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Notes on Vagrancy in Brown-Headed Nuthatch, with Attntion to Recent

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Notes on Vagrancy in Brown-Headed Nuthatch, with Attntion to Recent Noteson v grancyin Brown-headed Nuth tch, with attntion to rec nt range expansion long-termhabitat changes THECURRENT BREEDING RANGE FrankRenfrow pinewoods.After a periodof gradualhabitat recovery,coinciding with a well-documented OFBROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH IN HISTORICALCONTEXT 611South O'Fallon Avenue expansionof the breeding range, a seriesof deleteriousevents has more recently afflicted The historicalnorthern boundary of the breedingrange of Brown-headed Nuthatch is Bellevue,Kentucky 41073 portionsof thesouthern pinewoods, includ- ingseveral years of intense drought, fires, and describedby Bent(1948) as extending from (eraall:[email protected]) storm damage, which were followed by a Arkansas,possibly southeastern Missouri, severeoutbreak of the SouthernPine [Bark] throughnorthern Mississippi and northwest- Beefie(DendroctonusJrontalis). Concomitant ern SouthCarolina, into easternVirginia and with this recent deterioration in the Brown- Maryland,and just into southern Delaware. In ABSTRACT headed Nuthatch's habitat has been a recent Tennesseeand Missouri,its historicalbreed- TheBrown-headed Nuthatch (5itta p. pusilia) seriesof vagrantrecords north of normal ingstatus isuncertain. A record of a paircol- is a permanentresident of thepinewoods of range,which have been verified by multiple lected(AMNH 230089,230090) on 19 March the southeasternUnited Statesfrom southern observersand photographically documented. 1907in ShannonCounty (Robbins and East- Delawarethrough eastern Texas (A O. U. Bothhistorically and in recenttimes, it would eda1992) may pertain to an extirpated breed- 1998), with a weaklydifferentiated sub- seemthat extrafimitalwandering of this ingpopulation in theShortleaf Pine area of species,caniceps, that inhabitssouthern speciescould be triggeredby episodesof southeastern Missouri. Woodruff (1908) Florida(Pyle 1997) and an Endangeredsub- severe habitat loss. describedthe female as flying to andfrom a species,insularis, on GrandBahama Island deadpine in themiddle of a cornfield,a situ- (Smithand Smith 1994). INTRODUCTION ationindicative of possiblenesting, as is the Currentornithological literature designates TheBrown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilia) is March date. Two unconfirmed Tennessee thisspecies as sedentary, with no recognized ayear-round resident ofthe Piedmont and the recordsalso date from this period, one dispersalor irruptivemovements, although southernCoastal Plain regions of thesouth- countedon a ChristmasBird Count (C.B.C.) the A. O. U. Check-list (1998) indicates easternUnited States,with somesecondary, nearKnoxville in 1914,and another along the extralimitalrecords from four states. In fact, disjunctpopulations in southern portions of OcoeeRiver between Copperhill, Tennessee recordsof the species outside of normal range the Cumberland Plateau and lower-elevation and BlueRidge, Georgia in 1915 (Trabue werementioned in multiplelate-nineteenth- areasof theAppalachians (Harrap and Quinn 1965). TheseTennessee records were both centurysources, and these appearances 1995).In the southernCoastal Plain portions consideredsuspect by Haney(1981). Both, appearto correspond toa periodof extensive of its range,the speciesoccupies Longleaf however,occurred in or very near areasinto loggingof thesouthern pinewoods. Most of Pine(Pinus palustris) forest, once quite vasl whichthe species has expanded its rangein theserecords, however, have more recently but now considerablydiminished in extent recent times. There are also some indications been assumed erroneous and thus omitted andquality. In the Piedmontand northerly that the Delawarepopulation may have fromthe ornithologicalliterature of the reachesof rangein the CoastalPlain, these extendedslightly farther north at onetime twentiethcentury. There were only two nuthatchesshow a decidedpreference for Thisspecies was mentioned in a listof the sightingsofthis species north of nor- LoblollyPine (P taeda).In someupland por- birdsof CapeMay County,New Jerseyin malrange during the first half of tionsof their range, they inhabit the oak-hick- 1857 and as a rare visitant in the southern the twentiethcentury. A second ory-pineforest with a strong element of Short- countiesof NewJersey or Pennsylvaniain clusterof sightingsoccurred leaf Pine (P echinata) 1869 (Stone1965). between 1954 and 1977, Thisspecies apparently reaches its highest Overthe past 40 years,there has been a during a period of populationdensities in Louisianaand North well-documentedexpansion of the breeding • reneweddegradation Carolina (Root 1988). AlthoughBrown- rangeof the Brown-headed Nuthatch into the headedNuthatch is generallydescribed as state of Tennessee,coinciding with more southern sedentary(Norris 1958, Withgot! and Smith modestexpansions into western North Car- 1998),there have been numerous instances of olina,western Virginia, and very recently into vagrancyrecorded over northeasternMaryland. In 1968,two Brown- theyears. With respectto headed Nuthatches were found in Hamilton - thesereports of extralimital County,Tennessee, a first acceptedstate '•:•,••.