Bureau Of Biological Survey Research Articles

Bird Banding and the Environmental Humanities

AbstractThis article tells a history of bird banding—the practice of catching and affixing birds with durable bands with the intent of tracking their movements and behavior—by focusing on the embodied aspects of this method in field ornithology. Going beyond a straightforward, institutional history of bird banding, the article uses the writings of biologists in the US Bureau of Biological Survey and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to describe the historical practices of bird banding and the phenomenological experience of banding, both for the scientists and the birds (via their banding interlocutors). The article then presents the career and research of Margaret Morse Nice as an exemplar of the embodied practice of banding for the purposes of understanding bird behavior. Finally the article uses the example and heritage of Nice as well as banders and scientists like her to discuss a phenomenological approach common to any number of observation-based field biology disciplines (including, especially, ethology) and deep connections between human and animal subjectivities. And these connections, in turn, have implications for the environmental humanities, environmental conservation, and the ethics of knowing the nonhuman world.

Experiential and cosmopolitan knowledge: The transcontinental field practices of the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey

Before many of the global environmental knowledge producing networks and technologies emerged later in the twentieth century, another spatially extended form of field science was implemented at a continental scale by the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey, revealing similar tensions and dynamics. Specimens and observations from across continental spaces were integrated through railroad-based transportation and communications networks in order to map distributions of birds and mammals and delineate “life zones” stretching across the continent. At the same time that field zoologists of the Biological Survey produced this cosmopolitan scientific knowledge, they also developed an intimate, experiential knowledge of many of the places where they traveled. By following the travels of Biological Survey field parties, especially the agency's long-time chief field naturalist Vernon Bailey, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when the railroad was dominant, this paper traces the interconnections between the two ways of knowing in the Biological Survey's practice. However, the integration of these different forms of knowledge was ultimately partial and incomplete, as seen through the Survey's daily practices such as food consumption, the seasonality of survey field practice, and limitations on what types of knowledge were incorporated from lay network collaborators and field assistants.

The Urbanization of the Eastern Gray Squirrel in the United States

If they had tuned in to radio station wrc on July 12, 1934, residents of Washington, D.C., could have heard a talk by Vernon Bailey, the recently retired chief field naturalist of the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey. Bailey was best known for his involvement in controversies over wolf eradication in the West, but his radio talk that day was on a subject closer to home and less politically charged, at least on the surface: “Animals Worth Knowing around the Capitol.” While he touched on a number of Washington-area animals that were “worth knowing,” he singled out one type for special attention: gray squirrels, which he described as “probably our best-known and most loved native wild animals, as they are not very wild and, being very intelligent, accept and appreciate our hospitality and friendship.”1 Compared to most of his listeners, Bailey was unusually well informed about the biology and ecology of urban squirrels, which he had been feeding in the backyard of his townhouse in the Kalorama Triangle neighborhood for decades. Even so, his interest in the species and his belief in its virtues would probably not have surprised many of his fellow Washingtonians. By the early twentieth century, eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), once limited to rural areas, had become the most visible nondomesticated mammals in American cities. Like Bailey, numerous naturalists, zoo directors, educators, park designers, and poets had attempted to convince the public of gray squirrels' contribution to the urban landscape and their value as members of the urban community. The arboreal rodents were protected, sheltered, and fed by the humans who treated them as public pets, even as they aroused the resentment and distaste of those who viewed them as pests.2

