Birds of Dallas County, Texas

Abstract

For many years a number of people in the Dallas vicinity have been interested in bird study. Considerable time has been spent in the field by these individuals and several are working toward the completion of a usable check-list for this area. The Dallas region is not on one of the main routes of bird migration. However, during the past six years of observation, it has been the writer's experience that most of our common migratory birds are seen in this section. A rolling prairie with scattered woods, small streams, several ponds, and one large artificial lake, (White Rock), characterizes this region. Since the majority of the observations cited in this paper were made in the White Rock area it seems apropos to describe briefly this vicinity. The lake originally covered an area of approximately 1600 acres, but due to the inevitable silting and several seasons of drought the surface has been reduced approximately one-tenth. The northern and part of the eastern boundary of the lake is marshy. Such plants as Typha, Scirpus, Dianthera, and Salix in the marshes provide excellent foraging and nesting places for water birds. Along the small streams that feed the lake are timbered areas that furnish shelter and provide food for migrants and residents. The dates given for the migratory birds are for the spring and autumn migrations. In as much as this list contains the record of only one observer some of the less common species have been recorded only a few times and in some instances only once. All of the observations in this paper are sight records. The terminology and arrangement used conforms to the Fourth Edition of the American Ornithologist Union Check List. By comparing the A. 0. U. Check List, Chapman's Handbook of of Eastern North America, Strecker's Birds of Texas, and Simmons' Birds of the Austin Region, there seems to be a probable total of four hundred species of birds in this region. This list contains two hundred and fifteen.