Vol. 39 No. 4 (2008)

 During the five years (2003-2007) since the last report of the Alaska Checklist Committee, 21 species or subspecies have been added to the Alaska list, two subspecies have been raised to species status, and one subspecies has been deleted, resulting in a net total of 485 species and 115 additional subspecies of birds maintained at the beginning of 2008 as occurring or having occurred naturally in Alaska.

Historical accounts indicate that the Gray Hawk (Buteo nitidus) was decidedly rare and irregular in New Mexico, with no certain nesting, through the 1980s. The species began to increase in numbers and distribution in southwestern New Mexico in the 1990s, and was documented nesting there in 2004. It arrived in southeastern New Mexico in the lower Pecos River valley in 2005, first nesting there in 2007. Several reports from the Rio Grande valley in south-central New Mexico in 2006 suggest possible expansion into that area as well. The spread in New Mexico coincides with increased numbers and an expanded range in adjacent Arizona and Texas, suggesting the Gray Hawk has been expanding generally northward and higher in elevation for several decades; recent records from the northern Mexican Plateau indicate interior northern Mexico is also included in this expansion. While improved habitat conditions may have aided this increase in local areas, the scale of the range expansion suggests other factors, possibly including increasingly warmer temperatures, may be facilitating this southern raptor to expand northward.

From 21 April to 11 May 2007, an apparent hybrid male Black x Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans × S. phoebe) was observed in Loveland, Larimer County, Colorado. The bird's plumage was intermediate between the species, with paler upperparts, darker flanks, and a less distinct border between dark and white on the breast than expected on the Black Phoebe, and darker upperparts, less head/back contrast, and a darker and more sharply demarcated upper breast than expected on the Eastern. Sonograms of the bird's territorial song show numerous characteristics intermediate between the typical songs of the two species. Although the Colorado bird provides the first strong evidence of hybridization in Sayornis, other sightings suggest the Black and Eastern Phoebes may have hybridized on other recent occasions. Range expansions of both species may increase the frequency of hybridization in the future.

 Ecologists are beginning to appreciate the complex energetic links between aquatic and terrestrial systems (Baxter et al. 2005). It has been estimated that in some riparian systems, 25-100% of the energy and carbon budgets of terrestrial birds, bats, lizards, and spiders can be derived from aquatic insects. Most studies of energy and nutrient fluxes from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems have focused on the smaller insectivorous passerine birds (reviewed by Baxter et al. 2005). Our focus is on the importance of insects, specifically the California Stonefly (Pteronarcys californica), in the diet of the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus).

On 29 November 2006, Pagen observed and photographed a storm-petrel of the genus Fregetta, most likely a White-bellied Storm-Petrel (F. grallaria), at 14° 50.52' N, 112° 35.46' W, 952 km (514 nautical miles) southwest of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico, and 456 km (246 nautical miles) southeast of Isla Clarion, Mexico. This location is over 1600 km from any previous record for this genus in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

We lost a towering figure in North American ornithology with the passing of Ned K. Johnson in 2003. It is thus only fitting that a festschrift should appear in his honor. With any such publication, the reviewer must be careful to review the publication and not the person. Anyone interested in thoughtful reviews of Johnson’s life and work is referred to Barrowclough and Zink’s obituary in the Ibis (2004, vol. 146, pp. 567–568) and the editors’ introductory chapter to this monograph.

What do Alfred R. Wallace, Rollo Beck, A. J. van Rossem, Ed Ricketts, and Larry Spear have in common? They were all what we might call “scroungers,” biologists who would much prefer to be in the trenches, bitten by sand fleas, at sea in a rowboat, parched and dusty in Mexican deserts, soaked and covered with seaweed, or hauling rotten whales down an interstate, respectively, rather than fraternizing with fellow biologists at conferences or meetings. In short, these are my heroes. Now I can add a sixth name to this list, Robert Cyril Layton (R. C. L.) Perkins.

We report the second successful hybridization in the wild between a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) and a Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), and the first with observations of young on the nest.

I suppose that it is typical that when a person who has served in a leadership role steps down from that position, his or her thoughts move into a period of reflection. What was, what could have been, what worked well, what could have been done differently, and all of the other minutiae on which we second-guess ourselves. I find myself in this position as fall spreads across the diverse New Mexico landscape. I take several deep breaths and think about where we have been and what we’ve all accomplished as an organization over the past few years, as well as the excitement of the years to come under the leadership of Catherine Waters, our new president-elect.

A record-high 230 attendees flocked to San Mateo, California, from 9 to 12 October 2008 to partake in the 33rd annual conference of Western Field Ornithologists. Coordinated by WFO treasurer and membership secretary Robbie Fischer, the conference received rave reviews from its participants.

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