Records from the Tucson Region of Arizona

Records from the Tucson Region of Arizona

Vol.6o'[ SVTTON,Records Irom the ArizonaRegion 3z•5 1945 a of variation in widthsand lengthsamounts to 11 and 20 mm., respec- tively. The measurementsof the longestegg were 100x65 mm., and thoseof the shortest80 x 56 mm. The widest egg was also the longest,but the narrowestmeasured 95 x 54 mm. Fggs in the same clutch did not showgreat variation in shapeor measurements. One notableexception to this occurredin a clutchof four eggs,the indi- vidual measurements of which were as follows: 82x59; 87x59; 82x 59; and 100x65 mm. It is interestingto note that the last- mentionedegg, an abnormallylarge one, hatchedalong with the others. B•N•, A. C. 1925. L•e his•ies of N•th Ameri•n wild-fowl. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., no. 150: 209. WILLIAMS, C. S., A• MARSHALL, W. H. 1937. •o• nesting studies on the Be• River Mi•atory Waterfowl Refuge, Utah. J•. WH•ife M•gt., 1: 77-86. Bear River Mi•ato• Bird Refuge Utah RECORDS FROM THE TUCSON REGION OF ARIZONA BY GEORGE MIKSGH SUTTON THE writer spenta delightful month (May 16 to June 16) in the spring of 1940, becomingacquainted with the birds of south-central Arizona. In the presentpaper are listed someof the speciesnoted during the earlier part of this period in the immediatevicinity of Tucson (from May 16 to 19) and in the Santa Rita Mountains, south of Tucson (from May 20 to June4). Mr. Allan R. Phillipshas been good enough to assistin choosingfrom the writer's extensivenotes thosedata that appear to be deservingof publicationat this time, as well as in checkingcarefully the subspecificidentifications of all specimenscollected. Blue-wingedTeal, Querqueduladiscors.--Adult male seen flying acrossan open field in farmlandssouth of Tucson,May 16. Adult male seenat BinghamtonPond, near Fort Lowell, May 17. LesserYellow-legs, Tringa fiavipes.--Oneseen at dose range at BinghamtonPond, May 18. The fewpublished records of thisspecies from Arizona are all fall records. Elf Owl, Micropallaswhitneyi whitneyi.--Noted repeatedly in oak and other deciduouswoodland in Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita mountains at from 4000 to about 5000 feet. May 20-25. Several breed- Records[rom the ArizonaRegion I_I'Auk July ing specimenswere taken. The stomachsof these were invariably (and exclusively) filled with middle-sized, hairless caterpillars. Neither Mrs. Bailey ('BirdsRecorded from the SantaRita Mountains in SouthernArizona,' Pacific Coast Avifauna, no. 15, 1923)nor van Rossem ('Notes on Birds in Relation to the Faunal Areas of South- CentralArizona,' Trans. San Diego Soc. Nat. Hist., 8: 121-148,1936) lists the Elf Owl from the Santa Ritas. Nighthawk, Chordeilesminor.--A singlemale was seenabout Mt. Wrightson(in the SantaRita Mountains)each evening from May 26 to 30. It spentthe day high on a rockyledge (at about8800 feet) and •ew about at nightfall, boomingintermittently. Broad-tailedHummingbird, Selasphorusplatycercus.--An almost- finishednest was found on a horizontalpine boughabout fifteenfeet from the ground on the east side of Mount Wrightson (at about 8000 feet elevation),May 27. Red-shaftedFlicker, Colaptescafer • auratus.--Abreeding male Flicker taken at Little Shot Spring in the Santa Rita Mountains, June 3, has a touchof red at either sideof the nape;one yellowish rectrix; and one yellowishsecondary in eachwing. Finding this trace of auratusblood in a regionso far removedfrom 'the East'is thought to be worthy of note. Arizona Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Myiodynastes luteiventris swarthi.--Thisnoisy, noticeable bird was fairly commonin the Santa Ritas, among sycamores.Nine pairs were encountered--eightin Madera Canyon (from 4000 to about 6000 feet elevation)and one at Bog Spring. A bird was seencarrying nestingmaterial, May 21. At Bog Spring,June 1, a pair which must have had a nest closeby screamedand struckat the writer repeatedly. Arizona CrestedFlycatcher, Myiarchus tyrannulus magister.--Breed- ing pair noted repeatedlyMay 20-June 3, in sycamoresand willows along the bed of Madera Canyon,at about 4000 feet elevation. Mrs. Bailey (1923) did not note this speciesduring her stay in the Santa Ritas. Western Flycatcher,Empidonax dil•icilis.--A nest with four fresh eggswas found in the bank besidethe trail to 'Old Baldy' (Mt. Wright- son) in mixed oaksand pines at about 6500 feet elevation,June 3. Coues'sFlycatcher, Myiochanes pertinax pallidiventris.--Nestwith three fresh eggscollected June 3 on the east side of Mt. Wrightson at about 8400 feet elevation. The nest was on a horizontal pine bough, about fifteen feet from the ground, and only ten or twelve feet from an occupiednest of the WesternTanager in the sametree. Vol.6o'] SUTTON,Records [rom the ArizonaRegion 3'i7 •94• a Olive-sidedFlycatcher, Nuttallornis borealis.--A female specimen (fat; ovarynot enlarged)taken at about 8400 feet on the eastside of Mr. Wrightson,May 28, is verysmall (wing,99 mm., tail, 61). Zim- mer ('Studiesof PeruvianBirds,' Am. Mus. Novit., no. 1043: 13, 1939) has rather conclusivelyshown that two racesof this speciesare not recognizable,and the captureof this small bird in Arizona probably shouldbe regardedas additional evidenceof range in sizewithin the speciesas a whole rather than as a casualwesterly occurrence of the easternrace 'cooperi.' Northern Violet-greenSwallow, Tachycinetathalassina lepida.