The Body Size-Dependent Diet Composition of North American Sea Ducks in Winter

Daily food requirements scale with body mass and activity in animals. While small species of birds have higher mass-specific field metabolic rates than larger species, larger species have higher absolute energy costs. Under energy balance, we thus expect the small species to have a higher energy value diet. Also the weight and time constraints for flighted and diurnal foragers should set a maximum to the amount of prey items taken in one meal and to the daily number of meals, respectively. Further, avoidance of competition causes the species to reduce the amount of shared prey in their diet. Some diet segregation is therefore to be expected between species. We tested these hypotheses and investigated the role of body mass in the diet composition of 12 sea duck species (Somateria mollissima, Somateria spectabilis, Somateria fischeri, Polysticta stelleri, Bucephala clangula, Bucephala islandica, Bucephala albeola, Melanitta nigra, Melanitta perspicillata, Melanitta deglandi, Histrionicus histrionicus and Clangula hyemalis) wintering in North America. This study was based on a literature survey with special emphasis given to the diet data from the former US Bureau of Biological Survey. The data supported our hypothesis that the energy value of winter diet of sea ducks scales negatively with body mass. Diet diversity also scaled negatively with body mass. Our results suggest the existence of a minimum for the energy value of avian diets.

Texas Natural History: A Century of Change

D. J. Schmidly 2002. Texas Natural History: A Century of Change. Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock, xv + 534 pp. ISBN 0-89672-469-7, price (hardcover), $39.95. About 3 decades ago, the Texas state tourism bureau promoted the state as a “land of contrasts.” A visitor to Texas could experience a wide range of landscapes, all within the borders of just 1 state. The tourism bureau, however, was not the 1st to recognize the vast ecological diversity of Texas. C. Hart Merriam perceived this richness late in the 19th century and chose Texas as 1 of the states where the United States Bureau of Biological Survey could conduct such a survey (Bailey 1905). The introductory chapter of Schmidly's book is of as much interest to a biological historian as to a mammalogist. This historical account was developed from exhaustive search and study of records housed in the Library of Congress, National Archives, National Museum of Natural History, and Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. Chapter 1 begins with a brief account of the formation of the U.S. Biological Survey, focusing on the career of its founder (Merriam) before addressing the Texas survey. From 1889 through 1906, a dozen “survey contributors” invested 2,185 “man days” of field effort; of these, the best known to mammalogists were Vernon Bailey, Ned Hollister, and A. H. Howell. More than 20 black and white photographs show many expedition participants in portrait, field, and museum settings. Additional photographs depict habitat and “typical night's captures” of small mammals. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, famed biological illustrator, produced a portfolio of mammal sketches from Trans-Pecos Texas; several of these are reproduced in Chapter 2. Excerpts from conespondence and field journals offer insight into activities of and field conditions experienced by field investigators. The important role of local naturalists and of farmers, ranchers, and woodsmen in this effort is acknowledged and described. Schmidly briefly describes life zones, biotic provinces, and ecological regions of Texas and plots the localities …

The Importance of the United States Bureau of Biological Survey in the Formation of the American Society of Mammalogists

The Importance of the United States Bureau of Biological Survey in the Formation of the American Society of Mammalogists

Jesuit mathematical science and the reconstitution of experience in the early seventeenth century

Before many of the global environmental knowledge producing networks and technologies emerged later in the twentieth century, another spatially extended form of field science was implemented at a continental scale by the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey, revealing similar tensions and dynamics. Specimens and observations from across continental spaces were integrated through railroad-based transportation and communications networks in order to map distributions of birds and mammals and delineate “life zones” stretching across the continent. At the same time that field zoologists of the Biological Survey produced this cosmopolitan scientific knowledge, they also developed an intimate, experiential knowledge of many of the places where they traveled. By following the travels of Biological Survey field parties, especially the agency's long-time chief field naturalist Vernon Bailey, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when the railroad was dominant, this paper traces the interconnections between the two ways of knowing in the Biological Survey's practice. However, the integration of these different forms of knowledge was ultimately partial and incomplete, as seen through the Survey's daily practices such as food consumption, the seasonality of survey field practice, and limitations on what types of knowledge were incorporated from lay network collaborators and field assistants.

