Address correspondence to News from the Bird Banders to William K. Kirsher, Editor, 571 Fulton Avenue;-Sacramento 25, California
WINTER HABITAT PREFERENCES OF WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS by L. Richard Mewaldt and Ernest B. Woon . TRAPS AND NETS THE BIRD BAZAARS OF NOVAYA Z~~YA (A review of Russian Game Report Vol. 4) A BRIEF SUMMARY OF 1958 BANDING by Don Bleitz • NEWS FROM THE BANDERS • WATERFOWL BANDING IN WASHINGTON by Robert J. Jeffrey. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER MEETING NOTES FROM THE MEEl'ING OF THE VANCOUVER SECTION, P .LC., W.B. B.A.
WINTER HABITAT PREFERENCES OF WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS by L. Richard Mewaldt and Ernest B. Woon
One of the most abundant birds in central California from October to April is the White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys). Two migratory subspecies, ~. ~. gambelii and ~. ~. pugetensis, are represented. Along the immediate coast and in some localities around San Francisco Bay a third subspecies, the non- migratory ~. ~. nuttalli, is also found.
During the winter of 1957-58 and fall of 1958 we made a study of several pop- ulations searching for detectable habitat preferences. Japanese mist nets were used to good advantage. Netting sites were selected when they revealed an abund- ance of birds and favorable netting conditions. This procedure certainly intro- duced some bias into the samples.
We wish to acknowledge the able and enthusiastic assistance of several stu- dents and faculty of San Jose State College. We are also grateful to the land owners and tennants who permitted us to net on their properties.
Between October 5, 1957 and November 11, 1958, a total of 1201 birds was netted and banded on 12 different dates and at 15 different sites (Figure 1 and Table 1). Efforts were made to sample as many different habitats as supported substantial netable populations. The subspecies ~. !. gambelii and ~. !. pugetensis were distinguished chiefly on the basis of differences in coloration of the beak, bend of wing, and back. At Pigeon point where Z. 1. nuttalli were expected, difficulty was en- ~ countered in distinguishing them-from ~. !. pugetensis. It may be noted, how- ever, that a bird recovered on June 19, 1958 at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse had been banded on December 26, 1957 as a ~. !. nuttalli.
At most locations the populations of White-crowned Spar.rows were found to be composed of ~. !. gambelii and ~. !. pugetensis. A tendency was noted for one race or the other to be more abundant in one segment of a local population. This was evidenced by differences in proportionate numbers of the subspecies in drives to the net from opposite directions.
Figure 1. White-crowned Sparrow netting sites in Central California in 1957-58
At their residence east of San Jose, the Mewaldts handled over 1300 White- crowned Sparrows during five winter seasons (1954-58). Ninety percent of these were of the race Z. 1. pugetensis and ten percent Z. 1. gambelii. This 9:1 ratio has remained relatively constant over the five seasons. It is significant "to note that supplemental trapping in 1957 in a garden 250 yards distant across a golf course, only Z. 1. gambelii were detected in a sample of over 50 birds. In another garden about-5OO yards distant in the same direction more than 40 birds were trapped revealing equal numbers of the two subspecies.
The distribution of Golden-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia atricapilla) sug- gests a preference for a less disturbed habitat, especially one not adjacent to or surrounded by cultivated field and truck crops and cultivated orchards. White-crn.Sparrow Golden- Song Zonotrichia crowned SparrOV'f Other Species Netting Site leucophrys Sparrow Melos- Zono. piza No. of No. of gam. pug. nut. atri. melodia Species Birds Oct. 5, 1957 Weller Rd.-Thicket in canyon (1) 4 20 -- 70 -- 3 6 Oct. 12 Weller Rd.-Thicket in valley(2) 1 13 -- 38 2 2 3 Wool Ranch-Hillside thicket 0) 2 12 -- 33 -- 1 4 Nov. 9 Canada Rd.-Woodland thicket (4) 1 6 ------2 3 Bloomfield Rd.-Cult. thicket(5) 4 26 ------Llagas Ck.-Dry river bed (6) 12 11 -- 1 5 2 3 Nov. 24 Llagas Ck. -Dry river bed (6) 12 2 -- 2 36 1 2 Nov. 29 Llagas Ck. - Dry river bed (6) 28 10 -- 3 58 2 5 Bloomfield Rd.-Cult. thicket (5) 3 29 ------2 5 atsonville - Cult. thicket (7) 9 20 -- -- 7 -- -- Dec. 21 Paicines - Roadside thicket (8) 14 107 -- 19 1 1 1 Paicines - Dry river bank (9) 27 44 -- 2 ------ec. 26 Pigeon Pt.-Thick. near surf(lO) -- -- 12 ------Pigeon Pt.-Thick.~ mi surf (11) 8 14 25 9 1 4 8 Jan. 1, 1958 os Banos-Roadside thicket (12) -- 20 ------os Palos-Roadside thicket (13) 7 ------Jan. 30 igeon Pt.-Thick.~ mi surf (11) 5 13 !~ 13 3 2 4 ct. 19 igeon Pt.-Thick.l mi surf (11) 5 6 2 2 1 2 4 ov. 2 loomfield Rd.-Cult. thicket(5) 6 47 ------aicines - Roadside thicket (8) 53 37 -- 2 ------n Juan - Roadside thicket(14) 9 15 ------1 2 . an Juan - Cult. thicket (15) 8 35 -- 9 2 2 5 oVo il an Juan - Cult. thicket (15) 10 36 -- 11 7 7 15 Mist Net Totals 238 523 43.__ ..1--______214 123._____ 12 70
After careful review of conditions, we have been unable to detect a habitat preference for either race of Vfuite-crOV'med SparrOV'r. We suggest that in this part of California, differences in the composition of local populations have arisen by chance. Our data are not yet sufficient, however, to test this hypothesis. No progress has yet been made on our knOV'rledgeof breeding area origins of any part- icular winter population~ Do memqers of each subspecies in a flock come from the same general or even a specific locality? Or were they hatched in widely scat- tered areas, and have those that have nested done so in widely scattered northern locali ties? Even more fruitful might be the extensive banding of breeding populations, such as was done by Dr. Barbara N. Oakeson in Alaska in 1957.
From time to time the News furnishes information on commercially available traps and nets for the benefit of those of our members who do not make their own traps (or, we might add, weave their own nets).
EBBA News carries an advertisement for a 1~SON TYPE GROUND TRAP for $10.50 postage paid. (Possibly slightly higher west of the Mississippi). This trap comes in kit form and is easily assembled. Address H. E. Harlow, 47 Scotland Road, Reading, Mass.
A number of different traps from a one-cell TOP OPENING TRAP at $2.50 to a four-cell POTTER TRAP for $8.00 are available from Geoffrey Gill, 24 Overlook Drive, Huntington Long Island, New York. (Prices are 10% higher west of the Mississippi.) Mr. Gill will send a descriptive brochure to prospective customers.
Don Bleitz, 1001 North McCadden Place, Los Angeles 38, has some new type nets. Here's what he says about them:
"I have just received a shipment of special, very fine, nets of extremely soft nylon, of which I have had only a small quantity produced, primarily for my own use. While my extra stock lasts, hovrever, we could supply a few to some of the other banders and I enclose a list of the sizes available and the cost of each.
"These are 30 denier 2-ply material (the same material as that used for the hummer nets). These nets are of course considerably more perishable than the heavier standard nets, but will catch many more birds since they are much less visible, especially in more open locations. We have a few of these coming through dyed to match the color of beach sand.
"I have had a few of these nets made in 6-shelf size, that is, with seven support cords, which I have noted on the enclosed list. The prices are propor- tionately higher on these nets than our others, since I only had a few made in each size.1I
Nylon Mist Nets - Black Stock No. Description Unit Price 20 7' x 60' X ltn mesh 30 d./2 7.00 21 10' x 421 X If" mesh 30/2 (6 shelf) 7.50 22 10' x 60' X 1~1I mesh 30/2 (6 shelf) 10.00 23 71 x 18' x ltn mesh 30/2 2.50 24 10' x 18' x It" mesh 30/2 (6) 3.50 25 101 x 301 X l~" mesh 30/2 (6) 5.50 26 7' x 42' x lilt mesh 30/2 4.75 27 71 x 30 I X lilt mesh 30/2 3.50
Mr. Bleitz also offers to supply military surplus head nets which he finds very useful as holding cages for the birds he takes out of the nets: "Since I have started using these head nets, on which we incidentally trim off a portion of the cloth frame work for our use, I found them so extremely helpful and so many others have found them useful, that I went out and hunted up a further source of them and was able to buy them for what I felt was at very low cost. I, therefore, thought I would start in to supply them along with nets to our various members.
liAsyou know, these originally cost the army and navy well over $1000 each, however, we would be willing to sell these, while our supply lasts at 10 for $2.00 postpaid. This, of course, would have to be the minimum order and I think you might mention this in the News. On this basis we will come close to breaking even, and they would be such an advantage to our members that I thought they ought to have it. II
THE BIRD BAZAARS OF NOVAYA ZEMLYA (A review of Russian Game Report Vol. 4)
" •••Approaching the Novaya Zemlya coasts •.•we saw before us a long black stripe, stretching along the whole visible horizon. That stripe was nothing but an infinite number of swimming birds. When the steamship broke into that mass the birds nearest to it broke into the air, but immediately settled down again, and, flying with loud cries above the surface of the sea, beat the water with their wings making an extraordinary din that drowned out the noise of the ship's engines and made it impossible for us to speak with each other, no matter how close we stood. It
The great nesting colonies, aptly called Bazaars, are located on high sea- fronted cliffs. They are ••.ttone of the most spectacular phenomena of the arctic seaslt, and are of considerable economic importance through egging and collecting of the birds themselves for meat.
It is the Bird Bazaars of Novaya Zemlya, two large islands north of Russia in the Barents Sea between north latitudes 70 and 80, with which this report by S. M. Uspenski is concerned. It is a highly readable, comprehensive, and apparent- ly thoroughly competent study of the birds that inhabit the Bazaars, principally B~ich's Murres, Kittiwakes, Common Murres, Dovekies, Black Guillimots, Glaucous Gulls and Puffins. Brlinnich's Murres predominate in numbers aggregating perhaps a million and a half birds in the 27 Bazaars studied. Exploitation of the colonies for eggs and meat has been going on for many years to the detriment of the bird population, and the present study is directed toward regulation of the annual egg take on a sustained yield basis.
On the face of an eroded cliff where a IInest" is no more than a few square inches of bare rock, and where the population density may average 37 birds per square meter of ledge one might not expect to find that persistent devotion to a particular nesting spot that is common among many species of land birds. But such is not the case:
It•••At one place •••nine pairs of Brililnich's Murres were banded in 19480 At the next banding in 1949 nine pairs were also found nesting there: of those 18 birds, 15 proved to have been banded there the previous year, and only three were without bands. In 1950 the extent of that nesting place had been reduced by a rockfall in spring, and only four pairs were nesting there, all of which had been banded there in 1948. As the annual charting of location of pairs showed, they had occupied the same definite nesting spots year after year. Besides, banding showed that each year the pairs consisted of the same partners. Only one pair was an exception to that rule."
The remarkable location sense of these birds is strikingly demonstrated when, as sometimes happens, the nesting ledges are completely covered with snow when the birds return from the wintering grounds. The egg is often laid right in the snow, and the body warmth of the bird causes it and the egg to sink down through the snow, invariably to settle down properly on the ledge. That visual sensations play no significant part in this location "memory" is further attested by the fact that murres unerringly return to their egg or chick from distant feeding areas through fog so dense that objects begin to lose their outlines at a distance of a few centimeters.
The report was translated by Dr. J. M. Maclennan, and is issued through the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources, National Parks Branch, Canadian Wildlife Service. The price is $1.00.
A BRIEF SUMMARY OF 1958 BANDING by Don Bleitz
For part of 1958 I was fortunate in having ~ro very willing and able assist- ants, Kirby Wolfe and Warren Rook, who both accompanied me on several trips and one or the other was nearly always available to go banding. Consequently, we captured many birds that are seldom encountered. I had hopes for 200 species this year but our totals will fall just short of this goal. Much of our trapping has been done with nets, but my three permanently placed water traps, which provide a steady drizzle all year in an arid section of the Joshua Tree National Monument, have captured hundreds of sage sparrows, black-throated sparrows, warblers of many kinds, including American redstarts, black-and-white warblers, many lazuli bunt- ings, a dickcissel and a Baird's sparrow, along with a varied selection of orioles, tanagers, finches, thrushes and sparrows, some 75 species in all.
These traps are wired open except for the brief hours we can spend there, so the birds become so dependent on this water that more often than not each cell of the trap captures more than one bird at a time. I caught 13 male lazuli buntings at once in one seven-cell trap this spring, and seven minutes later an additional nine. A male Scott's oriole was captured in one of these traps for the third con- secutive spring this year, each time within a week of the previous dates.
This year for the first time I had some special 30 denier 2-ply 1" stretched mesh nylon nets made which would capture hummingbirds and had planned an extensive fall banding of hummers. Pressing ~usiness matters kept this to a minimum, how- ever, but the nets were tried a few times and proved very successful. All in all, in 1958 we captured and banded eight species of hummingbirds. Several of these were kept in captivity for several months to see how the bands wore, and I was pleased to find that these tiny aluminum bands, photographically imprinted on flat sheets of thin aluminum for me by Bill Kirsher, held their legibility much better than the stamped ones. We made them originally in a size suitable for Annas' and then cut these down slightly for the smaller species. The hummers lived perfectly, going through their moult perfectly on a special liquid diet supplemented by adequate supplies of living fruit flieso
During the fall we tried out some large mesh nets set [ugh in the air between dead trees at night along the edges of the Salton Sea and succeeded in capturing ducks, herons, egrets and other wading and shore birdso Using miners' headlamps and special, many-jointed poles, our night banding was highly successfulo
Also during thp. fall we tried out a derivation of an old time falconers' trap for hawks, consisting of a pair of very light poles just barely secured in the ground, between which is stretched a short piece of 41t stretched mesh netting and' behind which is placed a living bait in a small cageo Rats, mice, squirrels, pig- eons, etc., were all used successfully for various birds of preyo As the raptor approaches the bait he strikes the net and the whole set-up falls down, entangling him long enough for the trapper to secure himo
We also set nets along the dikes of a gun club at Playa del Rey, where we captured a golden plover and a pectoral sandpiper along with many shorebirds of regular occurrence here.
On many of these trapping expeditions we found that our nets were too vis- ible in the areas that the birds frequented, so I had some special very fine 30 denier 2-ply lilt mesh nets made which were far less visible than the 60 denier
2-ply which were the finest ones I had previously used 0 While these nets proved more easily damaged, they certainly were less visible and allowed us to capture some unusual species.
Until now we had always worked with black nets, but since we so often set nets on sand or sandy colored soil, I experimented with colors and had so~e nets dyed a special color nearly matching beach sando These are sufficiently invisible on open beaches to capture such birds as sanderlings in the da~~imeo
We have been recording measurements for the text of my "The Birds of North America!t which have never been generally available--the normal perched length of the living bird, the wingspread of the living bird, and such comparative measure- ments as the distance from the center of the eye to the tip of the bill, the length of the tarsus, and details of coloration, voice, etco, which will be very valuable for future referenceo
During the year we gathered some very interesting information 0 A female rough-winged swallow banded in the Arroyo Seco in 1956 was again captured nesting in the same cavity in 1958, and a canyon wren first banded in 1955 was captured in a hole in the concrete dam face just 20 feet from the place she was bandedo
A male elf owl banded at his nest hole at our refuge in the Joshua Tree National Monument in 1957 was recaptured three times in the spring of 1958, and nested again in the same cavity.
This spring I added a lot of eastern species while visiting Dro Paul Fluck at Washington Crossing Park, Pennsylvania, where I banded a couple of each of var- ious eastern birds, using my cwrnbands, while working with Paul there for 10 dayso
Additional Notes Over the past several years we have from time to time had a considerable number of finches afflicted with foot pox, and some little while ago I wrote a little summary for The Auk on the successful treatment of this disease. I think it might be interesting to note that I have now prepared some preparations of some special dilutions of streptomycin sulfate which when used in the dosage of one minim per ounce of body weight, have provided complete cures in virtually every case treated with a series of five to six injections into the upper thigh of the bird in 24-hour intervals.
At present I have an Oregon junco which has just completed its course of treatment and the huge swelling on the side of the head which had completely closed one eye is now rapidly subsided. I made some photographs of this bird dur- ing the treatment and plan to keep it until the lesions heal completely to show the progress.
