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ABSTRACT
The Keweenaw Peninsula, located in the western part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, juts
broadly into the south side of Lake Superior. It is comprised of the counties of Baraga, Houghton,
and mainland Keweenaw. The distribution of its avifauna of 324 species is treated in this monograph.
Introductory sections briefly outline physiography, geology, climate, ornithological history, and sources
and acceptance of data. Each species is discussed in a separate account detailing current and former
status (i.e. mode of occurrence, seasonality, detectability), range, habitat, timing of migration (by season,
including extreme, median, and peak dates; also given in tables for easy comparison), seasonal high
counts, specific breeding data, banding recoveries, historical changes, and numerical summaries for
Christmas Bird Counts, Breeding Bird Surveys, and North American Migration Counts. All available data
are presented for irregular (i.e. occasional, casual, and accidental) species. An extensive methods section
that systematizes and clearly defines modes of occurrence (e.g., summer resident, vagrant), detectability
(11 categories), seasonality, and regularity, is offered as a model for authors writing similar distributional
works. Summary statements in the species accounts are supported by field observations for which
date, locality, number of birds, and observers are given; these data were gleaned from the literature and
from the largely unpublished field notes of the author and local birders, the latter two representing 86
person-years of observations since 1972. A separate hypothetical list treats 22 species for which data are
insufficient for acceptance. Seventeen discussions summarize and interpret Keweenaw data. Among
these are Mode of occurrence, Effects of Lake Superior on migration; Fall translake migrants; Christmas Bird
Counts; and Conservation. A unique overview of Vagrancy defines kinds, causes, and adaptive benefits
using Keweenaw vagrants as examples (321 records of 62 species); abundance is negatively correlated
with distance; arrival dates average later than those for regular species. Analysis of Biogeography within
the Peninsula implicates habitat (including food), not range/rarity, as the major factor controlling the
distribution of the 178 breeding species. Censuses of Waterfowl and other species at selvage ponds demonstrate
that sewage facilities are an important untapped source of habitat for breeding waterfowl; if managed
properly, at no expense to the municipalities, the three pond systems censused here could produce nearly
400 ducklings each year. Migration compares feeding habits of seven bird groups with the chronology
of habitat availability as controlled by annual climatic changes between winter and summer. Spring
arrival and fall departure are timed during periods when the climate is least likely to have a deleterious
effect on food availability, thus avoiding mortality during a "late" spring or an "early" fall. Exceptional
species have the broadest feeding niche of their group and may have become "preadapted" on their
wintering grounds by a climate that is similar to early spring and late fall in the Keweenaw. Waterbird
migration on Lake Superior discusses the fall timing and abundance of 34845 individuals of 28 species
moving along the south shore during 209.5 hrs of censusing, 1986-99 (mean 166 birds per hour). Raptor
migration examines spring timing and abundance of 17 species of diurnal raptors at the Brockway Mt.,
Keweenaw Co., lookout (a listed Important Bird Area), where 15000 birds occur annually, and suggests
regional migration routes. Shorebird migration at sewage ponds, which discusses timing and abundance
for 25 species during 29 spring and 157 fall counts, 1986-2001, touts the importance of sewage ponds as
stop-over sites for migrants, and argues for shorebird and waterfowl management. Analysis of Effects of
climate and bird feeders on the wintering avifauna implicates food availability as the primary factor affecting
winter distribution in the Keweenaw, and shows that some species are dependent on feeders for their
winter and summer presence. Historical changes in populations suggest that among breeding species, 37
are increasing and 28 declining, with natural habitat succession a primary reason. Some transients and
winter residents are also undergoing change.
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A comprehensive treatment of the 680 or so species Binford lists for Oaxaca. Following
the introduction, mainly outlining the history of ornithological work in Oaxaca, are extensive
discussions of general physiography, climate, and habitat. The species accounts, arranged in
1983 AOU sequence, include notes on abundance, distribution, habitat, evidence of breeding
and taxonomy; a list of hypothetical occurrences follows the main ilst. Then come the analyses
of the breeding avifauna (by habitat) and of migrants (external and internal). A list of
Oaxacan type localities, an exhaustive gazetteer, acknowledgements, literature cited,
and an index complete the book. A fold-out map inside the front cover shows the
distribution of the major habitats within Oaxaca.
"Birds of Oaxaca is arguably the most comprehensive distributional treatment of any
avifauna south of the U.S. border. As well as recommending it highly to all interested in
Mexican and Neotropical birds, not to mention North American migrants, anyone under-
taking a distributional survey can learn much from Binford's thorough approach."
--Steve N. G. HOWELL.
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