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Title: The Breeding Birds of Kansas
Author: Richard F. Johnston
Release Date: August 25, 2011 [EBook #37210]
Language: English
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UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Volume 12, No. 14, Pp. 575-655, 10 figs.
May 18, 1964
The Breeding Birds of Kansas
BY
RICHARD F. JOHNSTON
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
LAWRENCE
1964
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Henry S. Fitch,
Theodore H. Eaton, Jr.
Volume 12, No. 14, Pp. 575-655, 10 figs.
Published May 18, 1964
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Lawrence, Kansas
PRINTED BY
HARRY (BUD) TIMBERLAKE, STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA, KANSAS
1964
[Union Label]
30-1476
The Breeding Birds of Kansas
BY
RICHARD F. JOHNSTON
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 577
DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS IN KANSAS 579
Avian habitats in Kansas 581
Species reaching distributional limits in Kansas 584
BREEDING SEASONS 588
Introduction 588
Variation in breeding seasons 589
Zoogeographic categories 593
Significance of phylogeny to breeding schedules 595
Regulation of breeding schedules 598
ACCOUNTS OF SPECIES 601
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 652
LITERATURE CITED 652
INTRODUCTION
The breeding avifauna of Kansas has received intermittent attention from
zoologists for about 75 years. Summary statements, usually concerning
all birds of the state, have been published by Goss (1891), Long (1940),
Goodrich (1941), Tordoff (1956) and Johnston (1960). All but the first
dealt with the breeding birds chiefly in passing, and none was concerned
primarily with habitat distributions and temporal characteristics of
Kansan birds. The present work treats mainly certain temporal
relationships of breeding birds in Kansas, but also geographic
distribution, habitat preferences, and zoogeographic relationships to
the extent necessary for a useful discussion of temporal breeding
phenomena.
Information on breeding of some of the 176 species of birds known to
breed in Kansas is relatively good, on a few is almost non-existent, and
on most is variously incomplete. It is nevertheless possible to make
meaningful statements about many aspects of the breeding biology and
distribution of most species of Kansan birds; we can take stock, as it
were, of available information and assess the outstanding avenues of
profitable future work. In the accounts of species below, the
information given is for the species as it occurs in Kansas, unless it
is otherwise stated. For the various subsections analyzing biology and
distribution, only information taken in Kansas is used, and for this
reason the analyses are made on about half the species breeding in the
state. An enormous amount of observational effort has been expended by
several dozen people in order that suitable data about breeding birds of
Kansas be available; all persons who have contributed in any way are
listed in the section on acknowledgments, following the accounts of
species.
Kansas has been described topographically, climatically, and otherwise
ecologically many times in the recent past; the reader is referred to
the excellent account by Cockrum (1952), which treats these matters from
the viewpoint of a zoologist. For present purposes it will suffice to
mention the following characteristics of Kansas as a place lived in by
birds.
Topographically, Kansas is an inclined plane having an elevation of
about 4100 feet in the northwest and about 700 feet in the southeast.
West of approximately 97° W longitude, the topography is gently rolling,
low hills or flat plain; to the east the Flint Hills extend in a nearly
north to south direction, and to the east of these heavily weathered,
grassy hills is a lower-lying but more heavily dissected country, hills
of which show no great differences in elevation from surrounding
flatland.
The vegetation of eastern Kansas comingles with that of the western edge
of the North American deciduous forest; a mosaic of true forest,
woodland remnants, and tall-grass prairie occupies this area east of the
Flint Hills. From these hills west the prairie grassland today has
riparian woodland along water-courses; the prairie is composed of
proportionally more and more short-grass elements to the west and
tall-grass elements to the east.
Climate has a dominating influence on the vegetational elements sketched
above. Mean annual rainfall is 20 inches or less in western sectors and
increases to about 40 inches in the extreme eastern border areas. Mean
monthly temperatures run from 25°F. or 30°F. in winter to 80°F. or 90°F.
in summer. The northwestern edges of Caribbean Gulf warm air masses
regularly reach northward only to the vicinity of Doniphan County, in
northeastern Kansas, and extend southwestward into west-central
Oklahoma; these wet frontal systems are usually dissipated along the
line indicated by masses of arctic air, sometimes in spectacular
fashion. The regular recurrence of warm gulf air is responsible for the
characteristically high relative humidity in summer over eastern Kansas
and it has an ameliorating effect on winter climate in this region.
Almost immediately to the north in Nebraska and to the west in the high
plains, summers are dryer and winters are notably more severe. The
breeding distributions of some species of birds fairly closely
approximate the distribution of these warm air masses; these examples
are noted where appropriate below.
DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS IN KANSAS
Birds breeding in Kansas are taxonomically, ecologically, and
distributionally diverse. Such diversity is to be expected, in view of
the mid-continental position of the State. Characteristics of insularity,
owing to barriers to dispersal and movement, tend to be lacking in the
makeup of the avifauna here. The State is not, of course, uniformly
inhabited by all 176 species (Table 1) of breeding birds; most species
vary in numbers from one place to another, and some are restricted to a
fraction of the State. Variations in numbers and in absolute occurrence
are chiefly a reflection of restriction or absence of certain plant
formations, which is to say habitats; the analysis to follow is thus
organized mainly around an examination of gross habitat-types and the
birds found in them in Kansas.
TABLE 1.--THE BREEDING BIRDS OF KANSAS
Woodland Species
_Elanoides forficatus_ N[A] _P. bicolor_ O
_Ictinia misisippiensis_ U _Sitta carolinensis_ O
_Accipiter striatus_ U _Troglodytes aedon_ N
_A. cooperii_ U _Thryomanes bewickii_ N
_Buteo jamaicensis_ O _Thryothorus ludovicianus_ N
_B. lineatus_ N _Mimus polyglottos_ N
_B. platypterus_ N _Dumetella carolinensis_ N
_Aquila chrysaëtos_ O _Toxostoma rufum_ N
_Falco sparverius_ U _Turdus migratorius_ O
_Colinus virginianus_ N _Hylocichla mustelina_ N
_Phasianus colchicus_ O _Sialia sialis_ O
_Meleagris gallopavo_ N _Bombycilla cedrorum_ N
_Philohela minor_ U _Lanius ludovicianus_ O
_Zenaidura macroura_ N _Sturnus vulgaris_ O
_Ectopistes migratorius_ N _Vireo atricapillus_ N
_Conuropsis carolinensis_ U _V. griseus_ N
_Coccyzus americanus_ N _V. bellii_ N
_C. erythropthalmus_ N _V. flavifrons_ N
_Otus asio_ U _V. olivaceus_ N
_Bubo virginianus_ O _V. gilvus_ N
_Strix varia_ U _Mniotilta varia_ N
_Asio otus_ U _Protonotaria citrea_ N
_Aegolius acadicus_ U _Parula americana_ N
_Caprimulgus carolinensis_ N _Dendroica aestiva_ N
_C. vociferus_ U _D. discolor_ N
_Phalaenoptilus nuttallii_ N _Seiurus motacilla_ N
_Chaetura pelagica_ U _Oporornis formosus_ N
_Archilochus colubris_ N _Icteria virens_ N
_Colaptes auratus_ N _Wilsonia citrina_ N
_C. cafer_ N _Setophaga ruticilla_ N
_Dryocopus pileatus_ O _Passer domesticus_ O
_Centurus carolinus_ N _Icterus spurius_ N
_Melanerpes erythrocephalus_ N _I. galbula_ N
_Dendrocopos villosus_ O _I. bullockii_ N
_D. pubescens_ O _Quiscalus quiscula_ N
_Tyrannus tyrannus_ S _Molothrus ater_ N
_T. vociferans_ S _Piranga olivacea_ N
_Muscivora forficata_ S _P. rubra_ N
_Myiarchus crinitus_ S _Richmondena cardinalis_ S
_Sayornis phoebe_ S _Pheucticus melanocephala_ S
_Empidonax virescens_ S _P. ludoviciana_ S
_Contopus virens_ S _Guiraca caerulea_ S
_Iridoprocne bicolor_ N _Passerina ciris_ S
_Progne subis_ N _P. cyanea_ S
_Cyanocitta cristata_ N _P. amoena_ S
_Pica pica_ O _Spinus pinus_ O
_Corvus brachyrhynchos_ O _S. tristis_ O
_C. cryptoleucus_ O _Loxia curvirostra_ O
_Parus atricapillus_ O _Pipilo erythrophthalmus_ N
_P. carolinensis_ O _Chondestes grammacus_ N
_Spizella passerina_ N
Limnic Species
_Podilymbus podiceps_ U _Butorides virescens_ U
_Phalacrocorax auritus_ U _Florida caerulea_ U
_Ardea herodias_ U _Casmerodius albus_ U
_Leucophoyx thula_ U _Porzana carolina_ U
_Nycticorax nycticorax_ U _Laterallus jamaicensis_ U
_Nyctanassa violacea_ U _Gallinula chloropus_ U
_Ixobrychus exilis_ U _Fulica americana_ U
_Botaurus lentiginosis_ U _Charadrius alexandrinus_ U
_Plegadis chihi_ U _Actitis macularia_ U
_Branta canadensis_ U _Steganopus tricolor_ U
_Anas platyrhynchos_ U _Sterna albifrons_ U
_A. acuta_ U _Chlidonias niger_ U
_A. discors_ U _Telmatodytes palustris_ N
_A. clypeata_ U _Cistothorus platensis_ N
_Aix sponsa_ U _Geothlypis trichas_ N
_Aythya americana_ U _Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus_ N
_Oxyura jamaicensis_ U _Agelaius phoeniceus_ N
_Rallus elegans_ U _Rallus limicola_ U
Grassland Species Xeric Scrub Species
_Buteo swainsonii_ N _Callipepla squamata_ N
_B. regalis_ U _Geococcyx californianus_ N
_Circus cyaneus_ O _Salpinctes obsoletus_ N
_Tympanuchus cupido_ N
_T. pallidicinctus_ N
_Pedioecetes phasianellus_ N Unanalyzed Species
_Charadrius vociferus_ U
_Eupoda montana_ U _Cathartes aura_ N
_Numenius americanus_ U _Coragyps atratus_ N
_Bartramia longicauda_ U _Falco peregrinus_ U
_Speotyto cunicularia_ U _Columba livia_ O
_Asio flammeus_ U _Tyto alba_ U
_Sayornis saya_ S _Chordeiles minor_ U
_Eremophila alpestris_ O _Megaceryle alcyon_ U
_Dolichonyx oryzivorus_ N _Riparia riparia_ O
_Sturnella magna_ N _Stelgidopteryx ruficollis_ N
_S. neglecta_ N _Hirundo rustica_ O
_Spiza americana_ N _Petrochelidon pyrrhonota_ U
_Calamospiza melanocorys_ N
_Ammodramus savannarum_ N
_Passerherbulus henslowii_ N
_Aimophila cassinii_ N
_Spizella pusilla_ N
[A] The letter following each name refers to presumed zoogeographic
derivation of the species, modified after Mayr (1946).
N = North American evolutionary stock;
S = South American stock;
O = Eurasian stock; U = unanalyzed.
Avian Habitats in Kansas
Four major habitat-types can be seen in looking at the distribution of
the breeding avifauna of Kansas. These are woodland, grassland, limnic,
and xeric scrub plant formations. A little more than half the breeding
birds of Kansas live in woodland habitats, about one-fifth in limnic
habitats, about one-eighth in grassland habitats, and less than two per
cent in scrub habitats; this leaves some 6.4 per cent of the breeding
avifauna unanalyzed (Table 2).
TABLE 2.--ANALYSIS OF THE BREEDING AVIFAUNA OF KANSAS BY
HABITAT-TYPES
========================+===============================
| Percentage of the Avifauna of
+--------+-----------+----------
HABITAT-TYPE | | North | Stated
| Kansas | America | Habitat
------------------------+--------+-----------+----------
Woodland: 101 species | 58 | 16.7 | 44.4
Limnic: 36 species[B] | 21 | 6.0 | 38.5
Grassland: 23 species | 13 | 3.8 | 71.3
Xeric scrub: 3 species | 2 | 0.5 | 10.2
Unanalyzed: 11 species | 6 | 2.0 | 55.0
+--------+-----------+----------
Totals: 174 species | 100 | 29.0 | 43.2
------------------------+--------+-----------+----------
[B] Does not include the Canvasback (_Aythya valisineria_),
the Forster Tern (_Sterna forsteri_), and the Black Tern
(_Chlidonias niger_), all recently added to the breeding
avifauna of Kansas.
_Woodland Habitats_
One hundred one species of Kansan birds are woodland species (tables 1
and 2). The analysis of Udvardy (1958) showed woodland birds to be the
largest single avifaunal element in North America, with 38 per cent of
North American birds relegated to it. It is likewise the largest element
in the Kansan avifauna, representing 58 per cent of Kansan birds.
Although woodland makes up a relatively small fraction of the
vegetational complexes in Kansas, a large number of habitats exist in
what woodland is present. An even larger number of possible woodland
habitats is clearly missing, however, because the 101 Kansan species
actually represent but 44 per cent of all woodland birds in North
America, according to Udvardy's analysis. Broad-leaved, deciduous
woodlands in Kansas are of restricted horizontal and vertical
stratification. More complex deciduous forest associations and all
coniferous forest associations are absent from the State.
Using Mayr's (1946) breakdown of geographical origin of the North
American bird fauna, about 53 per cent of the woodland passerine birds
in Kansas are of "North American" origin, 22 per cent are of "Eurasian"
origin, and 14 per cent are of "South American" origin (Table 3). These
figures for Kansas are commensurate with those found for other
geographic districts at the same latitude in North America (Mayr,
1946:28). Other characteristics of woodland birds are summarized in
tables 4 and 5.
TABLE 3.--ANALYSIS OF ECOLOGIC GROUPS OF BIRDS BY STATUS OF
RESIDENCY AND AREA OF ORIGIN
Column headings:
A: Migrant E: N. Amer.
B: Resident F: S. Amer.
C: Pt. Migr. G: Unanalyzed
D: Old World
==========================+=====+=====+=====+=====+======+=====+=====
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+-----+-----
Woodland species, 101:58% | 60% | 29% | 11% | 22% | 53% | 14% | 11%
Limnic species, 36:21% | 94% | 0 | 6% | 0 | 14% | 0 | 86%
Grassland species, 23:13% | 61% | 26% | 13% | 9% | 56% | 3% | 30%
Xeric Scrub species, 3:2% | 33% | 66% | 0 | 0 | 100% | 0 | 0
Unanalyzed species, 11:6% | 64% | 27% | 9% | 26% | 26% | 0 | 48%
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+-----+-----
_Limnic Habitats_
Of Kansan birds, 36 species (20 per cent) prefer limnic habitats (Table
1). Udvardy found this group to represent 15 per cent of the North
American avifauna. Kansas is not notably satisfactory for limnic
species, and only 38 per cent of the total North American limnic
avifauna is present in the State.
Thirty-one species of limnic birds belong to families that Mayr (1946)
considered to be unanalyzable as to their geographic origin; of the five
remaining species, all seem to be of North American origin. Other
characteristics of limnic birds are summarized in tables 4 and 5.
_Grassland Habitats_
Twenty-three species of our total can be called grassland species (Table
1). The subtotal is less than one-fifth of the Kansan avifauna, but it
represents 72 per cent of the grassland birds of North America;
grassland habitats abound in Kansas. Only 5.3 per cent of all North
American birds are grassland species (Udvardy, 1958).
About 56 per cent of these birds are of North American stocks, nine per
cent of Eurasian stocks, and three per cent of South American stocks.
The percentage of North American species is the greatest for any habitat
group here considered. Other characteristics of grassland birds are
summarized in tables 4 and 5.
TABLE 4.--ANALYSIS BY HABITAT-TYPE AND RESIDENCY STATUS OF
HISTORIC AVIAN STOCKS IN KANSAS
Column Headings:
A: Woodland E: Unanal. Hab.
B: Limnic F: Migrant
C: Grassland G: Resident
D: Xeric Scrub H: Partly Migrant
=======================+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H
-----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
Old World Element | 80% | 0 | 8% | 0 | 12% | 11% | 78% | 11%
27:16% | | | | | | | |
North American Element | 69% | 6% | 17% | 4% | 4% | 72% | 14% | 14%
77:44% | | | | | | | |
South American Element | 93% | 0 | 7% | 0 | 0 | 93% | 7% | 0
15:8% | | | | | | | |
Unanalyzed Origin | 22% | 56% | 13% | 0 | 9% | 79% | 16% | 5%
53:32% | | | | | | | |
-----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
_Xeric-Scrub Habitats_
Three species of Kansan birds can be placed in this category (Table 1).
This is less than one per cent of the North American avifauna, two per
cent of the Kansan avifauna, and ten per cent of the birds of xeric
scrub habitats in North America. The three species are considered to be
of North American origin.
_Unanalyzed as to Habitat_
Eleven species of Kansan birds could not be assigned to any of the
habitat-types mentioned above. The total represents two per cent of the
North American avifauna, six per cent of the birds of Kansas, and 55 per
cent of the species reckoned by Udvardy (_loc. cit._) to be
unanalyzable. Fifty-five per cent is a large fraction, but only to be
expected: species are considered unanalyzable if they show a broad,
indiscriminate use of more than one habitat-type, and such birds tend to
be widely distributed.
TABLE 5.--ANALYSIS BY ECOLOGIC STATUS AND AREA OF ORIGIN OF
MIGRANT AND RESIDENT BIRDS
Column headings:
A: Woodland F: Old World
B: Limnic G: North America
C: Grassland H: South America
D: Xeric Scrub I: Unanalyzed
E: Unanal. Hab.
=================+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I
-----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
Migrant species | 52% | 29% | 12% | 1% | 6% | 2% | 49% | 12% | 37%
117:67% | | | | | | | | |
Resident species | 73% | 0 | 15% | 5% | 7% | 51% | 26% | 2% | 21%
40:23% | | | | | | | | |
Partly migrant | 64% | 11% | 17% | 0 | 6% | 17% | 66% | 0 | 17%
17:10% | | | | | | | | |
-----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
Species Reaching Distributional Limits in Kansas
The distributional limits of a species are useful in indicating certain
of its adaptive capacities and implying maintenance of or shifts in
characteristics of habitats. Although it is generally an
oversimplification to ignore abundance when treating of distribution,
the present remarks of necessity do not pertain to abundance.
TABLE 6.--BREEDING BIRDS REACHING DISTRIBUTIONAL LIMITS IN KANSAS
Species reaching northern distributional limits
_Florida caerulea_ _Geococcyx californianus_
_Leucophoyx thula_ _Caprimulgus carolinensis_
_Coragyps atratus_ _Muscivora forficata_
_Elanoides forficatus_ _Parus carolinensis_
_Ictinia misisippiensis_ _Vireo atricapillus_
_Tympanuchus pallidicinctus_ _Passerina ciris_
_Callipepla squamata_ _Aimophila cassinii_
Species reaching southern distributional limits
_Aythya americana_ _Empidonax minimus_
_Parus atricapillus_ _Steganopus tricolor_
_Bombycilla cedrorum_ _Chlidonias niger_
_Dolichonyx oryzivorus_ _Coccyzus erythropthalmus_
_Pedioecetes phasianellus_
Species reaching eastern distributional limits
_Eupoda montana_ _Corvus cryptoleucus_
_Numenius americanus_ _Salpinctes obsoletus_
_Phalaenoptilus nuttallii_ _Icterus bullockii_
_Colaptes cafer_ _Pheucticus melanocephalus_
_Tyrannus verticalis_ _Passerina amoena_
_Sayornis saya_
Species reaching western distributional limits
_Aix sponsa_ _Vireo griseus_
_Buteo platypterus_ _V. flavifrons_
_Philohela minor_ _Mniotilta varia_
_Ectopistes migratorius_ _Protonotaria citrea_
_Conuropsis carolinensis_ _Parula americana_
_Chaetura pelagica_ _Dendroica discolor_
_Archilochus colubris_ _Seiurus motacilla_
_Dryocopus pileatus_ _Oporornis formosus_
_Centurus carolinus_ _Wilsonia citrina_
_Myiarchus crinitus_ _Setophaga ruticilla_
_Empidonax virescens_ _Sturnella magna_
_E. traillii_ _Piranga olivacea_
_Parus bicolor_ _Pheucticus ludovicianus_
_Thryothorus ludovicianus_ _Pipilo erythrophthalmus_
_Cistothorus platensis_ _Passerherbulus henslowii_
_Hylocichla mustelina_
_Western Limits Reached in Kansas_
Thirty-one species (tables 6 and 7) reach the western limits of their
distribution somewhere in Kansas. Most of these limits are in eastern
Kansas, and coincide with the gradual disappearance of the eastern
deciduous forest formation. Twenty-nine species are woodland birds, and
few of these seem to find satisfactory conditions in the riparian woods
extending out through western Kansas. The Wood Thrush is the one
woodland species that has been found nesting in the west (Decatur
County; Wolfe, 1961). Descriptively, therefore, the dominant reason for
the existence of distributional limits in at least 28 of these birds is
the lack of suitable woodland in western Kansas; these 28 are the
largest single group reaching distributional limits in the State. Many
other eastern woodland birds occur in western Kansas along riparian
woodlands, as is mentioned below.
Two species showing western limits in Kansas are characteristic of
grassland habitats; the Eastern Meadowlark seems to disappear with
absence of moist or bottomland prairie grassland and the Henslow Sparrow
may be limited westerly by disappearance of tall-grass prairie.
The Short-billed Marsh Wren, a marginal limnic species, reaches its
southwesterly mid-continental breeding limits in northeastern Kansas.
The species breeds in Kansas in two or three years of each ten, in
summers having unusually high humidity.
_Northern Limits Reached in Kansas_
Fourteen species (tables 6 and 7) reach their northern distributional
limits in Kansas. Eight of these are birds of woodland habitats, but of
these only the Carolina Chickadee is a species of the eastern deciduous
woodlands; the other seven live in less mesic woodland. Three of these
species (Chuck-will's-Widow, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and Painted
Bunting) have breeding ranges that suggest the northwesterly occurrences
of summer humid warm air masses ("gulf fronts") and this environmental
feature perhaps is of major importance for these birds, as it is also
for the vegetational substratum in which the birds live.
The Lesser Prairie Chicken and the Cassin Sparrow are the two birds of
grasslands that are limited northerly in Kansas. Xeric, sandy grassland
is chiefly limited to the southwestern quarter of Kansas, and this
limitation is perhaps of major significance to these two species. The
Scaled Quail and Roadrunner tend to drop out as the xeric "desert scrub"
conditions of the southwest drop out in Kansas.
TABLE 7.--ANALYSIS BY HABITAT-TYPE OF BIRDS REACHING
DISTRIBUTIONAL LIMITS IN KANSAS
========================+===============================================
| Habitat-types
DIRECTIONAL +----------+-----------+--------+-------+-------
LIMIT | | | | Xeric |
| Woodland | Grassland | Limnic | Scrub | Total
------------------------+----------+-----------+--------+-------+-------
Western extent | 28 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 31
Northern extent | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 14
Eastern extent | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11
Southern extent | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9
+----------+-----------+--------+-------+-------
Totals | 46 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 65
| | | | |
Per cent of the Species | | | | |
in Stated Habitat | 46 | 43 | 14 | 100 | 37
------------------------+----------+-----------+--------+-------+-------
_Eastern Limits Reached in Kansas_
Eleven species (tables 6 and 7) reach their eastern distributional
limits in Kansas. Six of these are woodland birds. Four of these are
members of well-known species-pairs: the Red-shafted Flicker, Bullock
Oriole, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Lazuli Bunting. Presence to the east
of complementary species has much to do with the absence of these
species in eastern Kansas. Four of the eleven are birds of grasslands,
and they drop out as the short-grass prairie is restricted easterly.
