Why Do Male Belted Kingfishers Winter Farther North Than Females? by Ron Pittaway

27 Notes Why Do Male Belted Kingfishers Winter Farther North Than Females? by Ron Pittaway Belted Kingfishers ICeryle alcyon) are arrives, she seems attracted to the cold-hardy and often winter as far nest site and then pairs with the north as open water permits IBent male. The two then defend the nest 1940). During the last four winters site and fishing area" IStokes and 11991-1994), I recorded the sex of the Stokes 1983). Godfrey 11986) states kingfishers observed wintering in that breeding populations in rocky southern Ontario. Observations were areas le.g. Canadian Shield) are made at Bobcaygeon, Lakefield, limited by the availability of nesting Minden, Toronto and Whitby - all sites. Therefore, male kingfishers that situated north of Lake Ontario. Given defend winter territories on or near a good view, it is quite easy to the breeding grounds would have the distinguish males from females in the first choice of the best breeding field IGodfrey 1986). Interestingly, all habitats Inest sites and fishing areas). the kingfishers In = 12) seen well Returning females are apparently enough to classify were males. In most attracted to those males holding Yellowstone National Park, the best breeding territories. Wyoming, Skinner lin Bent 1940) also Of course, there may be other noted that all of the kingfishers equally valid explanations why only wintering along streams kept open by male kingfishers are found at the hot springs were males. The first very northern part of their winter females arrived there on 17 March. range. I would be interested in Why do male kingfishers winter hearing about any winter IDecember farther north than females? My February) sightings of female hypothesis is that the number of nest kingfishers in southern Ontario and sites in the northern part of the about other hypotheses. Belted Kingfisher's range is the major factor limiting their populations. Kingfishers usually dig their nesting Acknowledgements tunnels in stream banks and old I thank Bill Crins, Michel Gosselin, gravel pits, often some distance from Jean Iron, Ron Tozer and Mike water IGodfrey 1986). Males arrive Turner for much valuable assistance first on the breeding grounds and and advice in the preparation of this defend a nest site. "When the female note. VOLUME 12 NUMBER 1 28 Literature cited Godfrey, W.E. 1986. The Birds of Canada. Bent, A.C. 1940. Life Histories of North Second Edition. National Museum of American Cuckoos, Goatsuckers, Canada, Ottawa. Hwnmingbirds and Their Allies. Part 1. Stokes, D. W. and L.Q. Stokes.. 1983. A Guide to United States National Museum Bulletin 176, Bird Behaviour. Volume II. Little, Brown and Washington, D.C. Company, Boston and Toronto. Ron Pittaway, Box 619, Minden, Ontario KOM 2KO. Grasshoppers as Food Source for Black-billed Cuckoo by David Agro The most frequently noted food items Haldimand-Norfolk, on 1 August of the Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus 1993. The first bird, presumably erythropthalmusJ are caterpillars, feeding for most of the day, had eight particularly the "hairy" species (Bent whole grasshoppers and a number of 1940, Godfrey 1966, Terres 1980J. parts that were identified as a Other animals such as grasshoppers, grasshopper. There was only one part beetles, crickets, mollusks, and fishes that could be determined as being are mentioned as prey, but little has from another insect, identified as a been noted on their importance as caterpillar (LepidopteraJ. The second part of the cuckoo's overall diet. My bird had two whole grasshoppers and examination of gizzards and numerous grasshopper parts, plus a proventriculae of two Black-billed small amount of caterpillar hair. It Cuckoos found short-horned had proportionately less food in its grasshoppers (Order Orthoptera: proventriculus and gizzard than the Family AcrididaeJ to be the major first, possibly due to less feeding food item. time. Both birds were road kills. The The number of grasshoppers in first bird was an adult female, found these birds suggest that cuckoos do barely alive near Nanticoke, R.M. not always depend mainly on Haldimand-Norfolk, in the late caterpillars for the large portion of afternoon on 24 July 1993. The their diet. At times when caterpillars second bird, an adult male, was are not plentiful, the birds found recently killed in the early presumably take advantage of other, morning near the intersection of more abundant food sources such as Highway 24 and Regional Road 10 grasshoppers. (Turkey Point RoadJ R.M. ONTARIO BIRDS APRIL 1994 29 Acknowledgements Literature cited I would like to thank M.E. Gartshore, Bent, A. C. 1940. Life Histories of North R.W. Knapton and J.D. McCracken American Cuckoos, Goatsuckers, Humming who made helpful comments on the birds, and Their Allies. Part 1. United States National Museum Bulletin 176. manuscript, and the Long Point Bird Washington, D.C. Observatory for its support. Godfrey, W. E. 1966. The Birds of Canada. National Museum of Canada Bulletin 203. Ottawa. