Birds of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah and Arizona John R
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Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist Volume 5 Article 2 8-9-2011 Birds of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah and Arizona John R. Spence Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, National Park Service, Page, AZ, [email protected] Charles T. LaRue [email protected] John D. Grahame [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/mwnan Recommended Citation Spence, John R.; LaRue, Charles T.; and Grahame, John D. (2011) "Birds of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah and Arizona," Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist: Vol. 5 , Article 2. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/mwnan/vol5/iss1/2 This Monograph is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist 5, © 2011, pp. 20–70 BIRDS OF GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, UTAH AND ARIZONA John. R. Spence1, Charles T. LaRue2, John D. Grahame3 ABSTRACT.—The birds of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, in southern Utah and northern Arizona, are docu- mented, with information on abundance, distribution, ecology, residency status, and breeding status. In all, 316 species have been reported from the park since the first surveys in the region during the 1930s. Historical survey data from the pre-Glen Canyon Dam surveys are incorporated, as well as significant work done in the park since 1992. Breeding is docu - mented for 87 species, including 82 native species and 5 exotic species. Many rare species are reported for the first time from this section of the state, and several recent range extensions are documented. Key words: avifauna, Arizona, Utah, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Lake Powell, Glen Canyon Dam. Acronyms: BLM – Bureau of Land Management, CBC – Christmas Bird Count, GIS – geographic information system, GLCA – Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, NPS – National Park Service, RBMVE – Rainbow Bridge–Monument Valley Expedition, SRFR – Spence–Romme–Floyd-Hanna–Rowlands [vegetation classification system], STP – sewer treatment plant, USFWS – United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Dam are managed by the Bureau of Reclamation (GLCA) covers 505,868 ha of the central Colo - of the U.S. Department of the Interior. rado Plateau in southern Utah and extreme This study provides detailed information on northern Arizona (Fig. 1). Created in 1972 and the birds of a poorly known portion of south- administered by the National Park Service ern Utah and immediately adjacent Arizona, (NPS) of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and documents the discovery of Lake Powell GLCA includes all of Lake Powell. Created in by a variety of water birds that were previ- 1963 when Glen Canyon Dam was completed, ously unknown from the region. The checklist the reservoir is 300 km long and at full pool is the records all bird species seen within the bound- second-largest reservoir in North America in aries of GLCA as well as sightings within 3 volume. The park also includes the remaining km of the boundary in immediately adjacent 25 km of Glen Canyon down to Lees Ferry, 80 areas. For each species, data on abundance, km of the Escalante River, and 60 km of the San residency, distribution, ecology, and breed- Juan River. GLCA is the largest unit of the Na - ing are presented. A list of species reported tional Park Service on the Colorado Plateau. To from GLCA but excluded in this study is also the north are the Grand Staircase–Escalante presented. Reasons for exclusion of a species National Monument and Capitol Reef National are inadequate documentation, no documenta- Park. On the eastern boundary of GLCA are tion, or possible confusion with closely related Canyonlands National Park and public lands species. administered by the San Juan Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). To the AREA DESCRIPTION south lies the Navajo Nation, and Grand Canyon National Park adjoins GLCA at Lees Ferry. To Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in - the west are the Vermillion Cliffs Monument and cludes the lowlands of the Colorado River now public lands administered out of the Arizona inundated by Lake Powell behind Glen Canyon Strip Office of the BLM. With the creation of Dam. Lake Powell is the centerpiece of GLCA, GLCA in 1972, the natural resources of the area and is the second-largest reservoir in the United were put under the administration and manage - States. At full-pool elevation of 1130 m, the ment of the NPS. The operations of Glen Canyon reservoir is 300 km long, extending well up 1Resource Management Division, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Box 1507, Page, AZ 86040. E-mail: [email protected] 23515 West Lois Lane, Flagstaff, AZ 86001. 