| Arrival | Departure
SPECIES +-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
| Range | Median | Range | Median
-----------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
Bobolink | May 4-May 21 | May 11 | Aug. 28-Oct. 1 | Sept. 12
Yellow-headed | | | |
Blackbird | Mar. 31-Apr. 29 | Apr. 19 | Sept. 19-Oct. 18 | Sept. 24
Orchard Oriole | Apr. 25-May 14 | May 4 | Aug. 5-Sept. 15 | Aug. 9
Baltimore Oriole | Apr. 24-May 5 | Apr. 29 | Sept. 6-Sept. 29 | Sept. 10
Common Grackle | Mar. 2-Mar. 27 | Mar. 17 | Oct. 15-Nov. 14 | Oct. 31
-----------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
=Orchard Oriole=: _Icterus spurius_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident
is common in parkland, woodland, and old second-growth. Temporal
occurrence is indicated in Table 18.
_Breeding schedule._--The 118 records of breeding span the period May
11 to August 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date for completion of clutches is
June 5, and 45 per cent of all eggs are laid in the first ten days of
June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-6; 41). Clutches laid
at the peak of the season average 4.3 eggs (3-6; 26), and replacement
clutches average 3.8 eggs (3-4; 9). Nests are hung about 15 feet high
(ranging from six to 55 feet) in elm, cottonwood, hackberry, locust,
catalpa, willow, alder, osage orange, walnut, pear, linden, and ash.
=Baltimore Oriole=: _Icterus galbula_ (Linnaeus).--This common summer
resident is most numerous in the east, in woodland and riparian
timber. The species hybridizes freely with the Bullock Oriole in
western Kansas, and individuals morphologically typical of Baltimore
Orioles are rare west of the 100th meridian. Evidence of such
hybridization can be found in specimens taken in eastern Kansas, but
the linear nature of distribution along water-courses to the west
restricts gene-flow, and evident hybrids are not yet conspicuous.
Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 18.
_Breeding schedule._--Eighty-three records of breeding span the period
May 11 to July 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date of egg-laying is June 5,
and 66 per cent of all eggs are laid between May 21 and June 10.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs.
Nests are hung about 24 feet high (ranging from nine to 70 feet) in
elm, cottonwood, sycamore, maple, and oak.
=Bullock Oriole=: _Icterus bullockii_ (Swainson).--This summer
resident is common in western Kansas in woodland and riparian
situations. The species hybridizes freely with the Baltimore Oriole,
and most Bullock Orioles in Kansas show evidence of such
interbreeding. Almost all records of breeding come from west of the
100th meridian, but the species in recognizable form probably breeds
locally at least as far east as Stafford County.
_Breeding schedule._--Few nesting records are available, but these
suggest that the breeding schedule of the Bullock Oriole resembles
those of the preceding two species in Kansas.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are hung about 26 feet high (ranging from 10 to 50 feet) in
cottonwood, elm, and other large trees.
=Common Grackle=: _Quiscalus quiscula versicolor_ Vieillot.--This
summer resident is common in parkland, and around towns and farms.
Most individuals move out of Kansas in winter, and the temporal
occurrence of these birds is indicated in Table 18.
_Breeding schedule._--The 233 records of breeding span the period
April 11 to June 30 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is May 5,
and two-thirds of all eggs are laid between May 1 and May 20.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.5, 3-6; 33). Clutches laid
at the peak of the season average 4.7 eggs (3-6; 21), and those laid
as replacement clutches average 4.3 eggs (3-6; 12).
Nests are placed in forks and crotches about 22 feet high (ranging
from six to 50 feet) in elm, red cedar, cottonwood, oak, box elder,
and pine.
=Brown-headed Cowbird=: _Molothrus ater ater_ (Boddaert).--Many
individuals of this common summer resident overwinter in the southern
part of the State and it is difficult to determine dates of arrival
and departure in Kansas. Conspicuous abundance in the north covers the
period April to October.
_Breeding schedule._--The 141 instances of egg-laying span the period
April 21 to July 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date of laying is May 15, and
53 per cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 11 to June 10.