MARJORIE ELMORE, 6371 Forest Lane, Paradise, California writes of an excit- ing foreign retrap:
"We hadn't been located in Paradise two weeks when we captured a 'foreign retrap'. This was an adult Chipping Sparrow having been banded by Mr. Fred Gallup as an immature in Escondido, California on January 24, 1958, and retaken and released in Paradise on September 14, 1958. This is a distance of approxi- mately 530 miles. It is a thrilling experience to come across a bird wearing another cooperator's band and to wonder 'who', 'where' and 'when'.
"Flocks of Chipping Sparrows of well over 100 birds were frequent during the southern migration, and we banded 78 of these immatures and their fall-dressed (not unlike a Brewer Sparrovr) parents between September 11 and October 3. No birds by this time had achieved the rufous-crown identity.
''While employed at Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz County for the 3 summer months, and with permission of the Park Supervisor and the State Con- servation Section, we banded a number of birds at our campsite. Most prominent, as well as trap-curious, came 102 Steller's Jays. Bait was, of course, no prob- lem. We used largely bread and cracker crumbs, grapes, and corn on the cob." *i~**i~ A rare bird (for these parts) was banded by LUCILE KULLRICH, Rt. 3 Box 440 B, Shelton, Washington:
ItItho't you'd be interested in knowing that I have banded and photographed a White-throated Sparrow - an adult male. He sings often and sometimes after dark! I was quite thrilled as I've never seen one before. We've had an un- usual number of Golden-crowned Sparrows since the first of September. Also had a pair of Cowbirds and some bird hatched their egg; I saw only the one young bird. We had 4 Whistling Swans resting on the bay in front of the house for several hours on October 26th.1I
C. G. THOMPSON, 587 Arlington, Berkeley, California, has two reports from a distance for two of his birds:
"A few days ago I received a report from Fish and Wildlife Service that a mourning dove which I had banded in my yard January 30, 1958 was shot by a IIThis one too, a golden-crowned sparrow banded by me February 21, 1955 was recaptured at Rivers Inlet, British Columbia the following May, and on February 8, 1957 was again trapped in rrw yard." * * * i•. * LUCILE KLINE, Rt. 1, Box 120, Blaine, Washington, has been doing some interesting experimenting with hummingbirds:
"On June 15, 1958 I started an experiment with hwiuningbird feederso I had two going - one with yellovf syrup and one with the usual red. On the 15th, 1 male and 8 females fed at the yellow, and 4 males and 6 females at the red. June 16th, 6 females were at the yellow and 8 females at the red. June 17th, 11 females at the yellow, and 2 males and 16 females at the red. June 18th, 1 male and 14 females at the yellow, and 9 females at the redo Total for the 4 days: yellow, 2 males and 39 females; red, 6 males and 39 females.
"On June 19th I replaced the yellow with green syrup. A t the green, 2 males and 10 females; at the red, 1 male and 23 females. June 20th, green, 2 males and 11 females; at the red, 19 femaleso June 21st, at the green, 2 males and 10 females; at the red, 13 females. Total for 3 days: green, 6 males and 31 females; red, 1 male and 45 females.
"June 22nd the green was replaced with blue. On that day at the blue, 4 females; at the red, 19 femaleso June 23rd, blue, 3 females; at the red, 7 females. Total: blue, 7 females; red, 26 females.
"The house finches crowded the hummingbirds out the latter part of the sum- mer, and I kept a record of them too. I do not feel that the hummingbird test was conclusive; the tests should have been made earlier in the season as I saw the last males at the feeder June 2lsto Earlier there were as many as six males at the feeder at one time. Next summer I shall try earliero" *i}-!}i}i} ZELLA M. SCHULTZ, 22809 w. 53rd Avenue, Mountlake Terrace, Washington, writes:
"On July 18 we went to Lopez Island, in the San Juan Islands of northwestern Washington. Here we set up four 6-meter nets in a square around a cattle water- ing tank. In the course of a few hours during the middle of the day, in spite of bright sun and a steady wind, we took 24 new Goldfinches (and retook one banded there in 1957), 1 P;_ne Siskin, 1 Savannah Sparrow, 3 Barn Sw"allows, 11 White-crowned Sparrows, 1 Song Sparrow, and 2 Red Crossbills. On July 20, in an effort to get out of the strong and constant winds, we moved to the eastern side of the island, where we discovered birds seeking water down inside a boarded-up well. It was fenced in so that we could not see how far down the water actually was, but obviously many of the small birds in the area knew it was there, and were going down in between the boards to bathe and drink. There from about 9:00 one morning to 9:00 the following morning, we took many birdso My own banding included 1 Orange-cr~med Warbler, 1 Pine Siskin, 1 Bewick's Wren, 2 Juncos, 4 Purple Finches, 1 Barn Sw"allow, 5 White-crowned Sparrows, 9 Song Sparrows, 1
Olive-sided Flycatcher (the prize of this trip) and 2 Sw"ainson's Thrushes 0 I know there were several more of the various sparrows and a Western Flycatcher, and a Hairy Woodpecker taken by Bob Pyle. Here, again, the attraction of water was the most important single factor in our success; birds accustomed to coming to these watering places apparently did not usually notice the nets until they struck them, but if they once hit them and either bounced out or were caught and banded, they avoided them by going over or under them on the next trip.
itAwater drip device should, in a d~r area, be effective as bait, but in my home situation I found it to be relatively worthless because of the ever-present water supply at the bottom of the ravine.
liThe nets I have found most versatile for use on trips in brushy terrain are the 6-meter nets. However, I alter them somewhat before I use them. We have learned that a 2-basket net will not ca tch and hold nearly as many birds as one of the others, so my present and most satisfactory method is to shorten the horizontal trammels by one foot, which gives more loose netting for catching, and to add one trammel, giving three baskets. This means, of course, removing the middle trammel and adding two. However, I believe that the additional ef- ficiency justifies the work involved. In most of the situations where we have netted, a 12-meter net is somewhat awkward to put up, even with two people, and almost impossible to handle alone." *"A--l~*-l~ HARRY R. SMITH, 1549 Escalona Drive, Santa Cruz, California, reports that a Blue Jay, banded at Evanston, Illinois, August 5, 1953 was recovered sick (it died later) on June 18, 1958.
WATERFOWL BANDING IN WASHINGTON by Robert J. Jeffrey, Game Biologist
We regularly band waterfowl in the Skagit Delta, the Grays Harbor area, the Columbia Basin, the Yakima Valley and in Lincoln County.
This year has seen a considerable expansion in our banding program. We banded about 1,200 ducks and geese on the breeding grounds and about 4,000 more during the pre-season period. We are making plans to band about 2,000 mallards at Sprague Lake during the hunting season. The post-season period of January and February should see another 4 to 5,000 waterfowl banded.
Our objectives are in line with those set forth by the Pacific Flyway Com- mittee, which are, roughly, (1) banding to determine migration routes and times and (2) banding to determine the rates of harvest on the more important waterfowl populations. Also, in banding large numbers of birds, much other important information accrues.
Probably the most productive type of banding in which we engage is that done on the breeding grounds. Here, we band at the source of the ducks and geese, be- fore any harvest has taken place, and the migration routes, as delineated by the band recoveries from this type of banding, are relatively complete. As might be expected, it is more difficult to secure adequate samples in breeding ground band- ing. Although the young are flightless, they are still well equipped to cope with predators, including man. We have been depending mostly on drive traps for band- ing Canada geese on lakes and reservoirs but find free banding to be more effec- tive on the rivers. With the ducklings, we use retrievers almost exclusively ex- cept for an occasional site which lends itself to drive trapping. done with projectile-net traps. Last year during the pre-season period, we exper- imented with trapping lesser Canada geese as they rested on the gravelly shores of Stratford Lake in the Columbia Basin. We caught about 70 with one small net, so this year we were awaiting the first arrivals vdth two larger nets. The geese were not unduly disturbed by the booming of the cannon and returned to the same beaches repeatedly. We banded 412 this fall.
We have been trying, unsuccessfully, to band a usable sample of snow geese for about 12 years. The Skagit snows are not grain eaters, and it is difficult to bait them with grass, of which there is a superabundance on the Skagit Flats. The firing mechanism of the cannons is rather susceptible to moisture, and the "south- easters", which relentlessly drench the flats with rain, add to our problems. Trapping these geese resolves itself into an endless slogging from field to field wi th a muddy, rusty net trap on our backs. With luck, a few geese may venture vdthin range of the net once or twice a week and, if the trap fires, may be banded. We banded only 21 last January, which was our best season to date. The goose banders are probably the only ones who annually pray for a cold January, when the rains will cease, and the geese will be more dependent upon the fields for food.
Trapping our grain eating ducks in the pre- and post-season periods is the most predictable of our banding ventures. This is simply a question of enough traps and enough man power. We employ traps of various designs and sizes, all of them using funnel entrances and short collapsible tunnels. For areas where it may be necessary to move the traps two or three times during the trapping period, we have designed a large portable trap using lx2 inch welded wire mesh. The mesh is cut into panels, 16 inches high and either four or six feet long. These are linked together so that they will fold up accordionwise for transporting.
We are using an adaptation of the clover-leaf trap with good results, and we find that raft traps are effective, particularly where the trap is suspended from log floats so that the floor of the trap is submersed in two to three inches of water.
There are still a number of problems confronting us. We have been unable to band American widgeon in any numbers, although this is the most important duck in western Washington from the standpoint of harvest. Puget Sound is a major winter- ing area for diving ducks, but these along with shovellers and wood ducks have received scant attention. Our other migratory game birds have also been neglected. A fair number of mourning doves have been banded as nestlings in eastern Washing- ton, but we began only this summer to trap band-tailed pigeons with the aid of the projectile-net. It is certain that the field of bird banding will never lack for a challenge or an unconquered frontier.
Since May, 1957, I have color-banded about 90 Steller's and Scrub jays, most- ly in the Berkeley area. Although these birds were originally banded as part of a study of their social behavior and means of communication, it should also be pos- sible to obtain some information on the distances jays may travel, however small, and the seasons when these travels occur. I would like to ask the cooperation of any of you who may notice a color-banded jay in the San Francisco Bay region or elsffi'lIhere. The following information is requested: (1) Colors of bands (red, orange, white, yellow, dark green, light green, and violet have been used); (2) the po- sitions of these colors relative to each other on each leg; (3) location as pre- cisely as possible; (4) date seen.
Please send reports to me at Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley 4, California.
The December meeting of the Northern Chapter, WBBA, took the .form of a two- day field trip to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge near Willows, where Eugene Kridler, Refuge Biologist and enthusiastic bander himself, gave generously of his time and effort in being an ideal host. Mr. Kridler gave demonstrations of duck banding techniques using ducks from two well filled traps that he had baited especially for this occasion. A cannon net goose trap had also been care- fully prepared, but unfortunately a low flying plane flushed the gathered geese just before the count-down, so this demonstration had to be a d~r run.
In addition to tremendous concentrations of ducks and geese on this refuge, the vast areas of matted cattails and tules furnish nocturnal roosts for perhaps three million or more blackbirds and, recently, starlings. For some two hours each winter afternoon seemingly endless streams of birds flow into the refuge, converging upon it from all directions. They come in low enough to be vulnerable to mist netting. Saturday afternoon the banders stretched between two and three hundred feet of netting along one of the dikes and succeeded in catching about 80 blackbirds and 8 starlings, a minute fraction of the potential catch. Trouble was that the blackbirds have a way of fighting the net and entangling themselves so as to make their removal a tedious and time consuming operation. Consequently, much of the time during the flight, people were standing at the net trying to extricate birds and thereby preventing other birds from coming in.
Another technique was tried after dark. A net was erected on a dike at the edge of the marsh, and beaters stomped about in the cattails in such a way as to flush the birds toward the net. A substantial number "ras caught, but again there was a long tedious period of disentangling the birds; this time with the added annoyance of cattail fuzz in the eyes, nose and mouth. The consensus was that there must be a better way than mist netting to catch blackbirds.
One interesting observation was that at the first site most of the birds caught were females while at the second setting they were predominately males which suggests that the segregation according to sex, apparent during migration and foraging, carries through into the nocturnal roost.
Sunday there was more mist netting at the edge of a rice field which yielded good numbers of Lincoln, Song and crown sparrows while a Golden eagle ·watched the operation from a cottonwood snag. Mrs. Kridler served lunch after which Mr. Kridler presented a color film on the Whooping crane. NOTES FROM THE MEETlliG OF THE VANCOUVER SECTION PACIFIC lliTERNATIONAL CHAPTER W.B.B.A.
The meeting was held November 16, 1958 at the home of Mrs. V. Mckay, 4014 west 37th Avenue, Vancouver, B. C. Members present were: Mrs. D. Bradley, Mrs. V. Mckay, Messrs. Brian Baker, George Galicz, Bill Hughes, Bill Merriles, Allister Muir, Don Roblin and Jack Sarles.
1. A group project to aid work done by Dr. C~ran of U.B.C. The project was to cover nest finding, banding of young and follow up after the bird had left the nest area. Work on the foll~ling birds was discussed: Starling, difficult, as there are not sufficient numbers nesting in the lower mainland yet; House Finch, difficult, as their nests are hard to find in evergreens; Oregon Junco, difficult, as there is a lack of suitable breeding habitat; Robin, was chosen as suitable as their nest was not difficult to find and the birds were not too difficult to band and the flocks were not hard to find during the winter. A meeting will be held in the near future between Dr. Cowan and Bill Hughes to discuss further points.
2. Banding shaw at the Hobby Section of the P.N.E. 1959. Mr. Collingwood, organizer of the show, was keen as are Ron Mckay, local wildlife office and Ottawa. The foll~ling aspects were discussed: booth. circulars to hand out, supply of live birds, nets, traps, attendants, and ~o on.
3. Gull band numbers. 1~r. Hughes mentioned that Mr. Oldaker and Mr. Moody, both of the Vancouver Natural History Society, were making a study of Glaucous- wing Gulls and Bairds Cormorants off Coal Harbour. They were able to read band numbers through high p~lered scopes and had turned in .nineso far to Mr. Hughes, all of birds banded at Christy Island and most of them of this year.
4. The Ring, the publication of International Ornithology, edited and published by Dr. W. Rydzewski in England was brought to the attention of the meeting. As a world record of birds banded and associated subjects it fills a useful gap in ornithological records. Of special interest was an artiGleon banding record keeping by Else M. Dickerson of New Jersey. Two copies were provided to circulate among members present.
50 1~ro Jack Sarles distributed free copies of Banding with Mist Nets by Seth Low. Mro Sarles also brought to our attention an extract from Bird~ding, Volo 39#3, "Operation Recoveryll; the Atlantic Coastal Netting Project by James Baird, et al. Two copies were provided to circulate among members.
6. Members were asked by ~~r. Hughes to send any paracites they collected from birds to Professor Do J. Spencer, Depto of Zoology at U.B.C.
With the business concluded, the meeting closed with a vote of thanks to Mrs. Mckay for the use of her home and for the tasty refreshments she provided. 571 Fulfon AII.nu. Sacrt7menfo 26 CtI/if'ornia
WIUIU K. KIRSHER 571 FULTON AYE•• SACRAMENTO 21. CALIF Directions: From the San Francisco Bay Region go to Vallejo, then through St. Helena, Calistoga, and over Mt. St. Helena on Highway 29 to Middleton, thence on Highway 53 through Lower Lake and Clear Lake Highlands to the junction with Highway 20, thence turn west on Hig~ray 20 to Clear Lake Oaks. The Balch home is on the right side of Highway 20 - 202 miles beyond Red and Vlhite Store or the Post Office in Clear Lake Oaks. From Sacramento the shortest route is west on Highway 16 through Wood- land, Madison, and up the Rumsey Canyon to the junction of Highway 16 with Highway 20, thence left on 20 to Clear Lake Oaks. If travelling HighwaJT 99W, turn west on Highway 20 at 'Williams and the first town will be Clear Lake Oaks. If on Highway 101, turn off at the junction of 101 and 20, which is about 3 miles north of Ukiah, and travel east on 20 through Upper Lake, Nice, Lucern and Glen Haven. Balch home is one mile east of Glen Haven and on left side of the road.