The Spring Migration Pattern at Fortine, Montana

The purpose of this paper is to summarize spring bird migration dates recorded at Fortine, Montana, over a period of 50 years and to examine several features of the arrival pattern illustrated by this long period of observation. Particular attention will be given to wide variations in arrival dates of nearly all species, which may stimulate more professional analysis by students of bird migration. Records for a number of earlier years of the period were filed with the then Bureau of Biological Survey. The remainder have not been placed on record, and are included here only in summary form. Specifically, the records summarized here are: observations on a few species in 1920, and on all species observed in 1921, 1922, and 1923; continuous records from 1927 through 1970, except that, for the years 1960-64, dates were not obtained for some of the regular breeding birds and migrants. Dates for 1922 and 1923 were recorded by my brother, D. R. Weydemeyer; all others are the result of my own observations.

Food Habits of Canvasbacks, Redheads, and Lesser Scaup in Manitoba

Canvasbacks, Redheads, and Lesser Scaup on their breeding grounds is very limited. Cottam (1939) summarized food habits of many Canvasbacks, Redheads, and Lesser Scaup taken throughout the year, but sexual, seasonal, and regional differences could not always be evaluated. Yocom (1951:172-176) and Keith (1961:34) examined a combined total of 2 Canvasbacks, 12 Redheads, and 9 Lesser Scaup collected during the summer; however, they lumped these data in with data from other species and, in doing so, obscured possible interspecific differences. Specific data on foods of adults during spring and summer are available for 6 Canvasbacks, 1 Redhead, and 51 Lesser Scaup (Pirnie 1935:308, 310; Munro 1941:134-137; Erickson 1948:282; Rogers and Korschgen 1966:259-261). Published data on juveniles are available for 9 Canvasbacks, 8 Redheads, and 32 Lesser Scaup (Cottam 1939; Munro 1941:135; Yocom 1951:174; Collias and Collias 1963:7). Cottam (1939), in his presentation of the food habits of North American diving ducks, summarized the data accumulated by the Bureau of Biological Survey over many years. Much of the published information on food habits of Canvasbacks, Redheads, and Lesser Scaup has been based wholly or partly on these data (Phillips 1911, 1925; McAtee 1917, 1939; Preble and McAtee 1923; Kubichek 1933; Gabrielson and Jewett 1940; Martin et al. 1951).

A Merganser Die-Off Associated with Larval Eustrongylides

Although several species of Eustrongylides have been reported from mergansers, there is only one report in the North American literature of merganser losses due to nematodes of this genus. Giltner (4) included a report by J. E. Shillinger, U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey, which mentioned losses due to Eustrongylides mergorum among these fish-eating ducks (species not given) on several lakes in British Columbia. The worms were described as causing a great amount of tissue proliferation in the affected organs, with resultant loss of function.

In Memoriam: Florence Merriam Bailey

FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY was the first woman ever elected a Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union. This honor, which came to her in 1929, she had sound reason to cherish; in her family the A.O.U. naturally held high status, inasmuch as her older brother, Clinton Hart Merriam, was one of its founders. Furthermore, the Bureau of Biological Survey, of which her brother was the first chief and in which her husband, Vernon Bailey, spent a lifetime of service, had its roots in the Union. Florence was proud of her brother and his scientific accomplishments, and in her brief account in 'Who's Who in America' she was content to be listed simply as interested in ornithology (a classic understatement) and as the sister of Clinton Hart Merriam.

