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Part 29

The Breeding Birds of Kansas · Richard F. Johnston — chapter 29 of 39 · ~1,013 words · public domain

Mourning Dove, Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Phoebe,* Say Phoebe,* Acadian Flycatcher, Barn Swallow, Horned Lark, Carolina Wren, Rock Wren, Brown Thrasher,* Mockingbird, Catbird, Wood Thrush,* Eastern Bluebird, Yellow-throated Vireo, Bell Vireo,* White-eyed Vireo,* Parula Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Yellow-breasted Chat, Yellowthroat, Eastern Meadowlark, Western Meadowlark, Red-winged Blackbird,* Orchard Oriole,* Cardinal,* Black-headed Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting,* Blue Grosbeak, Dickcissel,* Pine Siskin,* Rufous-sided Towhee,* Grasshopper Sparrow, Lark Sparrow,* Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow.*

=Scarlet Tanager=: Piranga olivacea (Gmelin).--This rare summer resident in northeastern Kansas occurs in deciduous forest and bottomland timber. Specimens taken in the breeding season and records of nesting come from Clay, Doniphan, Douglas, Wyandotte, Johnson, and Linn counties, but the species probably occupies the entire eastern third of the State. Dates of arrival in spring are from April 29 to May 25 (the median is May 11), and dates of departure in autumn are from August 4 to September 23 (the median is August 10).

Breeding schedule.--Six records of breeding fall in the period May 11 to June 20.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are placed 20 to 35 feet high in elm, linden, hickory, and walnut.

=Summer Tanager=: Piranga rubra rubra (Linnaeus).--This uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas occurs in woodland. Specimens taken in the breeding season and records of nesting come from east of stations in Doniphan, Shawnee, and Montgomery counties. Dates of arrival in spring run from April 24 to May 18 (the median is April 29), and the species departs southward in September and October.

Breeding schedule.--Eleven records of egg-laying cover the period May 21 to July 20; the modal date for laying is June 5.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are situated ten to 20 feet high on horizontal limbs of large trees.

=Cardinal=: Richmondena cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus).--This species is a common resident in eastern Kansas, west to about the 99th meridian; west of this line the species becomes local and uncommon to rare. Habitat in the east is found in woodland, edge, second-growth and open riparian timber, and in the west the species is restricted to riparian growths, chiefly along the Republican, Solomon, Smoky Hill, Arkansas, and Cimarron rivers, and their larger tributaries.

Breeding schedule.--The 117 records of breeding span the period April 1 to September 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for laying of first clutches is May 1, subsequent to which breeding activity is regular but asynchronous.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.5, 3-6; 65). Seasonal variation in clutch-size is as follows:

Date Mean clutch-size Number of records

April 1-20 3.0 6 April 21-May 10 3.8 25 May 11-May 31 3.3 15 June 1-June 20 3.6 11 June 21-July 20 3.3 7

Nests are placed about five feet high (ranging from 10 inches to 40 feet) in osage orange, elm, grape, rose, red cedar, coralberry, willow, cottonwood, gooseberry, oak, elderberry, box elder, arbor vitae, Lombardy poplar, Forsythia, pines, honeysuckle, wisteria, lilac, red haw, hickory, dogwood, and sycamore.

=Rose-breasted Grosbeak=: Pheucticus ludovicianus (Linnaeus).--This is a local and at times common summer resident in eastern Kansas, in woodland, edge, and riparian timber. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual records of breeding come from Clay, Riley, Doniphan, Leavenworth, and Douglas counties. This species meets and hybridizes with the Black-headed Grosbeak west of the Flint Hills. Temporal occurrence in the State is indicated in Table 19.

Breeding schedule.--Eleven records of breeding span the period May 11 to July 10; the modal date for laying is probably June 5.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 3 or 4 eggs.

Nests are placed in deciduous trees, in forks and crotches six to 30 feet high.

=Black-headed Grosbeak=: Pheucticus mehnocephalus melanocephalus (Swainson).--This summer resident is common in western Kansas, chiefly along streams. Individuals referable to this species by sight records alone breed in fair numbers as far east as Cloud and Sedgwick counties, but to the east of these stations numbers are reduced, partly as a result of presumed competition with the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Hybrids between these two grosbeaks are regularly produced. The easternmost record of breeding by this species is at St. Mary's, Pottawatomie County, where a male was seen as probably mated with a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 19.

Breeding schedule.--Sixteen records of breeding span the period May 11 to July 10; the modal date for egg-laying is June 5.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (3.7, 3-4; 4). Nests are placed about 12 feet high in a variety of deciduous trees.

=Blue Grosbeak=: Guiraca caerulea (Linnaeus).--This is a common to uncommon summer resident in most of Kansas, in brushland and streamside thickets. G. c. caerulea (Linnaeus) breeds in the east, east of stations in Douglas, Greenwood, and Cowley counties, and G. c. interfusa Dwight and Griscom breeds in the west, west of stations in Cloud, Stafford, and Clark counties; a broad zone of intergradation exists between the two named populations. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 19.

Breeding schedule.--Seven records of breeding span the period May 21 to June 30; the modal date of laying seems to be in late May or early June.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are placed from three to 30 feet high in a variety of deciduous plants.

TABLE 19.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT CARDINAL GROSBEAKS IN KANSAS

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