Time: Members and guests ma~r reach the Balch home an;)TtimeSaturday and do their ---- own exploring of the area until 5=30 p.mo 5:30 p.m. Supper (bring ;)TOUravm) Mro and Mrs. Balch will serve coffee and dessert. 7:00 p.m. Social Hour - Films and Slides of members on banding or related subjects. Time to be divided equall~T when number of showings is knavm. Mr. Balch as a slide projector, a non-solmd 16 ~AMmovie projector, and screen. Sunday 8:00 a.m. Breakfast. Mrso Balch will serve coffee. (Bring your own food and cooking equipment.) 10:30 a.m. Business Meeting - Election of Officers - Reportso 12:00 noon Luncheon served by Mr. and 1~s. Balch. 1:30 p.mo Program of Papers to be announcedo Main speaker of the afternoon will be Dro Peter 'Maler, Zoology Dept., Univ. of California who will speak on nSome Aspects of Bird Behavior in Relation to Banding"o 3:30 p.m. Adjournmento Mist net demonstrations will be carried on at convenient timeso
Accommodations: Mr. Balch has several places for night camping in and outo Bring sleeping bags. There will be parking space for house trailers. Numerous Mo- tels are in the vicinity whose rates run from $3:50 single,$4 double and up • .' As this will be the only announcement sent out for this annual meeting, please re- turn the enclosed form as soon as possible so that detailed arrangements for the
~eeting may be completed 0 The Assno welcomes all banders in the area to this meet~ lng. An Ana~sis of Bird-Banding Reports for the Year 1958 Within the Area of the Western Bird-Banding Association
Compiled by Emerson A. Stoner, Marjorie Elmore, Enid K. Austin and HOlfard 1. Cogswell
Total ~12lSpecies Calif. Colo. Ida. Kant. Nev. !N.Mex.iOreg. Utah Wash. Wyo. U.S. 3j. ,Horned Gre be J. i! , 'FArM nrebe 1 bh GrAbe 1 Pi ••d-hi 11Ad nrAhA 2 T.••a.I!h'" Petrel 1 4 ~ Ashv P••tr ••l 17 .' Whit.. 1> •• 1i ,.,," 151 250 f, ! Double-crested Cormorant. --'2- -- - 1: 5 '7 r Great Blue Heron B nrA,m Heron 1 , Common F.ur"t Q Snowv Euret 1.2 la2 ;0 Black-crn.Ni~ht Heron ';2 52 II American Bittern 2 2 r Whistlin2 Swan 1 1 Trumoeter Swan 20 20 Canada Goose 2t1OO 942 597 0'J37 Black Brant h U White-fronted Goose 473 '11'3 Snow Goose 23 0 2312' Ross' Goose 2 2 Fulvous Tree Duck 7 7 Mallard hI'l 2025 lU9 5118 117 1611~ .-Mal1al'd-Pintail- U"brid 1 1 ,]. Mallal'd-GadweH"!ivl:>-ri4 1 1 Black Duck 1 1 Gadwall 125 1 2 1 19 15 57 220 Pintail 396 186lU 3 726 218 280 1192 721 1799 WI 119 25519 Gre ••n....nnl!'ed Teal 18 1671 30 2 215 121 6 22h ~ 10 2871 Blue-winl!'ed Teal 1 237 3 25 '1'••,,1 hI6 20l.. 1 21 16 1 71 ~ ..•• I. "inn "'a~' 2'2 252 n "-. . Wid"'eon 1'71:6 1.6 Q'; 2L.O 1.2 117 3 2 19 ,,, Shoveler 1 651 11 60 7 2 Wood Duck 2 1 110 0 3 Redh••ad 79 978 1 122 620 lU 17 h h 1 2 Rinu-nAck ••d Duck 10 1 1 1 11 Canvasback 18 1 11 1 52 Scaun 22 22 4 "- Lesser Scaun 229 21 1 252 I _. ConunonGoldeneve 2 2 \ ':,' •.. Bufflehead 1 2Q 10 \ 6 I'" White_inl!'ed Scoter 1 17 .r Ruddy Duck 181 201' ,'Red-breasted Mer2anser 1 1 10 "White-tailed Kite 5 5 ""'Sham-shinned Hawk 1 2 : Cooper's Hawk 51 53 Red-tailed Hawk 98' 98 Red-shouldered Hawk 21 21 Swainson's Hawk 3 5 ;74 ' Ferruginous Hawk' 2 Golden Eagle 5 9 Bald Eagle 1 1 Marsh Hawk 10 10 Osnrev 6 6 Prairie Falcon 2h 26 '1 r' ~ Peregrine Falcon 2 3 ',' ~ SoarrOlf Hawk 218 228 C Blue Grouse 2 "J C •••• Ruffed Grouse 1 2 ,_,'7lM' Scaled Quail It! ), 'II California Quail lU7 IS6 '), - Gambel's Quail 60 61 3;/ .r.Rinl!'-necked Pheasant 1720 1720 7 L 1~ZSandhill Crane 8 ,/ ,,"'Vir2inia Rail 2 3 2 3 ,-:-/{. ~~:on Gallinule 7 7 , American Coot • 2089 2h34 '30 • Semipalmated Plover 12 12 SnowY Plover 2 2 Killdeer 1&0 52 American Golden Plover 1 1 Black-bellied Plover h 4 (April 1959) 16 Total Total U.S.+ SPecies Ariz.' Calif. Colo. Ida. Mont. Nev. N.Mex. Oreg. Utah Wash. Wyo. U.S. Foreign 11.,,'1,.1.. 'I'.' •••.•••.•..on•• 1 R1",.i,. 1 1 r.n"""nn~nin•• 1 1 :> T,nn,,_hi11,,~ r.",,1_ , 1 1 ::n· , , ., .' ;.. "'~nnn~no~ <: 1 ., II :5 t' T W4 110+ 12 12 12 ) Ye110l'r-lel"s 1 - 1 ?, '" Pectoral l'landniner 1 1 R"im'" "'a 1 T,"a"t !'lnndniTIC" ':\' ':\ 't -4 'J' Dunlin I) "T Lon"-billed Dowitcher 1 , , Semina1r.lated Sandniner 1 Western Sandniner l.L.e; 11' 11.6 lfarbled Godwit :3 J 3 SanderlinI'" 1 1 1 American Avocet 2 2 2 Black-nccked Stilt h I. I, Red Phalarope 1 1 1 Wilson's PhalaroPe 6 8 8 Northern Phalarope 1 1 Glaucous""lriruted Gull 1160 1,M ., • Western Gull lc».. ,nl. ~i , California Gull hh 561 hOO n 1,08 , c;:':\1, Rirur-billed Gull 16 106 1123 C;:1,7 " tp. 7 Franklin's Gull 55 .;e; .;.; ), Least Tc'rn l2 ., 12 12 4 r."••nian '1'''rn '71 11 711 711 4~ 4<1 Rlack Tcrn ;0 6 6 .15 .,0 Cassin's Auklet 2 1 1 ~1& Rhinoceros Auklet U 1 1 e;e; tn J Band-tailed Pi"eon 213 1.17 11 11 4(; WIlite-9r'..nl:!edDove 666 16 682 682 Mouminl:!Dove 566 h791 11 SOb 51.1 5b 7112 157 190 707'; 707&; ~,I Snotted Dove he; he; he; ~.' ~ Ground Dove 2 10 12 12 _" Inca Dove 30 1 1 1 ,'7~. , Road"unner 9 1 n Barn Owl 108 . h l' l' ., ' ~ Screech Owl 22 1 1 1.1 ,A r'3 Horned Owl 1'1 1 I J.. , p",""" Owl e; Elf Owl 1 Burrowirll" Owl 12 , , Lonl"-eared Owl 9 1 1 , , Short-eared Owl 1 S_het Owl 1 1 1 Poor-will 1 2 ~.:; .•...CODDllOnNiehthawk 2 1.1 6 ,,~;f'White-throated Swift 2 2 ,{~ Lucifer HummilU:tbird 1 Black-chnd.Hurnminl"bird 9 Costa's Hummin~bird 37 1 1 Anna's HUIlIIIli=bird 1.2 i. I. 57 Rufous Humminl"bird 1 Allen's Hummirll"bird 6 Calli one Hwrminl1bird 2 1 Belted Kinl1fisher 2 Yellow-shafted Flicker 1 , 5'- • Red-shafted Flicker 2 32 1 11 2 6 CI M . Gila Woodpecker 1 1 1 C({ Acorn Woodnecker 12 12 12 (,- Yellow-beld.Sansucker 1 h 1 1 1 ", Williamson's Sansucker 2 " // Hairv Woodpecker 2 1 5 I) ~ • DownvWoodpecker 17 1.1 2 :> b Nuttall's Woodpecker 7 White-headed Woodpecker' 8 8 Eastern Kingbird :3 1 Western Kingbird h2 3 1 106 I•. Ash-throated Flvcatcher 7 Black Phoebe h6 I. I. Say's Phoebe 2 8 1 c; , , Traill's Flycatcher 5 8 , 1: Harmnond'sFlycatcher 1 1 Dusky Flycatcher 1 7 , , GraY Flycatcher 1 Western Flvcatcher 26 16 17 C' I.J Empidonax sp.? 3 Western WoodPewee 7 h 7 1 I '~ ••..Olive-sid.F1Ycatcher 2 2 1 " " .' , Horned Lark 2 1 Total U.S.+ Species Ariz~ Calif. Colo. Ida. Mont. Nev. N.Mex. Oreg. Utah Wash. Wyo. U.S. Foreign Vio et-~reen Swa ~3 1i7 UlO lOll Tree Swall,," "" 26 1 33 60 60 Bank Swallow lb. 2U 18 18 ROll(7h-winl!edSwallow 1 1 1 Barn Swallow 1..';6 10 7 L.2 51 ';2C: ~l Cliff Swallow 1281.. <;.; 12 61 I. 11.19 1';01 " ~ 'Grav Jav U 1 16 Steller's Jav 238 1---- 1-- 7 <;3 8 HO H7 Scrub Jav 12~ ~t-- 19 2 1 1<;1 l.;i Mexican Jav 2 2 2 Black-billed Malrnie 1 6 1 22 ~ 15 IJ. l;', 107 Yellow-billed Marrnie 1 1 ,- Common Raven <; 3 8 8 COJIIDonCrow 1 3 1 .; 18 Pinon Jay II 16 1 1.1: I,t: Clark's Nutcracker 2 2 2 Black-capped Chickadee 3 43 1 :;>2 99 150 Mountain Chickadee 55 b 13 1 7C: ,. Chestnut-bkd.Chickadee 42 , 19 Cil 62 Plain .itmouse 63 1 flit. 61. Verdm II 8 8 Common Bushti t 107 2 21 110 , n White-breasted Nuthatch 23 1 2 26 Red-breasted Nuthatch 5 5 2 12' , Pigmy Uutha tch 53 23 76 6 ~ BrOlrn Creeper 1 4 6 11 11 W'rentit llIJ. 8 DfiTIier 2 3 Rouse Wren 11 9 2 2 2 2 Winter Wren 1 1 Bewick's Wren 2 1 u5 7 Cactus Wren 16 2 •.LonlZ-bi11ed Marsh Wren 1 1 ,.Rock Wren, 8 1 Mockingbi~ 1 lltl 5 4 ~ Catbird 2 2 , < BrOl)'IlThrasher h 1 Curve-billed Thrasher 9 - Th"'aahe'" 1C: 1 , f'_' ~~~, 'I'h"'a"he'" , , Sa(7e Thrasher 1 Robin 1.70 11 1 11 9 71 1.. lit.; 71. An Varied Thrush 22 6 10 /, Henni t Thrush 262 6 1.. 3 '7 ~8" -ainson I s Thrush 66 3 21 01 , io VeerY 1 Western Bluebird 6L. 21.. 6 ~ 9 Mount.ain Bluebird 1 <; k Townsend's Solitaire l' Blk.-tald.Gnatcatcher 1 1 Golden-erOlrned KirlHlet' 8 6 9 2 21. Rupy-crowned Kin2let 132 1 5 2 11.ll lItl Water Pinit 1 1 1 Cedar Waxwin" 127 2 9 1 IJ. 8 1C:' 'C:2 Phainonenia 1 , Northern Shrike 1 ') 7 Lo"''''erheadShrike 2C: ., ., Starlin", 20 l' 1 1.9 11 a a Hutton's Vir"o It Soli ta,.",Vireo 1 1 2 Red-eYed Vireo 1 21 ?/ 'Ifarbli= Vireo 22 1 L. 1.. 17 8 C:l ,. Orange-crowned Warbler 'i8 9 18 1 12 8 101 Nashville Warbler 30 lI'\- Yellow Warbler 21 1 1 1 It 13 6 -·le Warbler 11 2 7 ,0 L. Audubon •s Warbler 1 718 1 118 30 12 8 0' 0'II> Blk.-thro.Grav Warbler 16 7 6 2 11 Townsend's Warbler 5 1 6 6 Henni t Warbler 2 2 2 Northern Waterthrush 1 MacGillivrav's Warbler 22 2 1 9 1 Yellowthroat 18 5 ~ Yellow-breasted Chat 1 6 3, 1 Wilson's Warbler lQI; 3 13 30 1 1<; American Redstart ') ••House Sparrow 1J.52 16 11 12 88 ,. <)7 'i7 Western Meadowlark 21 1 1 1 2 2 IJ. Yellow-head.Blackbird 5 133 11,' .,..,.,.1Ii: Redwinged Blackbird m 10 L. ') 1 15 11, Tricolored Blackbird 66 6 66 ') 1 Hooded Oriole 59 C:9 <)9 (April 1959) 18 Total Total U.S.'" SpecieS Ariz. Calif. Colo. Ida. Mont. Nev. N.Mex. Oreg. Utah Wash. w.vo. U.S. ForeiEll Scot •.r.'s Or10.Le .L 1 1 ~ Bullock's Oriole .140 .L 2 151 151 , Brewer's B.LaCKbira 333 4 .10 15 49 411 410 COJlllllonGrackle 1 0 9 9 Brown-headed Cowbird 5 04t! .LO j Yf "2'j .,30 Bronzed Cowbird 3 3 3 West.em Tanager 41 11 27 .L <:<: .LU<: .104 i Card.:inal. 15 .L5 .L5 i Pyrrhulox:ia 33 jj' jj I .Black-headea GrosoeaK 3'j 5 7 .L( 00 00 I B.1ue Grosbeak .1 0 ( ( ! Lazull Bunting .1UJ .10 111 111 I Dickcissel .1 .1 I EVenIng Grosbeak ! 22 .L ( <: 0 4<: ~o ! Purple Finch 14~ 24 4.L . <:.14 2 .Y Cassin IS' Fmcn 070 120 '0 OJ House l"incn 5 <:2.U .LYj .14 0 54 .1 00 2~ ~) 2' 12 r{ P1ne Sisl
SPecies Alaska Alberta British Columbia Midway Mexico Yukon U.S. Arct.ic Loon 1 Red-necked Grebe 2 2 Horned Grebe 147 147 Black-footed Albatross 1<;60 1<;60 La.vsan Albatross 62h7 62).7 HYbrid Albatross 1 1 Bulwer's Petrel 138 138 Fulmar 9 9 Red-tailed Tropic-bird 125 125 BrOlrn Pelican 7 7 Blue-faced Boob,y 30 30 Brown Boobv ti 0 Pelae:ic Cormorant 50 '50 Trumpeter Swan 32 32 Canada Goose 911 911 Black Brant 1 1 WIlite-fronted Goose 167 167 Kallard 3 1407 1410 Gadwall 21 21 Pintail 39 2543 2582 Green-.inll'ed Teal 13 300 313 Teal h!)<; h<;!) Lavsan 'Teal" , '58 5B American lI'ide:eon B4 97 IB1 Shoveler 9 109 llti RinlZ-llecked Duck 1 1 Canvasback bO 1 I 01 Species Alaska Alberta British Columbia Midway Mexico Yukon U.S. Greater Scaup 102 ,'} Lesser Scaun t;1t; 1 ~~,(. CommonGoldeneye 2 -" Barrow's Goldeneve 179 , .,0 Buffiehead 1<;0 ':>,~" Oldsauaw 12 ,,, 'IIhi ed Scater 6.L. ~.-: CommonScoter 2 .., Coaper's Hawk '} " Red-tailed Hawk 7 ., Peregrine Falcon , i American Coat <;1 ~~ Black Ovstercatcher , ~ Killdeer 1 , American Golden Plover 1 - , Whimbrel 1 , Bristle-thi2hed Curlew , '> Willet 1 , Least Sandpiper 1 , Western Sandniner 1 , Glaucous Gull 1 , Glaucous_inged Gull 1136 " ~,(. Western Gull 11 -" Herring Gull 1 ':> Arctic Tern 1 , Homed Owr 1 , SnowyOlrl 1 , Short-eared Olrl 1 1 YellOll'-shafted Flicker 1 , Red-shafted. Flicker 6 ,(. lVbrid Flicker "3 ':> YellOll'-bellied Sapsucker I) c: DowmrWoodnecker 2 '} Traill's Fl.Vcatcher 1 , Western Flvcatcher 6 f, Western WoodPewee 2 , Olive-sided Flvcatcher 1 , Violet-2reen Swallow 6 h 'R".•••.• '0 ,n ,.,~,.,. 8J Rl. n.••••••.T•••• 10 , ,i '" .T •••• 7 7 'R'" ,.~_hi , , ..n"1b;"'i •• &::1 c:~ r.twnIIIt\Tlr..••nw l' , ':>~ anned Chickarl_ &:: l.fi c:, Boreal Chickadee I, ,. Chestnut-backed Chickadee 1 Dinner 2 Bewick' 0 Wren I) Catbird 11 , Robin 6' h' Varied· Thrush <:1 C:":l Hennit Thrush 12 ,., Swainson's Thrush 10 ,n Vee.••••. 2 ., Golden-c"OIl'nedKinulet 1 , RUbV-crOll'IledKindet 1 , Cedar Waxwinll 1 1 Northern Shrike 3 "3 Red-eved Vireo h h Warblinl! Vireo 3 "3 Oranlle-erowned Warbler 5 5 Yellow Warbler 3 1 Audubon's warbler h I. Black-throated Grav Warbler 2 ., Northern Waterthrush 2 , KacGillivrav's Warbler 1 Wilson's Warbler 2 American Redstart 2 R..mrInued Blackbird 11 1 Brewer's Blackbird t; B•••.••••-hcaded r.owbirrl 1 wellltem T=er 2 2
P".•••.•1••-l<'in,.h I Cassin's Finch 19 1 House Finch 199 10' Hru>.••••.Rcdnoll 1 1 Pine Siskin '\ 1 American Goldfinch 18 18 Ruf'Otllt-sided Towhee 60 60 37 17 ~".t""'colored Junco 1 l ___ I) Laysan & Total OUtside Species Alaska Albert.a British Col ia Midway Maxi co Y on U.~.~ Oregon Junco 71.5 71.5 Tree SoarrOlf 0<: 0<: Chipping SparrOlf 0 0 Clay-eolored 1 1. Whi te-erOlfned SparrOlf 00 j 0)' Golden-crOlfned SparrOlf 72 72 Fox Sparrow <:<: ££ Lincoln I s Sparrow 7 'r Song Sparrow 340 JUO
Totals 2730 5000 3190 tl17tl 19 tl7 27740
COMMENTARYONTHE1958 ANNUALREPORT by L. Richard Mewaldt
The number of active panders reporting to the WBBAin the Western North American Province in 1958 was 169, a substantial decrease from the 191 in 1957, and the 186 in 1956. However, the 1958 grand total of more than 1.31,000 birds banded is a new high. This maybe comparedto the previous high of approximately 125,000 in 1957. The .309 species banded is also a new high compared to the .305 species banded in 1957 and the 276 in 1956.