Adaptability of the Chukar Partridge to Missouri Conditions

The chukar partridge (Alectoris graeca chukar) was introduced into Missouri in 1934 when the Windsor Game Farm, operated by the Game and Fish Department, purchased two pairs and an extra cock from a California breeder. There then was considerable interest in chukars in Missouri, and the Department planned to raise enough for an extensive stocking program. When the new Conservation Commission was established in 1937, there were approximately 1,000 chukars on hand, all descendants of the original pairs. Their disposal was referred to the newlyestablished Missouri Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit. Ordinarily neither the Commission nor the Research Unit would have been interested in such a problem, but the birds offered an opportunity to study experimental releases and the establishment of the species, should the latter occur. With the cooperation of associated departments in the University of Missouri, a study was planned of the life history, ecology, diseases, hatchery techniques, management, and adaptability of the species. The writer made the field investigations, with general assistance from Dr. Rudolf Bennitt of the University of Missouri and Dr. Paul D. Dalke of the U. S. Bureau of Biological Survey. The study began in September 1937. There were several initial justifications for the work: the available birds represented a considerable investment; they had received a good deal of publicity and sportsmen were interested; elimination of the ruffed grouse, prairie chicken, and wild turkey from most of their former ranges had left vacant niches which might possibly be filled by the exotic species; and there was an excellent opportunity to study the factors determining the success or failure of an apparently desirable exotic game bird, propagated artificially and released on Missouri range. Finally, if the birds were to be used, there was need to establish them under a system that would permit control if they became undesirable. The detailed life-history study was brief because the birds released in 1937 and 1938 tended to wander in widelyscattered groups. This was disadvantageous in two ways: They refused to settle down, so their range preferences could not be learned, and in no place were they sufficiently numerous to provide adequate data. By the end of the first year, one possible justification for their introduction had largely disappeared. With recovery from the 1934-36 drought and the use of changed farming practices, prairie chickens and bobwhite quail increased to where the latter were abundant on almost every type of range and the I Contribution from Missouri Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, American Wildlife Institute, Missouri Conservation Commission, and University of Missouri cooperating.

Birds of the Great Salt Lake Islands

THE nesting colunies of birds on the islands of Great Salt Lake, Utah, are justly famous and have received considerable ornithological attention. Such publications as those of Behle (1935), Woodbury and Behle (1933), Palmer (1916), and Cottam and Williams (1939), deal almost exclusively with these rookeries. Little has been published on noncolonial birds of the islands since Ridgway (1877) visited certain of them in 1869. During the summer of 1938, field work for the U. S. Bureau of Biological Survey provided an opportunity to obtain notes on birds of all the islands. Although the lists differ little from those for the mainland, they are of interest from several points of view, as for comparison with Ridgway's lists of 1869, for the complete counts of individuals on certain small islands, and for the correlation of bird occurrences with certain habitats. Most of the notes represent sight records, though, as indicated in the lists, all birds of doubtful field identification were collected. Acknowledgments are due to Dr. D. I. Rasmussen, of the Biological Survey, and to Lee Kay, Utah Fish and Game Commission, for initiating the senior author's interest in the islands on the annual birdcolony census of 1937, when Bird and Gunnison Islands were visited; to Professor T. C. Adams, of the University of Utah, who provide'd the data on acreages of the islands; and to A. D. Smith, of Utah State Agricultural College, who identified many of the plants found. Specimens prepared, as indicated in the lists, were identified by Drs. H. C. Oberholser and Clarence Cottam in Washington, D. C. Text-figure 1 indicates the places and dates at which observations were made. Work in the field out of camp usually amounted to at least eight hours, and, of course, all daylight hours spent in camp provided some opportunities for taking notes. Marshall visited all the islands except Gunnison in 1938, and was on that island in 1937. Leatham was on Stansbury, Carrington, and Bird Islands. E. 0. Chatelain and R. J. Jansen, undergraduate students at Utah State College, were on Dolphin and Fremont Islands, respectively. A brief discussion of the islands as bird habitats may be of value in presenting the situation. It must be clearly stated that Gunnison is the only area that has been an island, in a strict sense of the word, continuously since 1850 (Adams, 1938). This fact is probably of small significance, however, to birds other than colonial nesters.

