Distribution of the Boreal Owl in Eastern Washington and Oregon’

712 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS

movement for cooling, and was a suitable substratefor nest construction for ravens and other birds. Both nest siteswere in flat to rolling terrain ofdesert- shrub habitat. No suitable natural nesting sites (cliffs) were within a 5- to lo-km radius of the nestingtowers. Thus, abandonedraven nestsin towers have provided suitablenesting sites for Prairie Falconswhere a natural site was lacking. LITERATURE CITED BEN-~,A. C. 1938. Life histories of North American birds of prey. Part 2. Dover Publications, New York. CADE, T. J. 1982. The falcons of the world. Com- stock/Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, NY. MACLAREN, P. A., D. E. RUNDE,AND S. H. ANDERSON. 1984. A record of tree-nesting Prairie Falcons in Wvomina. Condor 86:487488. FIGURE 2. Young Prairie Falconsin abandoned ra- ODGEN;V. T.r~tm M. G. HORNOCKER.1977. Nesting ven nest on a transmission tower. density and successof Prairie Falcons in south- western Idaho. J. Wildl. Manage. 41:1-l 1. OLENDORFF,R. R., A. D. MILLER,AND R. N. LEHMAN. spection of the nest indicated that it was unoccupied. 1981. Suggestedpractices for raptor protection On tower no. 294, a Prairie Falcon was observed in- on power lines; the stateof the art in 1981. Raptor cubatingon a stick nest. This site was in the sametower ResearchReport 4: l-l 11. position as the 1985 nest, but was approximately 4.8 PALMER,R. S. [ED.] 1988. Handbook of North Amer- km southwest of tower no. 322. On 17 June 1986, ican birds. Vol. 5. Diurnal raptors (Part 2). Yale observersclimbed the tower and found two youngbirds Univ. Press, New Haven, CT. (30-35 days old) in the nest. Both adults were present. POSTOVIT,H. R., AND B. C. POSTOVIT.1987. Impact The tvpical falcon nest is on a cliff with some dearee and mitigation techniques,p. 183-2 13. In B.A.G. of overhead protection and shading(Cade 1982, Palm- Pendleton, B. A. Millsap, K. W. Cline, and D. M. er 1988). The falconsfound in abandoned raven nests Bird [eds.], Raptor managementtechniques man- were surroundedby the metal lattice of the tower (Fig. ual. Natl. Wildl. Fed., Scientific and Technical Se- 2). The latticework provided shading, allowed air ries No. 10.

TheCondor91:712-716 0 The CooperOrnithological Society 1989

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BOREAL OWL IN EASTERN WASHINGTON AND OREGON’

BARTLET-~D. WHELTON Department of Chemistryand Biochemistry,Eastern WashingtonUniversity, Cheney, WA 99004

Key words: Aegolius funereus;Boreal Owl; distri- in Whatcom County during January 1905 (Dawson bution; westernNorth America. 1908). Since that time the owl’s presence has been verified by a specimen taken during January 1974 in In its description of the southern distributional limit Whitman County, paradoxically the heart of Wash- for the Boreal Owl (Aegoliusfunereus)in North Amer- ington’s wheat land (Johnson and Hudson 1976). To ica, the AOU (1983) noted continuous populations date records from Oregon have included a number of acrosssouthern Canada and isolated ones from north- referencesdescribing its presenceduring the 1800s as western Wyoming and north-central Colorado. Until “not rare” in the Oregon Territory and-a single spec- the 1970s the specieswas singularly known in Wash- imen taken in Klamath Countv durina March 1902 ington State from a now misplacedspecimen collected (Gabrielson and Jewett 1940). -More recently Boreal Owl surveysin statesalong the Rocky Mountain cor- ridor from northern New Mexico to northern Idaho I Received 12 August 1988. Final acceptance 30 and Montana have revealed a not so discontinuous March 1989. pattern of breeding populations (Palmer and Ryder SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 713

