Vol. 48 No. 2 Spring 2014 Colorado Birds The Colorado Field Ornithologists’ Quarterly Colorado Field Ornithologists PO Box 643, Boulder, Colorado 80306 cfobirds.org Colorado Birds (USPS 0446-190) (ISSN 1094-0030) is published quarterly by the Colo- rado Field Ornithologists, P.O. Box 643, Boulder, CO 80306. Subscriptions are obtained through annual membership dues. Nonprofit postage paid at Louisville, CO. POST- MASTER: Send address changes to Colorado Birds, P.O. Box 643, Boulder, CO 80306. Officers and Directors of Colorado Field Ornithologists: Dates indicate end of current term. An asterisk indicates eligibility for re-election. Terms expire 5/31. Officers: President: Bill Kaempfer, Boulder, 2014; [email protected]; Vice Presi- dent: Christian Nunes, Boulder, 2015*; [email protected]; Secretary: Larry Modesitt, Greenwood Village, 2015; [email protected]; Treasurer: Tom Wilberd- ing, Boulder, 2015*; [email protected] Directors: Jim Beatty, Durango, 2014; Christy Carello, Golden, 2016*; Lisa Edwards, Falcon, 2014*; Ted Floyd, Lafayette, 2014*; Mike Henwood, Grand Junction, 2015*; Brenda Linfield, Boulder, 2016; Joe Roller, Denver, 2015. Colorado Bird Records Committee: Dates indicate end of current term. An asterisk indicates eligibility to serve another term. Terms expire 12/31. Chair: Doug Faulkner, Arvada, 2016; [email protected] Secretary: Rachel Hopper, Fort Collins Committee Members: John Drummond, Monument, 2016; Brandon Percival, Pueblo West, 2015*; Mark Peterson, Colorado Springs, 2016*; Bill Schmoker, Longmont, 2016; David Silverman, Rye, 2014; Glenn Walbek, Castle Rock, 2015. Colorado Birds Quarterly: Editor: Peter Burke, [email protected] Staff: Christian Nunes (Photo Editor), [email protected]; Hugh Kingery (Field Notes Editor), [email protected]; Tony Leukering (In the Scope Editor), GreatGray- [email protected]; Ted Floyd (Conversations Editor), [email protected]; Mike Henwood (News from the Field Editor), [email protected]; Christy Carello (Science Editor), [email protected] Annual Membership Dues (renewable quarterly): General $25; Youth (under 18) $12; Institution $30. Membership dues entitle members to a subscription to Colorado Birds, which is published quarterly. Back issues/extra copies may be ordered for $6.50. Send requests for extra copies/back issues, change of address and membership renewals to CFO, P.O. Box 643, Boulder, CO 80306; make checks out to Colorado Field Ornitholo- gists. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. COPYRIGHT © 2014 by Colorado Field Ornithologists. Reproduction of articles is permitted only under consent from the publisher. Works by U.S. and Canadian governments are not copyrighted. 90 Colorado Birds Spring 2014 Vol. 48 No. 2 The Colorado Field Ornithologists’ Quarterly Vol. 48 No. 2 Spring 2014 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE .........................................92 Bill Kaempfer ABOUT THE AUTHORS ...........................................94 CFO BOARD MEETING MINUTES ...........................96 Christy Carello CONVERSATIONS: NICK KOMAR ............................98 Ted Floyd BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER × TOWNSEND’S WARBLER IN COLORADO .............. 102 Steven G. Mlodinow, Glenn Walbek and David Letterman NEST-SITE SELECTION OF CLIFF SWALLOWS IN A METROPOLITAN ENVIRONMENT................. 107 Wanda Sowa, Keely Nolan, Nels Grevstad and Christy Carello CFO BIRDING TRIP REPORT ................................ 119 Mike Henwood and Christian Nunes NEWS FROM THE FIELD: FALL 2013 ................... 121 Mike Henwood CFO GRANT REPORT: ANJELICA QUINTANA AND THE BLANCA WETLANDS ............................ 152 Natasha Kerr THE HUNGRY BIRD: CRAYFISH .......................... 153 Dave Leatherman Greater THE 69TH REPORT OF THE CBRC ......................... 163 Roadrunner, Doug Faulkner Stulp Farmyard, Prowers Coun- ty, 23 August IN THE SCOPE: THE WHITE-BREASTED 2013. Photo by NUTHATCHES OF COLORADO .............................. 180 Jane Stulp Steven G. Mlodinow PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Something’s Different Bill Kaempfer I’m sure all of you have noticed, but in the event that you haven’t, I’ll tell you—the CFO hasn’t sent you registration material for our 2014 CFO Convention. Well, there are two reasons for this, one physical and one temporal. First, we have decided to forego the physi- cal mailing of registration materials to all members. Mailed brochures are an unnecessary use of resources, both financial and environmen- tal. In past years more and more of you have opted to use the more sustainable, not to mention convenient, method of registering online at cfobirds.org. The traditional brochure will still be out there on the CFO website for you to print if you want to. You can even get in touch with me for a hard copy of the registration form to fill out and send in if that is your preference—just write to Colorado Field Orni- thologists P.O. Box 643 Boulder, CO 80306—but online registration is really the way to go. It’s faster, more