The Rock Wren may be considered characteristic of xeric scrub in Kansas,
and it is not found to the east in the absence of such scrub.
_Southern Limits Reached in Kansas_
Eight species (tables 6 and 7) reach their southern distributional
limits in Kansas. Half of these birds are of woodland habitats, and of
these four, the Black-capped Chickadee and Cedar Waxwing are chiefly of
sub-boreal distribution. The Black-capped Chickadee also finds its niche
partly pre-empted in southern Kansas by the Carolina Chickadee.
The Bobolink and Sharp-tailed Grouse are grassland species that are
seemingly adapted to cooler, dryer grassland than is found in most of
Kansas.
The Redhead, Wilson Phalarope, and Black Tern are limnic species,
perhaps limited southerly by high summer temperatures; the three species
are entirely marginal anywhere in Kansas.
TABLE 8.--BIRDS OF THE EASTERN DECIDUOUS FOREST FOUND IN
WESTERN KANSAS IN RIPARIAN WOODLAND
_Accipiter cooperii_[C]
_Coccyzus americanus_[C]
_Centurus carolinus_
_Melanerpes erythrocephalus_
_Tyrannus tyrannus_
_Myiarchus crinitus_
_Contopus virens_
_Sayornis phoebe_
_Cyanocitta cristata_
_Dumetella carolinensis_
_Toxostoma rufum_
_Sialia sialis_
_Vireo olivaceus_
_Icterus spurius_[C]
_Icterus galbula_
_Quiscula quiscalus_
_Piranga rubra_[A]
_Passerina cyanea_
_Richmondena cardinalis_
_Pipilo erythrophthalmus_[C]
_Spizella passerina_[C]
[C] Breeds farther west in North America in other types of
vegetation.
_Influence of Riparian Woodland_
Although the largest single element of the Kansan avifauna that reaches
distributional limits in Kansas is made up of birds of the eastern
deciduous forest, several species of the eastern woodlands are present
in Kansas along the east-west river drainages in riparian woodland; the
species are listed in Table 8. Twenty-one kinds are involved if we
include the Cooper Hawk, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Orchard Oriole, Summer
Tanager, Rufous-sided Towhee, and Chipping Sparrow, all of which breed
farther to the west but are present in western Kansas only along river
drainages. This leaves 15 species of eastern deciduous woodlands that
occur west in Kansas along riparian woodland (_versus_ 30 species that
drop out chiefly where eastern woodland drops out). These 15 species are
about one-third of all woodland birds in western Kansas. Riparian
woodland does not seem to afford first-rate habitat for most of the
eastern woodland species that do occur; breeding density seems to be
much lower than in well-situated eastern woodland.
The importance of these linear woodlands as avenues for gene-flow
between eastern and western populations, especially of species-pairs
(grosbeaks, flickers, orioles, and buntings), is obviously great.
Likewise significant is the existence of these alleys for dispersal from
the west of certain species (for instance, the Black-billed Magpie and
the Scrub Jay) into new but potentially suitable areas.
BREEDING SEASONS
Introduction
An examination of breeding seasons or schedules is properly undertaken
at several levels. The fundamental description of variation in breeding
schedules must itself be detailed in several ways and beyond this there
are causal factors needing examination. The material below is a summary
of the information on breeding schedules of birds in Kansas, treated
descriptively and analytically in ways now thought to be of use.
Almost any event in actual reproductive activity has been used in the
following report; nestbuilding, egg-laying, incubation, brooding of
young, feeding of young out of the nest are considered to be of equal
status. To any such event days are added or subtracted from the date of
observation so as to yield the date when the clutch under consideration
was completed.
Such corrected dates can be used in making histograms that show the time
of primary breeding activity, or the "egg-season." All such schedules
are generalizations; data are used for a species from any year of
observation, whether 50 years ago or less than one year ago. One
advantage of such procedure is that averages and modes are thus more
nearly representative of the basic temporal adaptations of the species
involved, as is explained below.
When information on the schedule of a species from one year is lumped
with information from another year or other years, two (and ordinarily
more than two) frequency distributions are used to make one frequency
distribution. The great advantage here is that the frequency
distribution composed of two or more frequency distributions is more
stable than any one of its components. Second, the peak of the season,
the mode of egg-laying, is represented more broadly than it would have
been for any one year alone. Third, the extremes of breeding activity
are fairly shown as of minute frequency and thus of limited importance,
which would not be true if just one year were graphed. All these
considerations combine to support the idea that general schedules in
fact represent the basic temporal adaptations of a species much better
than schedules for one year only.
Variation in Breeding Seasons
In the chronology of breeding seasons of birds, there are three basic
variables: time at which seasons begin, time at which seasons end, and
time in which the major breeding effort occurs. These variables have
been examined in one population through time (Lack, 1947; Snow, 1955;
Johnston, 1956), in several populations of many species over wide
geographic ranges (Baker, 1938; Moreau, 1950; Davis, 1953), and in
several populations of one species (Lack, _loc. cit._; Paynter, 1954;
Johnston, 1954). The analysis below is concerned with breeding of many
kinds of birds of an arbitrarily defined area and with the influence of
certain ecologic and zoogeographic factors on the breeding seasons for
those several species.
THE INFLUENCE OF SEASONAL STATUS.--Here we are interested in whether a
species is broadly resident or migrant in Kansas; 70 species are
available for analysis.
_Resident Species_
Twenty-four species, furnishing 875 records of breeding, are here
considered to be resident birds in northeastern Kansas. These species
are Cooper Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Prairie Chicken, Bobwhite, Rock Dove,
Great Horned Owl, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy
Woodpecker, Horned Lark, Blue Jay, Common Crow, Black-billed Magpie,
Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Bewick Wren,
Mockingbird, Eastern Bluebird, Loggerhead Shrike, Starling, House
Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, and Cardinal. The distribution of completed
clutches (Fig. 1) runs from mid-January to mid-September, with a modal
period in the first third of May. Conspicuous breeding activity occurs
from mid-April to the first third of June.
_Migrant Species_
Forty-six species, furnishing 2,522 records of breeding, are considered
to be migrant in northeastern Kansas. These species are Great Blue
Heron, Green Heron, Swainson Hawk, American Coot, Killdeer, Upland
Plover, American Avocet, Least Tern, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Black-billed
Cuckoo, Burrowing Owl, Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, Red-headed
Woodpecker, Eastern Kingbird, Western Kingbird, Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Wood
Pewee, Bank Swallow, Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Purple Martin,
Brown Thrasher, Catbird, House Wren, Robin, Wood Thrush, Blue-gray
Gnatcatcher, Bell Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Prothonotary Warbler, Yellow
Warbler, Chat, Western Meadowlark, Red-winged Blackbird, Orchard Oriole,
Baltimore Oriole, Common Grackle, Black-headed Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting,
Dickcissel, Lark Sparrow, and Field Sparrow. The distribution of
completed clutches runs from mid-March to the first third of September,
with a modal period of egg-laying in the first third of June (Fig. 1).
Conspicuous breeding activity occurs from the first third of May to the
last third of June.
THE INFLUENCE OF DOMINANT FORAGING ADAPTATION.--Five categories here
considered reflect broad foraging adaptation: woodland species, taking
invertebrate foods in the breeding season from woody vegetation or the
soil within wooded habitats; grassland species, taking invertebrate
foods in the breeding season from within grassland situations; limnic
species, foraging within marshy or aquatic habitats; aerial species,
foraging on aerial arthropods; raptors, feeding on vertebrates or large
insects.
_Raptors_
Six species, furnishing 174 records of breeding, are here considered, as
follows: Cooper Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Swainson Hawk, Great Horned Owl,
Burrowing Owl, and Loggerhead Shrike. The distribution of clutches (Fig.
1) runs from mid-January to the first third of July and is bimodal. One
period of egg-laying occurs in mid-February and a second in the last
third of April. Such a distribution indicates that two basically
independent groups of birds are being considered. The first peak of
laying reflects activities of the large raptors, and the second peak is
that of the insectivorous Burrowing Owl and Loggerhead Shrike. The peak
for these two birds is most nearly coincident with that for grassland
species, a category to which the Burrowing Owl might well be relegated.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Histograms representing breeding
schedules of ten categories of Kansan birds. Heights of columns
indicate percentage of total of clutches of eggs, and widths
indicate ten-day intervals of time, with the 5th, 15th, and
25th of each month as medians. The occurrences of monthly means
of temperature and precipitation are indicated at the bottom of
the figure.]
_Limnic Species_
Six species, the Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, American Coot, American
Avocet, Least Tern and Red-winged Blackbird, furnish 264 records of
breeding. The distribution of clutches (Fig. 1) runs from mid-March to
the last third of July and is bimodal. This is another heterogeneous
assemblage of birds; the Great Blue Heron is responsible for the first
peak, in the first third of April. The other five species, however, show
fair consistency and their peak of egg-laying almost coincides with
peaks for aerial foragers, woodland species, and migrants, considered
elsewhere in this section.
_Grassland Species_
Ten species, Greater Prairie Chicken, Bobwhite, Killdeer, Upland Plover,
Horned Lark, Starling, Eastern Meadowlark, Western Meadowlark, Common
Grackle, and Dickcissel, furnish 404 records of breeding activity. The
distribution of clutches (Fig. 1) runs from the first of March to
mid-September. The peak of egg-laying occurs in the first third of May.
This is coincident with the peak for resident species, perhaps a
reflection of the fact that half the species in the present category are
residents in northeastern Kansas.
_Woodland Species_
In this category are included species characteristic of woodland edge.
Thirty-four species, furnishing 1,882 records of breeding, are here
treated: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Black-billed Cuckoo, "flicker" (includes
birds thought to be relatively pure red-shafted, pure yellow-shafted, as
well as clear hybrids), Red-bellied Woodpecker, Red-headed Woodpecker,
Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-billed Magpie,
Common Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren,
Bewick Wren, House Wren, Brown Thrasher, Catbird, Mockingbird, Robin,
Wood Thrush, Eastern Bluebird, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Bell Vireo,
Warbling Vireo, Prothonotary Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Chat, Orchard
Oriole, Baltimore Oriole, Cardinal, Black-headed Grosbeak, Indigo
Bunting, Lark Sparrow, and Field Sparrow. The distribution of clutches
runs from the first third of March to mid-September (Fig. 1). The modal
period for completed clutches is the first third of June. Conspicuous
breeding activity occurs from the first third of May to mid-June. The
distribution of the season in time is almost identical with that for
migrant species, reflecting the large number of migrant species in
woodland habitats in Kansas.
_Aerial Foragers_
Twelve species, Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, Eastern Kingbird,
Western Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher,
Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Wood Pewee, Bank Swallow, Rough-winged Swallow,
Barn Swallow, and Purple Martin, furnish 587 records of breeding. The
distribution of clutches (Fig. 1) extends from the last third of March
to the first third of August, and the modal date of clutches is in the
first third of June. Conspicuous breeding activity occurs from the end
of May to the end of June. The peak of nesting essentially coincides
with that characteristic of migrants.
Zoogeographic Categories
Three categories of Mayr (1946) are of use in analyzing trends in
breeding schedules of birds in Kansas. These categories of presumed
ultimate evolutionary origin are the "Old World Element," the "North
American Element," and the "South American Element." Not always have I
agreed with Mayr's assignments of species to these categories, and such
differences are noted. There is some obvious overlap between these
categories and those discussed previously.
_Old World Element_
Eighteen species, Red-tailed Hawk, Rock Dove, Great Horned Owl, Hairy
Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Black-billed Magpie, Common Crow,
Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Robin, Loggerhead Shrike,
Starling, House Sparrow, Bank Swallow, Barn Swallow, and Blue-gray
Gnatcatcher, furnish 969 records of breeding (Fig. 1). Species for which
I have records but which are not here listed are the Blue Jay and the
Wood Thrush, both of which I consider to be better placed with the North
American Element. The distribution of completed clutches runs from
mid-January to the first third of August, and shows a tendency toward
bimodality. The second, smaller peak is due to the inclusion of
relatively large samples of three migrant species (Robin, Bank Swallow,
and Barn Swallow). The timing of the breeding seasons of these three
species is in every respect like that of most other migrants; if they
are removed from the present sample the bimodality disappears,
indicating an increase in homogeneity of the unit.
_North American Element_
Twenty-six species, Greater Prairie Chicken, Bobwhite, "flicker,"
Rough-winged Swallow, Purple Martin, Blue Jay, Carolina Wren, Bewick
Wren, House Wren, Mockingbird, Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Wood Thrush,
Bell Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Prothonotary Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Chat,
Eastern Meadowlark, Western Meadowlark, Red-winged Blackbird, Orchard
Oriole, Baltimore Oriole, Common Grackle, Lark Sparrow, and Field
Sparrow, furnish 1,233 records of breeding (Fig. 1). The distribution of
completed clutches runs from the first third of April to the first third
of September. The modal date for completion of clutches is June 1.
_South American Element_
Twelve species, Eastern Kingbird, Western Kingbird, Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Traill
Flycatcher, Eastern Wood Pewee, Eastern Phoebe, Cardinal, Black-headed
Grosbeak, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Indigo Bunting, furnish 552
records of breeding (Fig. 1). The curve representing this summary
schedule is bimodal, wholly as a result of including the Eastern Phoebe
and the Cardinal with this sample.
_Relationship of Schedules to Temperature and Precipitation_
In outlining the ten categories above, attention has been given to
certain similarities and differences in the frequency distributions. A
slightly more refined way of comparing the frequency distributions is to
relate them to other, seasonally variable phenomena. Figure 1 shows the
frequency distributions of egg-laying of these ten categories of birds
in terms of the regular changes in mean temperature and mean
precipitation characteristic of the environments in which these birds
live in the breeding season.
Table 9 shows that there are two basic groups of birds according to peak
of egg-laying and incidence of precipitation; raptors, birds of Eurasian
origin, resident birds, and birds of grassland habitats tend to have
their peaks of egg-laying prior to the peak of spring-summer rains, and
the other six categories tend to have their peaks of egg-laying occur in
the time of spring-summer rains. Regarding temperature, there are four
categories of birds; these are evident in the table.
Some of the correspondences deserve comment. Residents and grassland
species both breed before the rains come and before mean temperatures
reach 70°F., and this correspondence probably results from most of the
grassland species being residents. Contrariwise, most birds of Eurasian
stocks are residents, but not all residents are of such stocks; the two
groups are discrete when mean temperature at breeding is considered.
Woodland birds, aerial foragers, and birds of South American
evolutionary stocks breed after temperatures surpass 70°F. on the
average. Almost all such species are migrants, but many migrants have
different temporal characteristics, and the categories thus are shown to
be discrete on the basis of temperature at time of breeding.
The change through spring and summer of temperature and precipitation
delineates the inception and waxing of the growing season of vegetation
and of the subsequent arthropod populations, on which most of the birds
feed in the breeding season. The temporal characteristics of growing
seasons in North America have been treated by Hopkins (1938) and have
been related to timing of breeding seasons in Song Sparrows (_Passerella
melodia_) of the Pacific coast of North America (Johnston, 1954).
Significance of Phylogeny to Breeding Schedules
Evidence from a variety of sources demonstrates that timing of breeding
seasons is either broadly or specifically genetically-determined. For
some species in some situations major environmental variables are
paramount in regulating timing of breeding, but in others the innate,
regulatory "clock" is less closely tied to conspicuous exogenous
stimuli. The work by Miller (1955a, 1955b, 1960) with several species of
_Zonotrichia_ strongly indicates that endogenous timing is most
important for these birds, and there is ecological evidence for Song
Sparrows that supports the same point (Johnston, 1954, 1956). It is, in
any event, possible to treat breeding schedules as species-specific
characters, for any one geographic area.
In an attempt to relate a breeding schedule to previous ancestral modes,
that is by extension to phylogeny, it is necessary to know how often
ancestral adaptations can persist in the face of necessity to adapt to
present environmental conditions. It is necessary to know how
conservative or how immediately plastic breeding schedules can be. The
disadvantage of using available information about configurations of
breeding seasons (as shown in Figs. 3 to 9) is that it is extremely
difficult to compare visually at one time more than six or eight
histograms as to the trenchant similarities and differences regarding
times of inception and cessation of breeding, and time of peak
egg-laying. It is possible, however, to reduce these three variables to
one variable (as described below), which allows the necessary
comparisons to be made more easily; this variable may be called the
_breeding index_.
_Calculation of Breeding Index_
The chronological year is broken roughly into ten-day intervals numbered
1 to 36. The histogram describing the temporal occurrence of the
breeding season of a species in our area usually will lie within
intervals 7 to 25. The modal date for completion of clutches is given a
value corresponding to the number of ten-day intervals beyond interval
7 (March 1-10); this describes the modal variable. The date of
completion of 83 per cent of all clutches is given a value corresponding
to the number of ten-day intervals it lies from interval 11 (April
11-20); this describes the 83 per cent variable (and is a measure of the
length of the season in terms of its inception). The breeding index can
then be calculated as follows:
I = X_{m} + X_{sd},
where: I is the breeding index,
X_{m} is the modal variable, and
X_{sd} is the 83 per cent variable.
This is obviously an arbitrary scheme to gain a simple measure of
beginning, peak, and end of a breeding season. Other schemes could be
devised whereby different absolute values would be involved, but the
relative nature of the results would be preserved. The values under the
present system for 73 species of Kansan birds run from -5 to +22; early
modal dates and cessation to breeding give low values, late dates high
values.
Within this framework there are other, presumably subordinate, factors
that influence the values of breeding indices, as follows:
1. Migratory habit. Any migrant tends to arrive on breeding grounds
relatively late, hence migrants ordinarily have higher index values than
do residents.
2. Colonial breeding. The strong synchrony of colonially-breeding
species tends to move the modal egg-date toward the time of inception of
breeding; as a result colonially-breeding species probably have lower
index values than they would have if not colonial.
3. Single-broodedness. Species having only one brood per season tend to
have shorter seasons than double-brooded species, and their index values
tend to be lower than those of double-brooded species.
Migratory habit unquestionably has considerable influence on index
values in some species. It is not, however, as important as other
matters, such as the condition of the food substratum or sensitivity of
the pituitary-gonadal mechanism, in determining timing and mode of
breeding activity. The schedule of the Purple Martin is the extreme
example showing that time of spring arrival on breeding grounds is not
necessarily related to time of inception of breeding. It should be
emphasized that the factors leading to northward migratory movement may
be involved in timing of the annual gonadal and reproductive cycle.
Figure 2 presents a graphic summary of values of breeding indices for
many groups of Kansan birds. The values for species of a given family
have been linked by a horizontal line. The length of this line is
proportional to the degree to which the index values for the species
concerned resemble one another. Note that the plottings for the Picidae,
Corvidae, Turdidae, Tyrannidae, and Icteridae each contain one point
that is well-removed from a cluster of points. This can be interpreted
as a measure of the frequency of adaptive plasticity versus adaptive
conservatism; five of the 24 plottings show a plastic character, 19 a
conservative. There are 26 plottings that show temporal consistency, all
of which may be taken as evidence of adaptive (or relictual)
conservatism of the species in question.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Breeding indices for Kansan birds.
Vertical hash-marks indicate the value of breeding index for a
given species; horizontal lines show the range of values of
breeding index for families and orders.]
_Conclusion_
Such patterns of breeding chronology support the idea that seasonal
response to the necessities of breeding is conservative more often than
plastic. Most students of breeding schedules believe that since these
are highly adaptive, they must also be capable of flexibility to meet
variable environments within the range of the species. Such thinking
receives support when different geographic localities are considered for
one species (Johnston, 1954), or when specific features of a special
environment are considered (see Miller, 1960; Johnston, 1956).
Yet, if one, relatively restricted locality is considered, as in the
present study, evidence of a conservative characteristic in breeding
schedules can be detected. This conservatism may result from the
historic genetic "burden" of the species; that is to say, previous
adaptive peaks may in part be evident in the matrix of contemporary
adaptation. Adaptive relicts of morphological nature have been many
times documented, but characteristics associated with seasonality and
timing schedules have not.
In any event, genetic relationships are evident in the configuration of
breeding seasons of many species here treated. Thus, any consideration
of variation in breeding schedules must be sensitive to the limits,
whether broad or restricting, that the heritage of a species sets on its
present chronological adaptation.
Regulation of Breeding Schedules
Regulation of breeding schedules in birds always involves some
exogenous, environmental timing or triggering mechanism. Broad
limits to functional reproductive activity seem to be set by the
photoperiod--neuroendocrine system. This basic, predominately
extra-equatorial, regulator can be ignored by temperate-zone species
only if they possess chronological adaptation to special, aperiodic
environmental conditions, as does the Red Crossbill (_Loxia
curvirostra_; see McCabe and McCabe, 1933; H. B. Tordoff, ms.), for
which the chief consideration seems to be availability of conifer
seeds. Environmental phonomena otherwise known to trigger breeding
activity include rainfall (Davis, 1953; Williamson, 1956), presence of
suitable nesting material (Marshall and Disney, 1957; Lehrman, 1958),
temperature (Nice, 1937), and presence of a mate (Lehrman, Brody, and
Wortis, 1961). Such regulators, or environmental oscillators, are the
"phasing factors" of the physiologic clock that dictate the temporal
occurrence of primary reproductive activity.
TABLE 9.--RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AND TIMING
OF BREEDING IN BIRDS OF KANSAS
==================+===================================================
| Occurrence of Peak of Egg-laying
+-------------------+-------------------------------
| When | When Mean
| Precipitation is: | Temperature (F.) is:
+---------+---------+-------+-------+-------+-------
| Light | Heavy | < 55° | < 70° | ± 70° | > 70°
------------------+---------+---------+-------+-------+-------+-------
Raptors | x | | x | | |
O. W. Element | x | | x | | |
Residents | x | | | x | |
Grassland species | x | | | x | |
Marshland species | | x | | | x |
N. Amer. Element | | x | | | x |
Migrants | | x | | | x |
Woodland species | | x | | | | x
Aerial foragers | | x | | | | x
S. Amer. Element | | x | | | | x
------------------+---------+---------+-------+-------+-------+-------
None of the regulators mentioned above has been specifically
investigated for any Kansan bird, but it is reasonable to suppose that,
in these temperate-zone species, the photoperiod is the most important
general phasing factor in seasonal breeding. Although gonadal response
and seasonal restriction of breeding are set by the photoperiod,
specific temporal relationships are dictated by more immediate
environmental variables.
Table 9, as already noted, shows the gross relationships between certain
groups of birds, certain arbitrary indicators of seasonal
temperature-humidity conditions bearing significantly on the growing
season, and occurrence in time of peak of egg-laying by the birds
involved. Some species and groups of Kansan birds breed chiefly under
cool-dry environmental conditions, and some under warm-wet environmental
conditions. Within each of these categories some variation occurs. Thus,
raptors and boreally-adapted species (the Eurasian zoogeographic
element) breed under cool conditions prior to rains, and residents and
grassland species breed under slightly warmer conditions prior to rains;
limnic species, species derived from North American evolutionary stocks,
and migrants tend to breed in the cooler segment of the warm-wet period,
and woodland birds, aerial foragers, and species derived from South
American evolutionary stocks tend to breed in the warmer segment of the
warm-wet period.
