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World'sMost Beautiful Birds- Discovering Jamaican Endemics- AvianSociology 101!- Cox's Sandpiper Update- Bird Atlasing- Little Blue Heron Identification AmericanTHE MAGAZINEOF RECORDAND OISCOVERY ß SUMMER 1991Birds ß $4.00 THE BEAUTIFUL WOOD DUCK, PAGE206 " -ko; a world that q• ß.•,• Lietoda O'S'•.. .•* m•esvery fast T•t's why • youshould never stand still for less •• • letsyout•n tracktrue autof•us binoculars. •lythefastestMinolta action • auto•tically andcontinuously •. in crispfocus --from as littleas 6feet away toinfinity. Only Minolta• uniquedesign lets youhold focus with touch-of-a-button easewhile eliminat- ,•a,%•,ing eye strain. Choose from8x or10x magnifications. Sincetheworld doesn't standstill, neither , ' •q•Olta,it•not •øe ' MINOLTA AUTOFOCUS BINOCULARS ONLY FROM THE MIND OF MINOLTA MINOLTA IATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY j FAMILY PORTRAITS Number Seven ,1 with a burstof colorlike a livingflame, a tanagermay seem out of place.And it is:tanagers are birds of the tropics.The tanagergroup LASHINGreachesits zenithTHROUGH in SouthOURAmerica, FAMILIARon theWOODLOT lowerslopes TREESof the Andes,where ten speciesof brilliantlycolored tanagers may feed in the same fruitingtree at the same time. Only a few kinds of tanagers--all pictured on this poster---comeas far northas the UnitedStates, and they are mostly summer birdshere, retreating to the torridzones for the winter. But while they are with us,their colorsand songs bring us a tantalizingtaste of the tropics. TANAGERS .Western Tanager 2.Hepatic Tanager 3.Stripe-headed Tanager 4.Summer Tanager 5.Scarlet Tanager Paintingb'• JOHN DAWSON A supplementto A•mmc^• Brat)s,Summer 1991, Volume45, Number2 "[The tanager]most takes Tanaœer"• derivedfrom "tansara," the name usedfo•' these birds by the the eyeof anybird... Tup• Indiansof the It fliesthrough the greenfoliage as EvenAmazonthe nameBasinoI' •s[arnd•,omes/tom the tropics if it would ignite the leaves." HENRY DAVID THOREAU BREEDING RANGE SCARLET TANAGER SUMMER TANAGER HEPATIC TANAGER WESTERN TANAGER Amongthe North Americantanagers, thefemale usually/ays foureggs (pale blue or The fewkinds of tanagersthat green,with brown come to North America find most markings),and usually of their insectfood by searching doesall theincubating methodicallyalong branches and foliage,as befits such stolid birds. herself.Her softcolors-- But theywill alsotake to the air, greensand yellows-- flyingout to nabpassing insects makebetter camouflage with surprisinggrace. They do not thanthe flashy tones hesitateto catchbees and wasps, of themale. After the deftlyavoiding getting stung in the The malescarlet tanager is scarlet for only eggshatch, however, half the year:for the winter,he molts process.Summer tanagers may de- themale does hisfull into a greenishplumage like that of the velopa tastefor theseinsects and female. On the other hand, the male shareof bringingfood summertanager (despite the name) learnto raid the nestsof paper to thenestlings. staysred both summer and wasps,eating both the youngwasp winter after he becomes an adult. grubsand the adults. SPECIES SIZE/APPEARANCE HABITAT NEST 'VOICE FOOD SCARLETTANAGER Length:7" Talldeciduous