Check-list of North American Birds: the species of birds of North America from the Arctic through Panama, including the West Indies and Hawaiian Islands
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The purpose of this Checklist is to provide a complete up-to-date list of the bird species that have been recorded in the 49 continental United States and Canada. This list includes the native North American breeding species, the regular visitors, the accidentals from other countries that are believed to have strayed here without the direct aid of man, and those introduced species that have become well established and are now a true part of our avifauna. The A.B.A. Checklist will be revised at frequent intervals to keep up with changes in classification and additions to the avifauna. This edition includes a total of 794 species. For details of geographic range and for a complete list of re<;ognized subspecies the reader is referred to the latest (5th) edition of the A. O. U. Check-List of North American Birds, prepared by a committee of the American Ornithologists' Union, 1957, and to the 32nd Supplement published in April 1973 (Auk 90:411-419).
The accompanying 5-page list of 439 higher plants was compiled as part of a manuscript to be included in a series of professional papers on Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 and adjoining areas. This check list describing the distribution, abundance, flowering period, plant growth on various rook types, and other habitat relationships, is based primarily on extensive collections of arctic plants by the author and other members of the Survey. In 1948 and 1949 the Arctic Institute of North America sponsored these studies, which were done primarily out of Survey field camps. Analysis of these collections which are probably the most extensive and complete of any from northern Alaska, was done at the University of Minnesota.
The Bachman's Sparrow ( Aimophila aestivalis bachmani ) is known to be quite rare and irregular in distribution in the northern part of its range. Because of this the northern limits of its range have been rather ill-defined. According to the A. 0. U. Check-List, Fourth Edition: 343, 1931, this bird ranges north to central Virginia in the eastern part of its range and is casual near Washington, D. C. Its distribution in the north-central portion of its range, including the Appalachian Mountains, is discussed in detail by Brooks (Wilson Bull., 50: 86-109, 1938). The discovery in May, 1942, of three pairs of these birds nesting on the Beltsville Research Center, Prince George County, Maryland, considerably extends the northern limits of the known breeding range of this species in the Piedmont and coastal-plain region east of the Appalachian Mountains.
During the Christmas holidays (1947) five white-crowned sparrows ( Zonotrichia l. leucophrys ) were trapped and banded at McCoole, Allegany County, Maryland. On January 31 and February 1, 1948, 11 more were banded and a flock of at least 21 white-crowns was counted feeding in the snow under pigweed ( Amaranthus hybridus ). On the latter date five others were observed feeding under the same type of vegetation near the Potomac River in Keyser, Mineral County, West Virginia. All birds ob- served were immatures. So far as is known this is the first published record for this species wintering in Maryland. It has been previously reported in winter from West Virginia in Hampshire, Kanawha, and Cabell Counties (Maurice G. Brooks, 'A Check List of West Virginia Birds,' 1944).
On 8 November 1968 in Gainesville, Florida, I removed a male Bronzed Cowbird ( Tangavius a. aeneus ) from a blackbird decoy trap containing a large number of Brown-headed Cowbirds ( Malothrus ater ). Oliver L. Austin, Jr., at the Florida State Museum, verified the species identification by noting the notched inner webs of the outer three primaries, a characteristic of the genus. The subspecific identification was made at the U. S. National Museum where the bird is now specimen number 531666. The subspecies normally ranges from southcentral Texas and the Yucatan Peninsula south through Central America to Panama (Check-list of North American birds, fifth ed., Baltimore, Amer. Ornithol. Union, 1957, p. 542). This Gainesville specimen apparently is the first Bronzed Cow- bird taken in Florida. Alexander Sprunt, Jr., (Florida bird life. In Addendum to Florida bird life, New York, Coward-McCann, 1963, p. 18) lists three photographed sightings at Sarasota, Florida, in April 196
One hundred forty-four sedimentary basins (or groups of basins) in the United States (both onshore and offshore) are identified, located, and briefly described as part of a Geographic Information System (GIS) data base in support of the Geologic Carbon Dioxide Sequestration National Assessment Project (Brennan and others, 2010). This catalog of basins is designed to provide a check list and basic geologic framework for compiling more detailed geologic and reservoir engineering data for this project and other future investigations.