1984, Hayward et al. 1987, and Rawinski and Stah- and breast. These included bright lemon-yellow irises, lecker in Hubbard 1987). Thus in an effort to assess whitish loresand superciliaries,whitish facial discswith the statusof the speciesin areasalong the western edge prominent black bordersarcing over and down through of the Rockies south of the U.S.-Canadian border, sur- the tops and insidesof the eyesand forming a “stirrup” veys were undertaken in the Kettle River and Selkirk about the base of the bill, charcoal smudge marks on ranges of northeastern Washington and the Blue and the lower, outer quadrantsof the discs, whitish breast Wallowa mountains of southeasternWashington and vertically streakedby broad, sometimes broken, choc- northeastern Oregon. olate-brown bands. and a pronortionatelv large. earless head topped by a fiat or siighily concave-crown.Other METHODS AND RESULTS marks noted on nearby and/or well-illuminated birds From March to October 1985, 2 1 hiking surveyswere were the straw/olive colored bill and the dense white conductedin five subalpinesites located on the Kettle spottingof the forehead, black disc border, and crown Crest,Ferry County and the Salmo Divide, Pend Oreille (finest markings reserved to the former two areas). County, Washington.These mixed coniferoussites were Of 33 contactsestablished over the year, a minimum respectivelydominated by multiple-agedlodgepole pine of 23 individual Boreal Owls were located (Table 1) of (Pinus contorta) or subalpine fir-Engelmann spruce which 14 were seen including seven perched. The first (Abies lasiocarpa-Piceaengelmannii) forest and were encounteredwas a staccato-callingmale found on the situatedat elevationsbetween 1,525 and 1,950 m. Ap- Kettle Crest in April; suchactivity is indicative of po- proximately 6 km of trail or gravel road traversedeach tential individual breeding and the presenceof breed- area. Two additional censuseswere taken in a sixth, ing populations (Bondrup-Nielsen 1984, Palmer and lower site (945 m) of similar habitat type along the Ryder 1984, and Hayward et al. 1987). This however Little Pend Oreille River, StevensCounty, during De- was the only courting male found during 1985. Ad- cember 1985 and January 1986. Boreal Owls were lo- ditional vocalizationsgiven by this owl included a sin- cated in all seasonsby responseto a taped recording gular chuukcall and an excited, upbeat version of the of the male’s staccutocall (M. B. Dickinson, Ed., Guide slacculocall. The third and fourth located were an to Bird Sounds,National Geographic Society, Wash- apparentpair found on the Salmo Divide. One or both ington, DC, 1983) played on a small tape recorder (7.5 were contactedin the sameimmediate areaon a monthly cm speaker diameter) at middle to high volume at basis from June through September and were accom- approximately 200-m intervals. Interval stops aver- panied by at least one additional but unseenowl during aged 5+ min. Surveys were generally conducted be- the last 2 months. Whether particular to this pair or tween waxing one-half to waning three-fourths moon not, they would only answer the recorder within an phases.Responses, as described by Bondrup-Nielsen approximate 75-m radius of what appearedto be their (1984), included the staccatocall (the courtship song area center, presumablya nest site. During the August given exclusivelyby the male typically from mid-March visit, both were observed intermittently over a 5-hr through mid-May), the skiew and moo-u calls (aggres- period. Two principal vocalizations were repeatedly sive, threatening,distress or alarm callsapparently giv- elicited in response to the taped staccatocall; these en most frequently by the male), the chuukand peeping were heard individually and at times simultaneously calls (contact calls issued apparently by the female on and were recorded. The recordingswere digitally ana- or near the nest in responseto staccatovocalizations lyzed by computer as sonograms (DEC PDP 1 l/23 from the male), and the chatter call (the distress call computer programmed with “Interactive Laboratory of the juvenile). Systems,” May 1985 by Signal Technology, Inc., 595 1 In general, visual observationsof Boreal Owls were Encina Road, Goleta, CA) and were favorably matched more readily accomplishedwhen at least two observers with those for the moo-a and chuukcalls as identified were in the field. The quality of observations varied by Bondrup-Nielsen (1984). In addition these vocal- from those of moonlit owls aggressivelyflying directly izations were found to be equivalent to those noted at the face of the tape recorder holder or on occasion respectively as the “alarm” and “aggressive” calls in gliding immediately overhead (distancesclosing ulti- Europeanrecordings of Tengmalm’s Owl (Aegoliusfu- mately to less than 2 m), to those that circled the re- nereus)from S. Palmer and J. Boswall’s, A Field Guide corder (distancesof 15 to 25 m), to two separatein- to the Bird Songsof Britain and Europe (Swedish Ra- dividuals viewed on unobstructed perches under full dio). Later that same evening, an approximate S-min- spotlightillumination for as long as 15 min (minimum long multiple ofstaccatoresponses was eventually elic- distancesof 2 and 4 m). Owls aggressivelyapproaching ited from the owl giving the chuuk call. During the the recorder frequently perched nearby (10 to 20 m) September visit, the first of the three owls contacted on open branches,however they typically would only respondedwith a subduedchuuk followed by about 10 allow brief spotlight illumination (5 to 10 set). Those min of intermittent moo-ucalls. Responsesof the other circling the recorder were usually most resistantin af- two were singularly restricted to either the chuuk or fording visual identification other than by size (length chattercall. Attempts to find nestsat this and the Kettle and wingspan about 25 and 60 cm, respectively and site were unsuccessful.During the ensuing springs of approximate to that of the slightly smaller Western 1986 and 1987, these areasagain hosted single calling Screech-Owl,Otus kennicottiz],short-tailed profile, and males (Sundstromand Scuderi in Rogers 1986a, Brok- flight style (rapid, direct, and untwistingusually swoop- kaw et al. in Rogers 1986b, Hunn 1987). ing upward to alight). Field marks most easily dis- In four of the subalpine sites, the number of indi- cemed on perched Boreal Owls at a distance and/or vidual Boreal Owls found per kilometer censusedap- under low lighting conditions were those of the face proximated that found by Palmer and Ryder (1984) in

SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 715 the Cameron Pass area of Colorado and by Hayward TABLE 2. Owl species and numbers found in the and Garton (1983) in the Chamberlain Basin area of subalpinefir zone.’ Idaho (one per 3-4 km). However on the fifth site, one early fall survey revealed a minimum of 12 owls (two South- per km). This site was in part characterizedby subal- eastern Washing- pine forest-meadow parkland, an open and mixed en- North- ton/north- vironment where breeding Boreal Owls have previ- eastern eastern Washington 01eglXl ously been found in high densities (Holmberg 1982, Species (1985) (1987) Palmer in Kingery 1984). Surprisingly the only other owl species found within the subalpine zone during Boreal Owl 212 19 1985 was the Barred Owl (Strix v&z, Table 2). Con- Barred Owl 6 5 spicuouslyabsent was the Northern Pygmy-Owl (Gluu- Northern Saw-whet Owl - 3 cidiumgnoma), normally an uncommonresident, which Northern Pygmy-Owl - 5 was encountered only below 1,110 m. At lower ele- Great Homed Owl - 11 vations the location of two Boreal Owls along the Little Flammulated Owl - 2 Pend Oreille River in December 1985 indicated that I Minimum zone elevationsranged from 1,525 to 1,900 m north to the sueciesmav utilize familiar habitat in its winter *n,,tll-_ _ . . . wanderings. . ?Two additional owls were found in similar habitat at 945 m during winter(Stevens County, Table I). During June and October-November 1987, 16 auto surveyswere conductedalong U.S. Forest Serviceroads in the subalpinezone of the Blue and Wallowa moun- 0.8-km intervals has been employed in southern Col- tains. In all 163 km were censusedin sevencontiguous orado since 1984 (Rawinski in Kingery 1985, Palmer counties from Garfield Countv. Washineton in the and Rawinski 1986). In that area Northern Saw-whet northeast to Grant County, Oregon in thesouthwest. Owls have been found to respondto the Boreal staccato Minimum subalpinezone elevationsvaried from 1,575 call but not vice versa. Typical responsesfrom these to 1,900 m along the same latitudinal gradient and saw-whet owls included a cat’s meow or a repeated surveysextended upwards to a maximum of 2,390 m. singleflat note whistled irregularlyup, then down scale; Over much of the Blue Mountains, the subalpinezone converselyBoreal Owls apparentlyresponded only with is generally drier, more open and meadowed than in the skiew call (J. Rawinski, pers. comm.). In eastern northeastern Washington. Forest composition, al- Washingtonsaw-whet owls respondedwith their spring though dominated by subalpinefir and lodgepolepine, courtship call or an excited, upbeat version thereof in is appreciablyintermixed with grandfir (Abiesgrandis), addition to the two calls previously noted. Over the western larch (Larix occident&), and Engelmann course of this study, all saw-whet owls and 39 of 42 spruce. As in the Selkirks, whitebark pine (Pinus al- Boreal Owls found answered the staccatocall; the re- bicaulis) could be found near the timberline. Boreal maining three Boreals responded either to the male Owls were located as before, however the tape was saw-whet courtship (two) or juvenile Great Gray Owl played at approximately 0.4-km intervals. Of 21 con- (Strix nebulosa)begging ’calf For other species-listed tacts established,a minimum of 19 different individ- in Table 2, seven Great Homed (Bubo virginianus). ualswas located (Table 1) of which two were seenflying nine Barred, and one Northern Pygmy owlanswered overhead. No staccato-callingmale Boreal Owls were the