3705 Choctaw Street, Flagstaff, AZ 86001. 20 2011] BIRDS OF GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA 21 17 20 16 12 15 13 14 11 9 8 7 10 18 19 6 5 3 1 2 4 Fig. 1. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, southern Utah and northern Arizona. Numbers refer to some of the principal locations mentioned in the species accounts. 1, Page and Glen Canyon Dam; 2, Colorado River and Lees Ferry; 3, Wahweap and Warm Creek bays; 4, Navajo Canyon; 5, Grand Bench; 6, Fifty Mile Mountain and Navajo Point; 7, Escalante River corridor; 8, Halls Creek and Bullfrog bays; 9, Waterpocket Fold; 10, Kaiparowits Basin; 11, Good Hope Bay; 12, Dirty Devil River; 13, Hite Marina; 14, Henry Mountains; 15, Cataract Canyon; 16, Hans Flat Ranger Station; 17, Orange Cliffs; 18, Clay Hills Crossing; 19, San Juan River; 20, Canyonlands National Park. Cataract Canyon, and covers 65,000 ha (13% of vation. Beyond the reservoir, GLCA includes GLCA). The shoreline length varies from 2000 another 440,000 ha of slickrock wilderness, to 3000 km depending on reservoir surface ele- cliffs, mesas, and canyons. Elevations range 22 MONOGRAPHS OF THE WESTERN NORTH AMERICAN NATURALIST [Volume 5 TABLE 1. Selected climate data for Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and adjacent areas, Arizona and Utah. Station data are derived from the Western Regional Climate Center, Reno, Nevada. The period of operation of each station is also listed. Elevation MATa MITb MXTc PRECIPd SNOWe Station Years (m) (°C) (°C) (°C) (mm) (mm) Bullfrog 1967–2009 1165 15.2 8.3 22.5 151 122 Hans Flat 1981–2009 2012 10.6 5.4 16.4 246 965 Hite 1978–2009 1220 15.5 9.8 22.3 194 66 Lees Ferry 1916–2009 978 16.9 9.2 24.8 158 56 Mexican Hat 1948–2009 1265 13.6 5.2 22.2 159 79 Page 1959–2009 1372 14.5 8.2 21.1 162 114 Wahweap 1967–2009 1136 15.7 8.8 22.8 158 15 aMAT = mean annual temperature bMIT = mean annual minimum temperature cMXT = mean annual maximum temperature dPRECIP = mean annual precipitation eSNOW = mean annual snowfall from 950 m at Lees Ferry to 2312 m at Navajo gallery forests along the Escalante River. Ever - Point on Fifty Mile Mountain. Most of the rec - green woodlands consisting of twoneedle pinyon reation area consists of sandstone and shales, (Pinus edulis) and Utah juniper ( Juniperus osteo - forming numerous mesas, buttes, and badlands. sperma) are common and provide important Very little limestone or metamorphic bedrock habitat for many bird species in southern Utah. is found. The geology of GLCA is described in However, most of GLCA lies below 1600 m; Anderson et al. (2000). thus, these woodlands are largely restricted to The climate of the region can be character- the highest elevations and cover only about 8% ized as ranging from warm to cold-temperate, of GLCA’s area. Much of GLCA consists of bar- with relatively cold winters and warm to hot ren shales, cliffs, and slickrock, or supports low summers. Freezing temperatures are common in desert shrub communities. Evergreen shrub- winter, and snow often falls at higher elevations. lands of blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima) and Table 1 presents selected data from 7 climate shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia) are dominant, stations maintained in and around GLCA. The comprising almost 300,000 ha (59%). In the ma - warmest areas of the recreation area lie in the trix of shrublands and barrens are small patches Lees Ferry portion, where annual average maxi - of grassland and sand shrub communities. Fin - mum temperatures exceed 16 °C. The coldest ally, some of the most important vegetation com- areas occur on the end of Fifty Mile Mountain in munities occur in association with riparian zones the Navajo Point area as well as the Orange and springs where permanent water exists. Al - Cliffs region, where Hans Flat is found. Tem- though these vegetation types support relatively peratures are cold in the winter at these eleva- few obligate bird species, they are important for tions; mean annual temperature is barely 10 °C, upland species, and are often important migra- and snow often covers the ground. Precipitation tion corridors as well. Despite the presence of is bimodal, with a peak in late summer–early fall, Lake Powell, very little aquatic vegetation has es - and increases with elevation from around 150 tablished, primarily because of the large (≥10 m) mm at the lowest elevations to about 250 mm year-to-year fluctuations in reservoir levels. Thus at the highest elevations (Spence 2001). aquatic beds of pondweed and shoreline wet- The principal vegetation communities in lands of emergent vegetation are rare. GLCA are listed in Table 2 with approximate hectares based on a GIS analysis (NPS unpub- HISTORICAL REVIEW lished data; Spence 2002).