The date of issue of a work containing a new scientific name determines the date the name is available and, therefore, the priority of the name with respect to other applied to the same taxon. Differences between the dates printed in publications and the actual dates of issues often resulted from procedures in distribution and erratic publishing schedules, especially before the twentieth century. Distribution, including that to subscribers, was usually the responsibility of the author (Jackson, 1975: 14-15). Early publications were customarily issues in parts (Price, 1982) and the dated title page was usually issued last, which complicates matters of establishing an actual publication date. Early bibliographic works, especially those of Sherborn (e.g., 1902-1933), Mathews (e.g., 1911, 1919, 1925), Waterhouse (e.g., 1885, 1889, 1937), Zimmer (1926), and Richmond (e.g., 1899b, 1902, 1917), have provided information on the actual dates of issue of many ornithological works. Many modern publications (e.g. American Ornithologists' Union [A.O.U.], 1957, 1983; various volumes of Peters's check-lists) have neglected recent, and some older, bibliographic works on several sources of scientific names of birds that affect the proper citations. Here, we clarify information on the dates of issue of some publications on North American ( sensu , A.O.U., 1983) birds. In the event the actual day of issue cannot be determined, the last day of the month or year, whichever was known, or, lacking such information, the printed date, is the date of availability of the scientific name (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1985: Article 21). Sources for determining the dates of issue include bibliographic works and the invaluable notes of Charles W. Richmond (in the Division of Birds library, Smithsonian Institution). In the following, books are listed alphabetically by the author of the scientific names, and journals by the first word in their title.
The taxonomic status of the crested caracaras (Caracara spp., Falconidae) has been unsettled for many years. Current sources such as the AOU Check-list recognize a single species that includes three taxa formerly considered distinct, citing observations by Hellmayr and Conover (1949) on two specimens considered to be intermediate. We studied plumage characters and measurements of over 392 museum specimens and found no evidence of clinal change between the northern and southern continental populations. Sixteen specimens from localities near the Amazon River where these two populations sporadically meet exhibit a mosaic of plumage elements from both forms. Measurements of wing chord, bill length, and bill depth indicate that size is positively correlated with latitude north and south of the equator and that females are larger than males in the northern population. These populations do not meet in western South America. We conclude that three biological species can be identified in the crested caracaras: the insular Guadalupe Caracara (Caracara lutosus); and two continental species, Northern (C. cheriway) and Southern caracara (C. plancus), neither of which shows subspecific variation.
Despite having a broad geographic distribution, Merriam's Shrew ( Sorex merriami Dobson 1890) is known from a relatively few, widely-scattered localities. In North Dakota, the species was known from only a single poorly-preserved specimen collected in 1913 near Medora. We recently collected two new specimens of Merriam's Shrew from Billings and McKenzie counties in the western quarter of the state. These specimens confirm the presence of S. merriami in North Dakota and better define the northeastern edge of the species' distribution.
We document the first breeding record of Limpkin, Aramus guarauna (Linnaeus, 1766) (Gruiformes, Aramidae), for Louisiana, describe an additional unpublished breeding record from Georgia, as well as a possible record from Alabama, and associate these patterns with the concurrent establishment of the invasive Giant Apple Snail, Pomacea maculata Perry, 1810 (Caenogastropoda, Ampullariidae). We predict that an invasive prey species may facilitate range expansion by native predator species, which has ramifications for conservation and management.
Recent freshwater mussel research has resulted in rediscovery of several species presumed extinct. We report the rediscovery of Amblema plicata (Say, 1817) in 2019 from the Choctawhatchee River, Florida, USA. Amblema plicata has not been reported in the Choctawhatchee river basin since 1958, more than 61 years ago. This species was collected during the long-term monitoring of freshwater mussels in Florida streams. We provide genetic confirmation of our voucher identification using a DNA barcoding approach and discuss potential risks to A. plicata populations in the Choctawhatchee river basin.
Urban expansion is a prominent threat to biodiversity, particularly for terrestrial mammals, which are significantly impacted by disruptions in habitat connectivity and loss. It can also lead to increased human‑wildlife conflicts that contribute to species decline. Urban public works projects, such as flood control areas, may coincidentally preserve significant habitat, but their potential for conservation remains understudied. Hansen Dam, located in the city of Los Angeles, California, USA, is one of these flood control areas, hosting some of the last remaining riparian habitat in the greater Los Angeles area. We deployed motion‑triggered camera traps at 36 stratified random locations and completed small mammal trapping at 20 sites at Hansen Dam. We detected a total of 15 species, not including domesticated animals, but there is potential that additional species inhabit the area. All species detected were common and expected but demonstrate that the Hansen Dam flood control basin has a terrestrial mammal community similar to that reported for other urban habitats. These results suggest incidental habitat conservation could play a significant role in future conservation planning efforts.
We report the herpetofauna of two neighboring upland locations in west-central Guyana. Twenty amphibian and 24 reptile species were collected. Only 40% of amphibians and 12.5% of reptiles were collected in both locations. This is one of the few collections made at upland (750-800 m) locations in the Guiana Shield.