or Anuntidy cup of grass, weeds, Song, whistled phrases Mostly insects, also small Pirangaolivacea Male:bright red with black wings mixedforest. andtwigs, far out on a witha hoarse orhurry wildfruits. Theflashy male is unmistakable, butit isoften andtail. Fema/e. yellow-green with horizontalbranch. quality.Callnote, kip- hardtosee •nthe dense foliageof the treetops. [dark lookswingslike female. andtail. Male inwinter beerorkip. SUMMERTANAGER ILength: 7.75" Oakandptne-oak Aloose cup ofgrass andweed • Song,whistles.lazy Callnote,robin-like a Mostlywaspsandinsects, bees. includingAlso wild APiranga widespreadrubrabird, the summer tanager is most Male:whitishbrightbill. Fema/e: rose-red tawny-yellowall over, with cottonwoodwoodlands, riversidegroves. branch.stems, placed on ahorizontal •crackling pickstuck. fruits. commoninthe Deep South. I withwhinsh bill. HEPATICTANAGER Length:8" Openwoodlands of Ashallow cupofgrass and ISong, robin-like Mostly insects andwild Pirangatiara Male:brick-red allover, with gray pineand oak in weeds,placed ina fork of a whistles.Callnote, a low fruits,sometimes nectar Theareference word"hepatic"to the brick-redcan meanshade"liver-colored," ofthe male. faceandtawny-yellow darkpatch bill.and with darkgraybill. faceFemale:patch mountainouscountry. horizontalbranch. chuck. fromflowers. WESTERNTANAGER Length:7" Nests•nopen forest [ A cup of grass, twigs, and pine Risingand falling [Mostly insects, including Pirangaludoviciana Male:yellow with black wings and ofpine, spruce, and I needles,placed ona horizontal [phrases w•tha robin-like many wasps. Sometimes summer.wings,tail,palepaleFemale:wingbars; wingbars. yellow redfacewith ingray fir,migration.aspen;mixed w•despread with oak inorI[ branch of aconifer. Ii prri'ddi'ddit.song.quality Callnotemake upisthea rising eats wild fruits ornectar. Spmdaliszena Male:black, chestnut, and yellow, tropicalscrub, and fibers,placed in a bushor tree. high-pitchedseries of alsoinsects. CommonSTRIPE-HEADEDin theWest TANAGERIndies, and sometimes Length:with white 6.75" stripes on face and wings. Openpine forest. woods, IA loose cup ofgrass or plant , weakThe songnotes isanda thin,twitters. IMostly smallwildfruits, strays•ntosouthern Floridafrom theBahamas. •whiteFemale: inplainw•ngs. greenish gray with [ [Callnote, seeep. NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY 950 THIRD AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10022 1991Nattonal Audubon Society Content:Amencan B•rds magazine Design: EYtenttel Doyle Partners AmericanBirds is published by NATIONALAUDUBON SOCIETY NATIONALAUDUBON SOClEIY SUMMER 1991 American Birds HAROLDE• WOODSUMJR. Volume45, No. 2 TheMagazine of Record and Discovery Chairmanof the Board SUSAN RONEY DRENNta• PETERA.A. BEV,LE Editor-in-Chioc President VicePresident j$r IvYmAN S. HE•SKELL ScienceInj$rmation BRUCE S. HOWARD BAYARD D. VICTORIA LEIDNER Vice-Chairmen Art Director KENN KAUFMAN IM•s• T. CaSE AssociateEditor besaved by increasing fuel JMESA. CUNNINGMAM ERIc FISCHER GEOFFREYS. LEBARON efficiencyby a meretwo FROMTHE SUSANPARKER MARTIN Christmas Bird CHPdSTOPHERN. PALMER milesper gallon,dtilling ELIZABETHRAISBECK Count Editor in theArctic coastal plains Senior Vice-Presidents J• DomNs