Relative Numbers of Shallow Water Fishes of the Northern Gulf of Mexico, with Some Records of Rare Fishes from the Texas Coast

Some biologists are critical of studies of animal numbers in nature, holding that such attempts are useless assaults upon a practically chaotic condition. This is a defeatist view. There is probably no disagreement over the difficulty of gathering information and its relative smallness, compared to the amount needed for complete knowledge; but any study of animal numbers is a step in the direction of quantitative evaluation, a concept to which all science is supposed to be dedicated, and, as such, is worthwhile. The concept of living species as species masses of protoplasm of different sizes will lead to better understanding of the economics of life in any environment. The work of the former Bureau of Biological Survey on the numbers of North American migratory waterfowl and its important practical results, stands as an example of the utility of such studies. Estimates of the absolute numbers of the best-known marine fishes will

Production of Pheasants in North-Central Iowa in 1939

Since its inception in the autumn of 1935, the research program of the Iowa Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit has included life history and management studies of the ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus torquatus) on the Winnebago Experimental Area. During the first three years emphasis was placed on study of winter survival and cover development (Green and Beed, 1936; Green, 1938, and unpublished reports), but in 1939 special attention was directed to the reproductive phase of the pheasant's life cycle. Here are reported data gathered on the Winnebago Area, in north-central Iowa, from March until September, 1939. The research was under Dr. George O. Hendrickson, Iowa State College, and Thomas G. Scott, United States Bureau of Biological Survey.

Observations on Corpora Lutea in the Ovaries of Maryland Muskrats Collected during the Winter Months

The date of the annual inception of the breeding period in muskrats has not yet been satisfactorily established. Not only do reports on the subject differ, but the time of beginning and the duration of the period undoubtedly vary in different parts of the United States. In an attempt to establish the date in an important breeding ground on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, an examination was made of ovaries of muskrats collected at the Blackwater Migratory Bird Refuge, which is administered by the Bureau of Biological Survey.

Banding Woodcocks on Pennsylvania Singing Grounds

Late in afternoon of March 26, 1939, while working on an area near State College, Pennsylvania, in connection with a forest type-game range study being conducted by Pennsylvania Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, writers noticed that several male American Woodcocks (Philohela minor) were utilizing parts of area as singing grounds. This section, although unlike most woodcock breeding grounds, was found to have a fairly heavy concentration of singing males. This opportunity, in view of fact that attempts in past to trap and band adult woodcocks have met with little success, led writers to carry on a trapping technique and population density study. The work was done under supervision of Dr. Logan J. Bennett, U. S. Bureau of Biological Survey; Dr. P. F. English, Department of Zoology and Entomology, Pennsylvania State College; and Dr. W. C. Bramble, Department of Forestry, Pennsylvania State College. In Centre County, between two mountain ranges lies a broad expanse of agricultural land called Nittany Valley. It is in this valley, a few miles west of Pennsylvania State College, that an area known as the great is found. The part of barrens covered by this study is representative of a type that occurs also in many other sections of Pennsylvania. The area is slightly higher in elevation than most of surrounding agricultural lands, a large proportion of it being between 1,150 and 1,300 feet above sea level. One ridge that runs through region is a little more than 1,500 feet in elevation, but aside from this ridge topography is gently rolling, with some broad flats and many smaller ridges. There are no streams in section of pine where this study was carried on, and during hot summer months very little water is available. In spring and early summer many sinkholes that are scattered throughout area hold considerable water, but all except a very few of these dry up as summer heat approaches. There are, however, a small pond and a large ore pit that contain water during entire summer.

A Method of Tree Climbing

During spring, summer, and fall of 1938 the nesting habits of the mourning dove (Zenaidura macroura) were observed in the region of Lewis, Iowa. Since doves nest at an average height of 14 feet in the country and 22 feet in town, it was necessary to do much climbing. When trees are easily climbed by shinning or, as with conifers the limbs are low, the problem of reaching a nest is simple. If a tree is too large to shin up, the limbs are high, or the nest is in a dangerous position, however, a rope should be employed. The research was under the direction of Dr. George 0. Hendrickson, Assistant Professor, Wildlife Management, and Thomas G. Scott, United States Bureau of Biological Survey. I used the standard methods of