So much, then, for relationships between birds and their environments at
a descriptive level. It would be useful at this point to examine how
environmental variables relate to timing of breeding. Certain
independent lines of investigation indicate that birds have a
well-developed internal timing device; most convincing is the work of
Schmidt-Koenig (1960) and the others who have shown that the endogenous
clock of birds can be shifted in its periodicity forward or backward in
time. This and much other evidence (see Brown, 1960) indicate that many
fundamental periodic regulators are extrinsic to the animal; it is thus
permissible for present purposes to consider any expression of variation
in timing as dependent on environmental oscillators. It is not hereby
meant to ignore the fact that differential responses to dominant
environmental variables occur within a species, indicating endogenous
control over timing of breeding. The work by Miller (1960:518) with
three populations of the White-crowned Sparrow, revealing innately
different responses to vernal photoperiodic increase, is especially
important in this regard. For the moment, however, we may consider
exogenous controls only.
Any exogenous control, or environmental variable, can be looked on
simply as a timing oscillator. Such variables show regular or irregular
periodic activity, and the independent actions as a whole result in the
more-or-less variable annual schedule of breeding for any species at any
one place. It would seem that some oscillators are linked to one
another, but there is a real question concerning the over-all degree to
which linkage is present. It is significant that frequency distributions
of breeding activity of various species and groups of birds take on the
shape of a skewed normal curve. The more information is added to such
distributions, the more nearly they approach being wholly normal, with
irregularities tending to disappear. This kind of response itself is
evidence that most of the variables influencing the distribution are not
mutually linked.
This conclusion is warranted if we examine what would happen to
frequency distributions if the variables or oscillators regulating
timing were linked. The frequency distribution of breeding activity in
birds is described by a nonlinear curve (a normal distribution is
nonlinear). Let us assume that each of the environmental variables is a
nonlinear oscillator, as is probable. A set of nonlinear oscillators
mutually entrained or coupled and operating with reference to a given
phenomenon would result in that phenomenon being described by a
frequency distribution much more stable than if it were regulated by any
one oscillator alone. However, the frequency distribution of a set of
coupled nonlinear oscillators is non-normal (Wiener, 1958).
We do not obtain such distributions in describing breeding activity, so
we may say that the oscillators regulating such activity are not
coupled. Present distribution, habitat preference, residency status,
foraging adaptation, previous zoogeographic history, and relicts of
ancestral adaptation, all bear on the character of the breeding schedule
of any bird species. The emphasis above on multiple regulation of
breeding schedules conceivably reflects the true picture, but any such
emphasis is made at the expense of taking one factor as basic, or
reducing the many to one, in order to manufacture simplicity.
ACCOUNTS OF SPECIES
In each account below information is given concerning status, habitat,
geographic distribution, seasonal occurrence, schedule of egg-laying,
number of eggs laid, and sites of nests, as these pertain to Kansas,
unless otherwise stated. The ways in which some of these points were
elucidated are as follows.
1.--Breeding schedule. Frequency distributions of egg-laying in time are
calculated on the basis of dates of completed clutches, as described
earlier (p. 588). Any event in the series of actions of
nesting--nestbuilding, egg-laying, incubation, brooding, feeding young
out of nests--can be manipulated by adding or subtracting days to or
from the date of record to yield the probable date of completion of the
clutch. The resulting data are grouped into class intervals of ten days.
Extreme dates here given for egg-laying may be as much as nine days off
in accuracy, but the error does not often exceed five days. Extreme
dates indicated here may be taken as actual or predicted extremes. The
raw data used are on file at the Museum of Natural History and are
available for use by any qualified individual.
2.--Dates of occurrence. First and last annual occurrences in the State
for migrant species are indicated by both a range of dates and a median
date. Twenty to 30 dates of first observation in spring are available
for most of the common species, and 10 to 20 dates of last observation
in autumn are at hand for such species. The median dates, earlier than
and subsequent to which an equal number of observations are available,
are reliable indicators of the dates on which a species is likely to be
seen first in the State in an average year.
3.--Clutch-size. Information on number of eggs is given for each species
according to the mode, followed by the mean, the range, and the size of
the sample.
4.--Distribution in Kansas. Information on distribution in the breeding
season within the borders of Kansas is given in accounts below chiefly
by reference to one or more counties of the State. Location of counties
can be made by referring to Figure 10.
=Pied-billed Grebe=: _Podilymbus podiceps podiceps_ (Linnaeus).--This is
a common but local summer resident, in and on ponds, marshes, streams,
ditches, and lakes. The species can be seen in the State at any time,
but usually arrives in the period March 1 to April 13 (the median is
March 21), and departs southward in the period October 13 to November 18
(the median is October 24).
_Breeding schedule._--Nineteen records of breeding span the period May 1
to June 30; the modal date for egg-laying is May 15.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 to 10 eggs.
Nests are floating masses of marsh vegetation (cattail, smartweed,
duckweed, filamentous green algae, and the like), kept green on top by
addition of fresh material, in or at the edge of emergent marsh
vegetation.
=Double-crested Cormorant=: _Phalacrocorax auritus auritus_
(Lesson).--This is a transient, but has been found nesting on one
occasion in Barton County (Tordoff, 1956:311).
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs were laid in July and August in the one known
nesting effort.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 to 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).
=Great Blue Heron=: _Ardea herodias_ Linnaeus.--This common summer
resident nests in tall trees along rivers, streams, and marshes. The
sector of greatest abundance is the Flint Hills. _A. h. herodias_
Linnaeus occurs in extreme northeastern Kansas, _A. h. wardi_ Ridgway
breeds in southeastern Kansas, and _A. h. treganzai_ Court breeds in
western Kansas; specimens showing intermediate morphology have been
taken from the central part of the State. Occurrence in time, exclusive
of the few that overwinter in Kansas, is shown in Table 10.
_Breeding schedule._--Seventy-seven records of breeding span the period
March 1 to April 30 (Fig. 3); the modal date of egg-laying is April 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.4, 3-6; 36).
Nests are placed in crotches of sycamore, cottonwood, elm, hackberry,
oak, and walnut, from 30 to 60 feet high; the average height is about 40
feet.
TABLE 10.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT HERONS IN KANSAS
================+==========================+=============================
| Arrival | Departure
SPECIES +----------------+---------+------------------+----------
| Range | Median | Range | Median
----------------+----------------+---------+------------------+----------
Great Blue Heron| Feb. 4-Apr. 8 | Mar. 20 | Oct. 10-Nov. 29 | Oct. 23
Green Heron | Mar. 29-May 4 | Apr. 27 | Sept. 1-Oct. 30 | Sept. 9
Common Egret | Apr. 8-May 12 | Apr. 2 | Sept. 4-Sept. 30 | Sept. 21
Black-crowned | | | |
Night Heron | Mar. 27-May 18 | Apr. 25 | Sept. 10-Nov. 11 | Sept. 25
Yellow-crowned | | | |
Night Heron | Apr. 15-May 18 | Apr. 27 | |
American Bittern| Apr. 4-May 9 | May 1 | Oct. 6-Dec. 12 | Oct. 16
Least Bittern | Apr. 9-May 22 | Apr. 8 | Oct. 24 |
----------------+----------------+---------+------------------+----------
=Green Heron=: _Butorides virescens virescens_ (Linnaeus).--This is a
common summer resident about streams, lakes, and marshes throughout the
State. Some characteristics of the temporal occurrence of this species
are indicated in Table 10.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-eight records of breeding span the period
April 21 to June 20 (Fig. 3); the modal date of completion of clutches
is May 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.1, 3-5; 17).
Nests are placed about 10 feet high (two to 35 feet) in willow,
cottonwood, elm, and the like.
=Little Blue Heron=: _Florida caerulea caerulea_ (Linnaeus).--This is
chiefly a postbreeding summer visitant, but there is one record of
breeding in Finney County (Tordoff, 1956:312).
_Breeding schedule._--There is no information on breeding schedule in
Kansas or in adjacent areas.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 to 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed in trees and bushes at various heights above the
ground.
=Common Egret=: _Casmerodius albus egretta_ (Gmelin).--This is a
postbreeding summer visitant, but has been found nesting once in Cowley
County (Johnston, 1960:10). Occurrence in time is listed in Table 10.
_Breeding schedule._--There is no information on breeding schedule in
Kansas.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 to 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed in trees, usually above 20 feet in height; the one
instance of nesting in the State was within a colony of Great Blue
Herons.
=Snowy Egret=: _Leucophoyx thula thula_ (Molina).--This postbreeding
summer visitant has been found nesting once in Finney County (Tordoff,
1956:312).
_Breeding schedule._--There is no information on breeding schedule in
the State.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 to 5 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests in Kansas are placed among those of Great Blue Herons.
=Black-crowned Night Heron=: _Nycticorax nycticorax hoactli_
(Gmelin).--This is a locally common summer resident around marshes and
riparian habitats. Characteristics of the occurrence of the species in
time are given in Table 10.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in the period May 1 to August 10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are placed at medium elevations in riparian trees, in Kansas
chiefly cottonwood, or in beds of emergent marsh vegetation.
=Yellow-crowned Night Heron=: _Nyctanassa violacea violacea_
(Linnaeus).--This is a local summer resident in riparian habitats,
chiefly in southeastern Kansas. Specimens taken in the breeding season
and records of nesting come from Meade, Stafford, Doniphan, Douglas,
Greenwood, Woodson, Labette, and Cherokee counties. Characteristics of
occurrence in time in Kansas are shown in Table 10. _Breeding
schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are placed in riparian trees.
=Least Bittern=: _Ixobrychus exilis exilis_ (Gmelin).--This is a local
summer resident in marshland. Characteristics of its occurrence in time
are indicated in Table 10.
_Breeding schedule._--Eleven records of breeding span the period May 21
to July 20; the modal date of egg-laying seems to be in the first week
of June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are placed in dense emergent vegetation a few inches to a foot
above the surface of the water.
=American Bittern=: _Botaurus lentiginosus_ (Rackett).--This is a local
summer resident in marshes and heavy grassland. The species occurs
temporally according to characteristics as listed in Table 10.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and probably in June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 or 4 eggs.
Nests are placed on the ground in heavy cover.
=White-faced Ibis=: _Plegadis chihi_ (Vieillot).--This is a local summer
resident in marshland; actual records of breeding come only from Barton
County (Nossaman, 1952:7; Zuvanich, 1963; M. Schwilling, personal
communication, July, 1962). The species has been recorded in the State
from April 17 to October 6.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-five breeding records are for June and
early July.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (3.9, 3-4; 24).
Nests are placed in emergent marsh vegetation near the surface of the
water, in Barton County in extensive cattail beds harboring also
Black-crowned Night Herons.
=Mallard=: _Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos_ Linnaeus.--This is a local
summer resident around marshes. The time of greatest abundance is
October to April, but most birds move north for breeding.
_Breeding schedule._--Fifteen records of breeding span the period April
1 to June 10; the modal date of egg-laying is in the first ten days of
May.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size varies widely; first clutches are of
about 12 eggs. Brood sizes vary from 3 to 12 individuals in Kansas.
Nests are placed on the ground surface, in pasture grasses, marsh
grasses, cattail, sedge, and smartweed.
=Pintail=: _Anas acuta_ Linnaeus.--This is a local summer resident in
marshland. The time of greatest abundance is from September to May, but
most birds move north for breeding.
_Breeding schedule._--Eleven records of breeding span the period April
21 to June 10; the peak of egg-laying seems to be in the period May 1
to 10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is around 10 eggs. Brood sizes vary
from 3 to 8 individuals in Kansas.
Nests are placed on the ground surface, in cover of marsh grass,
cattail, or sedge.
=Blue-winged Teal=: _Anas discors discors_ Linnaeus.--This summer
resident is locally common around marshes and ponds. The species arrives
in spring in the period March 9 to April 5 (the median is March 23);
birds are last seen sometime between October 7 and November 26 (the
median is October 20).
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period May
1 to May 30; the peak of egg-laying is around May 15. It is doubtful
that the present data indicate the full extent of the egg-season in this
duck.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 8 to 12 eggs.
Nests are placed on the ground surface, in cover of grasses, cattail and
sedges.
=Shoveler=: _Anas clypeata_ Linnaeus.--This is an irregular and local
summer resident, around marshes. Most individuals seen in the State are
passage migrants. Breeding records are from Barton and Finney counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Seasonal limits are unknown for the Shoveler in
Kansas.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 8 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed on the ground surface in cover of marsh vegetation.
=Wood Duck=: _Aix sponsa_ (Linnaeus).--This is an uncommon summer
resident around wooded streams and ponds in eastern Kansas. Nesting
records and specimens taken in the breeding season come from east of
stations in Pottawatomie, Coffey, and Woodson counties. Most nesting
records at present come from the Marais des Cygnes Wildlife Refuge, Linn
County. The species is present in the State from March 5 to December 8.
_Breeding schedule._--Eleven records of breeding span the period March
21 to May 10; the peak of egg-laying is probably in mid-April. The
present data are inadequate for showing the full span of the breeding
season.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is around 15 eggs, varying from 10 to 23
in the sample at hand.
Nests are placed in crevices and hollows in trees near water, 10 to 70
feet high.
=Redhead=: _Aythya americana_ (Eyton).--This duck nested at Cheyenne
Bottoms, Barton County, 1962: 9 eggs found May 31 (M. Schwilling); also
reported to have nested at Cheyenne Bottoms about 1928 (Tordoff,
1956:316).
=Canvasback=: _Aythya valisineria_ (Wilson).--This duck nested at
Cheyenne Bottoms, Barton County, 1962: 14 eggs found June 20 (M.
Schwilling).
=Ruddy Duck=: _Oxyura jamaicensis rubida_ (Wilson).--This is a local
summer resident in marshland; numbers seem generally higher in western
than in eastern Kansas. The season of greatest abundance is March
through November, but numbers are conspicuously reduced in midsummer.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are known to be laid in May and June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 10 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed near the edge of water, either in or on emergent marsh
vegetation; nests of other marshland birds, such as coots, are sometimes
appropriated (Davie, 1898).
=Turkey Vulture=: _Cathartes aura teter_ Friedmann.--This summer
resident is common throughout Kansas. Occurrence in time is indicated
in Table 11.
_Breeding schedule._--Fifteen records of breeding span the period
April 21 to June 10; earlier records will doubtless be found, to
judge from the frequency distribution of the present sample. The peak
of egg-laying is perhaps around May 1.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs (1.8, 1-2; 12).
Nests are placed in holes and crevices in trees and cliffs, on rocky
ledges, and the like.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Histograms representing breeding
schedules of two herons, the Red-tailed Hawk, Bobwhite, and two
shore birds in Kansas. See legend to Figure 1 for explanation
of histograms.]
=Black Vulture=: _Coragyps atratus_ (Meyer).--This is possibly a
summer resident in the southeastern sector of Kansas. There is one
nesting record, for Labette County (Goss, 1891:245).
_Breeding schedule._--There are no data for this species in Kansas.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed in hollows (logs, stumps, _etc._) on the ground
surface.
=Swallow-tailed Kite=: _Elanoides forficatus forficatus_
(Linnaeus).--This kite was formerly a summer resident in eastern
Kansas; it no longer occurs as a breeding species.
_Breeding schedule._--In Kansas the season seemed to occur relatively
late in the year for a raptor; eggs were laid in May, so far as is
known.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 2 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed in tops of trees.
=Mississippi Kite=: _Ictinia misisippiensis_ (Wilson).--This is a
common summer resident in southern Kansas, west to Morton County.
Specimens taken in the breeding season and records of nesting come
from south of stations in Grant, Barton, Harvey, and Douglas counties;
the present center of abundance is in Meade, Clark, Comanche, Barber,
and Harper counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Seven records of breeding span the period April
20 to June 10; the peak of egg-laying seems to be in the first week of
May.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.
Nests are placed about 35 feet high (from 25 to 50 feet) in
cottonwood, willow, elm, black locust, and the like.
=Sharp-shinned Hawk=: _Accipiter striatus velox_ (Wilson).--This rare
summer resident apparently occurs only in the eastern part. The two
nesting records are from Cloud and Pottawatomie counties.
_Breeding schedule._--The information at hand suggests the birds lay
in April and May.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed 20 or more feet high in coniferous or deciduous
trees.
=Cooper Hawk=: _Accipiter cooperii_ (Bonaparte).--This is an uncommon
resident. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual records of
nesting come from east of stations in Cloud, Anderson, and Montgomery
counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Fourteen records of breeding span the period
March 21 to May 30; the modal date of egg-laying is April 25.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.8, 2-5; 5).
Nests are placed from 15 to 30 feet high, averaging 25 feet in elm,
oak, and other trees.
=Red-tailed Hawk=: _Buteo jamaicensis borealis_ (Gmelin).--This is a
common resident east of the 100th meridian; to the west numbers are
reduced, although the species is by no means unusual in western Kansas.
Red-tails probably always were uncommon in western Kansas; Wolfe (1961)
reports that they were "very rare as a nesting species" in Decatur
County shortly after the turn of the 20th Century. _Breeding
schedule._--Thirty-six records of breeding span the period February 21
to April 10 (Fig. 3); the modal date of egg-laying is March 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (2.6, 2-3; 20).
Nests are placed about 40 feet high, ranging from 15 to 70 feet in
cottonwood, honey locust, osage orange, sycamore, and walnut.
=Red-shouldered Hawk=: _Buteo lineatus lineatus_ (Gmelin).--This is an
uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in riparian and bottomland
timber. Nesting records are available from Leavenworth, Woodson, and
Linn counties, and red-shoulders probably also nest in Doniphan County
(Linsdale, 1928).
_Breeding season._--Eggs are laid in March and April.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 3 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed up to 70 feet high in elms and other streamside trees.
TABLE 11.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF THE SUMMER RESIDENT VULTURE
AND HAWKS IN KANSAS
===============+===========================+============================
| Arrival | Departure
SPECIES +-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
| Range | Median | Range | Median
---------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
Turkey Vulture | Mar. 7-Mar. 30 | Mar. 15 | Sept. 24-Oct. 28 | Oct. 5
Red-shouldered | | | |
Hawk | Feb. 10-Mar. 14 | Feb. 26 | Oct.-Dec. |
Broad-winged | | | |
Hawk | Apr. 4-Apr. 21 | Apr. 12 | Sept. 1-Oct. 20 |
Swainson Hawk | Mar. 24-Apr. 28 | Apr. 12 | Oct. 5-Nov. 2 | Oct. 11
---------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
=Broad-winged Hawk=: _Buteo platypterus platypterus_ (Vieillot).--This
is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in swampy woodland.
Specimens taken in the breeding season and nesting records are from
Shawnee, Douglas, Leavenworth, and Johnson counties; there are several
nesting records from Missouri in the bottomlands just across the river
from Wyandotte County Kansas. Occurrence in time is listed in Table
11.
_Breeding schedule._--Four records of nesting span the period April 21
to May 30, but it is likely that the egg-season is longer than this.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 3 eggs.
Nests are placed high in deciduous trees.
=Swainson Hawk=: _Buteo swainsoni_ Bonaparte.--This is a common summer
resident in prairie grassland with open groves and scattered trees.
Records of breeding are available from all parts of the State, but are
least numerous from the southeastern quarter. Occurrence in time is
listed in Table 11.
_Breeding schedule._--Sixteen records of breeding span the period
April 11 to June 10; the modal date for completion of clutches is
April 25.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs (2.4, 2-3; 5).
Nests are placed about 35 feet high, actually ranging from 12 to 75
feet, in cottonwood, elm, willow, and honey locust. Occasionally nests
are placed on ledges in cliffs.
=Ferruginous Hawk=: _Buteo regalis_ (Gray).--This is an uncommon
resident in western Kansas, in grassland with scattered trees. Records
of nesting and specimens taken in the breeding season come from Wallace,
Hamilton, Gove, Logan, and Finney counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Five records of breeding span the period March
11 to April 30.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 3 eggs (3.3, 3-4; 4).
Nests are placed on the ground surface on small cliffs or promontories
or low (six to 10 feet) in small trees such as osage orange,
cottonwood, and mulberry.
=Marsh Hawk=: _Circus cyaneus hudsonius_ (Linnaeus).--This is a local
resident in grassland throughout Kansas. Most records of breeding come
from east of the Flint Hills, but it is not certain that the few
records from the west actually reflect a low density of Marsh Hawks in
that area.
_Breeding schedule._--Sixteen records of breeding span the period
April 11 to May 20; the modal date for egg-laying is May 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.2, 3-7; 14).
Nests are placed on the ground surface in grassy cover.
=Peregrine Falcon=: _Falco peregrinus anatum_ Bonaparte.--This falcon
nested, perhaps regularly but clearly in small numbers, in Kansas
prior to the 20th Century. The best documented breeding occurrence was
at Neosho Falls, Woodson County (Goss, 1891:283).
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs were recorded as being laid in February and
March.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 or 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed relatively high on cliffs and in trees; at Neosho
Falls these birds used open cavities 50 to 60 feet high in sycamores.
=Sparrow Hawk=: _Falco sparverius sparverius_ Linnaeus.--This is a
common resident throughout Kansas, in parkland and woodland edge.
_Breeding schedule._--Thirteen records of egg-laying span the period
March 21 to May 20; the modal date of laying is not evident in this
sample but it probably falls around April 10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.2, 3-5; 5).
Nests are placed in cavities about 16 feet high, actually 12 to 30
feet, in cottonwood, ash, maple, Purple Martin "houses," and human
dwellings.
=Greater Prairie Chicken=: _Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus_
(Brewster).--This is a locally common resident in eastern Kansas, in
and about bluestem prairie grassland, and is local in the northwest in
undisturbed plains grassland. Wolfe (1961) reports that the species
was common in Decatur County shortly after the turn of the Century,
but that it became rare by 1914.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-one records of breeding span the period
May 1 to June 10 (Fig. 3); the modal date for laying is May 5. The
sample indicates an abrupt inception to laying of eggs, and this may
be a reflection of timing characteristic of behavior at leks, or
booming grounds.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 12 eggs (11.7, 9-15; 17).
Nests are placed on the surface of the ground in bluestem grassland or
plains bunchgrass, usually under cover of prairie grasses and forbs.
=Lesser Prairie Chicken=: _Tympanuchus pallidicinctus_
(Ridgway).--This is a local resident in sandy grassland in
southwestern Kansas. Distribution is to the west and south of Pawnee
County.
_Breeding schedule._--There is no information on timing of the
breeding season in Kansas.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is thought to be near that of the
Greater Prairie Chicken. Vic Housholder (MS) observed a hen with ten
chicks ten miles south of Dodge City, Ford County, on June 1, 1955.
=Bobwhite=: _Colinus virginianus_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common
resident in the east, but is local in western Kansas; occurrence is in
broken woodland and other edge habitats. _C. v. virginianus_
(Linnaeus) is found northeast of stations in Nemaha, Douglas, and
Miami counties, and _C. v. taylori_ Lincoln is found in the remainder
of the State.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-four records of breeding span the period
May 1 to September 20 (Fig. 3); the modal date for first clutches is
May 25. The long period of egg-laying after May probably includes both
renesting efforts and true second nestings.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 13 eggs (12.8, 8-21; 22); in
the present sample 16 eggs was the most frequent number.
Nests are placed on the surface of the ground at bases of bunch
grasses, saplings, trees, or posts, under cover of prairie grasses,
forbs, or small woody plants.
=Scaled Quail=: _Callipepla squamata pallida_ Brewster.--This is a
locally common resident in southwestern Kansas, chiefly west of Clark
County and south of the Arkansas River; preferred habitat seems to be
in open, sandy prairie.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in May; the egg-season in
Kansas is unlikely to be so prolonged as that of the Bobwhite; among
other factors involved, the Scaled Quail in Kansas is at a northern
extreme of its distribution, where suboptimal environmental conditions
may occur relatively frequently.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is around 10 to 12 eggs.
Nests are placed on the ground surface under woody or herbaceous
cover.