••,•and loggingofthe individuals, considerations record (Basham1969), with nestingcon- such as changesin habitat, firmedin 1977(Haney 1981). In recentyears, rangeexpansion, and irruption breedingBrown-headed Nuthatches have also ordispersal seem not to have been been found in southwestern Tennessee at "- addressedin a thoroughmanner. PickwickDam, Hardin County (Cardiff 1997, TheBrown-headed Nuthatch (Sittapusilla) isa permanent resident ofthe pinewoods ofthe southeastern United States.Thisphotograph wastaken inOkaloosa County, Florida on2 February 2000. Photograph byFrank Renfrow. 422 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS Stedman2000). In 1995,breeding was con- extralimitalBrown-headed Nuthatches poses to mapthese uneven data or to manipulate firmedat theKingston Steam Plant, 126 km to a particularproblem for thedetermination of themstatistically, thenorth of Chattanooga,in Roane County a givenreports accuracy and thereforefor a Priorto 1850,there seems to beonly one (Nicholson1997). Severalmore breeding clearpicture of vagrancy ordispersal. All 26 mentionof a vagrantBrown-headed Nuthatch records(Figure 1) wereconfirmed over the possiblerecords ofvagrants have been given a in the literature: an individual collected in next severalyears (Hall 1998, Leberman specificdesignation according tothe degree of northernOhio sometime prior to 1838:the 2000). Beginningin 1999, Brown-headed uncertaintysurrounding each record (Tables Nuthatches have also been found at observerand collector of thisspecimen was l-3). Therecords with the greatest amount of none other than Jared Potter Kirtland Cookevillein PutnamCounty, 116 km west of uncertaintyare designatedas "suspect,"in (1793-1877),the noted nineteenth-century Kingston,with breedingconfirmed here in accord with current assessmentat the state naturalist(Kirtland 1838). This specimen was 2002 and 2003 (Stedmanand Walden,in apparentlylost, and the recordis omittedin press).A firstKnox County record in 2002 themost recent ornithological history of Ohio wasindicative ofcontinued northward expan- (Whan 2001). sionalong the TennesseeRiver (Sloane and Duringthe 27-yearinterval between 1876 Palmer-Ball2003). A Brown-headed Nuthatch nest record at and 1903,there were nine possible occur- rencesof vagrantBrown-headed Nuthatches CleburneCounty, Arkansas in 2002was con- (Tables1-3). The first of thesesightings was sideredunusual for the area (Myers and Wal- in NewJersey, where one was carefully stud- lace2002) and may indicate further range iedat a CamdenCounty suet feeder during expansionin thisstate as well. thewinter of 1876(Bent 1948, Stone 1965). In western North Carolina, a similar On 12May 1877,Dr. H. A. Atkinscollected a advanceofbreeding populations has occurred Brown-headedNuthatch at lnghamCounty, fromthe Piedmont region up into higher ele- Michigan.This specimen was subsequently vationsto the west. Pearsonet al. (1942) lost,and the record had been called into ques- listedthis species as unrecorded west of Burke tiondue to possibleconfusion with theRed- County.More recently, breeding populations breastedNuthatch (Sitta canadensis) (Barrows have been confirmedin Buncombe(H. 1912).The nextyear, there was a slightly LeGrand,pers. comm.; Simpson 1992), Clay Figure1. Brown-headedNuthatch • an area of recent north-of-rangerecord at St. LouisCounty, (Renfrow,unpubl.), and Polk Counties(W. rangeexpansion inRoane County, Tennessee on Missourion 6 May 1878(Robbins and East- Forsythe,pers. comm.). 11May 2000. Photograph byFrankRenfrow. erla 1992). A Brown-headedNuthatch was A westwardexpansion into collectednear Philadelphia-- higher-elevationareas in Vir- Table1.Vagrant Brown-headed Nuthatches inthe Great Lakes Region ofthe United States. but not necessarilywithin giniahas likewisebeen L0CAIIONDATE DETAILS SOURCE Pennsylvania--inthe autumn observed,with recentrecords Illinois of about 1885 (McWilliams fromBotetourt, Montgomery, Augusta,Pulaski, and take 11Jul 2001-9 Feb 2002 m.ob./documented** Seme12002 andBrauning 2000). In west- RoanokeCounties (E. Brink- Indiana ern New York, an adult male was collected(CUM 13512) ley,pers. comm., J. Buckdew take 5-6Apr 1932 m.0b./d0cumented* Mumfordand Keller 1984 at ChemungCounty on 24 pers.comm.; Hall 1988). Pro- Midfiõan May 1888 (Levine 1998). jectFeederWatch dataalso In!Thom12 May 1877 specimenlost/credible details Barrows1912 Finally, a Brown-headed indicatesome expansion into NowYork Nuthatchspecimen in the westernVirginia and possibly 24May 1888 specimenCUM13512** Levine1999 collectionof
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