A review of Table 1 reveals that representatives of 18 of the 20 North American orders of birds (north of Mexico) were banded in 1958. The Psittaci- formes (Parrots, etc.) and the Trogoniformes (Trogons), found in extreme south- western United States and in Mexi.·coare not represented in our cumulative totals going back to 1924. It is significant to note that 5.3%of all birds banded were in the order Anserifonnes (ducks, geese, and swans). This reflects the continued interest of waterfowl managementagencies in banding as a research and manage- J!lenttool. Nearly 10% of the 1958 total was madeup of upland gamebirds, in- cluding doves, pigeons, and pheasants, and of Coots. It is therefore easy to understand that about 62% of 1958 banding was done by professional banders on State, Provincial, and Federal projects.
Fran Table 2 we,see that at least one species in each of 24 of the 26 fami- lies of Western North American Passerine birds were banded in 1958. The two families not banded are not represented in any earlier annual reports. As usual, about 'bra-thirds of all Passerines banded were Fringillids.
Banding more than 1000 birds each in 1958 were ten independent banders (not including those on state, Provincial, or Federal projects): Bleitz, 45.38 in WBBA territory, mostly in California; Kridler (Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge), about 2000 of his 4970 maybe comparedwith the efforts of independent banders . (e.g. 28 Western Kingbirds, .32 Black Phoebes, ,.30 Brown-headedCorrbirds, and 45 Bullock Orioles); Schultz, 1569 in Washington; the Houghs, 1505 in ColoraP-o; Charining, 1.37.3 in Washington; the Travis's, 1.371 in NewMexico; Mewaldt, 1275 in California; Payne, 1086 in Oregon; Kline, 105.3 in Washington; and Gallup, 1045 in California. Another 14 cooperators ,bandedbetween 500 and 1000 including: Moosin Montana; Ransomin Washington, Condoniri. Wyoming;Bradley in British Columbia; DuBois in Oregon; Elmore, the Ralphs, Hutson, Feltes, the Linsdales, Harry Smith, the Stokelys, Stoner, and Evenden in California.
In variety of species banded, Blei tz maintained his high standard by banding 174 species in WBBAterritor,y. Of these, .31 species appear in his report only. Blei tz banded an adcij.tional 34 species in eastern areas bringing his total species TABLE 1. NUMBERS OF SPECIES AND OF INDIVIDUALS OF NORTH A1~RICAN ORDERS OF BIRDS REPORTED BANDED IN VffiBATERRITORY IN 1958
Number Number of of Species Individuals Gaviiformes (Loons) ------1- 1 Podicipediformes (Grebes) 5 218 Procellariiformes (Albatrosses, petrels, etc.) 6 7,973 Pelecaniformes (Pelicans, Cormorants, etc.) 7 483 Ciconiiformes (Herons, Bitterns, etc.) 6 113 Anseriformes (~rans, Geese, and Ducks) 32 69,502 Falconiformes (Vultures, Hawks, etc.) 14 379 Galliformes (Quail, Pheasants, Turkeys, etc.) 6 1,959 Gruiformes (Cranes, Rails, Coots, etc.) 5 2,508 Charadriiformes (Sandpipers, Gulls, Terns, etc.) 42 5,736 Columbiformes (Pigeons and Doves) 6 8,160 Psittaciformes (Parrots, etc.) o o Cuculiformes (Cuckoos, Roadrunners, and Anis) 1 10 Strigiformes (Owls) 10 418 Caprimulgiformes (Goatsuckers) 2 11 Apodiformes (Swifts and Hummingbirds) 8 101 Trogoniformes (Trogons) o o Coraciiformes (Kingfishers) 1 2 Piciformes (Woodpeckers) 10 145 Passeriformes (Perching Birds) 147 33,340 309 131,059
for the year to 208. Other banders with more than 50 (actually 50 to 60) species include the Ralphs, Kridler (I'll count 55 of his 63), Payne, Schultz, and the Travis's.
A total of 448 species have been recorded banded in WBBA annual reports in the past 35 years. This figure is up six from 1957 including the Fulmar, Bristle- thighed Curlew, Sanderling, Glaucous Gull, Snowy Owl, and Lucifer Hummingbird. (Details below.) Eight species of birds which were not banded in 1958 but which were banded in at least four of the six years immediately prior to 1958 are the Chuckar, Lewis Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Canon Wren, Bohemian Waxvring, Rusty Blackbird, Lapland Longspur, and Snow Bunting.
Some banding highlights during 1958 will be considered in systematic order. It is difficult to judge which bandings are the more significant. Unusual banding records are not necessarily significant. Many important data can be obtained at the time of banding, something which simple numbers of birds banded cannot re- flect. Some types of data depend upon recovery information. Here numbers are im- portant, for when great, the chances of recovery are increased. It should be ob- served that a very high percent of waterfowl banded are recovered. This is what makes worthwhile the great efforts expended on the banding of waterfowl.
Podicipediformes. The 147 Horned Grebes banded by Hansen at Juneau, Alaska, represents a new high for the species. Procellariiformes. The continuing bird hazard study on Midway Island (Dale Rice, Resident Biologist) has resulted in the banding of 1560 Black-footed Albatrosses and 6247 (new high) Laysan Albatrosses. These bandings should yield very significant results in the next few years. Rice's 138 Bulwer Petrels on Laysan Island make the WBBA 35 year grand total 139 (April 1959) 22
TABLE 2. NUMBERS OF SPECIES AND OF INDIVIDUALS OF WESTERN NORTH AMERICAN FAMILIES OF PASSERINE BIRDS REPORTED BANDED IN VfBBA TERRITORY IN 1958
Number Number of of Species Individuals Cotingidae (Cotingas) o o Tyrannidae (Tyrant Flycatchers) 12 239 Alaudidae (Larks) 1 3 Hirundinidae (Swallows) 6 2,233 Corvidae (Jays, Magpies, and Crovfs) 10 707 Paridae (Titmice, Verdins, and Bushtits) 7 493 Sittidae (Nuthatches) 3 114 Certhiidae (Creepers) 1 11 Chamaeidae (Wrentits) 1 84 Cinclidae (Dippers) 1 7 Troglodytidae (Wrens) 6 148 Mimidae (Mockingbirds and Thrashers) 7 165 Turdidae (Thrushes, Solitaires, and Bluebirds) 8 1,512 Sylviidae (Gnatcatchers and Kinglets) 3 166 Prunellidae (Accentors) o o Montacillidae (Wagtails and Pipits) 1 1 Bombycillidae (Waxwings) 1 152 Ptilogonatidae (Silky Flycatchers) 1 1 Laniidae (Shrikes) 2 32 Sturnidae (Starlings) 1 94 Vireonidae (Vireos) 4 85 Parulidae (Wood Warblers) 14 1,403 Ploceidae (Weaver Finches) 1 579 Icteridae (Meadowlarks, Blackbirds, and Orioles) 11 1,927 Thraupidae (Tanagers) 1 104 Fringillidae (Finches, Sparrows, Buntings, etc.) 44 22,980 II?7 33,340 for the species. The banding of 9 Fulmars on the Gulf of Alaska by Richard T. Holmes adds a new far flying species.
Anseriformes. The 69,502 birds of this order banded represent more than half of all individuals banded in the WBBA area. New highs were established for the Canada Goose, Snow Goose, Pintail, Bufflehead (350 by Hansen), White-winged Scote~ and Old Squaw (12 by Hansen). Falconiformes. Largely due to the efforts of Klimes and the Southern California Falconers' Association, numbers of Falconiforms banded were substantially increased. We need to know more about the movements of this group of birds. Gruiformes. In New Mexico, Huey banded 8 of the seldom banded Sandhill Cranes.
Charadriiformes. Three new species were added from this large, varied, and interesting order. Rice banded two Bristle-thighed Curlews on Laysan Island; Bleitz banded a Sanderling in California; and Hansen a Glaucous Gull in Alaska. A cooperative effort on the part of British Columbia banders resulted in the band- ing of more than 1000 Glaucous-winged Gulls; Schultz again banded over 1000 of the same species. The 32 Cassin Auklets banded by Robert Bowman on the Farallon Islands for the Ralphs and 25 Rhinoceros Auklets banded in Washington by Frank Richardson suggest that these may be banded in larger numbers to yield significant information. In California Kridler banded 69 Black Terns (12 had been banded in Co1umbiformes. ~fuereas numbers of Band-tailed Pigeons and Vfuite-winged Doves were much smaller in 1958, the 7075 Mourning Doves banded made 1958 the third highest year (1956 and 1957 were somewhat higher). Strigiformes. A staggering 225 Barn Owls were banded by Gallup in 1958; a note on his methods should prove most interesting. K1imes and the Southern California Falconers' Association ac- counted for most of the rest of the CNr1s banded in 1958. Of interest is the band- ing of the first Snowy Owl in 1m3BA history by George Ga1icz in British Columbia. Apodiformes. Continued efforts (87 of 99 bandings) by B1eitz makes hummingbird banding significant. His banding of a Lucifer Hummingbird in California is a first in ~ffiBArecords; it also appears to represent an extension of range for a species not previously recorded in California.
Passeriformes. Barn Svra11~r bandings, numbering 205 by Legg and 199 by Kridler, result in a new western high for this species. Steller Jays reached a new high of 337 banded; the 103 by Elmore and 83 by Brown were supported by an- other 20 banders. The 36 Pinon Jays banded by Wood in 1958 in New Mexico may be compared to the 23 banded from 1925 to 1957. Hermit Thrush bandings of more than double any previous year may be credited to B1eitz (100), Kinsey (42), and thirty additional banders. Stoner continues successful with Robins, getting 168 in 1958. The n~r high of 916 Audubon Warblers may be attributed to B1eitz (393), Feltes (163), the Travis's (118), and to 35 other banders.
In the large family Fringi11idae, twelve n~l highs were posted in 1958. Among these is the n~T high of 33 l~rrrhuloxias, all banded by Gould in Arizona. Of 111 Lazuli Buntings, a round 100 were banded by B1eitz, who also banded 112 of 112 Lawrence Goldfinches, 51 of 54 Rufous-crowned Sparr~rs, 111 of 112 B1ack- throated Sparrows, and 663 of 664 Sage Sparr~rs. In Joshua Tree National Monument (California) in the fall of 1958, B1eitz banded a Dickcissel and a Baird Sparrow (Audubon Field Notes, 13(1):67). These appear to be records of second occurrence and first occurrence, respectively, for the State of California. An unusual 669 Cassin Finches were banded by the Boughs in Colorado.
The most abundantly banded passerine, the Oregon Junco (5693 - new high), was banded by 80 cooperators reporting to the VmBA. Those banding more than 200 were Channing 969, the Houghs 364, Bradley 347, Payne 347, Elmore 270, the Stok1eys 256, Woody 255, Kline 251, and the Linsda1es 246. The species banded by the most banders (85) was the \7hite-crowned Sparrow (5047 - new high). Four reports showed over 200, including Mewa1dt 784, B1eitz 383, Kridler 334, and Kline 258. The 19 iVhite-throated Sparrows were banded by 14 banders making it the most widely banded, infrequently occurring species. A substantial increase in Song Sparrow bandings (to 1327) may be attributed to 60 banders including Ransom (187) and Muir (108) ..