=Ring-necked Pheasant=: _Phasianus colchicus_ Linnaeus.--This
introduced resident is common in western Kansas, is local and uncommon
in the east, and is found in agricultural land with scattered woody
vegetation.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in May.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 10 to 12 eggs.
Nests are placed on the surface of the ground in woody or herbaceous
cover.
=Wild Turkey=: _Meleagris gallopavo_ Linnaeus.--Turkeys formerly
occurred as common residents in flood-plain woodland in eastern Kansas,
and their distribution extended through the west in riparian woodland.
Present population in eastern and southern sectors are partly the
result of introductions of birds from Missouri by humans in the 1950s.
Turkeys in southern Kansas are also present owing to natural dispersal
along the Arkansas and Medicine Lodge rivers of birds native to and
introduced into Oklahoma. No specimens of turkeys presently found in
Kansas are available for examination but these birds probably are
referable to _M. g. silvestris_ Vieillot, the trinomen applied to
turkeys in Missouri and northeastern Oklahoma.
Turkeys from southern Texas recently have been liberated at several
localities in southern Nebraska; turkeys seen in extreme northern
Kansas are thus probably of these stocks. The name _M. g. intermedia_
Sennett is applicable to these birds.
_Breeding schedule._--No information is available on the egg-season in
Kansas; turkeys have nested in southern Kansas within recent years,
however.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is perhaps 12 eggs.
Nests are placed on the surface of the ground, usually well-concealed
under woody vegetation.
=King Rail=: _Rallus elegans elegans_ Audubon.--This summer resident is
locally common in marshlands. Nesting records or adults taken in the
breeding season are from Cheyenne, Meade, Pratt, Stafford, Cloud, Riley,
Douglas, Anderson, and Allen counties. Dates of arrival in spring are
recorded from April 7 to April 28; the median date is April 18.
Departure in autumn is possibly as early as September in the north, but
four records are in the period October 12 to November 25. The species
occasionally can be found in winter (Douglas County, December 28, 1915).
_Breeding schedule._--Fourteen records of breeding span the period May
1 to July 20; the modal date for egg-laying is June 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 10 eggs (9 to 12; 4 records).
Nests are placed on the surface of the ground, under grassy or woody
cover.
=Virginia Rail=: _Rallus limicola limicola_ Vieillot.--This is an
uncommon summer resident, presumably throughout the State. The one
breeding record is from Morton County (May 24, 1950; Graber and
Graber, 1951). Dates of spring arrival are from April 19 to May 18;
dates of last observation in autumn are within the period September 1
to October 30. A few birds overwinter in the southern part of the
State (Meade County, December and January).
_Breeding season._--Eggs are laid probably in May and June.
_Number of eggs._--Six to 12 eggs are laid (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed in emergent aquatic plants, near the surface of the
water.
=Sora=: _Porzana carolina_ (Linnaeus).--This is an uncommon summer
resident in marshland. Nesting records or specimens taken in the
breeding season come from Finney, Barton, Jefferson, Douglas, and
Miami counties. First dates of observation in spring are from April 11
to May 9 (the median is May 1); dates when last observed in autumn are
from September 30 to November 9 (the median is October 18).
_Breeding schedule._--The one dated record comes from August.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is around 10 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are on the ground in grassy or herbaceous cover.
=Black Rail=: _Laterallus jamaicensis jamaicensis_ (Gmelin).--This is
an uncommon summer resident in Kansas. Records of breeding and
specimens taken in the breeding season come from Finney, Meade, Riley,
and Franklin counties. Seasonal occurrence is within the period March
18 to September 26.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 8 eggs (6-10; 4). Nests are
on the ground under cover of marsh plants.
=Common Gallinule=: _Gallinula chloropus cachinnans_ Bangs.--This is a
local summer resident in marshlands. Nesting records and specimens taken
in the breeding season come from Barton, Stafford, Shawnee, Douglas, and
Coffey counties. Occurrence in the State is from April through
September.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 10 eggs.
Nests are in marsh grasses and other emergent vegetation, not
necessarily over water.
=American Coot=: _Fulica americana americana_ Gmelin.--This is an
uncommon, local summer resident in wetlands in Kansas. Coots are at
greatest abundance in autumnal and spring migratory movements, but are
present all year. Nesting has been recorded from Barton, Stafford,
Doniphan, and Douglas counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-eight records of breeding span the period
May 11 to June 30; the mode to laying is May 25. Earlier breeding
probably occurs in the State.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 8 eggs (7.7, 5-12; 28).
Nests are made of marsh vegetation (arrowhead, cattail) and float on
water.
=Snowy Plover=: _Charadrius alexandrinus tenuirostris_
(Lawrence).--This summer resident is fairly common on the saline flats
of central and south-central Kansas. Breeding records are from Barton,
Stafford, Meade, Clark, and Comanche counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Fifteen records show that eggs are laid in the
period May 25 to June 20; the peak of laying seems to be around June
10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs.
Eggs are deposited on bare sand.
=Killdeer=: _Charadrius vociferus vociferus_ Linnaeus.--This summer
resident is common throughout the State, in open country frequently
near wetlands. A few individuals overwinter in Kansas, especially in
the southern counties.
_Breeding schedule._--The 29 records of breeding span the period March
21 to June 30; the modal date of laying is May 20. The distribution of
completed clutches (Fig. 3) suggests that Killdeers are here
double-brooded.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs.
Eggs are laid on the surface of the ground, frequently on gravel,
field stubble, plowed earth, and pasture.
=Mountain Plover=: _Eupoda montana_ (Townsend).--This is an uncommon
and local summer resident in western short-grass prairie. Breeding
records come from Greeley and Decatur counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Wolfe (1961) wrote that the species in Decatur
County laid eggs in the "last of May" in the early 1900s. The only
other dated breeding record is of downy young (KU 5512, 5513) taken on
June 21.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is usually 3 eggs.
Eggs are laid in slight depressions in the ground, "lined with a few
grass stems," according to Wolfe (1961).
=American Woodcock=: _Philohela minor_ (Gmelin).--This is a rare
summer resident in wet woodlands in eastern Kansas. Arrival in the
northeast is from mid-March through April, with departures southward
occurring from September to December; the last date on which the
species has been seen in any year is December 5. There are nesting
records only from Woodson County; probably the species nests in
Douglas County (Fitch, 1958:194).
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in April.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is usually 4 eggs.
Nests are depressions in the dry ground within swampy places, usually
under heavy plant cover.
=Long-billed Curlew=: _Numenius americanus americanus_
Bechstein.--This is an uncommon summer resident in western Kansas, in
prairie grassland. Breeding records are from Stanton and Morton
counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in May and June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs.
Eggs are laid in slight depressions in the ground in grassy cover.
=Upland Plover=: _Bartramia longicauda_ (Bechstein).--This is a locally
common summer resident, most conspicuously in the Flint Hills, in
grassland. Breeding records are from Trego, Hamilton, Finney, Morton,
Meade, Marion, Chase, Kearny, Butler, Cowley, Douglas, Johnson,
Wabaunsee, Franklin, Anderson, and Coffey counties. Dates of first
arrival in spring span the period April 2 to May 5 (the median is April
19), and dates last seen in autumn are from September 3 to October 6
(the median is September 13).
_Breeding schedule._--Sixteen records of breeding span the period
April 21 to June 10; the modal date for egg-laying is May 5.
_Number of eggs._--Usually 4 eggs are laid.
Eggs are placed on vegetation on the ground surface, in pasture, field
stubble, or gravel, frequently under heavy plant cover.
=Spotted Sandpiper=: _Actitis macularia_ (Linnaeus).--This summer
resident is locally common on wet ground and along streams. Dates of
arrival in spring are from March 29 to April 30 (the median is April
24), and dates of last observation in autumn span the period September
2 to October 10 (the median is September 18).
_Breeding schedule._--Egg records are all from the northeastern
sector, and all are for May.
_Number of eggs._--Usually 4 eggs are laid.
Nests are of plant fibers in depressions in dry ground on gravel
banks, pond or stream borders, or in pastureland.
=American Avocet=: _Recurvirostra americana_ Gmelin.--This is a local
summer resident in marshes in central and western Kansas. There are
breeding records from Finney, Barton, and Stafford counties. Extreme
dates within which avocets have been recorded are April 2 to November
21.
_Breeding schedule._--Forty-one records of breeding span the period
May 11 to June 20 (26 records shown in Fig. 3); the modal date for
laying is June 5.
_Number of eggs._--Usually 4 eggs are laid.
Nests are placed on the surface of the ground, near water.
=Wilson Phalarope=: _Steganopus tricolor_ Vieillot.--This is a local
summer resident in marshes in central and western Kansas, but breeding
records are available only from Barton County. The earliest date of
occurrence is April 7 and the latest is October 14.
_Breeding schedule._--Ten records indicate eggs are laid in May and
June.
_Number of eggs._--Three or 4 eggs are laid.
Nests are of plant stems in slight depressions in the ground.
=Forster Tern=: _Sterna forsteri_ Nuttall.--This is a local summer
resident in central Kansas, in marshes. There are breeding records
only from Cheyenne Bottoms, Barton County (Zuvanich, 1963:1). First
dates of arrival in spring span the period April 9 to 29 (the median
is April 22), and apparent departure south in autumn occurs from
August 1 to November 1 (the median is September 3).
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-three records of nesting are from late
May to mid-June; all records are for the year 1962.
_Number of eggs._--Usually 4 eggs are laid.
Nests are frequently floating platforms of vegetation (algae, cattail,
and the like) in shallow water; old nests of Pied-billed Grebes are
sometimes used as bases, and occasionally the birds nest on the
ground.
=Least Tern=: _Sterna albifrons athalassos_ Burleigh and Lowery.--This
tern is a local summer resident in marshes and along streams in central
and western Kansas. There are breeding records from Hamilton, Meade, and
Stafford counties. First dates of arrival in spring are from May 14 to
30 (the median is May 28), and last dates of occurrence in autumn are
from August 9 to September 7 (the median is August 25).
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-one records of egg-laying are from May 21
to June 30 (Fig. 4); the modal date for laying is June 5.
_Number of eggs._--Two, 3 or 4 eggs are laid.
Eggs are laid on the bare ground, usually a sandy surface, near water.
=Black Tern=: _Chlidonias niger surinamensis_ (Gmelin).--This is a
local summer resident in marshlands in central Kansas. There are
breeding records only from Barton County for 1961 and 1962; possibly
the species breeds in Douglas County. First dates of arrival in spring
are from May 3 to 29 (the median is May 14), and last dates of
occurrence in autumn are from September 2 to 30 (the median is
September 11).
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-four sets of eggs (Parmelee, 1961:25; M.
Schwilling) were complete between June 11 and July 12.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs.
Nests are of dead plant matter placed on floating parts of emergent
green plants in shallow water.
=Rock Dove=: _Columba livia_ Gmelin.--This species was introduced into
North America by man from European stocks of semi-domesticated
ancestry. "Pigeons" now are feral around towns and farms, and
cliffsides in the west, and are locally common permanent residents
throughout the State.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in every month of the year. The
main season of breeding is spring, and this is depicted in Figure 4;
the 26 records of breeding by feral birds are from January 11 to June
10, and the modal date of laying is probably April 5.
_Number of eggs._--Pigeons usually lay 2 eggs. Nests are of sticks
and other plant matter placed on ledges and recesses of buildings,
bridges, and cliffs, 10 to 60 feet high.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Histograms representing breeding
schedules of the Least Tern, two doves, the Yellow-billed
Cuckoo, and two owls in Kansas. See legend to Figure 1 for
explanation of histograms.]
=Mourning Dove=: _Zenaidura macroura marginella_ (Woodhouse).--This is
a common summer resident throughout the State, in open country and
woodland edge. The species is also present in winter in much reduced
numbers, and many are transient in periods of migration. The time of
greatest abundance is from March to November. Doves of extreme eastern
Kansas have by some workers been referred to the subspecies _Z. m.
carolinensis_ (Linnaeus); specimens at the Museum of Natural History
indicate that these doves are best regarded as members of populations
of intermediate subspecific, or morphologic, affinities, and that they
are satisfactorily included within _Z. m. marginella_.
_Breeding schedule._--Numerous (983) records of egg-laying from
north-central Kansas are from April 1 to September 10; the modal date
for laying is May 15. Forty-three records of breeding from
northeastern Kansas span the period March 21 to August 10; the modal
date of laying is May 15. These samples are depicted in Figure 4.
Both sets of data are shown here to illustrate some of the differences
between large and small samples of heterogeneous data. The small
sample tends to be incomplete both early and late in the season, and
the mode tends to be conspicuous. Yet, the modes for the two samples
coincide. Also, the data from the north-central sector indicate that
egg-laying in March would be found less than once in 983 records, but
the small sample from the northeast includes one record for March.
Such an instance doubtless reflects, at least in part, the fact that
the two geographic sectors have different environmental conditions,
but it is likely that the instance also partly reflects the
unpredictable nature of sampling.
_Number of eggs._--Doves lay two eggs. About one per cent of all nests
have 3 eggs, but it is not known for any of these whether one or two
females were responsible.
Nests are placed in a wide variety of plants, or on the ground. The
commonest plants are those used most frequently; in north-central
Kansas one-third of all nests are placed in osage orange trees, but in
the northeast elms are most frequently used. Nestsites are from zero
to 15 feet high.
=Yellow-billed Cuckoo=: _Coccyzus americanus americanus_
(Linnaeus).--This is a common summer resident in riparian and
second-growth habitats throughout the State. Twenty-three dates of
first arrival in spring fall between April 29 and May 22 (the median
is May 12), and nine dates of last observation in autumn run from
September 13 to October 12 (the median is September 23).
_Breeding schedule._--Sixty-nine records of egg-laying span the period
May 11 to September 10 (Fig. 4); the modal date of laying is June 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.1, 2-5; 54).
Nests are placed about six feet high (from four to 20 feet) in sumac,
rose, pawpaw, mulberry, elm, cottonwood, willow, redbud, oak, osage
orange, walnut, boxelder, usually on horizontal surfaces, and in heavy
cover.
=Black-billed Cuckoo=: _Coccyzus erythropthalmus_ (Wilson).--This is
an uncommon summer resident, occurring in heavy riparian shrubbery and
second-growth. Breeding records are chiefly from eastern Kansas, but
specimens have been taken in the breeding season in all parts of the
State. Eleven dates of first arrival in spring are from May 7 to May
30 (the median is May 19), and four dates of last observed occurrence
in autumn are between September 4 and October 7 (the average is
September 18).
_Breeding schedule._--Seventeen records of egg-laying are between May
21 and August 10; the mode is at June 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 to 3 eggs (2.5, 2-3; 13).
Nests are placed about four feet high in heavy cover in plum, elm,
locust, and the like.
=Roadrunner=: _Geococcyx californianus_ (Lesson).--This is a local
resident in southern Kansas in xeric scrub or open edge habitats.
Breeding records are from Cowley and Sumner counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least from early April to
mid-July.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs (4.5, 3-6; 4).
Nests are placed on the ground under plant cover, or occasionally low
in bushes.
=Barn Owl=: _Tyto alba pratincola_ Bonaparte.--This resident has a low
density throughout Kansas in open woodland and near agricultural
enterprises of man.
_Breeding schedule._--The few records available indicate egg-laying
occurs at least from April to July; elsewhere the species is known to
have a more protracted breeding schedule.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs (4.7, 2-6; 4).
Nests are informal aggregations of sticks and litter placed in
recesses in stumps, hollow trees, rocky and earthen banks, and
dwellings and outbuildings of man.
=Screech Owl=: _Otus asio_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common resident in
woodland habitats throughout Kansas. _O. a. aikeni_ (Brewster) occurs
west of Rawlins, Gove, and Comanche counties, and _O. a. naevius_
(Gmelin) occurs in the remainder of the State except for the eastern
south-central sector, occupied by _O. a. hasbroucki_ Ridgway.
_Breeding schedule._--Fifteen records of egg-laying span the period
March 20 to May 10; there is a strong mode at April 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.0, 3-6; 12).
Nests are placed in holes and recesses in trees, three to 20 feet
high.
=Great Horned Owl=: _Bubo virginianus_ (Gmelin).--This is a common
resident throughout Kansas, especially near woodlands and cliffsides.
_B. v. virginianus_ (Gmelin) occurs east of a line through Rawlins and
Meade counties and _B. v. occidentalis_ Stone occurs to the west.
_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-seven records of egg-laying span the
period January 11 to March 20 (Fig. 4); the modal date for laying is
near February 10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs (2.4, 2-3; 22).
Nests are placed about 30 feet high in cottonwood, elm, osage orange,
hackberry, juniper, locust, cliffsides, and buildings of man. Old
nests of hawks, crows, and herons are frequently appropriated.
=Burrowing Owl=: _Speotyto cunicularia hypugaea_ (Bonaparte).--This is
an uncommon summer resident in western Kansas in grassland and open
scrub habitats. Stations of breeding all come from west of a line
running through Cloud and Barber counties. Arrival in spring is
between March 22 and April 17 (the median for 7 records is April 9),
and dates last seen in autumn span the period September 8 to November
14 (the median for 9 records is September 26).
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-one records of egg-laying run from April
11 to July 10 (Fig. 4); the mode of laying is May 15.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 7 or 8 eggs.
Nests are informal aggregations of plant and animal fibers in chambers
of earthen burrows usually made by badgers or prairie dogs.
=Barred Owl=: _Strix varia varia_ Barton.--This is a local resident in
eastern Kansas, in heavy woodland. The species is said by implication
(A. O. U. Check-list, 1957) to occur in western Kansas, but no good
breeding records are available, all such records coming from and east
of Morris County. Specimens from southeastern Kansas show morphologic
intergradation with characters of _S. v. georgica_ Latham.
_Breeding schedule._--Three records of egg-laying are for the first
half of March.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size in our sample is 2 eggs.
Nests are situated in cavities in trees or in old hawk or crow nests.
=Long-eared Owl=: _Asio otus wilsonianus_ (Lesson).--This owl is a local
resident or summer resident in woodland with heavy cover throughout the
State. Breeding records are available from Trego, Meade, Cloud, and
Douglas counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Four records of egg-laying are for the period
March 11 to April 10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 or 6 eggs.
Nests are placed in hollows of trees, stumps, cliffsides, on the
ground surface, or in old hawk, crow, or magpie nests (Davie, 1898).
=Short-eared Owl=: _Asio flammeus flammeus_ (Pontoppidan).--This is a
local resident or summer resident in open, marshy, and edge habitats;
records of nesting come from Republic, Marshall, Woodson, and Bourbon
counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in April.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 6 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are simple structures of sticks and grasses, placed on the
ground in grasses, frequently near cover of downed timber or bushes.
=Saw-whet Owl=: _Aegolius acadicus acadicus_ (Gmelin).--This is a rare
and local resident, in woodland. There is one breeding record (summer,
1951, Wyandotte County; Tordoff, 1956:331).
=Chuck-will's-widow=: _Caprimulgus carolinensis_ Gmelin.--This is a
locally common summer resident in woodland habitats in eastern Kansas.
Stations of occurrence of actual breeding fall south of Wyandotte
County and east of Shawnee, Greenwood, Stafford, and Sedgwick
counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Five records of breeding come between April 21
and May 31, with a peak perhaps in the first third of May.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.
Eggs are laid on heavy leaf-litter, usually under shrubby cover.
=Whip-poor-will=: _Caprimulgus vociferus vociferus_ Wilson.--This is a
local summer resident in woodland in eastern Kansas. Breeding records
are available only from Doniphan, Leavenworth, and Douglas counties;
there are sight records in summer from Shawnee County.
_Breeding schedule._--Two records of breeding cover the period May 21
to June 20.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.
Eggs are laid on heavy leaf-litter in shrubby cover.
=Poor-will=: _Phalaenoptilus nuttallii nuttallii_ (Audubon).--This is
a common summer resident in western Kansas, in xeric, scrubby
woodland. Breeding records are chiefly from west of Riley County, but
there is one from Franklin County; specimens taken in the breeding
season are available from Doniphan, Douglas, Anderson, Woodson, and
Greenwood counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Six records of egg-laying are from the period May 1
to June 20.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.
Eggs are laid on the ground, with or without plant cover.
TABLE 12.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT CAPRIMULGIDS
AND APODIDS IN KANSAS
==================+==========================+============================
| Arrival | Departure
SPECIES +----------------+---------+------------------+---------
| Range | Median | Range | Median
------------------+----------------+---------+------------------+---------
Chuck-will's-widow| Apr. 20-May 1 | Apr. 28 | Oct.-Dec. | Oct. ?
Whip-poor-will | Apr. 6-Apr. 25 | Apr. 17 | Sept. 10-Oct. 11 | Sept. 21
Poor-will | Apr. 12 | ... | Sept. 20 | ...
Common Nighthawk | Apr. 29-May 23 | May 15 | Sept. 13-Oct. 18 | Sept. 23
Chimney Swift | Apr. 2-Apr. 30 | Apr. 22 | Sept. 18-Oct. 30 | Oct. 4
Ruby-throated | | | |
Hummingbird | Apr. 2-May 19 | May 6 | Sept. 3-Oct. 15 | Sept. 10
------------------+----------------+---------+------------------+---------
=Common Nighthawk=: _Chordeiles minor_ (Forster).--This is a common
summer resident throughout Kansas. Temporal occurrence is indicated
in Table 11. Three subspecies reach their distributional limits in
the State, _C. m. minor_ (Forster) in northeastern Kansas, _C. m.
chapmani_ Coues in southeastern Kansas, and _C. m. howelli_ Oberholser
west of the Flint Hills.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period
May 11 to June 30; the modal date for egg-laying is June 10 (Fig. 5).
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.
Eggs are laid on the ground in rocky or gravelly areas, on unpaved
roads, or on flat, gravelled tops of buildings of man.
=Chimney Swift=: _Chaetura pelagica_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common
summer resident in eastern Kansas, around towns. Temporal occurrence
in the State is indicated in Table 12.
_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-six records of breeding span the period
May 11 to June 30; the modal date for egg-laying is May 25 (Fig. 5).
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are secured by means of a salivary cement to vertical surfaces,
usually near the inside tops of chimneys in dwellings of man, but
occasionally in abandoned buildings and hollow trees.
=Ruby-throated Hummingbird=: _Archilochus colubris_ (Linnaeus).--This
is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, and is rare in the
west, in towns and along riparian vegetation. Temporal occurrence in
the State is listed in Table 12.
_Breeding schedule._--Eight records of breeding fall within the period
May 21 to July 10; there seems to be a peak to laying in the last
third of June. _Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.
Most nests are on outer branches of shrubs and trees, in forks or on
pendant branches, 10 to 20 feet high.
=Belted Kingfisher=: _Megaceryle alcyon alcyon_ (Linnaeus).--This
summer resident is common throughout the State in streamside and
lakeside habitats. Timing of arrival and departure of the breeding
birds is not well-documented owing to the fact that the species is
also transient and a winter resident in the State.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least from April 21 to May 20.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is near 6 eggs.
Eggs are laid on the floor of the chamber at the inner end of a
horizontal tunnel excavated in an earthen bank. The tunnel is two to
six feet long and many tunnels are strewn with bones and other dietary
refuse.
=Yellow-shafted Flicker=: _Colaptes auratus_ (Linnaeus).--This is a
common resident and summer resident in eastern Kansas, meeting,
hybridizing with, and partly replaced by _Colaptes cafer_ westward, in
open woodlands. _C. a. auratus_ (Linnaeus) occurs in southeastern
Kansas, and _C. a. luteus_ Bangs occurs in the remainder, intergrading
west of the Flint Hills with _C. cafer_.
_Breeding season._--Forty-eight records of breeding span the period
April 11 to June 10; the modal date for egg-laying is May 10 (Fig. 5).
