Hello, ecologists. This message contains a summary of the contents of vol. 38 no. 1 of the quarterly journal Western Birds, which will be mailed out shortly. All members of Western Field Ornithologists (WFO) receive Western Birds. More information is available online: wfo-cbrc.org/journal.html.
But first, some exciting news of a more general sort. The complete contents of Western Birds, from its inception in 1970 as California Birds through the end of 2004 (vol. 35) are now available at SORA, the Searchable Ornithological Research Archives: elibrary.unm.edu/sora/index.php. And here now is the summary of the contents of vol. 38 no. 1 of Western Birds: * NORTHWARD RANGE EXPANSION BY THE SHORT-TAILED HAWK, WITH FIRST RECORDS FOR NEW MEXICO AND CHIHUAHUA. * SARTOR O. WILLIAMS, JOHN P. DELONG, AND WILLIAM H. HOWE. * PP. 2-10. * Documentation of the first records of Short-tailed Hawk for New Mexico and Chihuahua, consistent with a steady northward expansion of the species in the past half-century, possibly accelerating in recent years. * SUMMER DISTRIBUTION, ABUNDANCE, AND HABITAT USE OF BLACK-NECKED STILTS AND AMERICAN AVOCETS IN CALIFORNIA'S CENTRAL VALLEY. * W. DAVID SHUFORD, JOAN M. HUMPHREY, ROBERT B. HANSEN, GARY W. PAGE, LYNNE E. STENZEL, AND CATHERINE M. HICKEY. * PP. 11-28. * Demonstration that Black-necked Stilts and American Avocets rely heavily on human-created habitats in California's Central Valley, where current health risks exist and where habitat may be destroyed or degraded in the future. * GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN CACTUS WREN SONGS. * JONATHAN L. ATWOOD AND SUSANNAH B. LERMAN. * PP. 29-46. * Analysis of song structure of Cactus Wrens is consistent with previously published ecological and morphological evidence suggesting that the population from southern coastal California is distinct from populations elsewhere. * EVIDENCE OF DOUBLE-CLUTCHING BY BRANDT'S CORMORANTS ON ALCATRAZ ISLAND, CALIFORNIA. * BENJAMIN L. SAENZ AND JULIE A. THAYER. * PP. 47-51. * Documentation of, and speculations regarding the environmental causes of, double-clutching by Brandt's Cormorants, an unusual behavior in the family Phalacrocoracidae and in seabirds in general. * NOTEWORTHY BIRD RECORDS FROM SINALOA, MEXICO. * MARCO ANTONIO GONZALEZ-BERNAL, JOSE ALFREDO CASTILLO-GUERRERO, CECILIA DEL ROCIO HERNANDEZ-CELIS, AND ERIC MELLINK. * PP. 52-56. * Noteworthy bird records from Sinaloa during the period 1998-2005; the Sinaloan avifauna has been surprisingly neglected, and this report includes significant new distributional data and several state firsts. * INTERMEDIATE EGRET (Egretta intermedia) IN THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA. * STEPHAN LORENZ AND DANIEL D. GIBSON. * PP. 57-59. * The carcasses of 7 individual ardeids of Asiatic origin were recovered from Buldir Island, Alaska, in late May and early June of 2006; among these was an adult male Intermediate Egret in alternate plumage. * BOOK REVIEW: BIODIVERSITY, ECOSYSTEMS, AND CONSERVATION IN NORTHERN MEXICO. EDITED BY JEAN-LUC E. CARTRON, GERARDO CEBALLOS, AND RICHARD S. FELGER. * REVIEWED BY RICHARD A. ERICKSON. * PP. 60-62. * An overview by 82 authors of the challenges and opportunities facing those who are committed to the stewardship of the "megadiversity" of Mexico; the volume contains 5 chapters on birds, more than 1,000 species of which occur in Mexico. * BOOK REVIEW: BIRDS OF LANE COUNTY, OREGON. EDITED BY ALAN L. CONTRERAS. * REVIEWED BY JAY WITHGOTT. * PP. 62-63. * Both a status-and-distribution treatment and a bird-finding guide for topographically diverse and geographically extensive Lane County, Oregon; features 100 birding sites and 403 species accounts. * FEATURED PHOTO: LEUCISTIC GREBE AT MONO LAKE, AN IDENTIFICATION CHALLENGE. * LEN BLUMIN. * PP. 64-68. * A leucistic grebe at Mono Lake, California, was aberrant with regard to several structural features; the bird, provisionally identified as a Horned Grebe, highlights the challenges of assessing photographs of problematic birds. Ted Floyd [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado _________________________________________________________________ MSN is giving away a trip to Vegas to see Elton John. Enter to win today. http://msnconcertcontest.com?icid-nceltontagline
