Current Status of the Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus) in Arkansas

The secretive Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus) is believed to be much more widespread during fall and winter than previously thought. Of the few places in the southern United States conducting research on this species, all have been successful at capturing birds. A total of 12 historic records existed for Arkansas until our work began in fall of 2014. The first confirmed record was in 1959 and the most recent, prior to this research, was in 2010. Over the course of two field seasons, we captured and banded 24 Northern Saw-whet Owls in rural Madison County. All birds were mist-netted along a trail, in woodland composed of pine and cedar with fairly dense undergrowth. Two were captured during our 2014 season after a late start and 22 were captured in 2015, likely the result of an earlier start. Comparing our data to that of several other banding operations in the south, it would appear that the peak of migration in Arkansas is late October through early November, with capture rates dropping by early December. Of the birds captured, all but one was female, the most common sex this far south. A variety of age classes were identified, with a fairly even distribution of hatch-year, second-year, and after-second-year birds. Exactly from where the saw-whets are migrating is unknown, although several foreign recoveries in Missouri and four recoveries in Arkansas suggest they are coming from the western Great Lakes region. Once considered a vagrant, based on this research, the saw-whet appears to be a fall migrant to the state of Arkansas

Nongame Birds of the Rocky Mountain Spruce- Fir Forests and Their Management

Spruce-fir forests in the Rocky Mountains consist mainly of Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir. The breeding avifaunas in these forests show remarkable consistency in composition along a latitudinal gradient from Montana to Arizona and New Mexico, and with avian communities in the Hudsonian life zone in Washington, Oregon, and California. Woodpeckers, corvids, and seed-eating finches are the most common components. Only the Golden Eagle and a few other raptors are threatened or endangered. Few species winter in these high mountain forests. The distribution of many species is controlled primarily by the vegetation physiognomy, a variable under the control of the forest manager. Fire control and snag management will generally benefit the avifauna, whereas most forest harvesting practices adversely affect, to differing degrees~ the bird communities. It is suggested that the life-form approach to avian communities may be easily implemented in these forests. It is recommended that high elevation spruce-fir forests be minimally harvested and used as reservoirs for spruce-fir birds. Lower elevational stands should be managed for harvesting and bird diversity, with special attention given to relic stands

ADULT NEST ATTENDANCE AND DIET OF NESTLING RESPLENDENT QUETZALS (PHAROMACHRUS MOCINNO) IN THE TALAMANCA MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHERN COSTA RICA

