Miscellaneous Summer Records of Birds from Southwestern Kansas

Abstract

Two summers (1978 and 1979) of field research on nongame wildlife in southwestern Kansas have established several new records for both breeding and migratory species of birds. New breeding records were established for the ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis), lesser prairie chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus), and the field sparrow (Spizella pusilla) from Morton County; the American avocet (Recurvirostra americana) from Seward and Kearny counties; and the Cassin's sparrow (Aimophila cassinii) from Meade County. Species showing increased summer movements and breeding activities include the curvebilled thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre), great-tailed grackle, and the Brewers sparrow (Spizella breweri) from Morton County. Sightings of rare species include the ladder-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos scalaris), northern parula warbler (Parula americana), Blackburnian warbler (Dendroica fusca), and the chestnut-sided warbler (Dendroica pensylvanica) from Morton County; and the rose-breasted grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus) from Grant County. While some species show distributional increases (e.g. great-tailed grackle) others have shown a decline in this region (e.g. ladder-backed woodpecker). Still not enough is known about other species (e.g. rose-breasted grosbeak, field sparrow) to understand their distributional patterns in southwestern Kansas. Several studies describe the status and distribution of summer birds in southwestern Kansas (Rising, 1974; Ely and Thompson, 1971; Graber and Graber, 1951). Recent fieldwork in this region has nevertheless resulted in several new breeding and distributional records. During the summers of 1978 and 1979, while employed by the Kansas Fish and Game Commission, I conducted a nongame research project to 1 Present address: 2924 Lakeside Drive, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73120. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.22 on Sat, 16 Jul 2016 05:08:02 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 110 TRANSACTIONS OF THE KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES determine the status and distribution of some rare and peripheral species of birds in southwestern Kansas. This resulted in new breeding records for the curve-billed thrasher, great-tailed grackle, Brewers sparrow, ferruginous hawk, lesser prairie chicken, and American avocet. Other records for species such as the rose-breasted grosbeak, Cassin's sparrow, and the field sparrow serve to help understand their distributions in this region. Included here are records for such species as the ladder-backed woodpecker, northern parula warbler, Blackburnian warbler, and chestnut-sided warbler which are considered rare in southwestern Kansas. The following species deserve close attention by field ornithologists in the future. Ferruginous Hawk. This hawk is an uncommon summer resident in western Kansas with most of the breeding records coming from counties north of the Arkansas River (Johnston, 1964). On 4 June 1979 a nest with two half grown nestlings was discovered in Morton County in far southwestern Kansas. The nest was 10 ft. up in a small stand of trees (Morus) surrounded by Sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia)-grasslands. This constitutes the first breeding record of this hawk for Morton County. Lesser Prairie Chicken. This species is reported to be fairly common in the southwestern counties of Morton, Meade, and Ford but actual breeding records from this region are few (Rising, 1974). Two nests of this species were found 2/2 mi. SE of Wilburton, Morton County, in an area of sandhills covered with sagebrush, forbs, and sparse grasses. One nest, discovered on 18 May 1979, was placed beneath a sagebrush on the ground concealed by tufts of new grass. It held 12 eggs. On 1 June 1979 this nest held 12 recently hatched nestlings no more than a few hours old. A nest discovered on 26 May 1979 contained 13 eggs and was placed only 200 yards from the first