Re: Pigmy Nuthatch II

[Helmut Mueller <hmuelle@earthlink.net>]

The Zoology library in Wilson Hall at UNC has the series..other university
libraries may have it as well.
Broad wings were common breeders in southern orange Co. 30 years ago &
Red-shoulders were rare. The Red shoulders declined in the 50's &
60's..apparently as a result of DDT & they were replaced by Broad
wings..then as Red shoulders came back, Broad wings declined

> From: "Travis, Ginger" <Ginger@athena.dev.unc.edu>
> Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 09:46:49 -0400
> To: 'Helmut Mueller' <hmuelle@earthlink.net>
> Subject: RE: Pigmy Nuthatch II
> 
> Professor Mueller, if The Birds of America is in the Biology Library in
> Wilson (or wherever), might you want to encourage local folks to go there to
> look up the species accounts? I mean, as a fall-back position. Just a
> suggestion. 
> Ginger
> Saw an immature hawk this a.m. while I was sitting on my deck with coffee.
> No binoculars. The hawk alighted on a high but near pine branch. Saw its
> streaked breast when it turned around. But when it flew I could not clearly
> make out its tail bands. Probably a Red-shouldered Hawk, but my neighbor (a
> good birder) saw an adult Broad-winged outside his window just a couple of
> weeks ago. About 3 years ago, a pair of Broad-wingeds hung around my woods,
> but I haven't seen any in residence since, nor did I even see any migrants
> this spring. But hope springs eternal!
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Helmut Mueller [mailto:hmuelle@earthlink.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 9:37 AM
> To: Psbmt@aol.com; tkrakauer@mindspring.com; carolinabirds@duke.edu
> Subject: Re: Pigmy Nuthatch II
> 
> 
> I quote the following from Withgott & Smith 1998, Brown-headed Nuthatch. The
> Birds of North America No. 349 A. Poole & F. Gill, eds. :
> Juvenal plumage. ...very similar to adult..Top of head more grayish than in
> adults or replaced by gray...
> This is a 24 pp. publication on the BHN..other species are covered at
> similar length. The cost of the series is prohibitive..I got it at half
> price because I authored one of the accounts &, if I recall correctly, I
> paid over $1000. But you might encourage your library to get a copy.
> Information may be obtained from:
> Birds of North America
> 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
> Philadelphia PA 19103-1195
> 
> 
> -- Helmut C. Mueller  Ph.D
> 
> Professor Emeritus
> Dept. of Biology & Curriculum in Ecology
> University of North Carolina
> Coker Hall CB# 3280
> Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280
> Phone: 919-942-4937
> 
> Permanent email address: hmueller@email.unc.edu
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> From: Psbmt@aol.com
>> Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 07:59:15 EDT
>> To: tkrakauer@mindspring.com, carolinabirds@duke.edu
>> Subject: Re: Pigmy Nuthatch II
>> 
>> 
>> In a message dated 7/9/02 9:18:45 PM, tkrakauer@mindspring.com writes:
>> << This spring we noticed that the feathers on the head kept getting
>> lighter and lighter until today the top of the head is more light tan than
>> brown.>>
>> 
>> <<From what I have observed this year what we are seeing is not a regional
>> subspecies, or a juvenile plumage. >>
>> 
>> Tom and All,
>> I guess the one odd thing I noticed after my initial post a few weeks
>> ago, when I first noticed the individual with the grayer crown color at my
>> feeders, was that numerous people wrote to me saying the same thing.  I
>> thought at the time it seemed a little strange that quite a few others
> were
>> noticing this grayer crown color for the first time, too, after all having
>> seen lots of Brown-headed Nuthatches prior to this summer.  Had we all
> just
>> never seen a juvenile before?
>> So maybe Tom has hit the nail on the head??  Except I still would decribe
>> the crown color as grayish, not light tan :-)  Looked like the crown color
> of
>> Sibley's Pigmy Nuthatch, is that the color you're seeing on the birds in
> your
>> yard, Tom?
>> 
>> Shelley
>> 
>> Shelley Theye 
>> N. Chatham County, NC (south of Chapel Hill)
>> Psbmt@aol.com