environmentally friendly and doesn’t require you to write out a check or use a stamp. The second reason is a change in timing. The 2014 CFO Conven- tion will be a fall convention…well, late summer by the calendar, but ornithological fall. This year our convention will be in Sterling from Thursday, August 28 to Monday, September 1 (which just happens to be Labor Day in 2014). As pros like Ted Floyd will tell you, there are more birds alive in August (at least in the northern hemisphere) than at any other time of the year. Birders tend to be more active during spring migration than fall for a variety of reasons—spring migration tends to be more concentrated; the birds are usually in more vivid plumage and song and, not to be forgotten, we are all in a rush to fill out our year lists. But let’s hear it for fall migration! In Colorado there are many spe- cies that are much easier to find in fall than in spring, there are those massive numbers to think about and, lastly, fall migration invites us all into that essential seasonal debate—is it juvenile, juvenal or im- mature? To help with that last thorny issue, and to aid in deciphering fall shorebird plumage trickery in general, I am pleased to announce that our keynote speaker this year will be the incomparable Jon Dunn. Let me quote some of Jon’s press from Wings for which he serves as a trip guide, “Jon has been Chief Consultant/Editor for all six edi- tions of the National Geographic Society’s Field Guide to the Birds of North America, the most recent published in 2011. He is the co- writer and host of the two-video set Large and Small Gulls of North 92 Colorado Birds Spring 2014 Vol. 48 No. 2 America…and the Peterson Field Guide to Warblers. Jon is a member of the Commit- tee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists’ Union and the ABA Checklist Committee.” To all of those accomplishments, let me add that as a speaker, Jon really personalizes the time he spends with groups like the CFO. You will definitely want to meet and bird with him. Let me also sing the praises of Sterling, Colorado, as our selected site for a fall con- vention. I’ve been leading late August bird- ing trips in Northeast Colorado for about two decades and the birding can be spec- tacular. Consider: Sterling hosts a substantial number of eastern species, those that tend to breed and stay only on the eastern fringe of the CFO President Bill Kaempfer state—Mississippi Kite, Baltimore Oriole, Northern Cardinal, Great-crested Flycatcher, Red-bellied Wood- pecker and Bell’s Vireo to name a few. At this time of year, places along the South Platte, as well as nu- merous other hedgerows, campgrounds and shelterbelts, are capable of producing a wide variety of migrating warblers, vireos, flycatchers and sparrows. Northeast Colorado typically provides ideal shorebird habitat in the fall. In dry years, the big reservoirs like Jackson, Prewitt, North Sterling and Jumbo are drawn down, exposing acres of mud flats that attract shorebirds. During wet years when the reservoirs are full, there will still be thousands of pelicans, grebes and terns on the reservoirs, and there are likely to be playas here and there, at Red Lion SWA for instance, where the shorebirds will show up as well. For the past two years the location of the CFO Convention was selected in order to focus on a rare, local specialty as the main draw— Hepatic Tanager at Trinidad in 2012 and Lucy’s Warbler at Cortez in 2013. In 2014 the hero will be Buff-breasted Sandpiper, so join us this August in Sterling for the 2014 CFO Convention! Bill Kaempfer, [email protected] Colorado Birds Spring 2014 Vol. 48 No. 2 93 ABOUT THE AUTHORS Conversations: Nick Komar Ted Floyd is editor of Birding, author of the Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America and serves as a director on the CFO board. He has a B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Ecology from Penn State Uni- versity. An expert in avian nocturnal flight calls, husband and fa- ther of two children, Ted gets very little sleep. Black-throated Green Warbler x Townsend’s Warbler in Colorado Steve Mlodinow was 10 years old when he happened upon the hapless Evanston North Shore Bird Club in suburban Chicago. In the years following that chance occurrence, he has authored/coau- thored three books (Chicago Area Birds, America’s 100 Most Wanted Birds and Birds of Washington) and more than 50 peer-reviewed arti- cles. Steve currently sits on the Washington Bird Records Commit- tee, which he joined in 1999, the same year he became a regional editor for North American Birds. After 20 years living near Seattle, Steve opted to dry out in Colorado during February 2011 and has no intention of leaving. Nest-site Selection of Cliff Swallows in a Metropolitan Environment Wanda Sowa has a BA in Biology from Metropolitan State Uni- versity of Denver and is pursuing a Master’s degree in Natural Re- sources and Environmental Management at the University of Ha- waii at Manoa, studying birdsong differences in non-native birds in Hawaii.