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A Check-List of the Birds of Idaho

M. DALE ARVEY

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Volume 1, No. 10, pp. 193-216 November 29, 1947

University of Kansas LAWRENCE 1947

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, H. H. Lane, Edward H. Taylor

Volume 1, No. 10, pp. 193-216 Published November 29, 1947

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas

PRINTED BY FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER TOPEKA, KANSAS 1947

21-6960

A Check-list of the Birds of Idaho

M. DALE ARVEY

There is comparatively little literature dealing with the avifauna of Idaho, mostly because relatively few persons have done field work in the state. In the ornithological literature, there is nothing even comparable to a "state list," so that when birds supposedly unreported previously from Idaho are found, it is difficult to know whether or not they should be recorded as "new" to the state. The present paper has been prepared in the hope that it will stimulate additions to, and corrections of, the list. It is, admittedly, a beginning.

Material for the present article was obtained from personal collecting in the five years and ten months in which I resided in the state (October, 1938-September, 1944). Also, the published reports that could be found have been drawn upon; these publications are listed in the appended bibliography. Taxonomic problems, of which many are unsolved, are not here considered, since this is merely a list indicating whether or not the species or subspecies, as now understood, is known to be present, whether it is common, and where it might be found.

The nomenclature is that of the Fourth Edition of the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list and its supplements, except where a revision has been made that is seemingly valid but which has not yet been acted upon by the A. O. U. Committee. For each species or subspecies the objective is to give at least one reference to occurrence, as to date and place, as accurately as possible.

Reference is made to southern, central, and northern Idaho. These references denote the Snake River Plains, characterized by sagebrush desert; the wooded regions immediately to the north of this and in the foothills, extending to Idaho County in the west; and the so-called Panhandle, respectively. In all, 292 kinds of birds are recorded in the following list.

LIST OF SPECIES

Gavia immer elasson Bishop. Lesser Loon. Uncommon resident in the lakes of northern Idaho, and generally distributed. Merrill (1897:350) states that the species is common and resident at Fort Sherman.

Gavia stellata (Pontopiddan). Red-throated Loon. Davis (1935b:234) records specimens taken in migration in Minidoka County at the Minidoka Irrigation Project, and Rust (1915:121) states that this species is rare in Kootenai County.

Colymbus grisegena holböllii (Reinhardt). Holboell Grebe. Merrill (1897:349) records this species as common in migration at Fort Sherman.

Colymbus auritus Linnaeus. Horned Grebe. Uncommon resident. Davis (1935b:234) records the bird as a summer visitant at the Minidoka Project.

Colymbus nigricollis californicus (Heermann). Eared Grebe. Fairly common resident along rivers and in lakes. Rust (1915:121) records one specimen taken on Lake Coeur d'Alene in October, 1912.

Aechmophorus occidentalis (Lawrence). Western Grebe. Uncommon resident. Merrill (1897:349) records one specimen from Fort Sherman.

Podilymbus podiceps podiceps (Linnaeus). Pied-billed Grebe. Common resident. Merrill (1897:350) states that it is common at Fort Sherman in the spring and autumn.

Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Gmelin. White Pelican. Resident along the Snake River; large nesting colonies are to be found in Bear Lake County. See Davis (1935b:234) for nesting dates.

Phalacrocorax auritus albociliatus Ridgway. Farallon Cormorant. Davis (1935b:234) records this bird in the Minidoka Project as a regular migrant and gives dates of occurrence. The resident population at the Bear Lake Refuge has been reported as subspecies auritus by Behle (1944:68), but probably is albociliatus.