Vol. 15 No. 3 (1984)

No recent studies have focused intensively on the distribution and abundance of birds in Haleakala National Park. Dunmire (1961) listed and described the bird species present in Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks, but gave little detailed information on distribution and abundance. The unpublished report by Warner (1967) of an expedition to Kipahulu Valley (now partly included in the Kipahulu District of Haleakala National Park) described the rediscovery of two endemic species of Hawaiian forest birds, but no other avifaunal surveys of Kipahulu took place until we began the work described here.

Presented here is the first compilation of published and unpublished information on the birds of San Clemente Island since Howell’s 1917 account of the birds of the California Channel Islands. The absence of any published synthesis of records since that time clearly invites this update. The majority of observations have been made over the past 10 years by numerous researchers who visited the island.

Northern Fulmars are relatively lightweight, aerial seabirds, and are not anatomically well-adapted for diving or underwater swimming. However, Fisher (1952) stated, "the literature is full of controversy about the diving of fulmars." He listed eight observers reporting diving; presumably, their reports represented most of the detailed descriptions of this behavior discovered during an extensive literature search conducted on the species (see Fisher 1952). Subsequent published reports are few, if any. Descriptions in more recent references (e.g., Palmer 1962; Cramp 1977) apparently are derived from Fisher's synthesis.

A literature survey of bird distribution in Sonora, Mexico, indicates a conspicuous lack of information from east-central portions of the state. Most ornithologists travel via Hermosillo to Guaymas, then southeast along the coast to more tropically vegetated southern states (as outlined by Alden, 1969). Exploring many areas of eastern Sonora requires a four-wheel-drive vehicle because of rough, mountainous dirt roads. This inaccessibility, enhanced by poor maps, is a major reason for avoidance by ornithologists.

The birth of this volume was a symposium on the same subject at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1977. That this title has come along so many years later is a blessing, presumably to be attributed to the editors. For once, the papers from a symposium have been rewritten, reviewed, and assembled with the idea that a collaboration can be coherent and cohesive. One would not expect fifteen writers to agree on everything — they certainly do not — but at least they are discussing the same region and addressing some of the same issues.

The key to making a correct identification of this bird is to pay close attention to its environment as well as its appearance. At first glance, it appears we have little to go on. However, if we focus our attention on the bird's face, we note a broad, flat bill; large, dark eyes; faint, light eye rings; and pale lores.