SlnJTMARYREPORT OF INDIVIDUAL BANDERS (If no state is named, California is understood) No. Sp. Alaska, University of (Brina Kessel) College, Alaska ""42 1 Anderson, Anders H. 3221 E. K1einda1e Rd. Tuscon, Ariz. 19 2 Argante, Mrs. A. J. 5248 T St. Sacto.19(Banded in Nevada) 106 9 Austin, Enid K. 1116 Mandana Blvd. Oakland 10 55 10 Baker, Brian 5958 East Hastings N. Burnaby, B.C. Canada 293 22 Balch, Mr. T. E. P.O. Box 9 Glen 262 14 Banks, Mr. R. C. M.V.Z. Univ. of Calif. Berkeley4 9 5 Bear Riv.Mig.BirdRef. P.O. Box 603 Brigham City, Utah 2803 10 Birchett,Mrs. J. T. 202 East 7th St. Tempe, Arizona 81 13 Bleitz, Mr. Don 2047 CastilianDr. Hollywood28 4583 207 Bosque del Apache Ref. Box 1 San Antonio,New Mexo 1742 15 Bowdoin Nat'l W.L.Ref. Box 1125 Malta, Montana 1625 18 Brown, Jerram L. M.V.Z. Univ. of Calif. Berkelev 4 84 2 Bradley, Mrs. D. M. 1848 Mathers Avenue W.Vancouver,B.C.Canada 598 23 Buttery, Mr. R. F. Forsyth Missouri(Bandedin Calif.) 9 3 Cady, W. G. 3350 CalvertRoad Pasadena 8 132 13 Calif.Fish&Game(F.M.Koslick)722 CapitalAve. Sacramento 20419 20 Carver, Mrs. Mona Box 245 Glenville,Kern Co. 3 2 Channing,Clyde H. Box 331 ClearLake,Wash. 1373 42 Cogswell,H. L. Box 9486 Mills College Oakland 13 456 40 Collier, Gerald 3634 N. MuscatelAve. Rosemead 12 5 Collister,Mrs. C. N. 706 Hover Road Longmont,Colorado 44 9 Condon, David Box 117, YellowstoneN.P. Wyoming 656 4 Cowan, John B. P. O. Box 295 Gridley 51 1 Crandell,Harry B.,Ref.Mgn.,P. o. Box 293 Laramie,Wyoming 334 9 Crawford,John E.,Jr. 508 E. Second N. st. sto Anthony, Idaho 287 2 Crouch, James E. 4943 CollegeAve. San Diego 15 1 1 Crowley, L.D., Univ. of Kansas,Lawrence,Kansas (Bandedin Wyo. & Colo.) 93 13 Davis, Clifford V. Z&E Depts. Mont. State C. Bozeman,Montana 8 7 Davis, Dr. John Hastings Reservation Carmel Valley 1 1 Deer Flat Mig.Wtfl.Ref.Rt. 1 Nampa, Idaho 14 3 DuBois, Mr. H. M. Rt. 1, Box 370 Clackamas,Oregon 501 34 Duff, C. V. 2911 Antelo View Dr. Los Angeles 24 2 2 Elmore, Mrs. Marjorie M. 6371 Forest Lane Paradise 849 36 Elder, Alvin vr. Rm. 439, HellmanBldg. Los Angeles 13 140 3 Erickson,Dr. Mary 3505 Foothill Road Santa Barbara 1 1 Evans, Mr. & Mrs. H.A. Klamath Trout Hatchery KlamathAgency, Oregon 36 15 Evenden,Dr. F. G. 1336 Fitch Way Sacto.25(Bandedin Nevo) 508 25 Felt, Arthur C. 617 N. Newlin Avenue Whittier 405 30 Feltes, Mr. C. H. 437 ~Trtle Avenue Modesto 639 26 Ferris, Mr. R. W. 941 S. 13th East Street Salt Lake City, Utah 17 7 Fisher, Mr. R. 215 East !<'oothillBlvd. La Verne 1 1 Fleming,Wesley B. 105 State Office Bldg. Phoenix,Arizona 653 8 Foree, Dr. LYnn 6260 Castle Drive Oakland 11 14 4 Fowle, Major T. R.R. 2 Vernon,B.C., Canada 259 16 Gallup,Fred N., Jr. 142 W. 6th Avenue Escondido 1045 25 Galicz, George 13281 60th Ave. R.R. 4 N. Surrey, BoC., Canada 148 16 Gould, p. J. Box 9447 Supo,Univ.of A., Tuscon,Arizona 224 31 Gray, Mrs. Alice 6645 HeartwoodDrive Oakland 302 13 Griffin, Mr. Homer V. Paonia, Colorado 20 9 Guild, Capt. E. R. Roaring Fork Ranch Box 548, GlenwoodSprings,Colo.12 3 Gillespie,Mrs. John 313 Sharp Avenue Glenolden,Pennao(B.in Co) 59 12 Hagan, Jack "T. 1429 S. Flower St. Santa Ana 73 11 Hagerstein,Walter M. Medina,Washington 3 2 Hansen, H. A. P. O. Box 2021 Juneau,Alaska 2677 27 Hanson,W. C. G.E. Co.(BioI.Oper.) Richland,Washington 456 3 Harper, H. T. 1189 Weber Way Sacramento22 1720 1 Hatton, Louise M. 200 Calera Canyon Road Salinas 64 16 Hawes, W. D. P. O. Box 974 Lancaster 32 8 Hayes, Charles R. Bldg. 45, D.F.C., Denver, Colo.(Bandedin Alberta)3725 6 Henderson,Mrs. R. N. 6000 SacramentoBlvd. Sacramento 133 8 Henningsen,Mrs. L. K. 124 CambridgeWay Piedmont 178 11 Holmes, Richard T. 8669 E. Duarte, San Gabriel(Bandedin Alaska) 129 15 Hough, Mr.&Mrs.J. N. 1515 Mariposa Boulder,Colo. 1505 20 Huey, W. S. Box 2060 Santa Fe, Nev:rMexico 2748 11 Hughes,W. M. 8755 S.W. Marine Dr. Vancouver,B.C.,Canada 106 8 Hutson, Glenn A. 715 Blossom Street Bakersfield 676 37 Jeffrey,R. G. Rt. 1, Box 509 stanwood,Washington 8406 16 Johnson,Mr. K. F. 2504 Erie street Eureka 36 8 Kaminsky,Mrs. Fritz 1213 RobertsonWay Sacramento1880 7 Kebbe, Chester E. 5414 N~E. Emerson st. Portland18, Oregon 157 11 Killpack,Merlin L. Union High School Box 427,Roosevelt,Utah(BoinWyo.)171 29 Kinghorn,Robert, P. O. Box 1306, Albuquerque,N.M.(Bandedin Alberta) 1208 11 Kinsey, Eric C. 17 SouthvroodAvenue Ross, Marin Co. 399 33 Kirsher,Wm. K. 571 Fulton Ave.,Sacto.25(Bandedin Mex. & Nev.) 439 17 Kittredge,Joseph 2663 TallantRoad Santa Barbara 440 22 Klimes, Mr. R. M. 14940 Otsego Sherman Oaks' 393 14 Kline, Mrs. Lucille H. Rt. 1 Box 35 Blaine,Washington 1053 32 Kridler,Eugene SacramentoWildlife Refuge,Willows 4970 63 Kullrich,Mrs. Walter Rt. 3 Box 440B Shelton,Washington 109 8 Lakata, GeorgeD. 1025 Cedar Street Wasco 149 15 Lane, Kenneth W. 1349 Clermont Denver 20, Colorado 75 7 Larson, Go J. 512 Balra Drive El Cerrito 34 10 Legg, 1~. Ken 1456 Lindale Court Eureka 320 11 Linsdale,Dr. Jean M. HastingsReservation Carmel Valley ~16 22 MacGregor,Wallace G.,Jr. 4433 E. Simpson Fresno 124 2 Mack, W. Eo 1140 Riebli Road Santa Rosa 40 5 McCarty, John D. 82 BrookwoodRoad Orinda 23 1 McIntyre, Mrs. Grace Colo. Nat'l Mon. Fruita, Colorado 2 1 Malheur Nat'l Wildlife Refuge Burns, Oregon 313 11 Mayhew,Wilbur W. 6727 Mt. Whitney Ave. Riverside 10 2 Merkel, Dalton E. Borrego Springs Borrego 5 1 Medicine Lake Refuge Medicine Lake MedicineLake, Montana 14 2 Merced Nat'l W. Mgn. Area P. O. Box 854 Merced 358 6 Merkorka,Lawrence K. Box 1306 Albuquerque,New Mexico 72 1 Mewaldt,Dr. L. R. 4150 Golf Drive San Jose 27 1275 37 Meyer, Mr. Roe E. Bldg. 45, D.F.C.,Denver,Colo.(Bandedin Nev'rMex.) 11 1 Mackay, Mrs. J. R. 4014 West 37th Ave. Vancouver,B.Co,Canada 404 15 Meyers, Ernest G. 1228! StocktonStreet Bakersfield 177 12 Miller, Paul D. Rt. 3, Box 190 Molalla, Oregon 57 6 Minidoka Nat1l Refuge Route 4 Rupert, Idaho 100 1 Monta Vista Nat'l Refuge P. O. Box 566 Monte Vista, Colorado 580 4 Moos, 1~. Louis M. P. O. Box 1342 Billings,Montana 724 12 Muir, Mr. A. Ih82 Marine Drive W.Vancouver,B.C.,Canada406 24 Neff, JohnsonA. Wldf. Res. Lab., Bldg. 45 Denver 25, Colorado 25 3 Odlum, Gordon C. 211 Dallas Road Victoria,B.Co,Canada 331 3 Oregon state Game Com. P. O. Box 4136 Portland 8, Oregon 3541 15 Parratt,Lloyd P. 500 West 14th street Upland(Bandedin Mont.) 65 2 PaJ~e, Mr. D. E. 1460 G. Street Springfield,Oregon 1086 53 Peyton, L. J., Box 960, Anchorage,Alaska(Bandedin Alaska & Yukon) 90 6 Phillips,Mrs. Vance 1010 Monte Drive Santa Barbara 164 1 Pinkas, Leo 3127 Volk Ave., Long Beach 8(Bandedin Mexico) 7 1 Pyle, Robert t., 3012 44th St., Wash.16,D.C.(Bandedin Utah,N.M.&Wash.) 446 37 Ralph, Clement L. 1043 Merced Street Berkeley 727 56 Ransom, Webster H., 9676 EvergreenDr.,Bellevue,Wash.(Band.inNev.&Calo)712 29 Red Rock Lakes Refuge (W. E. Banko) Monida, Montana 20 1 Richardson,nj. Frank Zo.Dept.Univ. of Wash. Seattle 5, Washington 34 5 Richardson,C~rl Trail, Oregon 148 15 Rice, Dale W., % Navy 3080, Box 1, F.P.O.,SanFrancisco(B.inMid.&Lay.)8178 10 Roest, Aryan Calif. St. Poly. College,San Luis Obispo 4 4 Reuther, Ronald 974 Dolores Drive Lafayette 2 1 Rogers, Thomas E. 10820 Maxwell Spokane,Washington 147 11 Romig, Mrs. Agnes B. 351 Alma Real Drive Pacific Palisades 51 14 Ruby Lake Nat'l Refuge B. H. Cater,Dir. Ruby V~lley,Nevada 190 4 Ross, Miss Rosamond 4157 West 13th Ave. Vancouver,BoCo,Canada 204 8 Salton Sea Nat'l Refuge P. o. Box 1379 Brawley 4820 6 Salter, Robert L. 518 Front Street Boise, Idaho 3878 8 Saltzer, Helene B. 335 West LincolnAve. Nampa, Idaho 186 8 Stair, John L. Ariz. G.&F. Dept. Phoenix,Arizona 1185 2 Stock, A. D. Box 366 St. George,Utah 414 18 Silvernale,Mr. Max 755 No Robinson Road Topango 5 1 Schultz, Mrs. R. R. 23809 W 53rd MountlakeTerrace,Wash.1569 52 Sarles, John G. 3403 Pine Crescent Vancouver 9,B.C.,Canada 314 27 Schumacher,Mrs. H. L. 7027 SycamoreAvenue Seattle 7, Washington 116 27 Sharpless,Evelyn M. Pawna Valley 3 1 Smith, Allen G. P.O. Box 603, Brigham City, Utah (Bandedin Alberta) 147 5 Smith, Miss Emily D. 19651 Glen Una Drive Saratoga 89 14 Smith, Harry R. 1549 EscalonaDrive Santa Cruz 605 35 Smith, Mrs. Otis H. 207 AlexanderAvenue Larkspur 413 22 Smith, Walton A. 1059 Penn Avenue Beaumont 5 5 Savrls,Lyle K. Rm. 202 Ed. Bldg., U. of Ao, Tuscon,Arizona 23 1 Stabler,Dr. R. M. ColoradoCollege ColoradoSprings,Colo. 46 11 Stallcup,Leland L. 6227 Buena Ventura Oakland 5 381 41 Steel, Paul E. ColumbiaNaVl Wdlf. Area Othello,Washington 182 2 Stockton,Mrs. Francis W. GraniteStation via Bakersfield 191 23 Stockley, John M. 45 MarinitaAvenue San Rafael 549 21 Stoner, Emerson A. 285 East L Street Benicia 544 34 Svrinehart,Mr. D.B.,Jr. 2900 Maison Way Sacrmnento25 346 7 Thompson,Charles G. 587 ArlingtonAvenue Berkeley 7 542 15 Thompson,Wm. Lay 1482 UniversityAve. Berkeley 2 258 10 Thomssen,Mrs. R. M. 168 Loma Vista Drive Sonoma 55 12 Travis, James R. 4258 Fairway Los Alamos,New Mexico 1371 50 Tule Lake Nat'l Wdlf. Refuge Rt. 1 Box 74 Tulelake 12049 18 TurnbullNat'l Wdlf. Refuge Box 268 Cheney,Washington 181 3 Utah F.&G. Comm.(J.P.Egan)1956 w. North Temple Salt Lake City 16, Utah 403 1 Walsh, David Box 541 College,Alaska 7 3 Wash. G.De.(Swanson,Carl V.) 8824 Mto Rainier Dr. Vancouver,Wash. 40 1 Webb, William G. 5146 OakwoodAvenue La Canada 284 27 Weston, Henry G., Jr. Bio. Dept. San Jose State Col. San Jose 14 11 3 Whitelaw,Dr. D. N. 5760 Margueritest. Vancouver,B.Co,Canada 127 26 Willapa Nat'1 Wdlf. Refuge Ilwaco,Washington 41 1 Williams,Mrs. Edna Box 36, Granite Station via Bakersfield 212 18 Williams, Roger 105l OverlookRd. Berkeley 8 11 3 Winter, F. C. 904 N. Rexford Drive Bever£y Hills 417 23 Wood, Dr. Sherman F., 1015 N.AlexanderiaAve.,LosAngeles 29(B.inNoM.) 123 14 Woolfolk, E. J. 392 Colorado Court Lafayette 118 17 Woody, Jack B. 4 HumboldtVillage Arcata 465 20 Wright, Fred E. F .&G. Comm. Box 678 Reno, Nevada 1622 9 Wy. Game & Fish (Wrakestraw) Box 378 Cheyenne,Wyoming 473 2 PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE V/ESTFRN BIRD-BANDING ASSOCIATION (Approved by the Council on ~~rch 8, 1959, and to be voted on by the Members at the Annual Meeting on May 17, 1959)
6. In Article II, Sections 3, 5, 6 and 8, and in Article VI, Section 1, the word lIClub" (of Cooper Ornithological Club) is changed to ItSociety" to conform to the present name of that organizationo
70 In Article II, Section 3, the figures of $1000 and $3.50 are changed to $2.00 and $5050, respectively (for annual dues of active members, and of joint active members with Cooper Ornithological Society).
In Article II, Section 5, the figure $7050 (created by Amendment 2) is changed to $8050 (for annual dues of joint sustaining membership in W.B.B.A. and CoO.S.).
In Article II, Section 8, the figure ~p3.00 is changed to ~$4.00 (for Cooper Ornithological Society dues paid separately), and the figure $0.50 is changed to ~pl.50 (for additional dues to be paid by applicants who are already C.O.S. members for joint membership with W .B.B.A.)
8. Article III, Section 1 is amended to read as follows (the words underlined being additional to the present wording):
liThe officers of this Association shall consist of a President, one or more Vice-Presidents, a Secreta~J, a Business Manager, a Director for each state, territory and province in the Western Province where no local chapter exists, and as ex officio Directors, the presidents of any active local chap- ters organized as indicated in Article VII. The Business Manager shall act as Treasurer and -shall have charge of the finances of the Association. The Directors shall further the purposes and activities of the Association within their respectiVe:-9-istrict'S;especially in ~ liaISon capacity between indi vid- ual banders and the Executive Councilo The duties of the other officers shall be those usually assigned to such officers.1I
(The Constitution and its previously adopted 5 amendments are printed in the News from the Bird-Banders, Volume 24, Number 4, October, 1949.)
ANI,mAL MEETING OF THE PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL CHAPTER 'WESTERN BIRD BANDING ASSOCIATION
The meeting was held in Room 56, Johnson Hall, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, under the chairmanship of Dr. Frank Richardson.
The meeting commenced at 1 pom. with Mrso Zella Schultz's paper and film on the "gulls year". Mro George Galicz follovfed with a talk and film on "modern falconry". Both Mrso Schultz and Mr. Galicz answered many varied questions aftenrards 0
Miscellaneous reports were heard from Mrs. L. Kline, Mrs. Z. Schultz, Mr. Co Channing and Mr. Wm. Hughes 0 Nominations for the slate of officers was then called with the following being elected unanimously: President - Mr. Wm. Hughes; Secretaryr-Treasurer - 1i~S. L. Kline; Vice-presidents - Mrs. V. McKay, Mr. C. Channing, and Dr. F. Richardson.
Miscellaneous business consisted of a report by Mr. Hughes for the Vancouver Section of the group. First a project on the Robin to help work done by UoB.C., and secondly a proposed stand at the Hob~ Show at the Pacific International Exhibition in September.
All the way from Kuala Lumpur, TJalaya, comes a letter from our distinguished former WBBA president DR. H. ELLIOTT MC CLURE:
111 received the January 1959 News and was so interested in it that I am stimulated to write you a letter-.---
"It has been a long time since I was president of lNBBA and the organization has certainly grovm and prospered. When I was banding in Kern County we were trying to promote banding allover the west, but there seemed to be so little interest. Now some really fine work is being doneo
"I was interested in Mr. Mewald t's report on whi te-crovmed sparrows 0 He obviouslJr ran into many of the questions that bothered me. I have recently finished summarizing my Kern County white-crov,n records and find more questions than answers.
IIIcan't remember Don Bleitz. I think he became active after I left Cali- fornia. I know from experience the nights and days that I have put in with nets and traps, but I was doing it professionally. He is a keen and original worker.
liAsusual, most of the 'nev,sfrom banders' is from women. This is good, for it means that birding continues to interest the housevdfe and teacher, and from it comes valuable research data.
IIJeffre~T's work is also of interest, but his opportuni ties are limited only ~ his energies since he is professional.
IIIhave been so busy getting acquainted with Mala;)rathat I haven! t had time to summarize our banding in Japan. We ringed several thousand egrets and herons, but received only a handful of recoveries; the natural result of banding in a country surrounded by areas vdth different and antagonistic ideologies.
"No banding has been done in Malaya. I am trying to stimulate some interest, but it is up hill since the Malayanization of the country is adverse to foreign ideas and concepts.
