eWestern Birds

Contents

MAIN ARTICLES

Structure of Lark Sparrow Song in California
Edward R. Pandolfino and Richard W. Hedley

Trends in Bird Species Richness in the Midst of Drought
Brian M. Myers, Erin J. Questad, Marcus D. Hubbell, and David J. Moriarty

NOTES

Radio Tracking Mountain Bluebirds Visiting Neighbors’ Nests
Alisha Ritchie and Myrna Pearman

Video Surveillance of Nesting Clay-colored Thrushes in South Texas
Jordan C. Giese, Jared D. Hall, and Heather A. Mathewson

Food Provisioning, Prey Composition, and Nesting Success of Ospreys in Northwestern California
Michael Academia

Book Reviews
Edward R. Pandolfino, Teresa Ely, and Daniel D. Gibson

Front cover photo by © Ed Harper of Carmichael, California: Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus) near Day, Modoc County, California, 14 July 2018. In this issue of Western Birds, Edward R. Pandolfino and Richard W. Hedley reveal the remarkable structure underlying the Lark Sparrow’s complex song, which can be interpreted in the framework of a four-level hierarchy.

Back cover photo by © Thomas A. Benson of San Bernardino, California: Cassin’s Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii), Mojave National Preserve, San Bernardino County, California, 5 May 2019. Forty-one years after an irruption of Cassin’s Sparrows reached the Mojave Desert in the spring of 1978, history repeated itself after another wet winter. In the spring of 2019 at least two dozen Cassin’s Sparrows were found in the same area of the Mojave Desert as in 1978. Sites of other occurrences in southern California include the San Gorgonio Pass and San Clemente Island, all reports being evaluated by the California Bird Records Committee.