Food Habits of Iowa Skunks in the Fall of 1936

An investigation of the food habits of the striped skunk (Mephitis mesomelas avia (Bangs)) and spotted skunk (Spilogale interrupta (Rafinesque)) in Iowa was undertaken by the writer during the fall of 1936 as a part of the studies in the ecology and management of these animals. Between September 15 and December 1 a collection of scats was made chiefly in the vicinity of Ames in Story County, but eight were collected from the vicinity of Eagle Lake and 21 from Garner, both in Hancock County, and 60 at Dewey's Pasture, Clay County, an ungrazed state preserve reverting to prairie, near Ruthven, Iowa. The scats, 210 in number, were found principally near skunk dens and in pathways along fence rows. The number of spotted skunk scats collected was, six in September, 13 in October, and 40 in November; and of the striped skunk, two in September, 31 in October, and 118 in November. The research was under the supervision of Dr. George O. Hendrickson, Assistant Professor in Wildlife Management, Iowa State College, and Dr. Logan J. Bennett, Associate Biologist, U. S. Bureau of Biological Survey. When the analyses were begun the weight method was used, but it was soon abandoned for the quicker, and more satisfactory volumetric system. Hence the frequency indices (Table 1) include records from scats analyzed under both methods, whereas the volumetric indices include only those studied by the volumetric process. Volume analyses were carried on by means of two cylinders, one graduated in cubic centimeters up to 100, and the other in fifths of a cubic centimeter up to 10. To increase accuracy, readings were made of the volume of the various foods under pressure of a glass plunger weighing 177 grams. In determining the numbers of insects in a scat, counts of the parts highly resistant to digestion were most helpful. The presence of crickets (Gryllus spp.), white grubs (Phyllophaga spp.), and ground beetles (Carabidae) was indicated by the mandibles. The hind legs were the best proof of grasshopper (Melanoplus spp.) occurrence, and the head capsules were practically all that remained of various larvae (Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Diptera). In comparing the proportions of different foods determined by scat analyses it should be remembered that the ratio between the quantities of these remains is not the same as that between the bulks of the original substances before consumption. The analyses are supplemented by the numbers of individuals eaten, however, and these help to make the method indicative and accurate enough for all practical pur-

The Spelling of Common Names of Birds

THE still-uncompleted work of providing correct scientific names for the birds of North America has been a task requiring such close attention that taxonomists and special committees may be excused for neglecting to develop a standard and authoritative orthography for the common names. Lack of system in this matter, however, has long been an annoyance if not a serious handicap to all who have had anything to do with publications in which the common names of birds are used, whether they be research workers, compilers, popular writers, editors or proofreaders. The present writers, as editors in different scientific branches of the Federal Government that issue publications on birds,-one in the Bureau of Biological Survey, the other in the United States National Museum,find it difficult to be consistently uniform in spelling the common names of birds without memorizing arbitrarily set forms or endlessly consulting reference works. Two difficulties are at once confronted: (1) if the present A. 0. U. Check-list is followed as authority, the inconsistencies therein are perpetuated; and (2) if the dictionary is followed it is found that the inconsistencies there are as glaring as those in the Check-list. The independent writer is free to disregard both the Check-list and the dictionary if he so desires, but not so the Government editor because uniformity is desired in the spelling of common names of birds in Government publications, not only those of the Biological Survey and the National Museum but also those of the National Park Service, the National Zoological Park, the Forest Service, the Soil Conservation Service and the Bureau of Animal Industry. Among others that make occasional use of these names are: the State Department (in treaties), the Treasury Department (in customs regulations), the Federal Archives and the Department of Justice (in regulations enforcing bird-protective laws), the Bureau of American Ethnology (in miscellaneous Americana) and the Office of Education (in handbooks for teachers and others). No one of these could insist that the Public Printer follow its individual preference or even the A. 0. U. Check-list so long as the dictionary (Webster) is followed for the sake of uniformity throughout the Government service. Under authority of law the Public Printer has directed that all writers and editors in the various departments and independent establishments be governed by 'Webster's Dictionary,' unless an exceptionFhas been made and published in the 'Style Manual' of the Government Printing Office. The result is that in Government publications bird names frequently are not spelled in the same way as they are in 'The Auk' and in other orni-