"I've been using my nets to good advantage in order to have unfamiliar birds in my hands for a closer look. Some of the things I have caught sound like crossword puzzle ingredients, bl11buls, drongos, sivas, sibias, spider hunters, niltava, trogons, broadbills, etc. Even captured northern migrants and wished I could band them and had any hope at all of recover~y. But Burma, Thailand, the Himalayas, and China lie to the north so recoveries would probably be out of the question. On one mountain peak I am numbering netted birds to see if I can learn something of their local distribution and longevity.
'Give my regards to any of the old time banders who are still around. II ·H- ~~ -r(' ~~ ~~ WALTER G. CADY, 3350 Calvert Road, Pasadena, California has some returns of interest:
"You may be interested in the following long-term records, obtained at my banding station:
"Male Gambel sparrow, banded JanuaI"lJ12, 1955, taken again on Feb. 5 and 27, 1955, Feb. 16, 1956, Feb. 21, 1957, Jan. 10, 1958, and Jan. 10, 1959.
JOSEPH KI'ITREDGE, 2663 Tallant Rd., Santa Barbara, California, reports an unusual return:
"On November 20, 1957, I was surprised and pleased to band an adult White- throated sparrow at Sebastopol, California. A little over a year later~ December 18, 1~8, the same white-throat returned to the same trap in the same place.
"Are the V[hite-throa ted sparrovTs in California vagrants of a single trip or have they forsaken their ancestral migration routes for life?"
From the Wildlife Research Laboratory, Federal Center, Denver, Colorado, Mr. JOHNSON NEFF, an outstanding authority on blackbirds, comments:
"I have just browsed through the current issue of News from the Bird Banders and find in the report of the Northern California Chapter meeting the descrip- tion of attempted mist netting at Sacramento Refuge, calling attention to the fact that at one setting mostly females were netted while at others males dominated.
l~ithin roosts, as well as in migration (at least in spring) redwings segre- gate by sexes to a high degree. While work~ng in Arkansas on blackbird relation- ship to rice grovring, it was noticeable that when the northern wintering birds departed there was left in the Stuttgart region only a scattering of adult males which had in some instances alreadJr established territories. They were joined by more males coming up from Louisiana. There were seasons when for a period of two or three weeks one could see only males. Then, all at once, flocks entirely of females poured in and within a few days diffused.
"In the huge roost not far from Stuttgart, in which we banded at night with headlamps, Bird Banding, 23: 4, 154-157; 1952, we spent many late evening hours. Within this 12-acre thicket there were sectors in which the trees and bushes were literally weighted dovm with almost 100 percent femaleredwings; in other sections the males dominated to almost that great a percentage. I have photoflash pictures taken there in which one cannot distinguish a single male bird. In other parts of the roost, and sometimes in other roosts, the sexes were rather mixed. "Just two weeks ago I surveyed the blackbird population of the Yuma Arizona agricultural area, where daytime activity was largelJ' ~bout cattle feed lotso I noticed that in a number of the lots the feeding redwings were almost 95 percent females, while in others males predominated and in still others the feeding population was well mixedo"
ttI am in receipt of a strange band which was recovered from an unknown spe- cies of bird on January 31, 1959 on the beach at Belmont Shore, Long Beach, California,
"Perhaps the band i s description would give you or the readers of News from the Bird-Banders some clue as to whom the bander iso
"The band is made of aluminium painted yellow, 5 x 1 cm" and bears the code LPC B3105690 A lead rivit was used to fasten the ends togethero The band's general appearance would indicate that it had been applied recentlYoll
(9 ~ B3f0569 0) Leo Pinkas, Marine Biologist California State Fisheries Laboratory Terminal Island Station San Pedro, Calif ornia
Anyone having kn~rledge of the origin of this band, please communicate with the Editor or Mr. Pinkas.
About the first of June the Editor expects to move from Sacramento to San Jose. Until a new mailing address is established, correspondence for the News should be addressed in care of H~rard Cogswell, Box 9486, Mills College,
Oakland 13, California 0 D,'U.l0.J//D;) ge 0-lU(JWD.I:;)DS anU/MY UO·lln.://Ly T. E. Balch, Glenn, California Don Bleitz, 2047 Castilian Drive, Hollywood 28, California w. K. Kirsher, 1167 LJmbrook Way, San Jose, California Eugene Kridler, Sacramento Nat'l Wildlife Refuge, Will~rs, Calif. Mrs. Zella Schultz, Mountlake Terrace, Washington Mrs. Otis H. Smith, Larkspur, California
PAGE THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL JvlEETllJG• 31 ARE TIm STARLINGS TlUi.TFIEsrrAPPEAR IN Nl'::Vf AREAS FIHST-YEAR BIRDS? by Howard L. Cog~[ell . 33 ADDITIONAL BANDING HEPOHTSl 1958 by I~merson A. Stoner. 34 i,'l.B.B.A.GOLDEN-CRCJVlINEDSPARROW COLOR-BANDING PHOJECT by Howard L. CogSV'rell 35 REPORT OF A ROVING BANDER by H. Elliott McClure 36 A SUM]\I[AHYOF RETURNS AND RECOVERIES OF BREWER BLACKBIH.DS AT SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA by L. Richard Mevraldt • 37 NEWS FEO]!'!TIm BANDEES 39
Address contributions for the News from the Bird-Banders to William K. Kirshery Editor, 1167 Lynbrook Way, San Jose, California The 34th Annual Meeting of the Western Bird-Banding Association vras held at the Clear Lake Oaks home of Vice-president and 1rrs. Balch, 11ay 16 and 17. As the banders gathered from distances up to six hundred miles, nets were put"up.i~ Mr. Balch's back yard and surrounding area so that members n~r to mist netting migqt observe teclmiques. Many helpful suggestions as to t;ypes of poles used - locatibn of nets in relation to the terrain - different methods of extracting the birds were exchanged. All laughingly agreed that patience was the most needed attribute for mist netting.
At 5 :30 p.m. man;)Tof the 35 members and guests were at the bounteous supper table of the hosts.
The evening meeting took the form of a Round Table with members giving some highlights of their year's banding.
Dr. Mewaldt reported on obtaining Zonotrichia banding records from Patuxent. Vraterfovrland Dove statistics are well documented at the banding office in Patl.Lxentbut Passerine records are not easily obtainable. He vras surprised at so f~ recoveries. Mrs. Reinelt is working on tIle establishment of a private beach area for some extensive shore bird banding. She hopes to report the results at the next annual meeting. Mr. Felt from Whittier told of banding 18 of five species of woodpeckers by the use of the Lakata tree trap. With the efficient help of Mr. Eben McMil.lian, Mr. Felt was able to band a great number of birds in- cluding ravens, a gre-,-headed junco, band-tailed pidgeons - two of which returned from 30 to 50 miles. Mr. Baker was introduced as the printer of our News from the Bird-Banders. Mr. Balch has had kinglet, white-crowned and Harris sparrovr re- -- turns .--~Kridler was surprised at the abundance and variety of species taken in his first year of mist netting. He had more western than tV'ilillflycatchers; nets had produced more than he thought possible. Dr. Mary Erickson does not do much banding novr but is to begin mist netting soon. Mr. Stoner hac; had tanagers among the four hundred plus birds that he has trapped and netted since the first of the year. Nets have been a great stimulus to his banding. Dr. and Mrs. Linsdale from the Hastings Reservation reported a kinglet in their traps for the first time, the return of white throats and a 14"·year age record for a wrent _G. Hr. Klingenberg is still awaiting his banding permit. He had seen whi:te-tailed kites near Glenn.
The highlight of the picture shovr time was Editor ICirsher's excellent slides of young flickers and young sparrovr hawks occupying his attic at the same time. Both had been in nests in opposite sides of the attic and neither adults had inter- fered with the other. Lleeting adjourned to Sunday.
At 10:30 a.m. Hay 17, the business meeting was called to order by President Cogswell. Minutes of the 1958 annual meeting were read and approved. The trea- surer I s report shovred total income as $1,100.09; .J.ldisbursements ~~966.87 , leaving an increase of $133.22. Dues-paying membel"S number 214 and Life members 8. A vote to accept the report for filing was passed. The amendments to the Constitution as published in tl~ April N~rs were passed. The secreta~T placed a slate of officers for the coming year. 11r. Felt rnade the motion that the nomina- tions be closed and a unan':10US ballot be cast in favor of the slate as read. Dr. Linsdale seconded. Pa&sed. Paradise, Calif.; F. G. Crawfo~d, 3279 Rudio Canyon Rd., Altadena, Calif.; Dr. H. Elliot McClure, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya; Emerson A. Stoner, 285 East L St., Benicia, Calif.; Howard L. Cogswell, Mi~ls College, Oakland, Calif. 1~r.Kirsher expressed the appreciation of the association to Mr. Cogswell for his two years of service as president. He will continue to serve on the Council. Dr. Mewaldt took the chair and asked for a vote of thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Balch and their two efficient helpers for their hospitality. It was voted with loud applause from the members.
Announcement was made of the A.A.S.S. meeting to be held in San Diego June 18-19. Mrs. Reinelt'was appointed observer at that meeting. The American Ornithologists Union will meet in Regina, Sask. Canada, August 25-30. It is hoped that many western banders will be able to attend. Mr. Felt of Whittier reported on the predation of hawks and owls by Falconers in Southern California. Misuse of the present code regulations in the granting of permits to minors and lack of enforcement of the code when violated was depleting the hawk population. After discussion it was decided to take no group action on this difficult situation.
The business concluded, Mr. Stoner gave a short paper on his many years of banding using a map chart with colored map tacks to show his returns. He has had few returns for the number banded. Both Dr. Mewaldt and Dr. Maler suggested that perhaps lack of observers of banded birds was the reason. Mr. Stoner's decorative chart keeps interest in banding high.
President Mewaldt introduced our guest speaker, Dr. Peter A~rler, Dept. of Zoology, University of California. His subject was "Aspects of Bird Behavior". He stressed the opportunity of amateur banders to make accurate observations on bird hierarc~ at the feeding stations, trapping stations and territories. He talked on Fighting Behavior, Territorial Behavior, Song Behavior, and wa:rs the amateur bander could contribute to these studies. Dr. Marler has done extensive work on bird song so at the conclusion of the talk he took the group outside and demonstrated the use of his tape recorder. He taped the song of a western fly- catcher in a tree nearby, then played back the song to attract the bird. Meeting adjourned.
Mr. Leonard Peyton, P. o. Box 960, Anchorage, Alaska For Alaska 1IT. Wm. M. Hughes, 8755 S.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Canada For B. C. Mr. D. E. Payne, 1460 G. Street, Springfield, Oregon For Oregon All banders within the above areas are invited to communicate with the directors on their banding activities and for any information on banding they may require. I J ARE THE STABLINGS THAT FIRST :A,PPEARIN NE'~r AREAS FIRST-YEAR BIRDS? by Howa~d L. Cogswell I.' • It is often hypothesized for any species that is expanding its range that it is primarily the imrnatures that disp~rse into new areas, and such is known to be the case for a number of species of ~~rds as well as many mammals. There has been no more spectacular expansion of'range in the western North American area than that displayed in recent years b~: the Common Starling (Sturnus VUlgaris), which has reached th'" coast from Bri tj.shColumbia to sou them California and has now become a commor. winter visitant m\er most of lowland California and has nested in at least four localities there in~958. Noting that this most recent expansion of breeding range is still going on, pro Dav:id E. Davis, Associate Professor in the Division of Vertebrate Ecology at'Johns Hopkins University, would like western banders to capture breeding Starling~'here and send him a few feathers from the front of the neck, from which (especially if the sex is known) the age of the bird can be told (i.e., whether first~ear or older). If it is desired to band and re- lease the birds, the feathers can simply be plucked from the lower part of the throat and mailed to him in an envelope with information as to sex, date, and lo- cality. Dr. Davis's address is: Division of Vertebrate Ecology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore 5, Maryland. Although Dr. Davis's request (originally addressed to Ronald Reuther, who reported the first breeding in the central valley, near Lodi) asks specifi- cally about the breeding birds, the fundamental question at hand would also apply to the invasion of new areas ~T wintering birds. Since this feature of the ex- pansion of the Starling population is also still going on in many parts of the West, any banders who are able to capture Starlings in such a location sLoulc also attempt to find out what percentage of the birds occurring there the first few years are first-year and how many are older.
Since it is desirable to determine the sex of any Starlings captured, cri- teria for establishing it are listed~rom Brina Kessel's 1951 paper in Bird-Banding vol. 22: pp. 16-23):
1) rami of the lower blue to blue-black in male, pale pink in female - mandible in !tbreeding season" (useful any time after the proximal 2/3 of bill has become yellow in late fall or winter - a change that takes place an- nually and at somewhat different time in different ages and sexes and not useful after onset of annual molt).
deep br~m throughout in male; outer edge yellow- ish in female (useful all year, and usually dis- tinct, some females as young as six weeks be- ginning to show the yellowish color).
