The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1931-05-05
OBSERVERS REPORT
FEW new ARRIVALS
IN BIRD COLONIES
Lack of Movement Among
Feathered Tribe Believed Due
to Cold Weather
BY O.. A. STEVENS
North Dakota Agricultural Collier

North DakOta Agricultural COllcSe)
Continued cold weather, few new
arrivals and little movement among
the birds is not an uncommon re-
port at this season of the year. A
few juncoes and tree sparrows have
been about, evidently waiting for a
turn In the weather. The writer's
average date for the last tree sparrow
seen is April Is. His only record In
May for this species is May 2. 1927.
The juncoes remain a little longer,
their average date for the same Pc
Rod being May 3. These dates Of
course refer to a few birds which re-
NAMED some time after most of them
have gone On. April 10 and II seemed
to be the time at which the largest
numbers of the %juncoes departed
northward this spring.
Says phoebe, mentioned last week
as having been seen at jamestown,
was reported at Arnegard April II by
Mr.. J.. H. McClelland. These birds are
seen quite regularly in the western
half Of the state. McCle1land noted
the first chestnut-collared longspur
April Is.
The fox sparrow, noted last week as
rare, was seen at Fairdale by F. J..
Vegtasa April Is. Judge M. O.
Thompson at Lisbon saw a single
bird April "a and Miss Perna M.
Slime at Minot reported the species
April rs. The writer had seen only
the two birds April Is.
VegtaSa saw the cheStnut-cOllared
longspur April IA. He reports the ar
rival of the following water birds:
Yellow legs April IA, Franklin gull
April Is, pied-billed grebe April 18,
Holboell grebe. double-crested r
morant, Wilson snipe, widgeon, ruddy.
black and bufflehead ducks April 10.
Quite a number of species usually
arrive the last Of April.
One Or two individuals Of several OF
these have been e The writer OBJ
served a myrtle warbler April Is and
on the two days following, it was seen
repeatedly in the same maple tree
There it evidently hunted insects
which were attracted to the sweet sap
oozing from last years sapsucker
drillings. Miss Alice Tibert, Fargo,
reports that she had seen n Of these
birds April 20. One was seen at Val
ley City April 10 and Jamestown April
Is.
The warblers feed almost entirely
upon small insects. Nearly all of the
species spend the winter in the trop-
les and migrate through our region
about May Is to Is. The black and
| white warbler comes a little earlier
| than most Of them, arriving about
May 10. The mrytle usually is seen
commonly here during the first two
or three weeks of May. 1t winters IN
southern and central United States
as far north as New York City, n
feeds to a considerable extent upon
berries at that season.
An interesting feature Of trapping
and banding is that frequently birds
will be caught which otherwise prob
ably would not have been seen. In
this way the writer has taken during
the last ten days a single individual
Of the following: Chipping Gbarrow
April 10, white : throated sparrow
April 20 and swamp sparrow April Is.
No other individuals of these 7pecieS
had been seen by April %, though the
white -throated sparrow was heard
singing and taken in the traps every
day. In the same way Mr.. Berner at
Jamestown took two Lincoln sparrows
April 10. None Of these had been
seen by the writer. A white-throated
sparrow wa seen at Paramount April
%. They should be here in consider
able numbers almost any day. MIR.
Berner also reports the capture OF a
field sparrow April 10. This is a rare
bird in that part of the state though
quite common in the Missouri river
valley.