This sample is drawn from central and eastern Kansas, but includes
records of breeding by some birds identified in the field as _C.
cafer_.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 6 eggs.
Nests are piles of wood chips in cavities excavated in stumps and dead
limbs of trees such as willow, cottonwood, mulberry, and catalpa,
ordinarily about six feet above the ground.
=Red-shafted Flicker=: _Colaptes cafer collaris_ Vigors.--This
woodpecker is a common summer resident in western Kansas, meeting,
hybridizing with, and largely replaced by _C. auratus_ in central and
eastern sectors. The vast majority of specimens taken in Kansas show
evidence of intergradation with _C. auratus_.
_Breeding schedule._--The few records of flickers identified in the
field as _C. cafer_ have been combined with those of _C. auratus_
(Fig. 5).
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is perhaps 6 eggs.
Nests are like those of _C. auratus_.
=Pileated Woodpecker=: _Dryocopus pileatus_ (Linnaeus).--This is a
rare and local resident in the east, in heavy timber. The species has
been seen, chiefly in winter, in all sectors of eastern Kansas in
recent years, but actual records of breeding come only from Linn and
Cherokee counties. _D. p. abieticola_ (Bangs) occurs in the northeast,
and _D. p. pileatus_ (Linnaeus) in the southeast.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in April.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 or 4 eggs.
Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated 45 to 60 feet high in
main trunks of cottonwood, sycamore, and pin oak.
=Red-bellied Woodpecker=: _Centurus carolinus zebra_ (Boddaert).--In
woodland habitats this is a common resident in eastern Kansas, local
in the west.
_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-seven records of breeding span the period
March 1 to June 30 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is around
April 25.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs.
Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated in elm, cottonwood, box
elder, ash, hickory, or willow, about 25 feet high (nine to 60 feet).
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Histograms representing breeding
schedules of the Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, woodpeckers,
and flycatchers in Kansas. See legend to Figure 1 for
explanation of histograms.]
=Red-headed Woodpecker=: _Melanerpes erythrocephalus_
(Linnaeus).--This is a common summer resident and uncommon permanent
resident in open woodland; in winter it is noted especially around
groves of oaks. _M. e. erythrocephalus_ (Linnaeus) occurs in eastern
Kansas and _M. e. caurinus_ Brodkorb occurs in central and western
Kansas.
_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-eight records of breeding span the period
May 1 to August 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is June 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 or 4 eggs.
Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated about 25 feet high in
willow, cottonwood, and elm.
=Hairy Woodpecker=: _Dendrocopos villosus villosus_ (Linnaeus).--This
resident is common in woodlands throughout the State.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-eight records of breeding span the period
March 21 to May 30 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is May 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated about 13 feet high in
elm, honey locust, and ash.
=Downy Woodpecker=: _Dendrocopos pubescens_ (Linnaeus).--This resident
is common in woodland throughout the State. _D. p. pubescens_
(Linnaeus) occurs in southeastern Kansas, and _D. p. medianus_
(Swainson) in the remainder.
_Breeding schedule._--Forty-one records of breeding span the period
April 11 to June 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is May 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated about 20 feet high in
willow, honey locust, ash, apple, and pear.
=Eastern Kingbird=: _Tyrannus tyrannus_ (Linnaeus).--This summer
resident is common throughout the east; it is local in the west but
there maintains conspicuous numbers in favorable places, such as
riparian woodland; preferred habitat in eastern sectors is typically
in woodland edge. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 13.
_Breeding season._--Sixty-three dates of egg-laying span the period
May 11 to July 20 (Fig. 5); the modal date for completion of clutches
is June 15. Nearly 70 per cent of all eggs are laid in June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.3, 2-3; 10). Clutches are
probably larger than the average in May and smaller in June and July.
Nests are placed in crotches, terminal forks, and some on tops of
limbs, about 16 feet high, in elm, sycamore, honey locust, willow,
oak, apple, and red cedar.
=Western Kingbird=: _Tyrannus verticalis_ Say.--This summer resident
is common in the west, but is local and less abundant in the east.
Preferred habitat is in woodland edge, open country with scattered
trees, and in towns. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 13.
_Breeding schedule._--The 124 dates of egg-laying span the period May
11 to July 31 (Fig. 5); the modal date for egg-laying is June 15. More
than 70 per cent of all clutches are laid in June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.6, 3-4; 8).
Nests are placed in crotches, lateral forks, or on horizontal limbs,
about 26 feet high, in cottonwood, elm, osage orange, hackberry, honey
locust, mulberry, oak, and on power poles.
=Scissor-tailed Flycatcher=: _Muscivora forficata_ (Gmelin).--This
summer resident is common in central and southern Kansas; it is rare
to absent in the northwestern sector, and is local in the northeast.
Preferred habitat is in open country with scattered trees. Temporal
occurrence is indicated in Table 13.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-eight records of breeding occur from May
21 to July 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is June 25. The
present sample of records is small, and there is otherwise no evidence
suggesting that the breeding schedule of this species differs from
those of the other two kingbirds in Kansas.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.2, 2-5; 17). Mean
clutch-size for the first peak of laying shown in Figure 5 is 4.0
eggs; that for the second peak is 2.7 eggs.
Nests are placed in forks or on horizontal limbs of osage orange, red
haw, elm, and on crosspieces of power poles, about 15 feet high
(ranging from five to 35 feet).
=Great Crested Flycatcher=: _Myiarchus crinitus boreus_ Bangs.--This
summer resident is common in eastern Kansas, but is less numerous in
the west. Preferred habitat is in woodland and woodland edge. Temporal
occurrence is indicated in Table 13.
_Breeding schedule._--The twenty-two records of egg-laying are in the
period May 11 to July 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date for egg-laying is
June 5. The shape of the histogram (Fig. 5) indicates that some
breeding for which records are lacking occurs earlier in May.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.8, 4-6; 6).
Nests are placed in hollows and crevices in elm, maple, cottonwood,
willow, pear, apple, oak, drain spouts, and, occasionally, "bird houses"
made by man, about 17 feet high (four to 45 feet high).
TABLE 13.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT FLYCATCHERS IN
KANSAS
=================+===========================+============================
| Arrival | Departure
SPECIES +-----------------+---------+-----------------+----------
| Range | Median | Range | Median
-----------------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+----------
Eastern Kingbird | Apr. 22-Apr. 30 | Apr. 28 | Sept. 1-Sept. 24| Sept. 13
Western Kingbird | Apr. 23-Apr. 30 | Apr. 28 | Sept. 1-Sept. 26| Sept. 8
Scissor-tailed | | | |
Flycatcher | Apr. 15-Apr. 28 | Apr. 18 | Sept. 21-Oct. 22| Oct. 12
Great Crested | | | |
Flycatcher | Apr. 15-May 4 | Apr. 29 | Sept. 1-Sept. 21| Sept. 9
Eastern Phoebe | Mar. 3-Mar. 31 | Mar. 22 | Oct. 3-Oct. 27 | Oct. 9
Say Phoebe | Apr. 4-Apr. 22 | Apr. 12 | |
Acadian | | | |
Flycatcher | Apr. 30-May 19 | May 9 | Sept. 3-Sept. 17| Sept. 4
Eastern Wood | | | |
Pewee | Apr. 2-May 28 | May 19 | Aug. 30-Sept. 18| Sept. 6
-----------------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+----------
=Eastern Phoebe=: _Sayornis phoebe_ (Latham).--This summer resident is
common in eastern Kansas, but is local in the west. Preferred habitat
is in woodland edge and riparian groves, where most birds are found
near bridges, culverts, or isolated outbuildings of man. Temporal
occurrence is indicated in Table 13.
_Breeding schedule._--The 136 records of breeding span the period
March 21 to July 20 (Fig. 5); the modal date for egg-laying is April
25 (for first clutches) and June 5 (for second clutches); this species
seems to be the only double-brooded flycatcher in Kansas.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 to 5 eggs (4.2, 3-5; 58). The
seasonal progression in clutch-size can be summarized as follows:
March 21-April 10: 4.0 eggs (2 records)
April 11-May 10: 4.4 eggs (37 records)
May 11-June 10: 3.9 eggs (10 records)
June 11-July 20: 3.6 eggs (9 records)
Nests are placed on horizontal, vertical, or overhanging surfaces of
culverts, bridges, houses of man, earthen cliffs, rocky ledges, and
entrances to caves, at an average height of 7.8 feet.
=Say Phoebe=: _Sayornis saya saya_ (Bonaparte).--This is a common
summer resident in western Kansas, breeding at least east to Cloud
County, in open country. Occurrence in time is listed in Table 13.
_Breeding schedule._--Ten records of breeding fall in the period May 1
to July 20; the modal date for egg-laying is in late May.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs.
Nests are placed under bridges, in houses, or on cliffsides and
earthen banks.
=Acadian Flycatcher=: _Empidonax virescens_ (Vieillot).--This is an
uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in woodland and riparian
habitats. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 13.
_Breeding schedule._--The available records of breeding by this
species in Kansas are too few to indicate reliably the span of the
breeding season. Information on hand suggests that Acadian Flycatchers
lay most eggs in late May or early June, and this places their nesting
peak some 10 to 20 days earlier than peaks for Wood Pewees and Traill
Flycatchers.
_Number of eggs._--Five records show 3 eggs each.
Nests are placed about six feet high on terminal twigs of oak and
alder.
=Traill Flycatcher=: _Empidonax traillii traillii_ (Audubon).--This
flycatcher has only recently been found nesting within Kansas; the
species is not included in analyses above. Twenty-three nesting
records are here reported, for the species in Kansas City, Jackson and
Platte counties, Missouri. Most of these records are from within a few
hundred yards of the political boundary of Kansas. The Traill
Flycatcher is a local summer resident in extreme northeastern Kansas
(Doniphan County), in wet woodland and riparian groves. Temporal
occurrence is not well-documented; first dates run from May 19 to 25;
the last dates of annual occurrence, possibly not all for transients,
run from August 14 to September 24.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-three records of breeding are from May 21
to July 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date for egg-laying is June 15.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.4, 2-5; 22).
Nests are placed in forks, crotches, and occasionally near trunks,
chiefly of willow, from 4.5 to 12 feet high (averaging six feet).
=Eastern Wood Pewee=: _Contopus virens_ (Linnaeus).--This summer
resident is common in the east, but is rare in the west. Preferred
habitat is in edge of forest and woodland. Temporal occurrence is
indicated in Table 13.
_Breeding schedule._--Nineteen dates of egg-laying span the period
June 1 to July 20 (Fig. 5); the modal date for completion of clutches
is June 15, and more than half of all clutches are laid in the period
June 11 to 20.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 3 eggs.
Nests are placed on upper surfaces of horizontal limbs of oak, elm,
and sycamore, about 22 feet high.
=Horned Lark=: _Eremophila alpestris_ (Linnaeus).--Breeding
populations are resident in open country with short or cropped
vegetation. _E. a. praticola_ (Henshaw) lives in the east, and _E. a.
enthymia_ (Oberholser) in the west.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-one records of breeding span the period
March 11 to June 10 (Fig. 6); the modal date for egg-laying is March
25. The histogram (Fig. 6) is constructed on a clearly inadequate
sample, and records of breeding both earlier and later are to be
expected. The peak of first nesting activity is probably reasonably
well-indicated by the available records.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.6, 3-5; 16).
Nests are placed on the ground, usually amid short vegetation such as
cropped prairie grassland or cultivated fields (notably soybeans and
wheat), and occasionally on bare ground.
TABLE 14.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT SWALLOWS IN
KANSAS
===============+===========================+=============================
| Arrival | Departure
SPECIES +-----------------+---------+------------------+----------
| Range | Median | Range | Median
---------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+----------
Tree Swallow | Apr. 5-Apr. 30 | Apr. 24 | Sept. 30-Oct. 21 | Oct. 8
Bank Swallow | Apr. 9-May 19 | May 7 | Sept. 3-Sept. 20 | Sept. 10
Rough-winged | | | |
Swallow | Mar. 29-May 30 | Apr. 22 | Sept. 23-Oct. 21 | Oct. 10
Cliff Swallow | Apr. 14-May 27 | May 11 | Sept. 3-Oct. 25 | Sept. 11
Barn Swallow | Mar. 31-Apr. 29 | Apr. 21 | Sept. 22-Oct. 25 | Oct. 7
Purple Martin | Mar. 5-Apr. 9 | Mar. 26 | Aug. 28-Sept. 23 | Sept. 3
---------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+----------
=Tree Swallow=: _Iridoprocne bicolor_ (Vieillot).--This is a summer
resident in extreme northeastern Kansas; nesting birds have been found
only along the Missouri River in Doniphan County. Habitat is in open
woodland, and in Kansas is always associated with water. Temporal
occurrence in the State is indicated in Table 14.
_Breeding schedule._--Eight records of breeding span the period May 21
to June 20; the modal date for egg-laying is May 25. The small sample
may not accurately reflect the peak of nesting activity.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 or 6 eggs (5.5, 5-6; 4).
Nests are placed chiefly in abandoned woodpecker diggings in willows,
four to ten feet high, over water.
=Bank Swallow=: _Riparia riparia riparia_ (Linnaeus).--This summer
resident is common wherever cut-banks suitable for nesting activities
allow relatively undisturbed behavior. The species is almost always
found near water. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 14.
_Breeding schedule._--Sixty records of breeding span the period May 11
to June 20 (Fig. 6); the modal date for completion of clutches is June
5.
Nearly 75 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period May 21 to
June 10. Under unusual circumstances time of breeding can be greatly
delayed; such circumstances occurred in 1961 in many places along the
Kansas River in eastern Kansas, where the soft, sandy-clay banks were
repeatedly washed away in May and June by high water undercutting the
cliffs. Bank Swallows attempted to work on burrows in late May, but
stabilization of the banks occurred only by late June, and the peak of
egg-laying for many colonies was around July 12. Records for 1961 are
omitted from the sample used here (Fig. 6).
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.8, 3-7; 60). Yearly
clutch-size at one colony 3 miles east of Lawrence, Douglas County, is
as follows:
1959: 5.2, 19 records
1960: 5.0, 12 records
1961: 3.7, 11 records
1962: 4.8, 18 records
The sample for 1961 is that taken in early July when breeding occurred
after a delay of more than a month, as described above.
Nesting chambers are excavated in sandy-clay banks, piles of sand,
piles of sawdust, or similar sites, at ends of tunnels one to more
than three feet in depth from the vertical face of the substrate.
=Rough-winged Swallow=: _Stelgidopteryx ruficollis serripennis_
(Audubon).--This summer resident is common in most places; it is not
restricted to a single habitat, but needs some sort of earthen or
other substrate with ready-made burrows for nesting. Temporal
occurrence is indicated in Table 14.
_Breeding schedule._--The 14 records of breeding are in the period May
11 to June 30; the modal date of egg-laying is June 5. Seventy per
cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 21 to June 10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.0, 4-6; 4).
Nesting chambers are in old burrows of Bank Swallows, Kingfishers,
rodents, or in crevices remaining subsequent to decomposition of roots
of plants; frequently this swallow uses a side chamber off the main
tunnel, near the mouth, of a burrow abandoned or still in use by the
other species mentioned above.
=Cliff Swallow=: _Petrochelidon pyrrhonota pyrrhonota_
(Vieillot).--This common summer resident occurs wherever suitable
sites for nests are found. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table
14.
_Breeding schedule._--The 610 records of breeding span the period May
21 to June 30 (Fig. 6); the modal date for egg-laying is June 5, and
85 per cent of all clutches are laid from May 21 to June 10. Such
synchronous breeding activity is probably a function of strong
coloniality with attendant "social facilitation" of breeding behavior.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.9, 3-7; 7).
Nests are built in mud jugs plastered to vertical rock faces, bridges,
culverts, and buildings from a few feet to more than 100 feet above
the ground.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Histograms representing breeding
schedules of the Horned Lark and swallows in Kansas. See legend
to Figure 1 for explanation of histograms.]
=Barn Swallow=: _Hirundo rustica erythrogaster_ Boddaert.--This summer
resident is common in most habitats, occurring chiefly about
cultivated fields and pastures. Temporal occurrence is indicated in
Table 14.
_Breeding schedule._--Sixty-three records of breeding in northern
Kansas span the period May 1 to July 31 (Fig. 6); the modal date for
completion of first clutches is May 25, and that for the second is
July 5. The schedule of breeding in southern Kansas (chiefly Cowley
County), to judge by 41 records, conforms to the one for northern
Kansas: the season spans the period May 1 to August 10, and the modal
date for first clutches is May 15. The ten-day lag in peak of first
clutches of the northern over the southern sample is about what would
be expected on the basis of differential inception of the biological
growing season from south to north each spring.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size does not vary geographically, to judge
only from the present samples, and all are included in the listing to
follow. The modal size of clutches is 5 eggs (4.7, 3-7; 43); clutches
from the period May 1 to 30 show an average of 5.0 eggs, from June 1
to 20 an average of 4.9 eggs, and from June 21 to August 10, 4.4 eggs.
Nests are usually placed on horizontal surfaces in barns, sheds, or
other such structures; more rarely they are put on bridges, and less
frequently yet on vertical walls of culverts or sheds.
=Purple Martin=: _Progne subis subis_ (Linnaeus).--This summer
resident is common in the east but rare in the west. The only
documented colony west of the 99th meridian was in Oberlin, Decatur
County (Wolfe, 1961), occupied some 50 years ago. Temporal occurrence
is indicated in Table 14.
_Breeding schedule._--The breeding season spans the period May 11 to
June 20 (Fig. 6); the modal date of egg-laying is June 5, and 57 per
cent of all clutches are laid in the period June 1 to 10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.2, 3-6; 33). Mean
clutch-size is 4.3 eggs in May and 4.2 in June. Adults tend to lay
clutches of 5 eggs and first-year birds clutches of 4. Replacement
clutches by birds of any age tend to be of 3 eggs.
Nests are built of sticks and mud placed in cavities; in Kansas these
are almost always in colony houses erected by man. Use of holes and
crevices in old buildings is known to have occurred on the campus of
The University of Kansas in the nineteen thirties (W. S. Long, 1936,
MS), in Oberlin, Decatur County in 1908-1914 (Wolfe, _loc. cit._), and
presently in Ottawa, Franklin County (Hardy, 1961).
=Blue Jay=: _Cyanocitta cristata bromia_ Oberholser.--This resident is
common throughout Kansas in woodland habitats. Most first-year birds
move south in winter, but adults tend to be strictly permanent
residents. Groups of ten to more than 50 individuals can be seen
moving south in October and north in April. All individuals taken from
such mobile groups are in first-year feather.
_Breeding schedule._--Eighty-three records of breeding span the period
April 10 to July 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date of egg-laying is May 15,
and about 50 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period May
11-31. _Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-6; 15).
Nests are placed from eight to 70 feet high (averaging 24 feet) in
forks, crotches, and on horizontal limbs of elm, maple, osage orange,
cottonwood, and ash.
=Black-billed Magpie=: _Pica pica hudsonia_ (Sabine).--This resident
is common in western Kansas, along riparian groves and woodland edge.
Records of nesting are from as far east as Clay County. Wolfe (1961)
outlines the history of magpies in Decatur County as follows: the
species was purported to have appeared in rural districts near Oberlin
in 1918, but Wolfe saw the birds only by 1921, at which time he also
found the first (used) nests. The first reported occupied nest was one
in Hamilton County in 1925 (Linsdale, 1926). Earlier records, chiefly
of occurrence in winter, can be found in Goss (1891).
_Breeding schedule._--Fourteen records of breeding span the period
April 11 to June 20; the modal date for egg-laying is May 15.
_Number of eggs._--There are no data on clutch-size in Kansas;
elsewhere Black-billed Magpies lay 3 to 9 eggs, and clutches of 7 are
found most frequently (Linsdale, 1937:104).
Nests are placed from 10 to 18 feet high (averaging 13 feet) in forks
or lateral masses of branches in cottonwood, box elder, ash, and
willow.
=White-necked Raven=: _Corvus cryptoleucus_ Couch.--This summer
resident is common in western Kansas, probably occupying locally
favorable sites in prairie grassland and woodland edge west of a line
from Smith to Seward counties. The species is known to nest in
Cheyenne, Sherman, and Finney counties.
_Breeding schedule._--There are few data from Kansas; Aldous (1942)
states that the birds begin activities leading to building sometime in
April in Oklahoma; the peak of egg-laying probably occurs in May,
which coincides with the records from Kansas.
_Number of eggs._--Outside Kansas, this species lays 3 to 7 eggs;
these figures seem applicable to Kansas, where brood sizes are known
to run from 1 to 7 young.
Nests are placed about 20 feet high in cottonwood and other trees.
=Common Crow=: _Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos_ Brehm.--This
resident is common in most of Kansas, but numbers are lower in the
west. Distribution in the breeding season is west at least to
Cheyenne, Logan, and Meade counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Sixty-nine records of breeding span the period
March 10 to May 31 (Fig. 7); the modal date for egg-laying is April 5,
and 60 per cent of all eggs are laid between March 21 and April 10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.2, 3-5; 19).
Nests are placed about 20 feet high in crotches near trunks or heavy
branches of such trees as red cedar, elm, oak, osage orange,
cottonwood, honey locust, box elder, and pine.
=Black-capped Chickadee=: _Parus atricapillus_ Linnaeus.--This
resident is common north of the southernmost tier of counties, in
forested and wooded areas. _P. a. atricapillus_ Linnaeus occurs
chiefly east of the 98th meridian, and _P. a. septentrionalis_ Harris
occurs west of this; a broad zone of intergradation exists between
these two subspecies. _Breeding schedule._--Fifty-one records of
breeding span the period March 21 to June 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date
for laying is April 15, and 64 per cent of all eggs are laid between
April 11 and 30.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.4, 4-7; 10).
Nests are placed in cavities about ten feet high (ranging from four to
20 feet) in willow, elm, cottonwood, honey locust, apricot, or
nestboxes placed by man.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Histograms representing breeding
schedules of crows, chickadees, wrens, thrashers, thrushes, and
their allies in Kansas. See legend to Figure 1 for explanation
of histograms.]
=Carolina Chickadee=: _Parus carolinensis atricapilloides_ Lunk.--This
resident is common in the southernmost tier of counties, from Comanche
County east, in forest and woodland edge. Actual records of breeding
are from Barber and Montgomery counties.
_Breeding schedule._--There are no data on breeding of this species in
Kansas.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs.
Nests are placed in cavities of trees.
=Tufted Titmouse=: _Paras bicolor_ Linnaeus.--This resident is common
in the eastern half of Kansas, in woodlands. Specimens taken in the
breeding season and nesting records come from east of a line running
through Cloud, Harvey, and Sumner counties, and the species probably
breeds in Barber County.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period
March 21 to June 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date for laying is April 25,
and 54 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period April 11 to 30.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 to 5 eggs (4.5; 6).
Nests are placed in cavities about 12 feet high (ranging from three to
30 feet) in elm, oak, cottonwood, hackberry, redbud, osage orange, and
nestboxes placed by man.
=White-breasted Nuthatch=: _Sitta carolinensis_ Latham.--This resident
in eastern Kansas, in well-developed woodland, is uncommon. _S. c.
cookei_ Oberholser occurs east of a line running through Douglas and
Cherokee counties, on the basis of specimens taken in the breeding
season and actual nesting records, and _S. c. carolinensis_ Latham
occurs in Montgomery and Labette counties. _S. c. nelsoni_ Mearns has
been recorded in Morton County but probably does not breed there.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in March and April; young have
been recorded being fed by parents throughout May.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is between 5 and 10 eggs.