Inception of laying is here fairly reliably indicated, but in
exceptionally early springs laying does occur earlier; a few eggs were
found on April 6, 1963, too late for incorporation into this report
other than in this sentence.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size in cowbirds is not readily determined.
On the basis of ovarian examination of five females taken in
mid-season, the birds here lay about five eggs at a time. There is no
question that the birds are "double-brooded" in Kansas, and the season
is sufficiently long for as many as five "clutches" to be laid by a
given female.
Eggs are laid in nests of some forty species of birds in Kansas; 39 of
these are passerines. No preference for any one species is detectable;
the most frequently parasitized species are simply the common species,
and these are the kinds for which nesting records are easily gathered
by man. In the following list of host species, the names marked with
an asterisk are the conspicuously parasitized species.
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
=================+=========================+=============================
| Arrival | Departure
SPECIES +----------------+--------+------------------+----------
| Range | Median | Range | Median
-----------------+----------------+--------+------------------+----------
Rose-breasted | | | |
Grosbeak | Apr. 25-May 5 | May 2 | Sept. 4-Oct. 1 | Sept. 13
Black-headed | | | |
Grosbeak | Apr. 26-May 11 | May 5 | Aug. 17-Sept. 18 | Sept. 2
Blue Grosbeak | Apr. 25-May 26 | May 13 | Aug. 15-Sept. 3 | Aug. 27
Indigo Bunting | Apr. 20-May 15 | May 6 | Aug. 23-Oct. 31 | Oct. 1
Lazuli Bunting | May 5-May 24 | May 10 | |
Painted Bunting | Apr. 30-May 25 | May 9 | |
Dickcissel | Apr. 21-May 10 | May 4 | Sept. 7-Oct. 11 | Sept. 18
-----------------+----------------+--------+------------------+----------
=Indigo Bunting=: _Passerina cyanea_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident
is common in mixed-field and heavy brushland habitats. The species
extends westerly, in riparian situations, in reduced numbers,
ultimately meeting and hybridizing with the Lazuli Bunting. Specimens
referrable to the Indigo Bunting have been taken as far west as Finney
County, but most specimens from that far west show evidence of
interbreeding with Lazuli Buntings. Temporal occurrence is indicated
in Table 19.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-four records of breeding span the period
May 11 to August 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is June
15.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.1, 2-4; 17).
Nests are placed about three feet high (ranging from one to nine feet)
in coralberry, sumac, thistle, sycamore sprouts, hickory sprouts,
grape, elderberry, cottonwood, dogwood, ragweed, and grasses.
=Lazuli Bunting=: _Passerina amoena_ (Say).--This uncommon summer
resident of western Kansas occurs in edge habitats and streamside
thickets. The one breeding record is from Morton County, and there is
a breeding specimen taken at Sharon Springs, Wallace County. The
species hybridizes with the Indigo Bunting in the western half of the
State. Temporal occurrence in spring is indicated in Table 19.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in June and July.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed a few feet from the ground, probably much as are
nests of the Indigo Bunting.
=Painted Bunting=: _Passerina ciris pallidior_ Mearns.--This is an
uncommon summer resident in the southeastern third of Kansas, in edge
habitats and streamside brush. Specimens taken in the breeding season
and actual nesting records come from Douglas, Shawnee, Geary, Barber,
and Crawford counties. Temporal occurrence in spring is indicated in
Table 19.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in June and July.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).
Nests are placed in deciduous shrubs and trees.
=Dickcissel=: _Spiza americana_ (Gmelin).--This species is a common
summer resident in eastern Kansas and is local and irregular in the
west, in grassland habitats. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table
19.
_Breeding schedule._--Forty-one records of breeding span the period
May 1 to July 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying seems to be
May 5, but the curiously abrupt inception of breeding described by
this sample suggests that more records are needed to document fully
the breeding schedule of this species. Breeding in April almost
certainly will be found.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 14).
Nests are placed about two feet high (ranging from ground level to 12
feet) in grasses, osage orange, sedge, box elder, honey locust,
clover, thistle, and blackberry.
=Pine Siskin=: _Spinus pinus pinus_ (Wilson).--This irregular summer
resident occurs locally north of the 38th parallel, chiefly around
planted conifers. Known stations of breeding are in Hays, Ellis
County, Concordia, Cloud County, and Onaga and St. Marys, Pottawatomie
County.
