University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Zea E-Books Zea E-Books 11-4-2011 Rocky Mountain Birds: Birds and Birding in the Central and Northern Rockies Paul A. Johnsgard University of Nebraska - Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, and the Poultry or Avian Science Commons Recommended Citation Johnsgard, Paul A., "Rocky Mountain Birds: Birds and Birding in the Central and Northern Rockies" (2011). Zea E-Books. 7. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/7 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Zea E-Books at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Zea E-Books by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIRDS Rocky Mountain Birds Birds and Birding in the Central and Northern Rockies Paul A. Johnsgard School of Biological Sciences University of Nebraska–Lincoln Zea E-Books Lincoln, Nebraska 2011 Copyright © 2011 Paul A. Johnsgard. ISBN 978-1-60962-016-5 paperback ISBN 978-1-60962-017-2 e-book Set in Zapf Elliptical types. Design and composition by Paul Royster. Zea E-Books are published by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries. Electronic (pdf) edition available online at http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/ Print edition can be ordered from http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/unllib Contents Preface and Acknowledgments vii List of Maps, Tables, and Figures x 1. Habitats, Ecology and Bird Geography in the Rocky Mountains Vegetational Zones and Bird Distributions in the Rocky Mountains 1 Climate, Landforms, and Vegetation 3 Typical Birds of Rocky Mountain Habitats 13 Recent Changes in Rocky Mountain Ecology and Avifauna 20 Where to Search for Specific Rocky Mountain Birds 26 Synopsis of Major Birding Locations in the Rocky Mountains Region U.S. National, State and Local Sites Colorado 32 Idaho 40 Montana 50 Wyoming 60 Canadian National Parks in the Rocky Mountain Region Alberta 68 British Columbia 69 2. Birds of the Central and Northern Rocky Mountains Anatidae: Ducks, Geese & Swans 73 Odontiphoridae: New World Quails 89 Phasianidae: Pheasants & Grouse 89 Gaviidae: Loons 97 Podicipedidae: Grebes 98 Pelecanidae: Pelicans 100 Phalacrocoracidae: Cormorants 101 Ardeidae: Bitterns & Herons 101 Threskiornithidae: Ibises 104 Cathartidae: American Vultures 105 Accipitridae: Eagles, Kites & Hawks 105 Falconidae: Falcons 115 Rallidae: Rails & Coots 117 Gruidae: Cranes 118 Charadriidae: Plovers 120 Recurvirostridae: Stilts & Avocets 122 Scolopacidae: Sandpipers, Snipes & Phalaropes 123 vi CONTENTS Laridae: Gulls & Terns 133 Columbidae: Pigeons & Doves 138 Cuculidae: Cuckoos 140 Tytonidae: Barn Owls 141 Strigidae: Typical Owls 141 Caprimulgidae: Goatsuckers 148 Apodidae: Swifts 150 Trochilidae: Hummingbirds 152 Alcedinidae: Kingfishers 155 Picidae: Woodpeckers 155 Tyrannidae: New World Flycatchers 162 Laniidae: Shrikes 170 Vireonidae: Vireos 171 Corvidae: Jays, Magpies & Crows 173 Alaudidae: Larks 178 Hirundinidae: Swallows 179 Paridae: Chickadees & Titmice 183 Aegithallidae: Bushtits 185 Sittidae: Nuthatches 186 Certhiidae: Creepers 188 Troglodytidae: Wrens 189 Cinclidae: Dippers 192 Regulidae: Kinglets 193 Sylviidae: Gnatcatchers 194 Turdidae: Thrushes & Solitaires 194 Mimidae: Mockingbirds, Thrashers & Catbirds 200 Sturnidae: Starlings 202 Motacillidae: Pipits 203 Bombycillidae: Waxwings 204 Parulidae: New World Warblers 205 Emberizidae: Towhees & Sparrows 217 Cardinalidae: Cardinals, Tanagers & Grosbeaks 233 Icteridae: Blackbirds, Orioles & Cowbirds 237 Fringillidae: Finches 244 Passeridae: Old World Sparrows 253 Appendix 1: Status and Abundance of Birds in Nine Rocky Mountain Parks 254 References 265 Preface & Acknowledgments The Rocky Mountain region has fascinated me ever since I traveled to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks as a teenager, and saw for the first time such wonderful birds as ospreys, American dippers, and Lew- is’s woodpeckers. Grand Teton National Park later became my special favorite, and was the subject for an earlier book (Johnsgard, 1982) on the region’s natural history Shortly after I published that book, Roberts Rinehart, director of Colorado Associated University Press, asked me if I would be interested in writing a book on the birds of Rocky Moun- tain National Park. I instead proposed a book covering the entire north- ern Rockies region, encompassing all the U.S. parks north to the Cana- dian border. I later moved the boundaries of coverage north to the 52nd parallel, thus also encompassing the Canadian montane parks north through Jasper National Park. The western boundary of Idaho became the region’s westernmost limits, the eastern boundaries of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado its eastern limits, and the 40th parallel in Col- orado (encompassing Rocky Mountain National Park) its southern lim- its. That book (Johnsgard, 1986) individually discussed 354 species, in- cluding all of those that had then been reported from any of the nine included national parks. I decided that a new book should have a broader geographic cov- erage, namely the entire northern Rocky Mountain region, would be a more attractive subject, and its text directed both toward surveying the birds of the region and informing regional birders. The geographic cov- erage has been extended south to the New Mexico border, and includes all of Colorado’s southern Rockies, thereby adding three national parks and two national monuments. Descriptions of several shortgrass sites in eastern Montana, Wyoming and Colorado have also been added. This book is in part based on my earlier Birds of the Rocky Moun- tains, but over a third of the original text has been eliminated. The rest has been updated, expanded and modified to be less technical and more useful to birders, especially in Wyoming, where many of our greatest vii viii ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIRDS national treasures and wildlife attractions are located. These attractions include two national parks, two national monuments, two national rec- reation areas, five national forests, and one national grassland. The state’s national forests collectively comprise about 8.3 million acres, and its national parks, national monuments, national recreation areas, national wildlife refuges and national grassland add another three mil- lion acres. Additionally, the Bureau of Land Management manages 18 million acres of public lands. Thus, Wyoming has almost 50 million acres of public land in federal ownership, or nearly half of its total land area, as well as more than 100,000 acres of state-owned public lands. As a result, opportunities for birding or other outdoor activities in Wyo- ming are among the greatest of any state in the nation. For comparison, less than three percent of adjacent Nebraska’s total land area is state- or federally-owned and offers free public access. All of the regularly occurring Wyoming bird species are individu- ally discussed in this book. Relative abundance and distributional in- formation is provided for about 40 additional species that have been reported from one or more of the region’s national parks, but that do not regularly occur in Wyoming, for a total inclusion of 328 species. Al- though this book should be especially useful to bird enthusiasts in Wy- oming, persons in Colorado, Montana and Idaho should also find much helpful information in it. I hope that our book will also be of value to park visitors in the Canadian Rockies too, since some information on the birds of five Canadian national parks is also provided. Viewing loca- tions and species abundance during the summer period are emphasized in this volume, since in this mountainous region tourists and birders are mostly active during these months. Relevant contact addresses are also included. Although contact telephone numbers and website addresses often change or disappear over time, they too have been included in the knowledge that they will eventually become obsolete. National Breeding Bird Survey trend data mentioned here are for the four-decade period 1966–2007 (Sauer, Hines and Fallon, 2008); sig- nificant trends are those having a probability of at least 90%. If the re- gional Rocky Mountain trend data also seemed significant, long-term trend estimates for this region (U.S.F.W.S. Region 6) are also reported for a few species. Total population estimates for North America (Rich et al., 2004) have been adjusted to exclude any populations occurring south of the Mexico border. Additional information on Rocky Mountain species, such as their identification, periods of migration and breeding, and general behavior, can be found in my earlier book. There are also book-length surveys PREFACE ix of the birds of Idaho (Burleigh, 1972), Colorado (Andrews and Righter, 1992) and Wyoming (Faulkner, 2010). A comprehensive state bird book for Montana is currently in preparation. In writing my book, I received much help. Besides the persons men- tioned in my previous book, I would like to thank Darrin Pratt, direc- tor of the University of Colorado Press, who urged me to consider re- vising Birds of the Rocky Mountains, which was published in 1985 by Colorado Associated University Press. Although I no longer had that book’s original manuscript, Paul Royster of the University of Nebraska provided me with a scanned version of the original text, which has been incorporated into the University of Nebraska’s Digital Commons library (Johnsgard, 2009). This