Abstract ∙ Resplendent Quetzals (Pharomachrus mocinno) inhabit mid to high elevation forests from southern Mexico to Panama. Lipid rich fruits from the Lauraceae family have been found to account for a large proportion of adult diet across their annual life cycle. To better understand the relationship between quetzals and Lauraceae during the breeding season, we studied food deliveries to nestlings in the Talamanca Mountains at San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica in the Rio Savegre watershed. Our study had four primary objectives: 1) determine parental contribution of males and females feeding nestling quetzals, 2) determine type of food delivered to nestling quetzals, 3) determine if deliveries of fruit items were related to their abundance and/or nutritional content and 4) determine if Lauraceae fruits made up a large proportion of nestling diets based on the high preference quetzals have displayed for fruits from this plant family. Hourly delivery rates were similar for the male and female (1.24 ± 0.68 and 1.44 ± 0.84). During the first 6 days, the largest proportion of the diet was animal prey; primarily lizards and beetles. After day 6, fruit rapidly became the dominant food item delivered to nestlings until fledging. The dominant number of fruits delivered to nestling quetzals were fruits from the Lauraceae family and included Ocotea holdrigeiana, Necatandra cufodontisii, and Aiouea costaricensis. All three had some of the highest protein and lipid content of all fruits delivered to nestlings. O. holdrigeiana had the highest protein and lipid content of all fruits delivered, had the lowest relative abundance, and was delivered more frequently than all other fruits. Conservation strategies for this species should take into account not just increasing available habitat, but also increasing habitat quality by focusing on species composition to provide abundant food plants for the Resplendent Quetzal to forage.Resumen ∙ Atención al nido y dieta de pichones del Quetzal Resplandeciente (Pharomachrus mocinno) en las Montañas Talamanca del sur de Costa Rica El Quetzal Resplandeciente (Pharomachrus mocinno) habita bosques de media a alta elevación del sur de México a Panamá. Frutas ricas en lípidos de la familia Lauraceae han sido consideradas constituyentes importantes de su dieta a lo largo de su ciclo anual de vida. Para entender mejor la relación entre quetzales y Lauraceae durante la temporada de cría, estudiamos entregas alimenticias a pichones en las montañas Talamanca en San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica en la Cuenca del Rio Savegre. Nuestro estudio tuvo cuatro objetivos primarios: 1) determinar la contribución del macho y la hembra en la alimentación de crías de quetzal, 2) determinar el tipo de entregas alimenticias a crías de quetzal, 3) determinar si las entregas de artículos frutales fueron relacionadas a su abundancia y/o contenido nutricional, y 4) determinar si frutas de Lauraceae conformaron una gran proporción de la dieta de crías de quetzal basado en la alta preferencia que quetzales han demostrado por frutas de esta familia. La proporción de entregas por hora fue similar en machos y hembras (1.24 ± 0.68 y 1.44 ± 0.84). Durante los primeros 6 días, presa animales constituyeron la mayor proporción de la dieta, ante todo lagartijas y escarabajos. Después del día 6, frutos constituyeron rápidamente el artículo de dieta dominante entregado a crías hasta que estas dejaron el nido. La mayor cantidad de frutas entregadas a crías de quetzal perteneció a la familia Lauraceae incluyendo Ocotea holdrigeiana, Nectandra cufodontisii, y Aiouea costaricensis. Las tres tuvieron el más alto contenido lipídico y de proteína de todas las frutas entregadas a crías. Interesantemente, O. holdrigeiana tuvo el más alto contenido lípido y de proteína de todas las frutas entregadas, la más baja abundancia relativa en el ambiente circundante, y fue utilizada más frecuentemente que todas las otras frutas. Estrategias de conservación para esta especie deben tomar en cuenta no solo incrementar el hábitat disponible, pero también incrementar la calidad del hábitat enfocándose en la composición de las especies vegetales, para asegurarse de proveer frutos en abundancia para la alimentación del Quetzal Resplandeciente

Survey of 1985 Periodical Cicada (Homoptera: Magicicada) Emergence Sites in Washington County, Arkansas, With Reference to Ecological Implications

Systematic roadside surveys were conducted in June 1985 in Washington County, Arkansas, to locate areas where 13-year periodical cicadas had emerged during May. Although cicadas were found in a variety of upland and bottom land forest habitats, the present cicada distribution reflects the original forest and prairie pattern in the county, even though those boundaries are now largely lost. This suggests a high degree of philopatry whereby emergency areas have remained in the same area for the last 100 years. All present day emergence areas are within the White River drainage, suggesting that it was the main cicada dispersal route into northwestern Arkansas. It now probably marks the western limit of Brood XIX in northwestern Arkansas

Word Retrieval Treatments for Aphasia: Connected Speech Outcomes

We examined changes in connected speech in individuals with aphasia following errorless naming treatment and gestural facilitation of naming administered in a single-participant crossover design. In addition to picture naming, participants completed two connected speech tasks during baseline and after each training phase. Positive training effect sizes in picture naming were associated with increased use of Correct Information Units and substantive nouns in connected speech. Greater use of CIUs and substantive nouns were evident for a questions task over a picture description task. Open-ended questions tended to be more effective than picture description for documenting speech changes associated with treatment

Cargo of Birds to Arkansas, the Hurricanes in 2008 and the Swept Clean Hypothesis

Three hurricanes in the hurricane season of 2008 brought to Arkansas several unusual marine and other birds from southerly locations. There were 10 species noted, totaling 44 individual birds. Sooty Terns, numbering 15, were the most numerous. Laughing Gulls were next in abundance. In the mix of birds there was only 1 new species for the state, a Least Grebe. The hurricanes brought vastly different cargos of birds, and two hypotheses relating to how hurricanes transport birds are proposed. The findings supported the swept clean hypothesis over the blown through hypothesis