a south wind and with clearing skies, probably having flown from their wintering areas in Texas and New Mexico in a single day. Common mergansers begin to appear on the Platte too, as well as on larger reservoirs. Almost simultaneously common goldeneyes start to appear in these same locations. 4 As lakes and reservoirs slowly become ice-free bald eagles appear throughout the state’s waterways. They feast on winter–killed fish that become available, often perching on ice blocks or on trees along the shoreline. Harlan County reservoir and Sutherland reservoir, in south-central Nebraska, are good places to look for eagles, as well as Lake McConaughy in the Panhandle and larger eastern reservoirs, such as Lewis and Clark Lake, Branched Oak Lake, and Cunningham Lake. DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge often has good numbers of bald eagles in February, and its visitor center allows for easy and comfortable eagle watching, as does the J-2 power plant near Lexington. Great horned owls begin nesting in February, and should not be disturbed by playback of owl calls from this point onward through their nesting period. March March is perhaps the most exciting month of the year for Nebraska’s birders. By the first week or two hundreds of thousands if not millions of geese (snow, Ross’, Canada, cackling, and greater white- fronted) will have arrived in the eastern Rainwater Basin of southeastern Nebraska (centering on Clay County), and on a few basins farther west, such as Funk Lagoon. Unbelievable hordes of geese, as well as early duck migrants such as northern pintails and mallards crowd these marshes and the skies above, performing dizzying courtship flights and endless feeding flights to nearby fields for foraging. These great flocks of waterfowl usually peak by the middle of March. During March the sandhill cranes begin to build
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