Boreal call while Flammulated Owls (Otus jlam- encountered. In addition, five other owl specieswere meolus)were unresponsive.In most casesBoreal Owls found (Table 2); with the exception of the Barred Owl, respondedto the taped staccatocall with one type of thesewere the same as reported by Hayward and Gar- vocalization over a short period of time. In a limited ton (1983) for central Idaho some 225 km directly to number of cases,particularly where contact time was the east. longer, two or more vocalizations were heard. On dif- ferent occasionsand at widely separatedlocations, two DISCUSSION staccato-callingowls were heard to give the chuukcall The successof the current survey method principally (Table 1; 27 April and 26 August 1985);under the same depended on finding Boreal Owls from late spring circumstances,two additional individuals were,heard through fall when subalpine habitat was more easily to give the chuukand moo-a calls (Table 1; 2 Septem- accessiblerather than during the earlier courtship pe- ber and 19 September 1985). While these combina- riod. In all 3 1 of 42 individuals were initially contacted tions are not consistentwith the assignmentof sex to in September or October. In no instance was an owl call as outlined by Bondrup-Nielsen (1984) these re- identified as Boreal from its chuuk, moo-a, or skiew sults suggestthat most of these vocalizations except call that was momentslater seenand found to be another the staccatocall are likely given by both sexes. species,for example the Northern Saw-whet Owl (Ae- The findings of this study have extended the known goliusacadicus). In generalresponse distance from the resident range of the Boreal Owl to include subalpine recorder was short and interest period brief. From a areas of eastern Washington and Oregon. The species total of 33 contactsduring the hiking survey, only twice has been located in eight counties and three national could Boreals be intentionally coaxed to follow the forests where it had previously been unrecorded. recorder, and then only for approximately 100 m. Of Breeding activity has been identified in northeastern the remaining 2 1 contacts from the auto survey, only Washington. The experienceof this survey and others once was a Boreal consideredto be a repeat respondent (Berger et al. in Rogers 1986a, Holt in Rogers 1987) and that was likely due to the local hairpin nature of has been that the Boreal Owl is generally the most the road. A similar autumn survey technique utilizing findable owl speciesat higher elevations; it may well 716 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS prove to be the most common in appropriate habitat. DAWSON,W. L. 1908. New and unpublishedrecords Surveys from northern New Mexico to the U.S.-Ca- from Washington. Auk 25~482-485. nadian border (37-49” N latitude) have now revealed GABRIELSON,I. N., ANDS. G. JEWETT.1940. Birds of that populationsof this speciesare apparently not lim- Oregon. Oregon State College, Corvallis. ited to isolated Pleistocenerelicts as suggestedby Bal- HAYWARD,G. D., AND E. 0. GARTON. 1983. First dwin and Koplin (1966) but rather appear to form a nesting record for Boreal Owl in Idaho. Condor more continuous distribution throughout the Rocky 85:501. Mountain range. HAYWARD,G. D., P. H. HAYWARD,AND E. 0. GARTON. Do recent discoveries of Boreal Owls in the North 1987. Revised breedingdistribution ofthe Boreal Cascades(Parsons and Kragh in Mattocks 1986) sug- Owl in the northern Rocky Mountains. Condor gest a link to the earlier southern specimen records; 89:431432. and what of the June 1985 Sierran report of a calling HOLMBERG,T. 1982. Breeding density and site te- Boreal Owl near Echo Summit, California (approxc nacity .of Tengmalm’s Ow< (Aegoiiusfunereus). mately 39” N latitude; Green in Campbell and Bailey Var Faeelvarld 44~265-267. 