California Birds Research Articles

Description of a New Race of Savannah Sparrow and Suggestions on Some California Birds

Description of a New Race of Savannah Sparrow and Suggestions on Some California Birds

Birds as Destroyers of Grasshoppers in California

CONSIDERABLE eVidence of the interrelations existing between bird and insect life has come to light in connection with investigations into the economic status of certain birds carried on under the auspices of the California State Fish and Game Commission and the University of California. Some of the best evidence came from an investigation of a grasshopper outbreak in the vicinity of Los Banos, Merced County, California. A part of the results of this investigation was published in the University of California 'Publications in Zoology,' volume 11, pages 1-20. In the present paper additional matter is combined with a part of that previously presented, the whole being now offered with a special view to the problem of insect destruction by birds in California. Certain sections of California are annually troubled with grasshoppers, and there is seldom a year when they do not cause considerable damage to crops in some part of the state. Reports of damage caused by grasshoppers in 1912 first began to be received in June. The western part of Merced County, and parts of Kings and Kern Counties were most affected. In the vicinity of Los Banos, Merced County, where the investigation was carried on, grasshoppers give some trouble each year but their depredations in 1912 were more extensive than usual. On many of the ranches the entire summer crop of alfalfa was destroyed. The only control measure resorted to was burning over of pasture and alfalfa land. As most of the grasshoppers already had wings when the burning was done, the majority escaped unharmed. Garden truck and small trees in the infested areas were attacked by the pests. Corn, tomatoes, and even onions were stripped of every leaf. In many instances small shade trees, even including eucalyptus, were completely defoliated. The species of grasshopper causing the damage was the differential. grasshopper, Melanopluw differentialis. The only other species noted at the time were Camnula pellucida, Conozoa behrensi, and Parapomala calamus.

Destruction of Birds in California by Fumigation of Trees

Destruction of Birds in California by Fumigation of Trees

Tyler on Some Birds of the Fresno District California Some Birds of the Fresno District, California John G. Tyler

Tyler on Some Birds of the Fresno District California Some Birds of the Fresno District, California John G. Tyler

Grinnell's Systematic List of the Birds of California A Systematic List of the Birds of California Grinnell

Grinnell's Systematic List of the Birds of California A Systematic List of the Birds of California Grinnell

Beal on the Relation of California Birds to the Fruit Industry. Part II Birds of California in Relation to the Fruit Industry. Part II F. E. L. Beal

Beal on the Relation of California Birds to the Fruit Industry. Part II Birds of California in Relation to the Fruit Industry. Part II F. E. L. Beal

Beal on California Birds in Their Relation to the Fruit Industry Birds of California in Relation to Fruit Industry, Part I F. E. L. Beal

Beal on California Birds in Their Relation to the Fruit Industry Birds of California in Relation to Fruit Industry, Part I F. E. L. Beal

Atratus versus Megalonyx

THAT the accepted arrangement of the towhees of the southwest, of the PifPilo maculatus group, is an arbitrary and artificial one, is a fact that is evident to anyone who studies the matter at all carefully. I refer particularly to P. m. megalonyx and P. m, atralus, as at present distinguished; atratus being confined to the coast district of southern California from the Sierra San Fernando, and Sierra San Gabriel, south into northern southern California, while megalonyx occupies the extensive territory lying between the Pacific Ocean and western Texas and from central California and Wyoming, south into northern Mexico. Now in the region outlined above I believe that two forms of Pizilo maculatus may be distinguished, but the dividing line should not be drawn as it is at present. That atratus is simply a synonym of megalonyx is, I believe, a demonstrable fact. That such is the case is by no means a new idea with me, for Pacific coast ornithologists have generally refused to recognize the race (see Grinnell, Condor IV, 1902,23; Check list of California Birds, 58), but it is only lately that I have been able to get together material to properly demonstrate the facts of the case.

Stephens's 'Life Areas of California' Life Areas of California Frank Stephens Check-List of California Birds Frank Stephens

Stephens's 'Life Areas of California' Life Areas of California Frank Stephens Check-List of California Birds Frank Stephens

Notes on a Small Collection of California Birds with Description of an Apparently Unrecognized Race of Hutton's Vireo

Notes on a Small Collection of California Birds with Description of an Apparently Unrecognized Race of Hutton's Vireo

Book Review: Birds of California

Book Review: Birds of California

Mrs. Wheelock's 'Birds of California' Birds of California An Introduction to More Than Three Hundred Common Birds of the State and Adjacent Islands with a Supplementary List of Rare Migrants, Accidental Visitants, and Hypothetical Subspecies Irene Grosvenor Wheelock

Mrs. Wheelock's 'Birds of California' Birds of California An Introduction to More Than Three Hundred Common Birds of the State and Adjacent Islands with a Supplementary List of Rare Migrants, Accidental Visitants, and Hypothetical Subspecies Irene Grosvenor Wheelock

Anderson and Grinnell on the Birds of the Siskiyou Mountains, California Birds of Siskiyou Mountains, California: A Problem in Distribution Malcolm P. Anderson Joseph Grinnell

Anderson and Grinnell on the Birds of the Siskiyou Mountains, California Birds of Siskiyou Mountains, California: A Problem in Distribution Malcolm P. Anderson Joseph Grinnell

A Few Records Supplementary to Grinnell's Check-List of California Birds

A Few Records Supplementary to Grinnell's Check-List of California Birds

Grinnell's 'Check-List of California Birds' Check-List of California Birds Joseph Grinnell

Grinnell's 'Check-List of California Birds' Check-List of California Birds Joseph Grinnell

Pacific Coast Avifauna No. 3. Check-List of California Birds Joseph Grinnell

Pacific Coast Avifauna No. 3. Check-List of California Birds Joseph Grinnell

The Elf Owl as a California Bird

The Elf Owl as a California Bird

The Birds of California

The Birds of California

On the Range of Some California Birds

On the Range of Some California Birds

Townsend on the Birds of the Coast and Islands of Upper and Lower California Birds from the Coasts of Western North America and Adjacent Islands, Collected in 1888-89, with Descriptions of New Species Chas. H. Townsend

Townsend on the Birds of the Coast and Islands of Upper and Lower California Birds from the Coasts of Western North America and Adjacent Islands, Collected in 1888-89, with Descriptions of New Species Chas. H. Townsend