centers dark, nearly blackish in contrast to buff margins in adult male (nearly alw 5) length of hackle 11.0 to 15.5 rnm. (av. 13.4) in adult males. iridescence 5.5 to 11.0 mrn. (av. 8.3) in first-year males. (hackle = lower 6.5 to 11.0 mrn. (av. 8.5) in adult females. throat feathers) 1.0 to 5.5 mrn. (av. 4.1) in first-year females. In addition to the length of the iridescent portion (which does not in- clude the small light spot at the tip of the feather), the hackle feathers differ in shape also, being longer and with terminal portion narrowed for much more of the feather-length in adult males, intermediate in shape in the adult females and first-year males, and with only a short narrowed tip or none in the first-year fen~les. Thus it is seen that sex can be told (in all except the youngest of birds) ~ characters 1 and 2 above, with additional help (for adult males) of no. 3 and (ex- cept for areas of overlap in range of measurements) nos. 4 and 5. Once the sex is determined, by far the best indicator of Ilfirst-yearll versus "adult!' is the hackle feathers, both the length of the iridescent part and the shape of the feather itself. ADDITIONAL BANDING REPORTS FOR 1958 by Emerson A. Stoner The following reports were received too late to be included in the tabulation of 1958 banding published in the April 1959 issue of the News: No. No. of Banded Species 2006-B Northwood Apt., Ann Arbor, Michigan (banded in Colorado) 98 3012 44th St., N.W., Washington 16, D.C. (Additional to previous report) 2 44108 Second Street East, Lancaster (Banded in Calif. and Utah) 249 Thorne Ecological Research Station These additional reports increase the totals of birds banded in the western province during 1958 to: United States 104,602 Outside the U.S. 27,746 132,348 A third year of operation of this project to learn more about the changes in crmvn plumage of the Golden-crowned Sparrmv (Zonotrichia atricapilla) will begin as soon as the species returns to banding statio~ ActuallJT 1959-60 will only be the second year of the program of placing the color band(s) and service band in po- sitions that show the crovm plumage type at the time of banding. For detailed de- scriptions and instructions on this see the News ~c::.!~the Banders for July, 1958 (vol. 33:p. 24). In the 1958-59 season a total of 1464 color bands were issued to 15 partici- pa ting banders, but a report on the number of birds actuall;)Tcolor-banded has not as yet been gathered. Vfe hope to have it in the next iSime of the News Q The main advantage of adding color bands, of course, is to gather additional records outside the bander's ovm trap or net records. Since the significant ob- servational records needed in numbers are the types of CrOVITlplumage of birds banded in one year and seen in subsequent winters, an appeal is going out this summer to all West Coast bird clubs and Audubon Societies asking them to watch for the color bands and report their band combinations and crov"~ plumages to the co- ordinator of the project. No such appeal was actually sent out after our first year of color-banding (1957-58, with red bands) because we had not yet worked out the scheme of having the band positions signif;y the pattern of crown plumage the bird had at the time of banding. In the fall of 1959 and subsequently, however, any observations of crawn patterns on Golden-crovms wearing light green bands (the color used in -1958-59) or other colors that are yet '·,0 be applied will be of con- siderable help in adding to our accumulating knOVrlfCli)JQ The total value obtained from the nroject will depend upon the number of banders participating, their geo- graphic spread, and the number of additional observers who watch for and report the crawn types of the birds they see. Accordingly, all banders who expect to capture any Golden-crovmed Sparrows in the 1959-60 season a.re urged to join in the project bJT placing the approved color of band in the position that indicates the crovm plumage pattern at the time the bird is first handled. We particularly would like more participants in southern California and in the Pacific Northvrest. An extra copy of the set of crown plum- age diagrams, with corresponding band combinations to use, as published in the News a year ago, will be sent to each new participant so that they may keep it at hand when using the bands. If any continuing participants need another copy, a limited supply is available upon request. Each n~{ participant in tileproject should also send their U. S. banding permit to the Banding Office at Patuxent Research Refuge, Laurel, Maryland, and ask that it be amended to cover the use of color bands on Golden-crawned Sparrows. The project was authorized and the under- signed named as coordinator in a letter to him from 111'. Allen J. Duvall dated October 9, 1957. The COLOR of the 1959-60 BANDS will be DARK BLUE. All Golden-crovmed Spar- rovrs first handled (and on which the crovm plumage is noted) in the season from July 1, 1959 through June 30, 1960, are to have this color of band applied, the color indicating that they were first handled in that year and the positions of the color band (or in a few cases, two color bands) and the aluminum service band indicating the pattern of the crawn plumage. The bands are, as heretofore, split- ring celluloid bands; and a little metal tool is included with each order that makes it easy to open and apply them to the bird's tarsus. Price is not known as yet, since these English-made bands are (at least at tDrres) subject to customs fee, we find. They will probably be 23 to 25 cents per dozen, including customs and U. S. postage when mailed by me to the participating banders - just my costs. Payment can be sent after receipt of the invoice with your bands, but ORDER NOW (a postal card is sufficient) the number of dozen blue bands you think you will need. Please include your U. S. permit number on your order. Howard L. Cogswell, Dept. of Biological Sciences Mills College, Oakland 13) California REPORT OF A ROVING BANDER by H. Elliott McClure Recently I spent a week banding in the hill country of Malaya on a 6600 ft. mountain peak, Mount Brinchang, and the results stimulated me to total my banding efforts through the years. Mere lists of banded birds are of little interest in themselves unless one is searching out information on certain species. Unlike many banders who have had opportunity to follow birds in one locality for many years, I have been a roving bander. In Iowa during the years 1938 through 1940 I marked 1,692 individuals of 12 species. The bulk of these were Mourning Dove nestlings, from which I received 40 recoveries. The most interesting of these was one shot in Mexico when 18 years old. In Nebraska during the years 1941 through 1945 I banded 44 species and 2,437 individuals • J,.gainthe Mourning Dove ranked high, but with very fem recoveries. Since I was dolng a special study of Ring-necked Pheasants, I trapped and marked more than 1,100. Most of these were on the 70,000 acre Valentine Duck Refuge. I got many returns in rnlf traps but the birds did not range outside of the refuge so very few were shot and I received almost no recoveries. In addition, I banded many nestling Say's Phoebes found in nests bepeath bridges on country roads in Nebraska. No recoveries have ever come from these birds. My most active banding was in California where I marked 11,275 individuals of 78 species. From these I got 55 recoveries and again it was the Mourning Dove that had the highest recovery rate. Literally hundreds of birds repeated over the four years that I was active there and, of these, the English Sparrow and White- crowned Sparrow were most frequently recaptured. Other abundantly banded species were the House Finch, Bullock's Oriole and the Yellow-headed Blackbird. In Japan I could not do general banding for my work did not permit the time required for it. Also the Japanese do not put out feeding stations and I found that the birds were not conditioned to such and would rarely approach one. After two years I was still able to attract only the Tree Sparrow, the equivalent of the English Sparrow, to my feeding trays. Work at and in the vicinity of heron colonies permitted me to band 5,326 birds of 19 species. The bulk of these included Black-crowned Night Herons, Plumed Egre~, Little Egrets and Blue 1agpies. The only recoveries that we received from these were local ones for the herons and egrets go to Formosa and South China for the winter and we could expect little cooperation from these quarters. As you can see, my banding has been steadily westward. Now I am marking birds in Malaya. I dv not know if I will make it round the world banding but it would be fun. Here in Mala~ra no birds have been marked except for a few by Mr. M. S. Batchelor who has recently moved to Borneo and is starting to band there. Malaya has no official banding program and the rings I am using bear only numbers, for recoveries from the miles of forest or the communist countries to the North would be practically nil. In two weeks of netting on Mount Brinchang in the State of Pahang, I have marked 173 individuals of 30 species. Only about four species have been migrants that might have gone outside of the boundaries of Malaya. The remainder have been local montane species. The netting was continued for a week in January and in June and several of the individuals taken in January were retaken in June in identical locations, indicating that some jungle birds have local territories as do those of the temperate zone. Several of the larger species were color banded and daily observation showed them with routine habits. Netting was best when the birds fed for an hour or so after sun-up and from 4 p.m. to sun-down. Days at this latitude (3ON) are just 12 hours long, sun-up and sun-down around 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. During the heat of the day the birds shade up. Therefore, ~ banding has extended from 1938 to the present with only an oc- casional year missed, and with a total of 20,900 birds of 154 species. A SUMMARY OF RETURNS AND RECOVERIES OF BREWER BLACKBIRDS AT SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA by L. Richard Mewaldt The Brewer Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) is in general a resident, al- though locally nomadic, in central~estern California according to Gr~nnell and Miller ("Distribution of the Birds of California," Pacific Coast Avifauna, Number 27,1944). Laidlaw Williams in his excellent extended observations on a color- banded population of Brewer Blackbirds at Carmel, California (lIBreedingBehavior of the Brevrer Blackbird, ItThe Condor, 54:3-47, 1952) states ttIcould detect no migration, but found my birds wandering to points as far as • .Itfour to six miles from the banding station at the breeding colony. Williams had color-banded hundreds of birds during the course of his six~ear study. This report summarizes certain aspects of our Brewer Blackbird banding activities at our home in East San Jose, California between September 1954 and July 1959. During this period we banded 413, of which 205 were males and 208 were females. A total of 71 returns and recoveries have involved 53 different birds. Of the 53, there were 23 banded as adult males, 17 as adult females, 5 as local or first~rear males, and 8 as local or first-year females. (At the time of banding and return, each bird was weighed; the stage of molt was recorded including the lengths of growing flight feathers; and notes were taken on the occurrence of the incubation patch of females and the cloacal protuberance of males during the breeding season. Analyses of these data will be reported at a later time.) Figure 1. No less than ten birds banded in January or February were handled again in Mayor June - during the breeding season. No fevrer than four banded in June were retaken in the fall and winter months. None of the 413 banded have been re- covered more than one mile from the banding station. It should be noted, however, that only five recoveries were reported to us by the Bird-Banding Office. The other 66 returns and recoveries were a direct result of our banding activities or were reported to us by neighbors more or less familiar with our banding program, Band Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 502-37358 II. 13 369 II. B 395 13 II. 400 B· II. 404 B I/. 424 -13 R-It 425 13 I/. 428 13 It 437 B II. 438 13 It 442 13 It 444 13 It 512-68240 It It 13 245 It It 'U 289 13 I/. 290 13 It 361 13 It 522-76021 H B 023 E B 128 -It It 13 134 -It 13 158 II. E 159 R E Figure 1. Selected retur'Ilsand recoveries (R) of Brewer Blackbirds banded (B) in East San Jose, California (1954-59), sh~ring the presence of the same individuals in the population in contrast- ing seasons. Of 266 birds banded or handled as adults, 58 (22%) returned or were recovered. Of 165 banded as locals or first-year birds (usuall;T distinguishable until Septem- ber), 13 (8%) returned or were recovered. The smaller nunber of local and first- year birds recovered may probably be attributed to a higher mortality among these young birds and to a general tendency for young-of-the-year to disperse. The fact tha t 13 birr's were recovered suggests, h~rever, that substantial numbers do re- main within the population as breeding birds. At no time were significant num- bers of bires banded which by their behavior, or as suggested by absence of sub- sequent returns, appeared to be from another population. Although a detailed life-table cannot be constructed with the few data available, one may note that: 53 birds of 357 banded prior to 1959 lived at least 3 months (15%); that 39 of the same 357 lived at least one year after banding (11%); that 8 of 313 banded prior to 1958 lived at least ~ro years (3%); that 5 of 220 banded prior to 1957 lived at least three years (2%); that 3 of 149 banded prior to 19S6 lived at least four years (2%)~ and that none of 20 banded in the fall of 1954 are known to have survived beyond four years. Because of the general- ly suspicious nature of Brewer Blackbirds, and because most data were obtained from re-traps, these survival data must be considered well below actual survival values. These findings are consistent with those reported by Joseph Grinnell and Alden H. Miller, and by Laidlaw Williams. Specifically they suggest the follow- ing tentative generalizations regarding the population of Brewer Blackbirds at our banding station: (1) the same birds remain within a few hundred yards of the banding station all year, (2) there is no influx into the immediate area of the banding station during tte non-breeding seasons, (3) young produced tend to re- main within the population, (4) some birds in the population are kn~.~ to have lived at least four years, and (5) more than 20% of all birds banded or handled as adults are again recorded as returns or recoveries. We asked Fred Gallup, 142 w. 6th Avenue, how it happened that he could band so many Barn Owls: "The reason for so many Barn OvTls banded (225) in 1958 was, a good year l plenty of food; therefore, more of the young owls survived. Then, I have placed boxes for the Barn Owl in Citrus and Avocado groves, talked the grove owner into getting an old telephone pole or 61lx61t redwood 15 or 16 ft. long, and I furnished the owl house and helped him put it up for the privilege of banding the young ~rls. I have banded seven young Elegant Terns this year, a first for the U. S. and first for California.1I Don Bleitz, 1001 North McCadden Place, Los Angeles, has been traveling again: !tInlate May I went to the Santa Rita mountains of southern Arizona where we had good success in obtaining photographs and banding a few species which I yet needed to do. These included a beautiful pair of Flammulated Owls which I trapped, and we also found a nest with a single fresh egg in a cavity of a sy- camore about 25' from the ground. The next nocturnal species was a Stephen's Whip-poor~ll of which we captured and banded a pair. Along with these we did Bridled Titmice, Hepatic Tanager, Olivaceous Flycatcher, Mexican Crested- flycatcher, a number of Elf Ovils, a Screech Owl, a good group of Broad-tailed hummers, Broad-billed hummers, Rivoli's hummers, Costa's hummer, Blue-throated hummer, a Heloise's hummer - really a tiny mite, a good i'f1 shorter than the Calliope, Black-chinned hummer, Painted Redstarts, and various vireos, small flycatchers, doves, etc., of this area. In June I went to Hooper Bay, Alaska. Hooper Bay is a tiny Eskimo village on the Bering Sea - a fabulous 118sting ground of waterbirds, vast grassy prairies spotted, crossed and interspcrced with ponds, lakes, and estuaries of both fresh and salt water and rolling tundra eventually reaching upward into the Askinuk Mtns. where willo'I'Tsand various (July 1959) ,-/40I small bushes line the sheltered canyons and the ever present tundra covers the open areas. Across this races the nearly ever present gale force freezing winds which make netting a nightrn3.re. In spite of the weather and with the help/of some snares made of small pieces of sand-colored mist net, we were succes$tul in banding a nice selection of the birds of this area including Arctic Loon, Red- throated Loon, Greater Scaup, Old Squaw, Spectacled Eider, Black-bellied/Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Black Turnstone, Solitary Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs 'Least Sandpiper, Thmlin, Western'sandpiper; BaIl'""tailedGodwit, Red Phalarope Jl Northern Phalarope, Parasitic Jaeger.,;Long-tailed Jaeg~. Sabine's Gull, Arctic Tern, Aleutian Tern, Tufted Puffin, HQa.ryRedp.oo.l,C:o~m'1on. !~edpoll, Yellow Wa~tail, Lapland Longspur, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Savannah Sparrow; in addition we found hundreds of nests including lesser Sandhill Cranes, Steller's Eider, Emperor Geese, Baikal Teal (the first nest in Alaska) and many many more. Near Cape Romansof are huge colonies of sea birds but the incessant high winds and our tiny boats made many of our ventures into the open Bering Sea difficult. In spite of the wind we caught good quantities of some ducks and many shore- birds - phalaropes both Red and Northern got into our nets wind or calm and re- gardless of overcast or clear, we had only a couple of days of sunshine in the whole t.i.mebut secured a lot of wonderful photographs.1I "I received a recovery report of a Mourning Dove which I banded on /ugust 1, 1958, and which was shot at Lake Presa Del Gato near Mocorito, Sinaloa, Mexico on December 24th. I also banded a Willet on August 28th in Playa Del Rey, which was shot at Dead Oak Airport. Am getting these birds more in all directions a lot. Another int"'lrestingthing, I banded a Coot on February 11, 1957 at Playa Del Rey and it was found dead at Watsonville, in November of 58. A Mexican Jay was banded on June 4, 1953, was trapped and released again on February 1st, 1958 in the same area of Maderia Canyon, Arizona.1I {~**{~{~ Mr. Joseph Kittredge, 2663 Tallant Road, Santa Barbara, California, wants more reports on returns: It ••• as I wrote last year, I think a summary of returns by all 1ffiBAbanders would be interesting and valuable and of much more value scientifically than the surnmaljrof bandings b~l individual banders. 11 (We can agree that significant returns and recoveries - those that tell us something - are the real fruits of our labors, and we do solicit this informa- tion for publication from all our readers. Ed.) Don Bleitz is anxious to find a competent secretary who has an interest in, and some knowledge of, birds. Sounds like an excellent opportunity for the right person. The job is in Los Angeles. Anyone interested can apply to Mr. Bleitz at 1001 North McCadden Place, Los Angeles 38, California. NAS FROM THE BIRD BANDERS 1~6'7LYNBROO1t WAY SAR ··J'GSE 29. CALIFOUIA , .f'LLt_ clt•..1t1:RSB£R 1'16"1 .LDlBROOlt ··fty au .J08£..caLlf'. READING BAND NUMBERS BY USE OF A TELESCOPE by William M. Hughes...... 42 A NEW BIRD TRAP by Clyde H. Channing...... 43 RECOVERIES...... 44 NEWS FROM THE BANDERS...... 45 VANCOUVER BANDERS AT PACIFIC NAT'L . EXHIBITION by William M. Hughes...... 49 Membership and Dues in Western Bird-Banding Association and Cooper Ornithological· Society for Various Membership Classes WBBA associate $ 2.00 cas active $ 4.00 WBBA active 2.00 cas sustaining 5/ 00 WBBA sustaining 5.00 COS life 100. 00 WBBA associate &COSactive 5.50 WBBA assoc.& COS sust. 6.50 WBBA active & cas active 5.50 WBBA active & COS sust. 6.50 WBBA sust. and COS active 8.50 WBBA sust. & COS sust. 9.50 WBBA life 50.00 WBBA and COS life 150. 