1985)?Are all these incidents of true vagrancy or the HUBBARD,f. P. 1987. Continental analysis: South- disregarded indicators of other extensive, as yet un- west region. Am. Birds 411474. detected populations?It would appear that these last HLJNN.E. 1987. Boreal Owls: Voice in the wilderness. major western mountain corridors south of the Ca- Earthcare Northwest (November):7. nadian border merit a thorough investigation. JOHNSON,R. E., AND G. E. HUDSON. 1976. A Wash- ington record of the Boreal Owl. Auk 93: 195-l 96. The author wishes to thank William and Geness KINGERY,H. E. 1984. Continental analysis: Moun- Reichart and M. William O’Connell for assistancewith tain west region. Am. Birds 38:94 1. earlier surveys,David Palmer and John Rawinski for KINGERY, H. E. 1985. Continental analysis: Moun- information on BorealOwls in Colorado,Michael Smith tain west region. Am. Birds 39:84. and Will Pettit for computerized sonogramanalysis of MATTOCKS,P. W 1986. Continental analysis:North- Boreal Owl recordings, Ronald Ryder, Gregory Hay- em Pacific coast reaion. Am. Birds 40: 1247. ward, and Kenneth Swedbergfor reviewingearlier drafts PALMER,D. A., AND J.“J. RAWINSKI. 1986. A tech- of this manuscript,and Betty Drury and SusiHolleman nique for locating Boreal Owls in the fall in the for typing the text. Rockv Mountains. Colo. Field Omithol. 20:38- LITERATURE CITED 40. - PALMER,D. A., AND R. A. RYDER. 1984. The first AMERICANORNITHOLOGISTS UNION.’ 1983. Checklist documented breeding of the Boreal Owl in Colo- of North American birds. 6th ed. American Or- rado. Condor 86:2 15-2 17. nithologists’ Union, Washington, DC. ROGERS,T. H. 1986a. Continental analysis:Northern BALDWIN,P. H., ANDJ. R. KOPLIN. 1966. The Boreal Rocky Mountain-Intermountain region.Am. Birds Owl as a Pleistocene relict in Colorado. Condor 40:500. 68:299-300. ROGERS,T. H. 1986b. Continental analysis:Northern BONDRUP-NIELSEN,S. 1984. Vocalizations of the Bo- Rocky Mountain-Intermountain region.Am. Birds real Owl, Aegoliusfunereus richardsoni, in North 40:1231. America. Can. Field-Nat. 98:191-197. ROGERS,T. H. 1987. Continental analysis:Northern CAMPBELL,K. F., AND S. F. BAILEY. 1985. Continental Rocky Mountain-Intermountain region.Am. Birds analysis: Middle Pacific coast region. Am. Birds 41:465. 39:207.

The Condor9 1:7 16-720 0 TheCooper Ornithological Society 1989

A MODIFIED JAW MUSCLE IN THE MAUI PARROTBILL (PSE UDONESTOR: DREPANIDIDAE)’

RICHARDL. ZUSI National Museum of Natural History, SmithsonianInstitution, Washington,DC 20560

Key words: Drepanididae;Hawaiian Islands; jaw anididae) in which the tip of the upper jaw projects muscle;Maui Parrotbill; Pseudonestor;skull. well beyond that of the lower jaw. The bird’s resem- blance io a parrot is heightenedby a deep and strongly The Maui Parrotbill (Pseudonestorxanthophrys) is one decurved upper jaw and a recurved tip on the lower of several species of Hawaiian honeycreeper (Drep- (Fig. 1). Opposite curvature of the tomia in the two jaws is unusual in birds; among passerinesit is most highly developed in Loxia (crossbills)and Dysmoro- ’ ’ Received 12 September 1988. Final acceptance20 drepanismunroi, a Hawaiian honeycreeperknown only April 1989. from the type specimen(Perkins 1919; James et al., in