Nests are placed in cavities about 30 feet high in elm and sycamore.
=House Wren=: _Troglodytes aedon parkmanii_ Audubon.--This summer
resident is common in the east and uncommon in the west. Preferred
habitat is in woodland, brushland, and urban parkland. House Wrens
arrive in eastern Kansas in the period April 3 to 27 (the median is
April 19), and are last seen in autumn in the period September 19 to
October 13 (the median is September 30).
_Breeding schedule._--The 116 records of breeding span the period
April 11 to July 31 (Fig. 7); the modal date of laying is May 20.
About 45 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period May 11 to 31.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 7 eggs (5.8, 3-7; 20). Clutches laid
in May average 6.1 eggs (4-7; 14); those laid in June and July average
5.0 eggs (3-7; 6).
Nests are placed in cavities about ten feet high (ranging from two to
50 feet) in cottonwood, elm, willow, and a wide variety of structures,
mostly nestboxes, built by man.
=Bewick Wren=: _Thryomanes bewickii_ Audubon.--This wren is an
uncommon resident in Kansas, except for the northeastern quarter, in
woodland understory and brushland. _T. b. bewickii_ Audubon occurs
north and east of stations in Riley, Pottawatomie, Douglas, and Linn
counties, and _T. b. cryptus_ Oberholser is found south of stations in
Greeley, Stafford, and Linn counties; a zone of intergradation occurs
between the two named populations. The species occupies marginal
habitat in most of Kansas and periodically is reduced in numbers by
severe winters.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period
March 21 to July 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date for first clutches is
April 15 and for second clutches June 15.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.5, 5-7; 12).
Nests are placed in crevices about five feet high (ranging from zero
to nine feet) in trees (oak, cherry, and pear), boulders, and a wide
variety of structures, some of them nestboxes, built by man;
appropriation and modification of nests of Barn Swallows is known to
occur.
=Carolina Wren=: _Thryothorus ludovicianus ludovicianus_ Latham.--This
common resident of southeastern Kansas in woodland understory and
brushland is uncommon in the northeastern and south-central sectors.
Stations of breeding all fall east of a line running through Doniphan,
Riley, and western Reno counties. North and west of southeastern
Kansas the Carolina Wren is in marginal habitat and periodically is
reduced in numbers by severe winters.
_Breeding schedule._--Fourteen records of breeding span the period
April 11 to August 10; the modal date for laying is April 15, to judge
only from the present sample. The species probably breeds also in late
March and early April.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.2, 3-8; 9).
Nests are placed near the ground in stumps, and a wide variety of
structures built by man, or in crevices in earthen banks.
=Long-billed Marsh Wren=: _Telmatodytes palustris dissaëptus_
(Bangs).--This is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas in and
around marshes. Presumably breeding individuals occur east of stations
in Doniphan, Shawnee, and Sedgwick counties, but actual records of
breeding come only from Doniphan County (Linsdale, 1928:505). First
dates of arrival in spring run from April 19 to 29 (the median is
April 22), and dates of last autumnal occurrence are from September 26
to October 31 (the median is October 8).
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid from May to August.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 or 6 eggs; the range is from 3 to
10 (Welter, 1935).
Nests are woven of broad-bladed grasses, usually no farther than two
feet from water or mud, suspended in vertical plant stalks or branches
in marshes.
=Short-billed Marsh Wren=: _Cistothorus platensis stellaris_
(Nauman).--This rare and irregular summer resident in northeastern
Kansas occurs in wet meadowland. Breeding records are available from
Douglas and Coffey counties. Temporal occurrence in the State is at
least from April 29 to October 25; early dates are most likely of
transients.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in late July and August.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 6 or 7 eggs.
Nests are woven of plant fibers and placed in vertically-running
stalks and stems of grasses and short, woody vegetation, within two
feet of the ground.
=Rock Wren=: _Salpinctes obsoletus obsoletus_
(Say).--This species is a common summer resident in western Kansas, in
open, rocky country. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual
nests found come from west of stations in Decatur, Trego, and Comanche
counties. Dates of occurrence are from April 2 to October 25.
Autumnal, postbreeding movement brings the species east at least to
Cloud County (October 7, 8, and 12) and Douglas County (October 25).
_Breeding schedule._--Sixteen records of breeding span the period May
11 to July 20; the modal date for egg-laying is June 15.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.6, 3-7; 5).
Nests are placed in holes in rocks, occasionally in rodent burrows,
from ground level to 80 feet high on faces of cliffs, but there
averaging about 20 feet.
=Northern Mockingbird=: _Mimus polyglottos_ (Linnaeus).--This is a
common resident in parkland and brushy savannah throughout Kansas. _M.
p. polyglottos_ (Linnaeus) occurs in the east, and _M. p. leucopterus_
(Vigors) in the west; a broad zone of intergradation exists between the
two. Most specimens from Kansas are of intermediate morphology.
_Breeding schedule._--Sixty-nine records of breeding span the period
April 21 to July 31 (Fig. 7); the modal date for first clutches is
June 5, but is weakly indicated in the histogram (Fig. 7).
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.5, 3-5; 27). Size of
clutch does not vary seasonally or geographically in the present
sample.
Nests are placed about four feet high (two to 10 feet) in osage
orange, red cedar, mulberry, scotch pine, catalpa, cottonwood, rose,
and arbor vitae.
=Catbird=: _Dumetella carolinensis_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common
summer resident in the eastern half of Kansas, but is local in the
west, in and near woodland edge and second-growth. First dates of
arrival in spring are from April 25 to May 14 (the median is May 6),
and last dates of autumnal occurrence are between September 20 and
November 16 (the median is September 26).
_Breeding schedule._--Seventy-seven records of breeding span the
period May 11 to July 31 (Fig. 7); the modal date for egg-laying is
May 25, and 57 per cent of all clutches are laid from May 21 to June
10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.3, 2-5; 43). Clutches laid
between May 11 and June 10 tend to be of 4 eggs (3.5, 2-5; 27), and
clutches laid between June 11 and July 31 tend to be of 3 eggs (2.9,
2-4; 16).
Nests are placed about four feet high in shrubs (rose, lilac, plum,
elderberry) and about seven feet high in trees (red cedar, honey
locust, willow, elm, apple, and in vines in such trees).
=Brown Thrasher=: _Toxostoma rufum_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common summer
resident in woodland understory, edge, and second-growth. _T. r. rufum_
(Linnaeus) occurs in eastern Kansas, to the western edge of the Flint
Hills, and _T. r. longicauda_ Baird occurs west of stations in Decatur,
Lane, and Meade counties; the intervening populations are of
intermediate morphologic character. Some individuals overwinter in
Kansas, but most are regular migrants and summer residents, arriving in
spring from April 1 to April 25 (the median is April 19), and departing
in autumn between September 19 and October 13 (the median is September
28).
_Breeding schedule._--The 237 records of breeding span the period May 1
to July 20 (Fig. 7); the modal date for egg-laying is May 15, and
one-third of all eggs are laid in the period May 11 to 20.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs, ranging from 2 to 5. Seasonal
variation and mean values are shown in Table 15.
Nests are placed about four feet high (ranging from 1-2/3 to 15 feet) in
osage orange, elm, ornamental evergreens, gooseberry, barberry, honey
locust, cottonwood, red cedar, rose, plum, honeysuckle, spirea, arbor
vitae, willow, oak, apple, dogwood, and maple.
TABLE 15.--SEASONAL VARIATION IN CLUTCH-SIZE OF THE BROWN THRASHER
============+==================+===================
TIME | Mean clutch-size | Number of records
------------+------------------+-------------------
May 1-10 | 3.3 | 15
May 10-20 | 3.9 | 38
May 21-31 | 4.1 | 13
June 1-10 | 3.5 | 13
June 11-20 | 3.5 | 12
June 21-30 | 3.4 | 9
July 1-10 | 3 | 1
July 11-20 | 3 | 1
All: | 3.63 | 102
------------+------------------+-------------------
=Robin=: _Turdus migratorius migratorius_ Linnaeus.--This summer
resident is common in the east, and is locally common in the west.
Some individuals, usually in small groups, can be seen throughout the
winter in eastern Kansas, and their presence makes it difficult to
document dates of arrival and departure of the strictly summer
resident birds; these can be said to arrive in March and to leave in
October, but these indications are the barest approximations.
_Breeding schedule._--The 334 records of breeding span the period
April 1 to July 20 (Fig. 7); the modal date of laying of first
clutches is April 25, but subsequent peaks are indistinct. Nearly half
of all eggs are laid in the period April 11 to 30.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.6, 3-6; 57). Clutches laid
prior to May 10 average 3.6 eggs (3-6; 47), and those laid subsequent
to May 10 average 3.5 eggs (3-4; 10).
Nests are placed about 13 feet from the ground (ranging from two to 30
feet) in elm, ornamental conifers, fruit trees, cottonwood, mulberry,
walnut, hackberry, oak, ash, maple, osage orange, and coffeeberry.
Robins rarely nest in manmade structures, such as on rafters in sheds
and barns, on bridge stringers, and, exceptionally, on electrical
utility pole installations.
=Wood Thrush=: _Hylocichla mustelina_ (Gmelin).--This is an uncommon
summer resident in eastern Kansas, presently absent from the State
west of stations in Cloud and Barber counties. Preferred habitat is
found in understory of forest and woodland. Wood Thrushes appear to
have nested in small numbers as far west as Oberlin, Decatur County
(Wolfe, 1961), some 50 years ago, but have since disappeared from such
places, probably as a result of progressive modification of watershed
and riparian timber by man. First dates of arrival in spring are from
April 19 to May 20 (the median is May 9), and departure southward is
in the period September 3 to October 1 (the median is September 15).
_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-eight records of breeding fall in the
period May 11 to August 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date of egg-laying is
June 5 for first clutches. Fifty-five per cent of all eggs are laid
between May 21 and June 10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.4, 3-4; 9).
Nests are placed about 11 feet high in elm, dogwood, willow, linden,
and oak.
=Eastern Bluebird=: _Sialia sialis sialis_ (Linnaeus).--This locally
common resident and summer resident in eastern Kansas, is only casual
west of Comanche County, in open parkland and woodland edge.
_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-four records of breeding span the period
April 1 to July 20 (Fig. 7); the modal date for first clutches is
April 25 and for second clutches is June 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.9, 4-6; 15).
Nests are placed in cavities about eight feet high in trees (elm, box
elder, fruit trees, willow, and ash), and about four feet high in
stumps, fence posts, and nestboxes placed by man.
=Blue-gray Gnatcatcher=: _Polioptila caerulea caerulea_
(Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common in eastern Kansas in
brushy woodland, edge, and second growth. Specimens taken in the
breeding season and nesting records come from east of stations in
Riley and Cowley counties, but there is a breeding specimen from
Oklahoma just south of Harper County, Kansas. The species is present
from March 30 to September 18.
_Breeding schedule._--Twelve records of breeding span the period April
20 to June 20; the modal date for egg-laying is May 10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs.
Nests are placed in forks or on limbs about 17 feet high in oak, elm,
honey locust, red haw, pecan, and walnut.
=Cedar Waxwing=: _Bombycilla cedrorum_ Vieillot.--This waxwing is a
rare, local, and highly irregular summer resident in northeastern
Kansas, in woodland and forest edge habitats. The known nesting
stations are in Wyandotte and Shawnee counties; six nests have been
found in the period 1949 to 1960. The species has been recorded in all
months.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in June and early July.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed four to 24 feet high in a variety of deciduous and
coniferous trees and shrubs.
=Loggerhead Shrike=: _Lanius ludovicianus_ Linnaeus.--This common
resident and summer resident favors open country with scattered shrubs
and thickets. _L. l. migrans_ Palmer occurs in eastern Kansas, west to
about the 96th meridian, and _L. l. excubitorides_ Grinnell occurs in
western Kansas, east to about the 100th meridian; populations of
intermediate character occupy central Kansas. These shrikes tend to be
resident in southern counties, but are migratory in the north. Dates
of spring arrival in Cloud County are between March 9 and 31 (the
median is March 21) and the birds leave southward between October 19
and December 19 (the median is November 1).
_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-seven records of breeding span the period
April 1 to June 30 (Fig. 7); the modal date for egg-laying is April
15.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.3, 4-7; 32). There is no
seasonal variation in the sample.
Nests are placed about six feet high (ranging from four to 10 feet) in
osage orange, small pines, honeysuckle vines, and elm.
=Starling=: _Sturnus vulgaris_ Linnaeus.--This species is a common
resident in towns and around farms, foraging in open fields of various
kinds. Starlings (introduced into North America from European stocks
of _S. v. vulgaris_) first appeared in eastern Kansas in the early
1930s and were established as successful residents by 1935 or 1936.
Occupancy of Kansas to the west took only a few years. There are no
specimens taken in the breeding season or actual nesting records from
southwest of Ellis and Stafford counties; Starlings seem to be
resident in Cheyenne County, but no nesting record exists from there.
_Breeding schedule._--Sixty-seven records of breeding span the period
March 1 to June 30 (Fig. 7); the modal date for first clutches is
April 15, and for second clutches is June 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.2, 4-8; 19).
Nests are placed about 22 feet high (ranging from eight to 50 feet) in
crevices in elm, locust, hackberry, nestboxes placed by man, and in a
variety of other structures of man.
=Black-capped Vireo=: _Vireo atricapilla_ Woodhouse.--This was a
summer resident, apparently of limited distribution but in good
numbers, in Comanche County, in oak woodland and brushland edge. No
specimens have been taken in Kansas since 1885.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are probably laid in May and June. Goss
(1891:351) found a nest under construction on May 11, 1885, and this
is the only nesting record of the species in the State.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed low, perhaps around four feet high, in deciduous
trees and shrubs (Davie, _op. cit._).
=White-eyed Vireo=: _Vireo griseus noveboracensis_ (Gmelin).--This is
a local summer resident in eastern Kansas, in woodland and forest
edge. Stations of breeding occurrence are in Doniphan, Douglas,
Johnson, Anderson, Labette, and Montgomery counties. The species is
present within the extreme dates of April 23 to October 5 (Table 16).
_Breeding schedule._--Ten records of breeding span the period May 10
to June 30; the modal date for egg-laying is June 10. The present
sample is not adequate to indicate extreme or modal dates with
reasonable accuracy.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.6, 3-4; 5).
Nests are placed relatively low in forks in trees and shrubs.
=Bell Vireo=: _Vireo bellii bellii_ Audubon.--This summer resident is
common in riparian thickets and second-growth scrub. Temporal
occurrence is indicated in Table 16. _Breeding schedule._--Sixty-six
records of breeding span the period May 1 to July 20 (Fig. 7); the
modal date for egg-laying is May 25, and a little under 40 per cent of
all eggs are laid in the period May 21-31. Renesting following
disruption of first nests is regular, and the small peak in the
histogram in the period June 11-20 is representative of this.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.6, 3-6; 21). Clutches in
May have an average of 3.7 eggs, and those in June and July 3.6 eggs.
Nests are placed about two feet high (ranging from one to five feet)
in terminal or lateral forks of small branches in elm, hackberry,
osage orange, coralberry, dogwood, plum, honey locust, mulberry,
willow, cottonwood, and box elder.
=Yellow-throated Vireo=: _Vireo flavifrons_ Vieillot.--This is a rare
and local summer resident in deciduous forest and woodland in eastern
Kansas. Stations of breeding occurrence fall east of Shawnee and
Woodson counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 16.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in May.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are placed 16 to 30 feet high in forks of mature deciduous
trees.
TABLE 16.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT VIREOS IN KANSAS
=================+==========================+=============================
| Arrival | Departure
SPECIES +----------------+---------+------------------+----------
| Range | Median | Range | Median
-----------------+----------------+---------+------------------+----------
White-eyed Vireo | Apr. 23-May 25 | May 8 | Oct. 5 |
Bell Vireo | Apr. 14-May 20 | May 8 | Aug. 26-Sept. 27 | Sept. 6
Yellow-throated | | | |
Vireo | Apr. 27-May 22 | May 7 | Aug. 23-Oct. 1 | Aug. 31
Red-eyed Vireo | Apr. 21-May 10 | May 4 | Sept. 2-Oct. 7 | Sept. 10
Warbling Vireo | Apr. 20-May 9 | Apr. 28 | Sept. 2-Oct. 6 | Sept. 9
-----------------+----------------+---------+------------------+----------
=Red-eyed Vireo=: _Vireo olivaceus olivaceus_ (Linnaeus).--This summer
resident is common in the east, but is local and less abundant in the
west, in woodland and deciduous forest. Temporal occurrence is
indicated in Table 16.
_Breeding schedule._--Eight records of breeding fall in the period May
21 to July 31; most records of egg-laying are in the first week of
June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.0, 3-5; 5).
Nests are placed in forks of mature deciduous trees, usually fairly
high--perhaps 15 to 25 feet (Davie, 1898).
=Warbling Vireo=: _Vireo gilvus gilvus_ (Vieillot).--This summer
resident is common in woodland and forest edge. Temporal occurrence is
indicated in Table 16.
_Breeding schedule._--Seventeen records of breeding span the period
May 1 to June 20, but it is likely that breeding later in June and
July will be recorded. The modal date for egg-laying is June 5, and
this seems to be a reliable index to the major effort in egg-laying in
spite of the small sample.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.6, 3-4; 5). Nests are
placed three to 25 feet high in a variety of deciduous shrubs and
trees.
=Black-and-white Warbler=: _Mniotilta varia_ (Linnaeus).--This local
and uncommon summer resident lives in deciduous forest and woodland.
Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual records of nesting
come from Doniphan, Douglas, Coffey, Greenwood, Sedgwick, Labette, and
Cherokee counties. Temporal occurrence in the State is indicated in
Table 17.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is around 5 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed on the ground, in depressions or niches, under heavy
cover.
=Prothonotary Warbler=: _Protonotaria citrea_ (Boddaert).--This is a
local summer resident in eastern Kansas, in understory of riparian
timber and swampy woodland. Specimens taken in the breeding season and
actual records of nesting come from Doniphan, Douglas, Linn, and
Cowley counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 17.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period
May 11 to July 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is June 5,
and 75 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period June 1 to 20.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.5, 3-6; 15).
Nests are placed in holes and niches in willow, red haw, elm, and a
variety of stumps, about eight feet high (ranging from five to 20
feet), usually over water. A pair nested once in a gourd under the
eave of a house in Winfield, Cowley County, and another pair in a tin
cup on a shelf at a sawmill (Goss, ex Long, 1936).
=Parula Warbler=: _Parula americana_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident
in eastern Kansas usually can be found in heavy woodland and
flood-plain timber. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual
records of breeding come from Doniphan, Riley, Douglas, Montgomery,
Labette, and Cherokee counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in
Table 17.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least from mid-May to mid-June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are placed in debris in root tangles along stream banks, and,
presumably, in pendant arboreal lichens.
=Yellow Warbler=: _Dendroica petechia_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident
is common in the east, in woodland and riparian growths. _D. p. aestiva_
(Gmelin) occupies eastern Kansas west at least to Barber County, but it
is not known how far west representatives of this population breed. _D.
p. morcomi_ Coale breeds in western Kansas. _D. p. sonorana_ Brewster, a
name applicable to Yellow Warblers of the southwestern United States and
northern Mexico, has been considered a "straggler" (Long, 1940) or
probable summer resident (Tordoff, 1956; Johnston, 1960) in southwestern
Kansas, on the basis of one specimen taken on June 24, 1911, at a point
two miles south of Wallace, Wallace County. This specimen, which is
pale, was identified in 1935 as _D. p. sonorana_ by H. C. Oberholser.
Specimens taken subsequently from Cheyenne, Hamilton, and Morton
counties in the breeding season can be referred adequately to _D. p.
morcomi_. Probably the specimen of 1911 is a pale variant of _D. p.
morcomi_ within its normal distributional range. _Breeding
schedule._--Thirty-five records of breeding span the period May 11 to
June 20 (Fig. 8); this probably is inadequate to show the extent of the
season, and some egg-laying into July is likely to be found in the
future. The modal date of egg-laying is May 25, and this is likely to be
reliable.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.2, 3-5; 29).
Nests are placed about nine feet high (ranging from five to 20 feet)
in crotches of trees and shrubs including willow, elderberry,
cottonwood, crabapple, plum, and coralberry.
=Prairie Warbler=: _Dendroica discolor discolor_ (Vieillot).--This
rare, local summer resident occurs in deciduous second-growth. The
only breeding records are from Wyandotte and Johnson counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed low, perhaps about four feet high, in a wide variety
of small trees and shrubs.
=Louisiana Waterthrush=: _Seiurus motacilla_ (Vieillot).--This uncommon
to rare summer resident in eastern Kansas lives in woodland understory
near streams. Nesting records come from Douglas, Miami, Linn, and
Crawford counties. Wolfe (1961) reports he found a nest with young near
Oberlin, Decatur County, on June 10, 1910, under an overhanging bank of
Sappa Creek; Decatur County is some 250 miles west of the present
western limit of the breeding range of the Louisiana Waterthrush, and
western habitats are not favorable for their occurrence. Temporal
characteristics of their distribution are indicated in Table 17.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed in concealed places in banks or stumps always where
it is wet.
TABLE 17.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT WOOD WARBLERS
IN KANSAS
==================+=========================+=============================
| Arrival | Departure
SPECIES +----------------+--------+------------------+----------
| Range | Median | Range | Median
------------------+----------------+--------+------------------+----------
Black-and-white | | | |
Warbler | Apr. 2-May 12 | May 5 | Sept. 10-Oct. 14 | Sept. 22
Prothonotary | | | |
Warbler | Apr. 24-May 25 | May 8 | Aug. 6-Sept. 10 | Aug. 22
Parula Warbler | Apr. 6-May 5 | Apr. 23| Sept. 12-Oct. 7 | Sept. 18
Yellow Warbler | Apr. 21-May 7 | Apr. 30| Aug. 28-Oct. 1 | Sept. 4
Louisiana | | | |
Waterthrush | Apr. 2-May 2 | Apr. 16| Aug. ? |
Kentucky Warbler | Apr. 24-May 15 | May 3 | Sept. 13 |
Yellowthroat | Apr. 21-May 10 | May 3 | Sept. 8-Oct. 3 | Sept. 17
Yellow-breasted | | | |
Chat | Apr. 29-May 19 | May 11 | Aug. 29-Oct. 1 | Sept. 8
American Redstart | Apr. 22-May 20 | May 12 | Sept. 1-Oct. 7 | Sept. 10
------------------+----------------+--------+------------------+----------
=Kentucky Warbler=: _Oporornis formosus_ (Wilson).--This is an
uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in deciduous forest and
woodland. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual records of
nesting come from Riley, Doniphan, Douglas, Leavenworth, Linn,
Montgomery, and Labette counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in
Table 17.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 or 5 eggs.
Nests are placed near or on the ground, usually at the base of small
shrubs or clumps of grass.
=Yellowthroat=: _Geothlypis trichas_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident
in and near marshes is common in the east and is local and somewhat
less common in the west. _G. t. brachydactylus_ (Swainson) breeds east
of stations in Clay, Greenwood, and Montgomery counties, _G. t.
occidentalis_ Brewster breeds west of stations in Decatur, Stafford,
and Pratt counties, and the intervening area is occupied by warblers
of intermediate morphologic characters. Temporal occurrence is
indicated in Table 17.
_Breeding schedule._--Nine records of breeding span the period May 11
to June 10; the modal date of egg-laying is June 1. The season is
probably more extended in time than is indicated by the available
records.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.8, 4-5; 6).
Nests are placed in cattails and sedges one to two and one-half feet
high.