00 42 (October 1959) READING BAND NUMBERS BY USE OF A TELESdoPE by William M. Hughes This brief item is to tell of the work of a man who is not a bander, but who is doing banders a great service by reading the band numbers on Gulls with a telescope. The gentleman is Mr. R. F. Oldaker, who resides at 456 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, B. C., Canada. Frank, as he,is known among the Vancouver banders, is retired and for :many years has taken a keen interest in birds. He studied optics from books at the Public Library and made his own telescope. He tells me his telescope is 81 M. M., clear aperture, and he normally uses it at 35X but can go up to 55X for long distance. He estimates range limit for reading bands is 200 feet, but conditions must be ideal for that distance. That is to say, good light, no wind vibration, no sun glare and a dark back ground. Frank is well known around the waterfront, Stanley Park and the city dump, where he goes and sets up his telescope. It was November 2,1958, that he started to read bank numbers with his telescope. That day he met in Stanley Park, Mr. J. G. Sarles, Miss Betty Wise and Miss Gwen Wright. On the sea wall was a banded gull and Mr. Oldaker read the number. It was explained to him where to report his reading. Since November 2, 1958, to September 24, 1959 he has read and reported to U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service the band numbers on 428 Glaucous- Winged Gulls, 37 California Gulls and 1Red- Winged Black Bird. I have not as yet received from him the places all the Glaucous- Winged Gulls were banded, but some are from Washington State, Vancouver Island area and ones banded locally around Vancouver. The California Gulls were banded in Alberta Canada, Saskatchewan, Canada, :\t1ontana, Wyoming and Idaho. A Juvenile California Gull banded June 30,1959 at Snake River, Weiser, Idaho was observed on the Vancouver City dump and then band read July 23, 1959. I will try and get a full report on all his reading and where they were banded for publication later. I wonder if anyone else has the time and patience to read a total of 466 band numbers and have them all correct, in just over 10 months. Anyone interested in this method of reading bands could write Mr. Oldaker, and he would be pleased to tell them how he does it. Jim and Marylon Travis of Los Alamos, New Mexico call our attention to the fact that the Flammulated owl they banded last year was slighted in our annual report by being called a Screech owl. Otus flammeolus is a fully recognized species and deserves recognition, probably being the ,only one banded in the United States last year. Mr. Clyde Channing, Box 331, Clear Lake, Was.hington, has come up with a rubber-band powered bird trap. The cage part of the trap is similar to that of the Potter or Baily traps; the trigger mechanism is like that of the old-fashioned mouse traps except that the wire door replaces the killing bar, and the metal springs are replaced by rubber bands. This trap has the merits of being light and easily portable, and of operating in any position. To operate, Mr. Channing says, " ... depress door until bands are taut; place small trigger stick (twig) over top of bronze trip-wire and under the marked wires (on sides of cage). Trap can be set very fine; bird hops on twig to get 11 at bait and springs trap. This trap is very small (3" x 3" x 6 ), but has take- en dozens of juncos, song sparrows and chickadees. Most practical size, 4" x 4" X 811 will take blackbirds, robins etc. It can easily be set on a window sill, tree crotch, or suspended by top from a clothes line. By hanging it on a tree trunk by staple at back end, and impaling a piece of suet on a wire thrust through the cage at top, I have taken downies, chickadees, and nuthatches. Have made this in many sized, and have taken kestrels, with mouse for bait. II By modifying the trigger mechanism by moving the trigger bar to the side of the door and using a nylon thread to release it a satisfactory mammal trap is made. " ... with large trap made this way I have taken barn owl, skunk, possum, house cat, dog. II (d. Bleitz hummingbird trap, Vol 32 No.3. Ed.) "The travels of the Pintail are recorded with numerous returns from distant localities as well as band returns on the species twenty years after initial capture. An interesting return in the South Pacific Islands, under American administration, seems especially noteworthy. For sometime I have instructed Micronesians to be alert and watch for banded shore birds and ducks on their remote atolls. Last year one of them on the Atoll of Aur, in the Marshall Islands, managed to capture a migratory duck in a small pond by throwing a basket over it. This was in November of 1958. He kept the bird captive for some three weeks before it died. The bird, an immature male Pintail, had been banded (#606-36923)by the California game authorities at Tule Lake Refuge three months previously on August 12th. It had managed to cross well over 4, 000 miles of ocean with virtually no islands between Aur and Hawaii and none between Hawaii and the states. Quite a jaunt in the time period from banding and capture. " John H. Brandt, MPH Trust Territory of Pacific Islands Truk, East Caroline Islands Via Guam GLAUCOUS-WINGEDGULL (Larus glaucescens). Band #587-02707; band returned. Banded July 29,1956, Oak Bay, Chain Islands, B. C. Recovered December 2, 1958 by Fishing Cooperative of Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan. "The bander, Mr. D. A. Hancock, 4888 Wesley Road, R. R. #2 Royal Oak B. C. reported that he banded this bird at Oak Bay, Chain Islands situated off Victoria British Columbia Canada on July 29, 1956. The bird was found dead, trapped in a fish net, by the fishing cooperative of Kushiro. The band was removed and reported to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service by Mr. Seieche Kuzu, Chief, Wildlife Section, Forestry Agency, Kosumigaseki, Chuyoda-Ku, Tokyo, Japan. 1\he actual coordinates of the position where the bird was found are unknown; h6wever it is believed that this is the farthest known recovery record of the Glaucous-winged gull. " J. G. Sarles 3490 Smith Avenue Vancouver, B. C. Canada "On April 18,1954, I banded an Adult male Audobon Warbler with band number 22-13409, at Vancouver, B. C. Canada. On April 25, 1958, it was recovered at Toronto, Ontario, Canada by Mr. W. Stewart, 21 Don Valley Drive., Toronto, Ontario. He reported it as a sparrow found injured with a broken leg. This bird lived four years and seven days after it was banded. What mak~s this worth publishing is not so much the age as the distance East it was recoved from point of banding. This is about 2,000 miles, and, also, it is not a common warbler in Ontario. " Wm. M. Hughes 8755 S. W. Marine Drive Vancouver 14, B. C. Canada "Of interest to banders on the Pacific flyway is the Willamette Valley and its trough extending through the Puget Sound area to, and beyond, Vancouver on the Canadian border. Just which birds use this flyway, and their distrib- utional pattern, will be interesting to learn. We hope to pick up some banded birds from other banders to the north. Surely some of them come this way. I have been able to enlist three more banders ~ho have done very well this year. The Golden-crowned sparrow color banding project, a pet of mine, has a quartet of enthusiasts now. We hope to see a goodly number color banded this fall. Our first migrant reached here on September 16. To date around 450 birds of 35 species have been banded. We hope in the near future to insitute a program of weighing, measuring and sexing, along with such other data as arrival time, abundance, departure dates etc. This is, I believe, the least we as banders can do to contribute to the science of ornithology. This year we contributed 15 or so complete nest records to the British Columbia Nest Record Scheme. We trust that this southern Willamette Valley community may prove a good location for some serious birding. II D. E. Payne 1460 G. Street Springfield, Oregon All members of the Northern Chapter of WBBAwho wish to continue re- ceiving notices of Chapter meetings are required to pay 50¢ per year to cover the cost of mimeographing, stamps etc. This is in addition to the regular annual dues. It is due January 1 each year and should be sent to: Jean Stallcup, Chapter Secretary 6227 Buenaventura Avenue Oakland 5, California Please keep separate from regular WBBA dues. 46 {October 1959} ( NEWS FROM THE BANDERS cont'd) Mrs. Edna Williams, who for several years ha'S operated a most successful hummingbird feeding station near Bakersfield, tried her hand at banding some, with the assistance of Gerald Klingenberg. r •• there were, I think, about 12 male Black-chins and perhaps a hundred female and sub-adult Black-chins, and maybe fifty of the female and sub-adult Rufous. However, they do not stay near the little feeding jars all day. They come as early as 6 A. M. (many), and by 9:30 there are only a few in sight on the apple trees and around the feeding jars. Then by about 3:30 or 4:00 P. M. they begin ,::omingin, buzzing and quarreling until almost dark. We caught the first three without any delay, but after that they seemed to get wise and more shy and we caught no more until about 3:30, then seven more. We lost a lot of the early morning (the best banding time really) :.n preparing for the banding. " Edna Williams Box 36 Granite Station Via Bakersfield, California "Bird banding here in Alaska is still being carried on in a very limited way. There are very few qualified people available that care to take the time it requires to trap and band the birds that are available. However as the population of Alaska continues to increase, more people interested in bird-banding are bound to settle in Alaska and start banding birds. When this happens there is going to be a better chance of getting some returns from the banded birds. In the past 4 years I have banded 750 birds comprising 44 different species. From this work I have had 2 recoveries and 8 returns, all in Alaska. I am very interested in obtaining some information from the wintering grounds of the birds banded here in Alaska, but so far no foreign retraps or re- coveries have come to light. Migratory birds start moving north through the Anchorage area some time in March but the majority of migratory birds that nest in this area do not c.rrive until the middle of May. TheI1-the birds start leaving about the middle of August and by the middle of September, there are only a few stragglers left. This gives the bird-banders in Alaska about four months in which to band migratory birds. These same four months are also the period when most of the work is done in Alaska, so it is a very busy time of the year for people who work and also want to band birds. Our slack season comes in the winter when there are only a few resident birds available for banding. I caught and banded one of two Sanderlings on September 13,1959 at the public landing at Lake Louise near the Glenn Highway in central southern Alaska. This is the first record of Sanderlings in this part of Alaska to be recorded. " Leonard J. Peyton Arctic Health Research Center P. O. Box 960 Anchorage, Alaska (October 1959) 47 (NEWS FROM THE BANDERS cont'd ) "Highlight of my work so far this year has been the banding of eighteen Redwing Blackbirds, (agelaius phoeniceus) and ten Brewel's Blackbirds, (euphagus cyanocephalus) caught in the garden of my former banding station in West Vancouver, B. C. The birds comprised part of a flock of Blackbirds which wintered in this suburban area. Observations were made from the time the birds first started feeding at the station in February until we moved to our present location in Burnaby, B. C. , on April 25th this year. At first the flock was composed entirely of aduJ.t and immature male Redwing Blackbirds. At the beginning of March male andiemale Brewers Black- birds were seen in the flock having just returned from the south after the winter. On March Zlsttheflock was joined by some female Redwing Blackbirds and reached a maximun of fifty birds. At the beginning of the project the Blackbirds arrived at the feeding station in one large flock. By the end they were arriving singly or in pairs. From the dates it will be seen that feeding at this artificial source of food lasted well into the breeding season. Other birds seen with the flock were the European Starling, (sturnus vulgaris) and the Brown-headed Cowbird, (molothrus ater). The former Will seen an seve,ral o,ccasions 'by bo~ my wife Margaret and myselt. l h•.d not previously observed the Starling in West Vancouver in two and a half years residence. As a matter of intereat later on February ~6th. the firat day the Starling waa aeen it was taken in a potter trap which had been left set in error. Unfortunately as I was at work at the time my wife had to release itunbanded. The cowbird was seen on only one oCi::asion. by my wifel on March 24th. One hundred and fifteen other birds of ten species were banded in the course of the project. This was composed mainly of Oregon Junces (junce oreganus) which seemed to have no fear of the larger Blackbirds and ~ould enter the trap to feed with them. A drop trap was used to catch most of the birds, up to three being caught at one time. On one occa~ion six female Redwing Blackbirds were seen feeding inside the trap. Unfortunately the trap was not set I A potter trap was also used, placed on a feedtray. It caught three Blackbirds during the period. Japanese mist nets were also set on two occasions without success. Bait used to attract the birds consisted of peanut heart, budgie seed, suet, household waste - bread, fruit bread, etc. Two Blackbirds with old injuries were noted. One Redwing Blackbird, which I banded, was found to have lost a claw on its right foot. This bird was subsequently recovered in Vancouver. The other was a Brewers Blackbird seen on the feed tray limping with a twisted left foot. Another banded Red- wing Blackbird was reported limping when seen in Stanley Park, Vancouver. There were no casualties when trapping so I assume it must have been injured later. What made the banding effort most interesting was the reports which were received. On March 8th Mr. R. F. Oldaker of Vancouver (and Glaucus-wing Gull renown) saw two banded Redwing Blackbirds in Stanley Park, Vancouver. On April 4th he was able to read one of the bands with his X I scope and reported the number to Ottawa. Another Redwing Blackbird was found dead in a children's playground in Vancouver on May 7th. 1959. These birds had wandered four and five miles from West Vancouver in the space of five and nine weeks. More recently a request was received for information regard- ing one of the Brewers Blackbirds. This will be a return of 10.71% of birds banded. These notes would not have been so interesting had it not been for my wife who took time off her housework to note all she saw when the flock was in feeding. My sister in law also helped with trapping and banding. Allister Muir. 4386 Ledger Avenue Burnaby 2. B. C. California banders are reminded of section 651, #52. 64 of Fish and Game Regulations that requires 15 days notice of banding to be done in any but the region where the nets are registered. The five Regional offices are: Region 1, 627 Cypress Avenue. Redding; Region 2, 1001 Jedsmith Drive, Sacramento; Region 3, Ferry Building, San Francisco; Region 4, 1312 Blackstone Avenue, Fresno; Region 5, 724 Spring Street, Los Angeles. GLAUCOUS - WINGEDGULL BANDING John Sarles The first gullbanding in British Columbia conducted by PIC in the 1959 season was completed on July 19.1959 on Christie Island (4cfl 25'N. 1230 20'W) in Howe Sound. Eight Vancouver B. C. members banded 385 Glaucous-winged Gulls. The population of birds was reduced due to high mortality caused by human predation. The colony of Pelagic Cormorants was reduced from a total of fifteen to twenty nests last year to three only in 1959. Qn July 26,1959, four banders visited Snake Island and two of the Five Fingers Islets near Nanaimo. B. C (49°13N, 12:f53' W) and banded 416 Glaucous-winged Gulls. On one of the Five Fingers Islands there was a fairly large colony of breeding Double-Crested Cormorants. One nest of the Pigeon Guillemot was found by Bill Merilees containing downy young. A large flock of migrating Black Turnstones was seen. Transportation and landing upon these exposed islets. situated in rough tidal waters was by means of a sturdy fishing vessel. REPORT OF VANCOUVERB. C. BANDERSAT THE PACIFIC NATIONAL EXHIBITION William M. Hughes Last year I was approached by the officials of the Pacific National Exhib- ition regarding putting on a bird banding display at the Exhibition. I con- tacted Mr. Ron McKay, Wildlife Officer for B. C., for his reaction to such a display. He thought it was a very good idea, but before a final decision was made he would have to find out what the chief of the Wildlife Service at Ottawa thought of it. Ottawa Office was in favor of the plan and granted us permission to go ahead, so plans were laid for the 1959 Exhibition. The idea of this exhibit was to bring before the public what the banders were doing, over come mistaken ideas that the use of nets and traps for capturing birds was harmful to the birds, and to tell who could band birds and why birds were banded and what to do if a banded bird was found. With this in mind, a brief mimeographed history of bird banding, its objects, aims etc. was made up along with another on "Attracting Birds with Food and Water to your Garden. " The Canadian Wildlife service supplied over five hundred of their booklet "Hunters Guide". This had a post card in it to report banded birds. All these were for distribution to interested people. On August 15, 1959, the banders gathered at the Hobby Show Building to set up the display. The following were on display: Nine different traps, an Italian net, a Japanese Mist net, all sizes of bands used as well as drilled plyers for closing bands, books and literature pertaining to bird banding, bird books,pre- served parasites, baits, maps showing migration routes, bird houses, feeders and a scale for weighing birds. A nice display of mounted birds was loaned by the Vancouver City Museum. Copies of Allan Brooks paintings and a collection of bird nests were loaned by Mrs. S. F. Bradley. On Wednesday August 19, 1959, the first demonstration was given in the after- noon when the building was opened to give a preview of some of the Exhibition attractions to the handicapped people of the city. Saturday August 22nd, the Exhibition was officially opened and remained open throughout to September 7th, except Sundays. for a total of thirteen days. The booth was manned every day from 11 A. M. to 11 P. Moo Live birds were used for banding. A Japanese Mist was cut down to fit the length of the booth, which was fourteen feet long. It was strung up between the public and the bander. Birds were released in to the net from the banders hand. The bander stood about two feet from the net and stood near the middle of the net. The birds were only in the net at the most three minutes, then removed, identified, weighed and banded. After questions were answered the birds were released out side the building. Many people followed to see if the bird flew after being handled. There were no injured birds and all flew away when released. Insectivorous birds were banded first, others later. A cool place was provided by the officials to keep the birds, where they had food and water. No birds were kept over night. A fresh supply was brought in every day. Mr. Allister Muir deserves a lot of credit for capturing birds and bringing them in before he went to work each morning. Also, Mrs. Bradley and Bill Merilees. The following species were banded. Downy Woodpecker - 1, Western Wood Pewee - 3, Western Flycatcher - 1, Cowbird - 1, Brewer's Blackbird - 1, House Finch -40, Goldfinch - 6, Pine Siskin - 16, Gambels Sparrow - 20, Oregon Junco, ... 6, ~;ong Sparrow - 34, Lincoln's Sparrow - 1, Fox Sparrow - 1, Rufus Sided Towhee - 2, Orange-crowned Warbler - 1, Yellow Warbler - 2, McGillivary's Warbler - .., Wilson's Warbler - 2, Bewicks Wren - 3, Black-Capped Chickadee - 1, Chestnut .,backed Chickadee - 3, Swainson's Thrush - 7, Hermit Thrush - 1, Robin - 3, for a total of 157 birds of 24 spe cie s. Paid admissions, to the Hobby Show Building, were 70,642. Of this 12,065 were children and 58,574 were adults. There were many other exhibits and attractions at the show, however, officials estimated that over 24, 000 stopped at the bird banding exhibit. ':'he success of the display was due to the following banders who gave freely of their time to man the booth, bandbirds, pass out literature and answer questions. Mrs. S. F. Bradley, Mrs. Violet McKay, Mrs. Kline of Blaine, Washington, U. S. A., Miss Rosamond Ross, Allister Muir, Jack Sarles, Brian Baker, Don Roblin, Bill Merilees, and Wm. M. Hughes. ':':hiil is something I believe other chapters of the W. B. B. A. could do if their Federal Laws and State Laws would allow it. If done by other chapters, a word of advice: See that only well trained banders handle the birds in the nets. Remove the birds as quickly as possible from the net. Watch your net very closely for r<.oles. We found we had to repair the net frequently as some of the public pulled on the net to see how strong it was and made small holes in it. Other than the things I have mentioned, I do not foresee any trouble one wo.wd likely have. The banders of Vancouver, B. C. , feel that the thirteen and a half days were time well spent. At times it was tiring and exhausting but the reward was that they were able to bring before the public the objects and aims of bird banding in a way it has n.ever been done before in Vancouver and maybe in Canada, as we have never heard cf such a display being put on at an Exhibition before.