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds. National Audubon Society, New York. David Agro, Long Point Bird Observatory, Box 160, Port Rowan, Ontario NOE 1MO. Mourning Doves Wintering in Ontario by Ron Tozer Introduction production" (Armstrong and Noakes The Mourning Dove (Zenaida 1981). The number of overwintering macroura) occurred only sparingly in Mourning Doves in southern Ontario settled areas of southern Ontario 150 continues to increase today. Where years ago (Snyder 1957), but had agricultural land has been taken over become a common breeding species by urban development, the species of the southwestern part of the has adapted through extensive use of province by early in this century winter bird feeders (Tozer and (Baillie and Harrington 1936). For Richards 1974; Alison 1976). In many of these early years the recent years, the Mourning Dove has Mourning Dove was migratory in begun to winter even farther north in Ontario (Saunders and Dale 1933). central Ontario, away from Overwintering apparently developed agricultural areas. This note examines in agricultural areas due to the some of the data which illustrate availability of waste and stored corn these trends in wintering by (Alison 1976; Armstrong and Noakes Mourning Doves in Ontario. 1983). It was not until the early 1950s that wintering populations in Southern Ontario southern Ontario "increased rapidly Freedman and Riley (1980) trac;ed and in a linear fashion" (Armstrong population trends of various bird 1987), apparently correlated with species wintering in southern Ontario "corresponding increases in corn through an analysis of annual VOLUME 12 NUMBER 1 30 Christmas Bird Count (CBq data was 1987. Two southern Ontario from seven locations (Hamilton, CBCs have actually reached totals of Kingston, Kitchener, London, Ottawa, more than 2000 Mourning Doves (Le. Pickering and Toronto) during the 2016 at Cedar Creek in 1987, and period from 1929 to 1977. Their 2001 at St. Catharines in 1988j! findings for the Mourning Dove indicated that "essentially no birds Central Ontario were recorded prior to 1950", In 1966, it was reported that the followed by relatively low (but Mourning Dove wintered in Ontario, increasing) numbers during the next "north rarely and precariously to two decades. Then "a spectacular Ottawa" (Godfrey 1966). Since then, increase" occurred from 1970 to however, the species has been regular 1977, with the combined totals for all (with increasing numbers) throughout seven sample counts averaging about the twenty years from 1973 to 1992 1350 birds per year (Freedman and on CBCs at Ottawa-Hull, Pakenham Riley 1980). Using the same method Arnprior, and Carleton Place. During on CBC results reported in American the 1980s, wintering by Mourning Birds from the seven selected Doves spread to various sites on the locations over the next fifteen years Canadian Shield. For example, they (1978 to 1992), I found an average of have become regular (with increasing 3479 Mourning Doves per year numbers) on the following CBCs (ranging from 1288 in 1982, to 5226 since the year shown in parentheses: in 1988). These sample count results Pembroke (1981); North Bay, Sault were standardized to "birds per Ste. Marie, and Gravenhurst observer" in order to compensate for Bracebridge (1982); Deep River, and increasing observer effort over time, Minden (1987); Sudbury (1988); and as suggested by Raynor (1975). Burks Falls, and New Liskeard Freedman and Riley (1980) found a (1989). Mourning Doves have been peak of about six birds per observer regularly observed on an unpublished in 1976, while I calculated that there winter bird count at Huntsville since were 10.2 Mourning Doves per 1984 (Huntsville Nature Club observer by 1988. The dramatic records). increase in wintering by Mourning Wintering by Mourning Doves at Doves in southern Ontario has these Shield communities is obviously continued. apparently linked to increases in local I examined all Ontario CBC data breeding populations (Alison ::. 976), reported in American Birds during the and the provision of food at winter twenty years from 1973 to 1992 in feeding stations adjacent to dense order to further investigate the coniferous cover for roosting. Dow magnitude and timing of the increase (1994) has suggested a similar in Mourning Dove numbers. In dependency on feeders as "a factor southern Ontario (south of the critical to maintaining local Canadian Shield), there were fully 15 populations as breeding entities" in Christmas Counts which achieved outlying areas of the Northern totals of 1000 birds (or more) during Cardinal's (Cardinalis cardinalis) range the 1980s. The average year of these in Ontario. Many Mourning Doves counts first reaching that "plateau" attempting to winter on the Canadian ONTARIO BIRDS APRIL 1994 31 Shield are totally dependent on body temperature and, feeding stations, with no access to correspondingly, their metabolic agricultural land for corn or weed expenditures" when exposed to low seeds. ambient temperatues and absence of food (as during winter stormsl.

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