=Yellow-breasted Chat=: _Icteria virens_ (Linnaeus).--This summer
resident is common in willow thickets and rank second-growth. _I. v.
virens_ (Linnaeus) breeds in eastern Kansas, from Nemaha County south,
_I. v. auricollis_ (Deppe) breeds in western Kansas, from Norton
County south, and the intervening sector is occupied by chats of
intermediate morphologic character. Temporal occurrence is indicated
in Table 17.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-six records of breeding span the period
May 11 to July 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for completion of clutches
is June 5. Forty-two per cent of all eggs are laid in the period June
1 to 10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.9, 3-5; 21). Clutches in
May are larger than those in June and July.
Nests are placed in forks and crotches about three feet high in
dogwood, willow, rose, coralberry, cottonwood, and thistles.
=Hooded Warbler=: _Wilsonia citrina_ (Boddaert).--This warbler is a
rare summer resident in eastern Kansas, in wet, open woodland.
Specimens (a total of four) taken in the breeding season are from
Leavenworth and Shawnee counties, and the one nesting record is from
Anderson County.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in May.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are low (some as high as six feet) in woody vegetation.
=American Redstart=: _Setophaga ruticilla ruticilla_ (Linnaeus).--This
summer resident occurs locally in woodlands east from stations in
Cloud and Sumner Counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table
17.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898), but
there are two records of 5 in Kansas. Nests are placed six to 30 feet
high, but usually about 12 feet, in forks or saddled on a branch, in
deciduous trees.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--Histograms representing breeding
schedules of wood warblers, the House Sparrow, icterids, and
cardinal grosbeaks in Kansas. See legend to Figure 1 for
explanation of histograms.]
=House Sparrow=: _Passer domesticus_ (Linnaeus).--This sparrow,
introduced from stocks in Ohio and New York (originally from England
and Germany), has been present since about 1876 in eastern Kansas; it
is a common resident in towns and at farmsteads throughout the state.
Nomenclaturally, House Sparrows in North America consistently have
been referred to the European ancestral stocks, _P. d. domesticus_,
but none in North America today duplicates morphologically the
European birds. This is evidence of meaningful adaptation of the North
American populations to environments in which they now live, and
continued use of _P. d. domesticus_ is misleading. Studies on local
differentiation in North American House Sparrows are in progress, and
when the biology of sparrows in the midwest is better understood,
suitable nomenclatural proposals will be made.
_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-one records of breeding span the period
March 20 to July 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for laying of first
clutches is April 5, and for second clutches May 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.9, 3-7; 13).
Nests are placed in niches of various sorts seven to 50 feet high in
buildings, nestboxes, and trees, or freely situated in forks and
crotches of large trees.
=Bobolink=: _Dolichonyx oryzivorus_ (Linnaeus).--This species is a
rare and local summer resident, in and about grassy meadows. There are
but two stations of breeding in Kansas: Jamestown State Lake, Cloud
County, and Big Salt Marsh, Stafford County. Temporal occurrence is
indicated in Table 18.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs.
Nests are placed on the ground amidst grasses.
=Eastern Meadowlark=: _Sturnella magna_ (Linnaeus).--This summer
resident and resident is common in eastern Kansas, in moist grassland.
_S. m. argutula_ Bangs occurs in Montgomery, Labette, and Cherokee
counties and intergrades to the north and west with _S. m. magna_
(Linnaeus). Good numbers of birds are found east of the Flint Hills,
but to the west the species is of restricted and local distribution.
Extreme outliers of the species are found no farther west than
stations in Jewell, Stafford, and Barber counties.
_Breeding schedule._--Forty records of breeding span the period April
10 to July 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is May 5.
Fifty-seven per cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 1 to 20.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.2, 4-7; 26). Prior to May
11, clutch-size is 5.3 eggs (13 records), and after that date it is
5.1 eggs (13 records).
Nests are placed on the ground, with cover of grasses or forbs.
=Western Meadowlark=: _Sturnella neglecta neglecta_ (Audubon).--This
is a common resident and summer resident in western Kansas, and is
restricted and local in the east; preferred habitat is in grassy
uplands.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-three records of breeding span the period
April 10 to July 30 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is May 5
for first nests and June 5 for second nests.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.3, 3-6; 16).
Nests are placed on the ground with cover of grasses or forbs.
=Yellow-headed Blackbird=: _Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus_
(Bonaparte).--This uncommon and local summer resident occurs chiefly
in the west, in marshes. Nesting records are from Wallace, Meade,
Barton, Stafford, Doniphan, and Douglas counties. Temporal occurrence
is indicated in Table 18.
_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-one records of breeding span the period
May 20 to June 30; the modal date of egg-laying is June 5. The sample
is probably not large enough to be wholly reliable.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are placed within a few feet of water in cattail, rush, sedge,
and willow.
=Red-winged Blackbird=: _Agelaius phoeniceus_ (Linnaeus).--This is a
common summer resident in marshes, wet pasture, and scrubby parkland
throughout the State. _A. p. phoeniceus_ (Linnaeus) occurs in most of
Kansas and _A. p. fortis_ (Ridgway) occurs in the west, east to about
Decatur County. A few birds can be found in eastern Kansas in winter;
the full breeding population is present between April and October.
_Breeding schedule._--The 109 records of breeding in Cloud County span
the period May 1 to July 30 (Fig. 8); the modal date for laying is May
25, and 71 per cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 11 to June
10. Eighty-eight records of breeding from northwestern Kansas make a
histogram almost exactly duplicating the one from Cloud County.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size at Concordia, Cloud County, is 4 eggs
(3.7, 3-5; 48); in northeastern Kansas mean clutch-size is 3.7 eggs
(3-5; 46). For the total sample, mean clutch-size in May is 4.0 eggs,
in June, 3.7 eggs, and in July, 3.3 eggs.
Nests are placed about four feet high (one to nine feet) in willow,
cattail, sedge, grass, elm, exotic conifer, elderberry, coralberry,
buttonbrush, honeysuckle, smartweed, ash, osage orange, and yellow
clover.
In central Kansas red-wings are host to the Brown-headed Cowbird in a
frequency of one parasitized nest out of nine; in northeastern Kansas
the ratio is 1:25.
TABLE 18.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT ICTERIDS IN KANSAS
=================+===========================+============================
| Arrival | Departure
SPECIES +-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
| Range | Median | Range | Median
-----------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
Bobolink | May 4-May 21 | May 11 | Aug. 28-Oct. 1 | Sept. 12
Yellow-headed | | | |
Blackbird | Mar. 31-Apr. 29 | Apr. 19 | Sept. 19-Oct. 18 | Sept. 24
Orchard Oriole | Apr. 25-May 14 | May 4 | Aug. 5-Sept. 15 | Aug. 9
Baltimore Oriole | Apr. 24-May 5 | Apr. 29 | Sept. 6-Sept. 29 | Sept. 10
Common Grackle | Mar. 2-Mar. 27 | Mar. 17 | Oct. 15-Nov. 14 | Oct. 31
-----------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
=Orchard Oriole=: _Icterus spurius_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident
is common in parkland, woodland, and old second-growth. Temporal
occurrence is indicated in Table 18.
_Breeding schedule._--The 118 records of breeding span the period May
11 to August 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date for completion of clutches is
June 5, and 45 per cent of all eggs are laid in the first ten days of
June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-6; 41). Clutches laid
at the peak of the season average 4.3 eggs (3-6; 26), and replacement
clutches average 3.8 eggs (3-4; 9). Nests are hung about 15 feet high
(ranging from six to 55 feet) in elm, cottonwood, hackberry, locust,
catalpa, willow, alder, osage orange, walnut, pear, linden, and ash.
=Baltimore Oriole=: _Icterus galbula_ (Linnaeus).--This common summer
resident is most numerous in the east, in woodland and riparian
timber. The species hybridizes freely with the Bullock Oriole in
western Kansas, and individuals morphologically typical of Baltimore
Orioles are rare west of the 100th meridian. Evidence of such
hybridization can be found in specimens taken in eastern Kansas, but
the linear nature of distribution along water-courses to the west
restricts gene-flow, and evident hybrids are not yet conspicuous.
Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 18.
_Breeding schedule._--Eighty-three records of breeding span the period
May 11 to July 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date of egg-laying is June 5,
and 66 per cent of all eggs are laid between May 21 and June 10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs.
Nests are hung about 24 feet high (ranging from nine to 70 feet) in
elm, cottonwood, sycamore, maple, and oak.
=Bullock Oriole=: _Icterus bullockii_ (Swainson).--This summer
resident is common in western Kansas in woodland and riparian
situations. The species hybridizes freely with the Baltimore Oriole,
and most Bullock Orioles in Kansas show evidence of such
interbreeding. Almost all records of breeding come from west of the
100th meridian, but the species in recognizable form probably breeds
locally at least as far east as Stafford County.
_Breeding schedule._--Few nesting records are available, but these
suggest that the breeding schedule of the Bullock Oriole resembles
those of the preceding two species in Kansas.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are hung about 26 feet high (ranging from 10 to 50 feet) in
cottonwood, elm, and other large trees.
=Common Grackle=: _Quiscalus quiscula versicolor_ Vieillot.--This
summer resident is common in parkland, and around towns and farms.
Most individuals move out of Kansas in winter, and the temporal
occurrence of these birds is indicated in Table 18.
_Breeding schedule._--The 233 records of breeding span the period
April 11 to June 30 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is May 5,
and two-thirds of all eggs are laid between May 1 and May 20.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.5, 3-6; 33). Clutches laid
at the peak of the season average 4.7 eggs (3-6; 21), and those laid
as replacement clutches average 4.3 eggs (3-6; 12).
Nests are placed in forks and crotches about 22 feet high (ranging
from six to 50 feet) in elm, red cedar, cottonwood, oak, box elder,
and pine.
=Brown-headed Cowbird=: _Molothrus ater ater_ (Boddaert).--Many
individuals of this common summer resident overwinter in the southern
part of the State and it is difficult to determine dates of arrival
and departure in Kansas. Conspicuous abundance in the north covers the
period April to October.
_Breeding schedule._--The 141 instances of egg-laying span the period
April 21 to July 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date of laying is May 15, and
53 per cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 11 to June 10.
Inception of laying is here fairly reliably indicated, but in
exceptionally early springs laying does occur earlier; a few eggs were
found on April 6, 1963, too late for incorporation into this report
other than in this sentence.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size in cowbirds is not readily determined.
On the basis of ovarian examination of five females taken in
mid-season, the birds here lay about five eggs at a time. There is no
question that the birds are "double-brooded" in Kansas, and the season
is sufficiently long for as many as five "clutches" to be laid by a
given female.
Eggs are laid in nests of some forty species of birds in Kansas; 39 of
these are passerines. No preference for any one species is detectable;
the most frequently parasitized species are simply the common species,
and these are the kinds for which nesting records are easily gathered
by man. In the following list of host species, the names marked with
an asterisk are the conspicuously parasitized species.
Mourning Dove, Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Phoebe,* Say Phoebe,* Acadian
Flycatcher, Barn Swallow, Horned Lark, Carolina Wren, Rock Wren, Brown
Thrasher,* Mockingbird, Catbird, Wood Thrush,* Eastern Bluebird,
Yellow-throated Vireo, Bell Vireo,* White-eyed Vireo,* Parula Warbler,
Yellow Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Louisiana
Waterthrush, Yellow-breasted Chat, Yellowthroat, Eastern Meadowlark,
Western Meadowlark, Red-winged Blackbird,* Orchard Oriole,* Cardinal,*
Black-headed Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting,* Blue Grosbeak, Dickcissel,* Pine
Siskin,* Rufous-sided Towhee,* Grasshopper Sparrow, Lark Sparrow,*
Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow.*
=Scarlet Tanager=: _Piranga olivacea_ (Gmelin).--This rare summer
resident in northeastern Kansas occurs in deciduous forest and
bottomland timber. Specimens taken in the breeding season and records
of nesting come from Clay, Doniphan, Douglas, Wyandotte, Johnson, and
Linn counties, but the species probably occupies the entire eastern
third of the State. Dates of arrival in spring are from April 29 to
May 25 (the median is May 11), and dates of departure in autumn are
from August 4 to September 23 (the median is August 10).
_Breeding schedule._--Six records of breeding fall in the period May
11 to June 20.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are placed 20 to 35 feet high in elm, linden, hickory, and
walnut.
=Summer Tanager=: _Piranga rubra rubra_ (Linnaeus).--This uncommon
summer resident in eastern Kansas occurs in woodland. Specimens taken
in the breeding season and records of nesting come from east of
stations in Doniphan, Shawnee, and Montgomery counties. Dates of
arrival in spring run from April 24 to May 18 (the median is April
29), and the species departs southward in September and October.
_Breeding schedule._--Eleven records of egg-laying cover the period
May 21 to July 20; the modal date for laying is June 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are situated ten to 20 feet high on horizontal limbs of large
trees.
=Cardinal=: _Richmondena cardinalis cardinalis_ (Linnaeus).--This
species is a common resident in eastern Kansas, west to about the 99th
meridian; west of this line the species becomes local and uncommon to
rare. Habitat in the east is found in woodland, edge, second-growth and
open riparian timber, and in the west the species is restricted to
riparian growths, chiefly along the Republican, Solomon, Smoky Hill,
Arkansas, and Cimarron rivers, and their larger tributaries.
_Breeding schedule._--The 117 records of breeding span the period
April 1 to September 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for laying of first
clutches is May 1, subsequent to which breeding activity is regular
but asynchronous.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.5, 3-6; 65). Seasonal
variation in clutch-size is as follows:
Date Mean clutch-size Number of records
April 1-20 3.0 6
April 21-May 10 3.8 25
May 11-May 31 3.3 15
June 1-June 20 3.6 11
June 21-July 20 3.3 7
Nests are placed about five feet high (ranging from 10 inches to 40
feet) in osage orange, elm, grape, rose, red cedar, coralberry,
willow, cottonwood, gooseberry, oak, elderberry, box elder, arbor
vitae, Lombardy poplar, Forsythia, pines, honeysuckle, wisteria,
lilac, red haw, hickory, dogwood, and sycamore.
=Rose-breasted Grosbeak=: _Pheucticus ludovicianus_ (Linnaeus).--This
is a local and at times common summer resident in eastern Kansas, in
woodland, edge, and riparian timber. Specimens taken in the breeding
season and actual records of breeding come from Clay, Riley, Doniphan,
Leavenworth, and Douglas counties. This species meets and hybridizes
with the Black-headed Grosbeak west of the Flint Hills. Temporal
occurrence in the State is indicated in Table 19.
_Breeding schedule._--Eleven records of breeding span the period May
11 to July 10; the modal date for laying is probably June 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 or 4 eggs.
Nests are placed in deciduous trees, in forks and crotches six to 30
feet high.
=Black-headed Grosbeak=: _Pheucticus mehnocephalus melanocephalus_
(Swainson).--This summer resident is common in western Kansas, chiefly
along streams. Individuals referable to this species by sight records
alone breed in fair numbers as far east as Cloud and Sedgwick
counties, but to the east of these stations numbers are reduced,
partly as a result of presumed competition with the Rose-breasted
Grosbeak. Hybrids between these two grosbeaks are regularly produced.
The easternmost record of breeding by this species is at St. Mary's,
Pottawatomie County, where a male was seen as probably mated with a
female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Temporal occurrence is indicated in
Table 19.
_Breeding schedule._--Sixteen records of breeding span the period May
11 to July 10; the modal date for egg-laying is June 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (3.7, 3-4; 4). Nests
are placed about 12 feet high in a variety of deciduous trees.
=Blue Grosbeak=: _Guiraca caerulea_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common to
uncommon summer resident in most of Kansas, in brushland and streamside
thickets. _G. c. caerulea_ (Linnaeus) breeds in the east, east of
stations in Douglas, Greenwood, and Cowley counties, and _G. c.
interfusa_ Dwight and Griscom breeds in the west, west of stations in
Cloud, Stafford, and Clark counties; a broad zone of intergradation
exists between the two named populations. Temporal occurrence is
indicated in Table 19.
_Breeding schedule._--Seven records of breeding span the period May 21 to
June 30; the modal date of laying seems to be in late May or early June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are placed from three to 30 feet high in a variety of deciduous
plants.
TABLE 19.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT CARDINAL
GROSBEAKS IN KANSAS
=================+=========================+=============================
| Arrival | Departure
SPECIES +----------------+--------+------------------+----------
| Range | Median | Range | Median
-----------------+----------------+--------+------------------+----------
Rose-breasted | | | |
Grosbeak | Apr. 25-May 5 | May 2 | Sept. 4-Oct. 1 | Sept. 13
Black-headed | | | |
Grosbeak | Apr. 26-May 11 | May 5 | Aug. 17-Sept. 18 | Sept. 2
Blue Grosbeak | Apr. 25-May 26 | May 13 | Aug. 15-Sept. 3 | Aug. 27
Indigo Bunting | Apr. 20-May 15 | May 6 | Aug. 23-Oct. 31 | Oct. 1
Lazuli Bunting | May 5-May 24 | May 10 | |
Painted Bunting | Apr. 30-May 25 | May 9 | |
Dickcissel | Apr. 21-May 10 | May 4 | Sept. 7-Oct. 11 | Sept. 18
-----------------+----------------+--------+------------------+----------
=Indigo Bunting=: _Passerina cyanea_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident
is common in mixed-field and heavy brushland habitats. The species
extends westerly, in riparian situations, in reduced numbers,
ultimately meeting and hybridizing with the Lazuli Bunting. Specimens
referrable to the Indigo Bunting have been taken as far west as Finney
County, but most specimens from that far west show evidence of
interbreeding with Lazuli Buntings. Temporal occurrence is indicated
in Table 19.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-four records of breeding span the period
May 11 to August 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is June
15.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.1, 2-4; 17).
Nests are placed about three feet high (ranging from one to nine feet)
in coralberry, sumac, thistle, sycamore sprouts, hickory sprouts,
grape, elderberry, cottonwood, dogwood, ragweed, and grasses.
=Lazuli Bunting=: _Passerina amoena_ (Say).--This uncommon summer
resident of western Kansas occurs in edge habitats and streamside
thickets. The one breeding record is from Morton County, and there is
a breeding specimen taken at Sharon Springs, Wallace County. The
species hybridizes with the Indigo Bunting in the western half of the
State. Temporal occurrence in spring is indicated in Table 19.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in June and July.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed a few feet from the ground, probably much as are
nests of the Indigo Bunting.
=Painted Bunting=: _Passerina ciris pallidior_ Mearns.--This is an
uncommon summer resident in the southeastern third of Kansas, in edge
habitats and streamside brush. Specimens taken in the breeding season
and actual nesting records come from Douglas, Shawnee, Geary, Barber,
and Crawford counties. Temporal occurrence in spring is indicated in
Table 19.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in June and July.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed in deciduous shrubs and trees.
=Dickcissel=: _Spiza americana_ (Gmelin).--This species is a common
summer resident in eastern Kansas and is local and irregular in the
west, in grassland habitats. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table
19.
_Breeding schedule._--Forty-one records of breeding span the period
May 1 to July 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying seems to be
May 5, but the curiously abrupt inception of breeding described by
this sample suggests that more records are needed to document fully
the breeding schedule of this species. Breeding in April almost
certainly will be found.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 14).
Nests are placed about two feet high (ranging from ground level to 12
feet) in grasses, osage orange, sedge, box elder, honey locust,
clover, thistle, and blackberry.
=Pine Siskin=: _Spinus pinus pinus_ (Wilson).--This irregular summer
resident occurs locally north of the 38th parallel, chiefly around
planted conifers. Known stations of breeding are in Hays, Ellis
County, Concordia, Cloud County, and Onaga and St. Marys, Pottawatomie
County.
_Breeding schedule._--Twelve records of breeding span the period March
11 to May 20 (Fig. 9); most nests have been established in late April
or by early May.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. Of ten nests examined
for eggs, five had at least one egg of the Brown-headed Cowbird; if it
is assumed that each cowbird egg replaced one of the siskins, mean
clutch-size is 3.7 eggs.
Nests are placed about seven feet high (ranging from 3.5 to 13 feet)
in red cedar, exotic conifers, and Lombardy poplar.
=American Goldfinch=: _Spinus tristis tristis_ (Linnaeus).--This
resident is common in woodland edge, scrubby second-growth, old
fields, and riparian thickets. Occurrence tends to be local and at low
density in the southwestern sector.
_Breeding schedule._--Twelve records of breeding span the period June
20 to September 10 (Fig. 9); the modal date for laying is August 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.4, 3-6; 8).
Nests are placed from two to eight feet high in woody or herbaceous
vegetation.
=Red Crossbill=: _Loxia curvirostra_ Linnaeus.--This is an uncommon
and irregular winter visitant to Kansas, but it nested once in Shawnee
County. _L. c. minor_ (Brehm), on geographic grounds, probably nested
here, but five other subspecies have been recorded in the State and
any one of these might have undertaken the aberrant breeding.
_Breeding record._--Three eggs, set completed March 24, 1917, Shawnee
County; successfully fledged (Hyde, 1917:166). The species usually
lays 4 eggs and places its nests in conifers.
=Rufous-sided Towhee=: _Pipilo erythrophthalmus erythrophthalmus_
(Linnaeus).--This is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in
understory of woodland and streamside timber. Specimens taken in the
breeding season and actual records of nesting come from east of
stations in Cloud, Marion, and Cherokee counties. Temporal occurrence
is indicated in Table 20; records of _P. e. arcticus_ (Swainson) have
been eliminated from the sample as far as has been possible.
_Breeding schedule._--Nineteen records of breeding span the period
April 21 to August 10 (Fig. 9); the modal date for egg-laying is May
5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.0, 3-7; 14).
Nests are placed on the ground, in heavy cover.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.--Histograms representing breeding
schedules of cardueline and emberizine finches in Kansas. See
legend to Figure 1 for explanation of histograms.]
=Lark Bunting=: _Calamospiza melanocorys_ Stejneger.--This species is
ordinarily a common summer resident in western Kansas, in grassland
and open scrub. Specimens taken in the breeding season and all
breeding records except one for western Franklin County come from west
of stations in Decatur, Ellis, and Comanche counties. Irregular
fluctuations in breeding density have been recorded from Decatur
County (Wolfe, 1961). Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 20.
_Breeding schedule._--Fourteen records of breeding span the period May
21 to June 20; the modal date of egg-laying cannot be determined from
the present sample.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 7).
Nests are placed on the ground, at bases of clumps of grasses.
=Grasshopper Sparrow=: _Ammodramus savannarum perpallidus_
(Coues).--This species is a local and at times common summer resident
throughout Kansas, in grassland. Temporal occurrence is indicated in
Table 20.
_Breeding schedule._--Seven records of breeding fall in the period May
1 to June 30; the modal date of laying seems to be about May 21.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.8, 4-5; 5).
Nests are placed on the ground or in low vegetation, with cover of
grasses or forbs.
=Henslow Sparrow=: _Passerherbulus henslowii henslowii_
(Audubon).--This is an uncommon and local summer resident in eastern
Kansas, in grassland. Breeding records are from Cloud, Shawnee,
Douglas, Morris, and Anderson counties. Temporal occurrence is
indicated in Table 20.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs.
Nests are placed on the ground, usually in bluestem pasture, but in
any case grasses.
=Lark Sparrow=: _Chondestes grammacus_ (Say).--This is a common summer
resident in grassland edge habitats. _C. g. grammacus_ (Say) breeds
east of the Flint Hills, east of stations in Pottawatomie, Anderson,
and Montgomery counties, and _C. g. strigatus_ Swainson breeds west of
stations in Clay, Dickinson, Harvey, and Sedgwick counties; specimens
from the intervening area are of intermediate subspecific character.
Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 20.
_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-nine records of breeding span the period
May 1 to July 20 (Fig. 9); the modal date for egg-laying is probably
May 25, but the sample may not be reliable in this respect.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 28).
Nests are usually placed on the ground, in cover of pasture grasses,
clover, thistle, milo maize, and soybean; there is one record of a
nest one and one-half feet high in a small pine.
=Cassin Sparrow=: _Aimophila cassinii_ (Woodhouse).--This is a common
summer resident in open scrub and grassland edge, to the south and
west of Wallace and Comanche counties. Specimens taken in the breeding
season and actual nesting records are from Wallace, Hamilton, Kearny,
Finney, Morton, and Comanche counties; the A. O. U. Check-list (1957)
cites Hays, Ellis County, as a breeding locality, but it is doubtful
that the species now occurs there. _Breeding schedule._--Eggs are
laid in May and June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are placed on the ground, at bases of small bushes.
TABLE 20.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT AMERICAN
BUNTINGS IN KANSAS
=================+===========================+============================
| Arrival | Departure
SPECIES +-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
| Range | Median | Range | Median
-----------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
Rufous-sided | | | |
Towhee | Apr. 2-Apr. 19 | Apr. 9 | Sept. 20-Oct. 8 | Sept. 29
Lark Bunting | May 5-May 14 | May 10 | |
Grasshopper | | | |
Sparrow | Apr. 12-May 11 | Apr. 29 | Aug. 20-Oct. 6 | Aug. 31
Henslow Sparrow | Apr. 14-Apr. 30 | Apr. 22 | Oct. 15 |
Lark Sparrow | Mar. 29-Apr. 21 | Apr. 18 | Sept. 13-Oct. 16 | Oct. 12
Chipping Sparrow | Mar. 6-Apr. 29 | Apr. 23 | Oct. 3-Nov. 15 | Oct. 20
Field Sparrow | Mar. 4-Apr. 28 | Apr. 7 | Oct. 5-Nov. 12 | Oct. 30
-----------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
=Chipping Sparrow=: _Spizella passerina passerina_ (Bechstein).--This is
an uncommon summer resident in open woodland, second-growth, and edge.
_S. p. passerina_ is found east of stations in Barber and Shawnee
counties; Chipping Sparrows are not known to breed farther to the west,
but records for north-central Kansas are likely to be found. The
subspecific affinities of our Chipping Sparrows are entirely with the
nominate subspecies, and there is no basis for earlier reports (Long,
1940; Tordoff, 1956; Johnston, 1960) that _S. p. arizonae_ Coues (= _S.
p. boreophila_ Oberholser) occurs in Kansas.
_Breeding schedule._--Nine records of breeding fall in the period May 1
to May 10, in no way indicating the whole span of the breeding season;
the species probably lays eggs in May and July, as well as in June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs.
Nests are placed four to 40 feet high in evergreens of a variety of
kinds.
=Field Sparrow=: _Spizella pusilla_ (Wilson).--This species is a common
summer resident in grassland and edge habitats. _S. p. pusilla_ (Wilson)
breeds in eastern Kansas chiefly east of the Flint Hills; _S. p.
arenacea_ Chadbourne breeds in central and western Kansas, intergrading
easterly with _S. p. pusilla_.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-nine records of breeding span the period
April 21 to September 10 (Fig. 9); the modal date for first clutches is
May 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 21).
Nests are placed about 10 inches high (ranging from ground level to
three feet) in or among coralberry, osage orange, elm, oak, rose, and,
once, peony.
=Chestnut-collared Longspur=: _Calcarius ornatus_ (Townsend).--This was
formerly a summer resident in western Kansas, in short-grass habitat.
The only known nesting area was in the vicinity of Ft. Hays, Ellis
County. The species is to be looked for in prairie with short grass type
of vegetation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many persons have contributed field observations such as dates of
arrival and departure for migrants, and the various activities of the
breeding cycle for most of the species here discussed. An alphabetic
listing of their names follows.
Galen Abbot, Ruth Abbot, Ted Anderson, Ted F. Andrews, Jon Barlow,
Amelia Betts, Grace Thompson Bigelow, L. C. Binford, Bessie Boso,
William J. Brecheisen, J. Walker Butin, L. B. Carson, Mrs. Eunice
Dingus, Charles S. Edwards, A. S. Gaunt, Sue Griffith, Mrs. Mary F.
Hall, J. W. Hardy, Stanley Hunter, Katherine Kelley, E. E. Klaas, W. C.
Kerfoot, John A. Knouse, Eugene Lewis, Eulalia Lewis, John Lenz, Nathan
H. McDonald, Marno McKaughan, Merrill McHenry, Robert M. Mengel, Robert
Merz, Jim Myers, Mary Louise Myers, Mrs. Kathryn Nelson, T. W. Nelson,
Steven Norris, Dan Michener, P. W. Ogilvie, Gary C. Packard, Mrs. Marion
J. Mengel, Dwight Platt, William Reynolds, Frank Robl, S. D. Roth, Jr.,
Nancy Saunders, Richard H. Schmidt, Marvin D. Schwilling, T. M. Sperry,
Steve Stephens, Max Thompson, Fr. Matthew Turk, Emil Urban, J. W.
Wallace, H. E. Warfel, A. W. Wiens, Mrs. Joyce Wildenthal, George Young,
and Richard Zenger.
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1938. The relation between latitude and breeding season in birds.
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1960. Response to pervasive geophysical factors and the
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DAVIS, T. A. W.
1953. An outline of the ecology and breeding seasons of birds of
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GOSS, N. S.
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GRABER, R., AND GRABER, J.
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JOHNSTON, R. F.
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LACK, D.
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1958. Induction of broodiness by participation in courtship and
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LINSDALE, J. M.
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1937. The natural history of magpies. Pac. Coast Avif.,
25:1-234.
MARSHALL, A. J., and DISNEY, H. J. de S.
1957. Experimental induction of the breeding season in a
xerophilous bird. Nature, 177:143-144.
MAYR, E.
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1950. The breeding seasons of African birds, I. Land birds.
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1937. Studies in the life history of the song sparrow, I. Trans.
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1961. A nesting colony of black terns in Kansas. Bull. Kansas
Ornith. Soc., 12:25-27.
PAYNTER, R. A., JR.
1954. Interrelations between clutch-size, brood-size, prefledging
survival and weight in Kent Island tree swallows,
I. Bird-Banding, 25:35-58.
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1960. The sun azimuth compass: one factor in the orientation of
homing pigeons. Science, 131:826-828.
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1955. The breeding of blackbird, song thrush, and mistle thrush
in Great Britain. I. Clutch-size. Bird Study, 2:72-84.
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1956. Check-list of the birds of Kansas. Univ. Kansas Publ. Mus.
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1958. Ecological and distributional analysis of North American
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1956. The molt and testis cycle of the Anna hummingbird.
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1961. The breeding birds of Decatur County, Kansas: 1908-1915.
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_Transmitted November 21, 1963._
[Illustration: FIG. 10.--Map of Kansas showing names of counties.]
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Institutional libraries interested in publications exchange may obtain
this series by addressing the Exchange Librarian, University of Kansas
Library, Lawrence, Kansas. Copies for individuals, persons working in
a particular field of study, may be obtained by addressing instead the
Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
There is no provision for sale of this series by the University Library,
which meets institutional requests, or by the Museum of Natural History,
which meets the requests of individuals. Nevertheless, when individuals
request copies from the Museum, 25 cents should be included, for each
separate number that is 100 pages or more in length, for the purpose of
defraying the costs of wrapping and mailing.
* An asterisk designates those numbers of which the Museum's supply
(not the Library's supply) is exhausted. Numbers published to date, in
this series, are as follows:
Vol. 1. Nos. 1-26 and index. Pp. 1-638, 1946-1950.
*Vol. 2. (Complete) Mammals of Washington. By Walter W. Dalquest.
Pp. 1-444, 140 figures in text. April 9, 1948.
Vol. 3. Nos. 1-4 and index. Pp. 1-681. 1951.
*Vol. 4. (Complete) American weasels. By E. Raymond Hall. Pp. 1-466,
41 plates, 31 figures in text. December 27, 1951.
Vol. 5. Nos. 1-37 and index. Pp. 1-676, 1951-1953.
*Vol. 6. (Complete) Mammals of Utah, _taxonomy and distribution_. By
Stephen D. Durrant. Pp. 1-549, 91 figures in text, 30 tables.
August 10, 1952.
Vol. 7. Nos. 1-15 and index. Pp. 1-651, 1952-1955.
Vol. 8. Nos. 1-10 and index. Pp. 1-675, 1954-1956.
Vol. 9. *1. Speciation of the wandering shrew. By James S. Findley.
Pp. 1-68, 18 figures in text. December 10, 1955.
2. Additional records and extension of ranges of mammals
from Utah. By Stephen D. Durrant, M. Raymond Lee, and
Richard M. Hansen. Pp. 69-80. December 10, 1955.
3. A new long-eared myotis (Myotis evotis) from northeastern
Mexico. By Rollin H. Baker and Howard J. Stains.
Pp. 81-84. December 10, 1955.
4. Subspeciation in the meadow mouse, Microtus pennsylvanicus,
in Wyoming. By Sydney Anderson. Pp. 85-104, 2 figures in
text. May 10, 1956.
5. The condylarth genus Ellipsodon. By Robert W. Wilson.
Pp. 105-116, 6 figures in text. May 19, 1956.
6. Additional remains of the multituberculate genus
Eucosmodon. By Robert W. Wilson. Pp. 117-123, 10 figures
in text. May 19, 1956.
7. Mammals of Coahuila, Mexico. By Rollin H. Baker.
Pp. 125-335, 75 figures in text. June 15, 1956.
8. Comments on the taxonomic status of Apodemus peninsulae,
with description of a new subspecies from North China.
By J. Knox Jones, Jr. Pp. 337-346, 1 figure in text,
1 table. August 15, 1956.
9. Extensions of known ranges of Mexican bats. By Sydney
Anderson. Pp. 347-351. August 15, 1956.
10. A new bat (Genus Leptonycteris) from Coahuila. By Howard
J. Stains. Pp. 353-356. January 21, 1957.
11. A new species of pocket gopher (Genus Pappogeomys) from
Jalisco, Mexico. By Robert J. Russell. Pp. 357-361.
January 21, 1957.
12. Geographic variation in the pocket gopher, Thomomys
bottae, in Colorado. By Phillip M. Youngman. Pp. 363-387,
7 figures in text. February 21, 1958.
13. New bog lemming (genus Synaptomys) from Nebraska. By J.
Knox Jones, Jr. Pp. 385-388. May 12, 1958.
14. Pleistocene bats from San Josecito Cave, Nuevo León,
México. By J. Knox Jones, Jr. Pp. 389-396. December 19,
1958.
15. New subspecies of the rodent Baiomys from Central America.
By Robert L. Packard. Pp. 397-404. December 19, 1958.
16. Mammals of the Grand Mesa, Colorado. By Sydney Anderson.
Pp. 405-414, 1 figure in text. May 20, 1959.
17. Distribution, variation, and relationships of the montane
vole, Microtus montanus. By Sydney Anderson. Pp. 415-511,
12 figures in text, 2 tables. August 1, 1959.
18. Conspecificity of two pocket mice, Perognathus goldmani
and P. artus. By E. Raymond Hall and Marilyn Bailey
Ogilvie. Pp. 513-518, 1 map. January 14, 1960.
19. Records of harvest mice, Reithrodontomys, from Central
America, with description of a new subspecies from
Nicaragua. By Sydney Anderson and J. Knox Jones, Jr.
Pp. 519-529. January 14, 1960.
20. Small carnivores from San Josecito Cave (Pleistocene),
Nuevo León, México. By E. Raymond Hall. Pp. 531-538,
1 figure in text. January 14, 1960.
21. Pleistocene pocket gophers from San Josecito Cave, Nuevo
León, México. By Robert J. Russell. Pp. 539-548, 1 figure
in text. January 14, 1960.
22. Review of the insectivores of Korea. By J. Knox Jones,
Jr., and David H. Johnson. Pp. 549-578. February 23, 1960.
23. Speciation and evolution of the pygmy mice, genus Baiomys.
By Robert L. Packard. Pp. 579-670, 4 plates, 12 figures
in text. June 16, 1960.
Index. Pp. 671-690.
Vol. 10. 1. Studies of birds killed in nocturnal migration. By
Harrison B. Tordoff and Robert M. Mengel. Pp. 1-44,
6 figures in text, 2 tables. September 12, 1956.
2. Comparative breeding behavior of Ammospiza caudacuta and
A. maritima. By Glen E. Woolfenden. Pp. 45-75, 6 plates,
1 figure. December 20, 1956.
3. The forest habitat of the University of Kansas Natural
History Reservation. By Henry S. Fitch and Ronald R.
McGregor. Pp. 77-127, 2 plates, 7 figures in text,
4 tables. December 31, 1956.
4. Aspects of reproduction and development in the prairie
vole (Microtus ochrogaster). By Henry S. Fitch.
Pp. 129-161, 8 figures in text, 4 tables.
December 19, 1957.
5. Birds found on the Arctic slope of northern Alaska. By
James W. Bee. Pp. 163-211, plates 9-10, 1 figure in text.
March 12, 1958.
*6. The wood rats of Colorado: distribution and ecology. By
Robert B. Finley, Jr. Pp. 213-552, 34 plates, 8 figures
in text, 35 tables. November 7, 1958.
7. Home ranges and movements of the eastern cottontail in
Kansas. By Donald W. Janes. Pp. 553-572, 4 plates,
3 figures in text. May 4, 1959.
8. Natural history of the salamander, Aneides hardyi. By
Richard F. Johnston and Gerhard A. Schad. Pp. 573-585.
October 8, 1959.
9. A new subspecies of lizard, Cnemidophorus sacki, from
Michoacán, México. By William E. Duellman. Pp. 587-598,
2 figures in text. May 2, 1960.
10. A taxonomic study of the middle American snake, Pituophis
deppei. By William E. Duellman. Pp. 599-610, 1 plate,
1 figure in text. May 2, 1960.
Index. Pp. 611-626.
Vol. 11. Nos. 1-10 and index. Pp. 1-703, 1958-1960.
Vol. 12. 1. Functional morphology of three bats: Eumops, Myotis,
Macrotus. By Terry A. Vaughan. Pp. 1-153, 4 plates,
24 figures in text. July 8, 1959.
*2. The ancestry of modern Amphibia: a review of the evidence.
By Theodore H. Eaton, Jr. Pp. 155-180, 10 figures in text.
July 10, 1959.
3. The baculum in microtine rodents. By Sydney Anderson.
Pp. 181-216, 49 figures in text. February 19, 1960.
*4. A new order of fishlike Amphibia from the Pennsylvanian
of Kansas. By Theodore H. Eaton, Jr., and Peggy Lou
Stewart. Pp. 217-240, 12 figures in text. May 2, 1960.
5. Natural history of the bell vireo. By Jon C. Barlow.
Pp. 241-296, 6 figures in text. March 7, 1962.
6. Two new pelycosaurs from the lower Permian of Oklahoma.
By Richard C. Fox. Pp. 297-307, 6 figures in text.
May 21, 1962.
7. Vertebrates from the barrier island of Tamaulipas, México.
By Robert K. Selander, Richard F. Johnston, B. J. Wilks,
and Gerald G. Raun. Pp. 309-345, pls. 5-8. June 18, 1962.
8. Teeth of Edestid sharks. By Theodore H. Eaton, Jr.
Pp. 347-362, 10 figures in text. October 1, 1962.
9. Variation in the muscles and nerves of the leg in two
genera of grouse (Tympanuchus and Pedioecetes). By E.
Bruce Holmes. Pp. 363-474, 20 figures. October 25, 1962.
10. A new genus of Pennsylvanian Fish (Crossopterygii,
Coelacanthiformes) from Kansas. By Joan Echols.
Pp. 475-501, 7 figures. October 25, 1963.
11. Observations on the Mississippi Kite in southwestern
Kansas. By Henry S. Fitch. Pp. 503-519. October 25, 1963.
12. Jaw musculature of the Mourning and White-winged doves.
By Robert L. Merz. Pp. 521-551, 22 figures.
October 25, 1963.
13. Thoracic and coracoid arteries in two families of birds,
Columbidae and Hirundinidae. By Marion Anne Jenkinson.
Pp. 553-573, 7 figures. March 2, 1964.
14. The breeding birds of Kansas. By Richard F. Johnston.
Pp. 575-655, 10 figures. May 18, 1964.
Index to come.
Vol. 13. 1. Five natural hybrid combinations in minnows (Cyprinidae).
By Frank B. Cross and W. L. Minckley. Pp. 1-18.
June 1, 1960.
2. A distributional study of the amphibians of the Isthmus
of Tehuantepec, México. By William E. Duellman. Pp. 19-72,
pls. 1-8, 3 figures in text. August 16, 1960.
3. A new subspecies of the slider turtle (Pseudemys scripta)
from Coahuila, México. By John M. Legler. Pp. 73-84,
pls. 9-12, 3 figures in text. August 16, 1960.
4. Autecology of the copperhead. By Henry S. Fitch.
Pp. 85-288, pls. 13-20, 26 figures in text.
November 30, 1960.
5. Occurrence of the garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis, in
the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. By Henry S. Fitch
and T. Paul Maslin. Pp. 289-308, 4 figures in text.
February 10, 1961.
6. Fishes of the Wakarusa river in Kansas. By James E. Deacon
and Artie L. Metcalf. Pp. 309-322, 1 figure in text.
February 10, 1961.
7. Geographic variation in the North American cyprinid fish,
Hybopsis gracilis. By Leonard J. Olund and Frank B. Cross.
Pp. 323-348, pls. 21-24, 2 figures in text.
February 10, 1961.
8. Descriptions of two species of frogs, genus Ptychohyla;
studies of American hylid frogs, V. By William E. Duellman.
Pp. 349-357, pl. 25, 2 figures in text. April 27, 1961.
9. Fish populations, following a drought, in the Neosho and
Marais des Cygnes rivers of Kansas. By James Everett
Deacon. Pp. 359-427, pls. 26-30, 3 figures.
August 11, 1961.
10. Recent soft-shelled turtles of North America (family
Trionychidae). By Robert G. Webb. Pp. 429-611, pls. 31-54,
24 figures in text. February 16, 1962.
Index. Pp. 613-624.
Vol. 14. 1. Neotropical bats from western México. By Sydney Anderson.
Pp. 1-8. October 24, 1960.
2. Geographic variation in the harvest mouse. Reithrodontomys
megalotis, on the central Great Plains and in adjacent
regions. By J. Knox Jones, Jr., and B. Mursaloglu.
Pp. 9-27, 1 figure in text. July 24, 1961.
3. Mammals of Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. By Sydney
Anderson. Pp. 29-67, pls. 1 and 2, 3 figures in text.
July 24, 1961.
4. A new subspecies of the black myotis (bat) from eastern
Mexico. By E. Raymond Hall and Ticul Alvarez. Pp. 69-72,
1 figure in text. December 29, 1961.
5. North American yellow bats, "Dasypterus," and a list of
the named kinds of the genus Lasiurus Gray. By E. Raymond
Hall and J. Knox Jones, Jr. Pp. 73-98, 4 figures in text.
December 29, 1961.
6. Natural history of the brush mouse (Peromyscus boylii)
in Kansas with description of a new subspecies. By Charles
A. Long. Pp. 99-111, 1 figure in text. December 29, 1961.
7. Taxonomic status of some mice of the Peromyscus boylii
group in eastern Mexico, with description of a new
subspecies. By Ticul Alvarez. Pp. 113-120, 1 figure in
text. December 29, 1961.
8. A new subspecies of ground squirrel (Spermophilus
spilosoma) from Tamaulipas, Mexico. By Ticul Alvarez.
Pp. 121-124. March 7, 1962.
9. Taxonomic status of the free-tailed bat, Tadarida
yucatanica Miller. By J. Knox Jones, Jr., and Ticul
Alvarez. Pp. 125-133, 1 figure in text. March 7, 1962.
10. A new doglike carnivore, genus Cynaretus, from the
Clarendonian Pliocene, of Texas. By E. Raymond Hall and
Walter W. Dalquest. Pp. 135-138, 2 figures in text.
April 30, 1962.
11. A new subspecies of wood rat (Neotoma) from northeastern
Mexico. By Ticul Alvarez. Pp. 139-143. April 30, 1962.
12. Noteworthy mammals from Sinaloa, Mexico. By J. Knox Jones,
Jr., Ticul Alvarez, and M. Raymond Lee. Pp. 145-159,
1 figure in text. May 18, 1962.
13. A new bat (Myotis) from Mexico. By E. Raymond Hall.
Pp. 161-164, 1 figure in text. May 21, 1962.
14. The mammals of Veracruz. By E. Raymond Hall and Walter W.
Dalquest. Pp. 165-362, 2 figures. May 20, 1963.
15. The recent mammals of Tamaulipas, México. By Ticul
Alvarez. Pp. 363-473, 5 figures in text. May 20, 1963.
16. A new subspecies of the fruit-eating bat, Sturnira
ludovici, from western Mexico. By J. Knox Jones, Jr. and
Gary L. Phillips. Pp. 475-481, March 2, 1964.
17. Records of the fossil mammal Sinclairella, Family
Apatemyidae, from the Chadronian and Orellan. By William
C. Clemens. Pp. 483-491. March 2, 1964.
More numbers will appear in volume 14.
Vol. 15. 1. The amphibians and reptiles of Michoacán, México. By
William E. Duellman. Pp. 1-148, pls. 1-6, 11 figures in
text. December 20, 1961.
2. Some reptiles and amphibians from Korea. By Robert G.
Webb, J. Knox Jones, Jr., and George W. Byers.
Pp. 149-173. January 31, 1962.
3. A new species of frog (Genus Tomodactylus) from western
México. By Robert G. Webb. Pp. 175-181, 1 figure in text.
March 7, 1962.
4. Type specimens of amphibians and reptiles in the Museum
of Natural History, the University of Kansas. By William
E. Duellman and Barbara Berg. Pp. 183-204.
October 26, 1962.
5. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Rainforests of Southern
El Petén, Guatemala. By William E. Duellman. Pp. 205-249,
pls. 7-10, 6 figures in text. October 4, 1963.
6. A revision of snakes of the genus Conophis (Family
Colubridae, from Middle America). By John Wellman.
Pp. 251-295, 9 figures in text. October 4, 1963.
7. A review of the Middle American tree frogs of the genus
Ptychohyla. By William E. Duellman. Pp. 297-349,
pls. 11-18, 7 figures in text. October 18, 1963.
8. Natural history of the racer Coluber constrictor. By
Henry S. Fitch. Pp. 351-468, pls. 19-22, 20 figures in
text. December 30, 1963.
9. A review of the frogs of the Hyla bistincta group. By
William E. Duellman. Pp. 469-491, 4 figures in text.
March 2, 1964.
More numbers will appear in volume 15.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
With the exception of six typographical errors that were corrected,
converting the 6 occurrences of "pp." to "Pp." to match the 95 in
the Publication listing and moving the list of Publications to the
end of the document, the original text and illustrations are
presented as they appeared in the printed version. Although it is
common practice to convert text that appears in small caps in the
original into all caps in the text version, it was decided that it
looked better not to convert all of the text. For example, the Table
titles.
Emphasis Notation
_Text_ - Italic
=Text= - Bold
Typographical Corrections
Page Correction
==== ===========================
585: Myiarchis => Myiarchus
590: insectivorus => insectivorous
611: Vieillot was incorrectly italicized.
619: Oberholser was incorrectly italicized.
624: trailii => traillii
642: in => is
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