PRESIDENT Adminstrative Assistant isinsupportable. We need I•tARYJoY BRETON to make lawmakers look GRA• L. Cox ELLENALCORN, LAURA SCHENONE SusAN RONEY DRENNAN Fvoa,• M. Dt•sTtaq AS WE GO TO PRESS WITH at more cost-effective al- Contributors M. BROCK EV•NS MERCEDUSLEE, Lisa MEWR our summer issue of ALEXANDERSPRUNT IV ternatives,such as improv- TENSIE WHELAN Researchers AmericanBirds, the fate of ing fuel efficiencyand BROOKSYEAGER Vice-Presidents MALCOLM ABRAMS Arctic wildlife is being developing renewable Editorial Consultant CAROLEMcNA•w,• hashedout on Capitol sourcesof energy. Controller DRENTFEL DOYLE PARTNERS Oil advocatesargue DesignConsultants Hill. GeorgeBush has STUARTS. JtaqNEXIII vowedto vetoany energy that this 110-mile-long Secretary coastal stretch is not SAMUELA. PLUM CARMINE BRAN^cAN legislationthat doesn't in- Treasurer Publisher cludea provisionto open worth the environmental ROGER TORY PETERSON PHmIP WmTNEY the Arctic National Wild- uproar.But lessthan 4 SpecialConsultant AssociatePublisher life Refuge to oil ex- percentof thiscountry's RUSSELLW. PETERSON TYRONE A. HORTON ELVlSJ. STAHR ploration.That habitat, originalwilderness still Presidents Emeriti Circulation/Business comprisedof 1.5 million exists, and half of that Operations PATRICIAM. BARRET]7-WALTERS acresalong the Alaskan is in Alaska. The Arctic SCO'71 W. REED JOHNB. GOURLAY Bm,•AEA WIGHTMAN coast, is cridcal to Arctic Assistant Secretaries AdvertisingDirector NationalWildlife Refuge wildlife.Among the 130 isthe only remaining Alas- HARRYC. LEGATESJR. HELEN C. ALEXANDER Publications Business birdspecies making their kan coastlinenot opento LEIGHJ. ALTADONNA Manager home in the refugeare oil development.As bird- WIEMA ANDERSON JOHNB. BEINECKE Advisors Golden Eagles,Snowy ers, and as citizens,won't JOHNC. BIERWIR'D-1 MRS. W. L. LYONS BROWN Carl E. Bock and Short-eared owls, youplease help us block JACQUELINEA. BROWNE Mary H. Clench Tundra Swans, and the JANICEE. BURCH JohnFarrand Jr. this legislationbefore NOEL LEE DUNN Frank B. Gill North America's last Arc- PAUL R. EHRLICH endangeredArcfit race of GEORGE ELLMAN Thomas R. Howell thePeregrine Falcon. The tic wilderness frontier is CH,•.LES G. EvANs FrancesC. James Jtoa•sG. I-L•4•sIII Kenneth C. Parkes areais also vital to migrat- destroyed? MARIAN S. HEISKELL BRUCE S. HOWARD RogerTory Peterson ingSnow Geese, a species STUARTS. Jta-•NE¾III Olin SewallPettingill Jr. I•tADELEINE M. KUNIN JamesV. Rernsen whosepopulation is ex- HARRIET M. [•IARBLE JosephR. Siphron pectedto decreaseby 50 JANM•RSH AlexanderSprunt IV J.P. MYERS C^• NAVARXEJR. Glen E. Wooifenden percentif the Refugeis DONALC. O'BRIENJR. AmericanBirds ispublished five times a openedto drilling. GEORGE D. PAWi7ERSON year.Editorial and businessoffices are JOHNJ. PHEIANJR. located at 950 Third Avenue, New York, Accordingto the De- SAMUELA. PLUM NY 10022(212) 546-9191. Subscription, BAYAm• D. all in U.S.$: Oneyear $27.50, Two years partmentoflntetior's best SCO•T W. REED $50,Canada and Foreign $32.50, Librar- WILLIAM RILEY iesand Insitutions$35- Singlecopies: estimate,there may be 3.5 PHILLIP B. ROONEY Christmas(Bird Count) Issue $15, Spring billion barrels of oil in the WILLIAM D. RoSS Issue(Autumn Migration),