_Breeding schedule._--Twelve records of breeding span the period March
11 to May 20 (Fig. 9); most nests have been established in late April
or by early May.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. Of ten nests examined
for eggs, five had at least one egg of the Brown-headed Cowbird; if it
is assumed that each cowbird egg replaced one of the siskins, mean
clutch-size is 3.7 eggs.
Nests are placed about seven feet high (ranging from 3.5 to 13 feet)
in red cedar, exotic conifers, and Lombardy poplar.
=American Goldfinch=: _Spinus tristis tristis_ (Linnaeus).--This
resident is common in woodland edge, scrubby second-growth, old
fields, and riparian thickets. Occurrence tends to be local and at low
density in the southwestern sector.
_Breeding schedule._--Twelve records of breeding span the period June
20 to September 10 (Fig. 9); the modal date for laying is August 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.4, 3-6; 8).
Nests are placed from two to eight feet high in woody or herbaceous
vegetation.
=Red Crossbill=: _Loxia curvirostra_ Linnaeus.--This is an uncommon
and irregular winter visitant to Kansas, but it nested once in Shawnee
County. _L. c. minor_ (Brehm), on geographic grounds, probably nested
here, but five other subspecies have been recorded in the State and
any one of these might have undertaken the aberrant breeding.
_Breeding record._--Three eggs, set completed March 24, 1917, Shawnee
County; successfully fledged (Hyde, 1917:166). The species usually
lays 4 eggs and places its nests in conifers.
=Rufous-sided Towhee=: _Pipilo erythrophthalmus erythrophthalmus_
(Linnaeus).--This is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in
understory of woodland and streamside timber. Specimens taken in the
breeding season and actual records of nesting come from east of
stations in Cloud, Marion, and Cherokee counties. Temporal occurrence
is indicated in Table 20; records of _P. e. arcticus_ (Swainson) have
been eliminated from the sample as far as has been possible.
_Breeding schedule._--Nineteen records of breeding span the period
April 21 to August 10 (Fig. 9); the modal date for egg-laying is May
5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.0, 3-7; 14).
Nests are placed on the ground, in heavy cover.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.--Histograms representing breeding
schedules of cardueline and emberizine finches in Kansas. See
legend to Figure 1 for explanation of histograms.]
=Lark Bunting=: _Calamospiza melanocorys_ Stejneger.--This species is
ordinarily a common summer resident in western Kansas, in grassland
and open scrub. Specimens taken in the breeding season and all
breeding records except one for western Franklin County come from west
of stations in Decatur, Ellis, and Comanche counties. Irregular
fluctuations in breeding density have been recorded from Decatur
County (Wolfe, 1961). Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 20.
_Breeding schedule._--Fourteen records of breeding span the period May
21 to June 20; the modal date of egg-laying cannot be determined from
the present sample.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 7).
Nests are placed on the ground, at bases of clumps of grasses.
=Grasshopper Sparrow=: _Ammodramus savannarum perpallidus_
(Coues).--This species is a local and at times common summer resident
throughout Kansas, in grassland. Temporal occurrence is indicated in
Table 20.
_Breeding schedule._--Seven records of breeding fall in the period May
1 to June 30; the modal date of laying seems to be about May 21.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.8, 4-5; 5).
Nests are placed on the ground or in low vegetation, with cover of
grasses or forbs.
=Henslow Sparrow=: _Passerherbulus henslowii henslowii_
(Audubon).--This is an uncommon and local summer resident in eastern
Kansas, in grassland. Breeding records are from Cloud, Shawnee,
Douglas, Morris, and Anderson counties. Temporal occurrence is
indicated in Table 20.
_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs.
Nests are placed on the ground, usually in bluestem pasture, but in
any case grasses.
=Lark Sparrow=: _Chondestes grammacus_ (Say).--This is a common summer
resident in grassland edge habitats. _C. g. grammacus_ (Say) breeds
east of the Flint Hills, east of stations in Pottawatomie, Anderson,
and Montgomery counties, and _C. g. strigatus_ Swainson breeds west of
stations in Clay, Dickinson, Harvey, and Sedgwick counties; specimens
from the intervening area are of intermediate subspecific character.
Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 20.
_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-nine records of breeding span the period
May 1 to July 20 (Fig. 9); the modal date for egg-laying is probably
May 25, but the sample may not be reliable in this respect.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 28).
Nests are usually placed on the ground, in cover of pasture grasses,
clover, thistle, milo maize, and soybean; there is one record of a
nest one and one-half feet high in a small pine.
=Cassin Sparrow=: _Aimophila cassinii_ (Woodhouse).--This is a common
summer resident in open scrub and grassland edge, to the south and
west of Wallace and Comanche counties. Specimens taken in the breeding
season and actual nesting records are from Wallace, Hamilton, Kearny,
Finney, Morton, and Comanche counties; the A. O. U. Check-list (1957)
cites Hays, Ellis County, as a breeding locality, but it is doubtful
that the species now occurs there. _Breeding schedule._--Eggs are
laid in May and June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.
Nests are placed on the ground, at bases of small bushes.
TABLE 20.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT AMERICAN
BUNTINGS IN KANSAS
=================+===========================+============================
| Arrival | Departure
SPECIES +-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
| Range | Median | Range | Median
-----------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
Rufous-sided | | | |
Towhee | Apr. 2-Apr. 19 | Apr. 9 | Sept. 20-Oct. 8 | Sept. 29
Lark Bunting | May 5-May 14 | May 10 | |
Grasshopper | | | |
Sparrow | Apr. 12-May 11 | Apr. 29 | Aug. 20-Oct. 6 | Aug. 31
Henslow Sparrow | Apr. 14-Apr. 30 | Apr. 22 | Oct. 15 |
Lark Sparrow | Mar. 29-Apr. 21 | Apr. 18 | Sept. 13-Oct. 16 | Oct. 12
Chipping Sparrow | Mar. 6-Apr. 29 | Apr. 23 | Oct. 3-Nov. 15 | Oct. 20
Field Sparrow | Mar. 4-Apr. 28 | Apr. 7 | Oct. 5-Nov. 12 | Oct. 30
-----------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------
=Chipping Sparrow=: _Spizella passerina passerina_ (Bechstein).--This is
an uncommon summer resident in open woodland, second-growth, and edge.
_S. p. passerina_ is found east of stations in Barber and Shawnee
counties; Chipping Sparrows are not known to breed farther to the west,
but records for north-central Kansas are likely to be found. The
subspecific affinities of our Chipping Sparrows are entirely with the
nominate subspecies, and there is no basis for earlier reports (Long,
1940; Tordoff, 1956; Johnston, 1960) that _S. p. arizonae_ Coues (= _S.
p. boreophila_ Oberholser) occurs in Kansas.
_Breeding schedule._--Nine records of breeding fall in the period May 1
to May 10, in no way indicating the whole span of the breeding season;
the species probably lays eggs in May and July, as well as in June.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs.
Nests are placed four to 40 feet high in evergreens of a variety of
kinds.
=Field Sparrow=: _Spizella pusilla_ (Wilson).--This species is a common
summer resident in grassland and edge habitats. _S. p. pusilla_ (Wilson)
breeds in eastern Kansas chiefly east of the Flint Hills; _S. p.
arenacea_ Chadbourne breeds in central and western Kansas, intergrading
easterly with _S. p. pusilla_.
_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-nine records of breeding span the period
April 21 to September 10 (Fig. 9); the modal date for first clutches is
May 5.
_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 21).
Nests are placed about 10 inches high (ranging from ground level to
three feet) in or among coralberry, osage orange, elm, oak, rose, and,
once, peony.
=Chestnut-collared Longspur=: _Calcarius ornatus_ (Townsend).--This was
formerly a summer resident in western Kansas, in short-grass habitat.
The only known nesting area was in the vicinity of Ft. Hays, Ellis
County. The species is to be looked for in prairie with short grass type
of vegetation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many persons have contributed field observations such as dates of
arrival and departure for migrants, and the various activities of the
breeding cycle for most of the species here discussed. An alphabetic
listing of their names follows.