-A breeding male, taken May 30 on the east side of Mt. Wrightson (at about 8600 feet), is curiouslycolored, the entire upper parts being so dark and so little glossedwith green and violet as to be almost blackish. The sidesof the face and under parts are white, as in nor- mal specimens.All the plumage of the back and upper rump is faintly barred. The writer has not encountereda comparablecase of melanismanywhere among the Hirundinidae. Bank Swallow,Riparia riparia.-On May 17 two very fat female specimenswere taken from a flock of about sixty birds that circled over BinghamtonPond. The following day a few Bank Swallows were seencircling northward,four miles northwestof Tucson. Cliff Swallow, Petrochelidon albi[rons.-A single female taken at BinghamtonPond, May 17, being too white on the foreheadas well as rather largefor P. a. tachina,represents the northeasternrace, P. a. albi[rons. The wing measures108 mm.; the tail, 48. Purple Martin, Prognesubis subis.--A male Martin takenat Bing- hamtonPond, May 17, representsthis largenorthern race. Its wing measures146 ram.; its tail, 74. A female taken at the sametime (and apparentlyfrom the sameflock) is small (wing, 135; tail, 71) and, thoughdark-throated and dark-breasted,represents the breedingrace, P.s. hesperia. MexicanBrown Creeper,Gerthia [amiliaris albescens.-Noted fre- quentlyin the SantaRitas-in the oak woodsof MaderaCanyon (at about 4500 feet elevation)as well as in conifersat higher elevations; on the east side of Mt. Wrightson;and in Florida Canyon. Full- fledgedyoung were seen several times-first in MaderaCanyon, in oaks,May 22. On Mr. Wrightson(at about8000 feet) a nestcon- tainingwell-developed young was found under a slabof pine bark, May 30. Great BasinHermit Thrush, Hylocichlaguttara polionota.--As was stronglysuspected by vanRossem some years ago ('Noteson Birdsin 3'•8 $UT'rON,Records from the Arizona Region l['Auk July Relation to the Faunal Areas of South Central Arizona,' Trans. San DiegoSoc. Nat. Hist., 8: 141,1956), the Hermit Thrushbreeds in the SantaRita Mountains. The writer encounteredseveral pairs at from 5000 to 7500 feet in and about Madera Canyon, and collectedthree males--oneat Bog Spring,May 25; one at Little Shot Spring,where a nestwith two eggsalso was found, May 31; and one at Bog Spring, May 31. Thesethree birds are largefor polionota (all haveexactly the same wing and tail measurements--wing,102 mm.; tail, 76.5), the average of twelve malesfrom the White Mountains, Inyo County, California (the type locality)being: wing, 98.6; tail, 73.8 (seeGrinnell, Condor, 20: 89, 1918). But they certainly cannot be called auduboni, for they are too gray above for that race, especiallyon the crown. In the light o[ this and other recent discoveriesit would appear that polionota,far from being the local race that Grinnell consideredit to be, is in fact a wide-ranging,southern Rocky Mountain form, the White Mountainsbirds representing only a fractionalwestern part of the subspeciesas a whole. Azure Bluebird, Sialia sialisfulva.--On May 26 a breedingpair was encounteredamong pines, at about 8500 feet elevation,on the east side of Mt. Wrightson. The male was taken. This record appears to be the first for the Santa Ritas sincethe taking o[ the type series by Stephensin 1884. PlumbeousVireo, Vireo solitarius plumbeus.-A nest with three [resheggs was [ound in a slendersycamore, near the bed of Madera Canyonat about4500 feet elevation,May 24. Audubon'sWarbler, Dendroicaauduboni auduboni.--A single male collectedMay 21, in oaksin Madera Canyon,represents this Pacific Coastrace. It was the only one of its speciesseen that day and the last seen during the writer's stay. Its wing measures75 mm.; its tail, 62.8. Black-throatedGray Warbler, Dendroicanigrescens.--Common in scrubbywoodland about Madera Canyon. At Bog Spring a stub- tailedjuvenile female, not longout o[ the nest,was taken June 1. Grace'sWarbler, Dendroicagraciae.--A stub-tailed juvenile male, just out of the nest,was taken near Little ShotSpring, June 3. Red-faced Warbler, Cardellina rubrffrons.--Noted in the higher partsof theSanta Ritas, especially in thevicinity of Little ShotSpring and on the east side of Mt. Wrightson. At the latter place every aspencopse visited by the writersheltered a pair of thesehandsome birds. A nestwith smallyoung, found May 29 (at about8000 feet Vol.6o] Sux•roN,Records from the ArizonaRegion 349 •94• -• elevation,on the groundin a low bank,under aspens) apparently representsan exceptionallyearly breeding date for the species. Painted Redstart,Setophaga picta picta.-Commonin the Santa Ritas. A darkjuvenile male with full-grownflight feathers' was taken in Madera Canyon as early as June 1. WesternTanager, Piranga ludoviciana.--Anest with four eggswas found in a pine on the eastside of Mt. Wrightson,at about 8400 feet elevation, June 3. This nest was in the same tree as a Coues's Flycatcher'snest that containedthree eggs.

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