Birds of the Rockies Part 14

219. =Florida gallinule.= GALLINULA GALEATA. Summer visitor, not known to breed.

221. =American coot.= FULICA AMERICANA. Common summer resident; breeds on plains and in mountain parks.

222. =Red phalarope.= CRYMOPHILUS FULICARIUS. Migrant; rare; once taken at Loveland by Edw. A. Preble, July 25, 1895. Breeds far north.

223. =Northern phalarope.= PHALAROPUS LOBATUS. Migrant; not uncommon; breeds far northward.

224. =Wilson's phalarope.= STEGANOPUS TRICOLOR. Common summer resident; more common in migration; breeds below 6,000 feet.

225. =American avocet.= RECURVIROSTRA AMERICANA. Common summer resident; occurs frequently on the plains; less frequent in mountains.

226. =Black-necked stilt.= HIMANTOPUS MEXICa.n.u.s. Summer resident; most common in the mountains, going as high as 8,000 feet; more common west of range than east.

228. =American woodc.o.c.k.= PHILOHELA MINOR. Rare summer resident; Colorado the extreme western limit of its range, going only to foothills.

230. =Wilson's snipe.= GALLINAGO DELICATA. Rare summer resident; common migrant; winter resident, rare; found as high as 10,000 feet.

232. =Long-billed dowitcher.= MACRORHAMPHUS SCOLOPACEUS. Somewhat common migrant; all records restricted to plains; breeds far northward.

233. =Stilt sandpiper.= MICROPALAMA HIMANTOPUS. Rare migrant; breeds north of United States.

239. =Pectoral sandpiper.= TRINGA MACULTA. Common migrant; occurs from the plains to the great height of 13,000 feet.

240. =White-rumped sandpiper.= TRINGA FUSCICOLLIS. Not uncommon migrant; a bird of the plains, its western limit being the base of the Rockies; breeds in the far North.

241. =Baird's sandpiper.= TRINGA BAIRDII. Abundant migrant; breeds far north; returns in August and ranges over mountains sometimes at height of 13,000 to 14,000 feet, feeding on gra.s.shoppers.

242. =Least sandpiper.= TRINGA MINUTILLA. Common migrant; found from plains to 7,000 feet.

243a. =Red-backed sandpiper.= TRINGA ALPINA PACIFICA. Rare migrant; only three records; range, throughout North America.

246. =Semipalmated sandpiper.= EREUNETES PUSILLUS. Common migrant; from the plains to 8,000 feet.

247. =Western sandpiper.= EREUNETES OCCIDENTALIS. Rare migrant; breeds in the remote North; western species, but in migration occurs regularly along the Atlantic coast.

248. =Sanderling.= CALIDRIS ARENARIA. Rare migrant, on plains; range nearly cosmopolitan; breeds only in northern part of northern hemisphere.

249. =Marbled G.o.dwit.= LIMOSA FEDOA. Migrant; not common; a bird of the plains, but seldom seen; occasionally found in the mountains.

254. =Greater yellow-legs.= TOTa.n.u.s MELANOLEUCUS. Common migrant; in favorable localities below 8,000 feet.

255. =Yellow-legs.= TOTa.n.u.s FLAVIPES. Common migrant; distribution same as preceding.

256. =Solitary sandpiper.= HELODROMAS SOLITARIUS. Summer resident; not common; in migration, common; breeds from plains to 10,000 feet.

258a. =Western willet.= SYMPHEMIA SEMIPALMATA INORNATA. Summer resident; not common; common migrant, especially in the fall; breeds from plains to 7,000 feet.

261. =Bartramian sandpiper.= BARTRAMIA LONGICAUDA. Common summer resident; abundant in migration; a bird of the plains; rare west of mountains.

263. =Spotted sandpiper.= ACt.i.tIS MACULARIA. Abundant summer resident; breeds on the plains and at all intermediate alt.i.tudes to 12,000 feet, even on top of mountains of that height, if a lake or pond can be found; in fall, ranges above timber-line to 14,000 feet; some may remain throughout winter.

264. =Long-billed curlew.= NUMENIUS LONGIROSTRIS. Common summer resident; breeds on the plains; also in Middle and South Parks; found on both sides of the range.

265. =Hudsonian curlew.= NUMENIUS HUDSONICUS. Rare migrant; all records thus far from the plains; general range, North America.

270. =Black-bellied plover.= SQUATAROLA SQUATAROLA. Migrant, not common; bird of plains below 5,000 feet; breeds far north.

272. =American golden plover.= CHARADRIUS DOMINICUS. Migrant, not common; same record as preceding.

273. =Killdeer.= aeGIALITIS VOCIFERA. Abundant summer resident; arrives early in spring; breeds most abundantly on plains and at base of foothills, but is far from rare at an alt.i.tude of 10,000 feet.

274. =Semipalmated plover.= aeGIALITIS SEMIPALMATA. Migrant, not common; breeds near the Arctic Circle.

281. =Mountain plover.= aeGIALITIS MONTANA. Common summer resident; in spite of its name, a bird of the plains rather than the mountains; yet sometimes found in parks at an alt.i.tude of 8,000 and even 9,000 feet.

Its numbers may be estimated from the fact that in one day of August a sportsman shot one hundred and twenty-six birds, though why he should indulge in such wholesale slaughter the author does not understand.

283. =Turnstone.= ARENARIA INTERPRES. Rare migrant; breeding grounds in the north; cosmopolitan in range, but chiefly along sea-coasts.

289. =Bob-white.= COLINUS VIRGINIa.n.u.s. Resident; somewhat common locally; good reason to believe that all the quails of the foothills are descendants of introduced birds, while those of the eastern border of the plains are native. A few were introduced some years ago into Estes Park, and are still occasionally noticed.

293. =Scaled partridge.= CALLIPEPLA SQUAMATA. Resident; common locally; southern species, but more common than the bob-white at Rocky Ford, Col.

294. =California partridge.= LOPHORTYX CALIFORNICUS. Resident, local; introduced at Grand Junction, Col., and have flourished so abundantly as to become troublesome to gardeners.

295. =Gambel's partridge.= LOPHORTYX GAMBELII. Resident, rare; known only in southwestern part of the State; a western species.

297. =Dusky grouse.= DENDRAGAPUS OBSCURUS. Resident; mountain dwellers; breed from 7,000 feet to timber-line; in September wander above timber-line to 12,500 feet, feeding on gra.s.shoppers; remain in thick woods in winter.

300b. =Gray ruffed grouse.= BONASA UMBELLUS UMBELLOIDES. Rare resident; a more northern species, but a few breed in Colorado just below timber-line; winters in higher foothills.

304. =White-tailed ptarmigan.= LAGOPUS LEUCURUS. Common resident; one of the most strictly alpine species; breeds entirely above timber-line from 11,500 to 13,500 feet; thence ranging to the summits of the highest peaks. Only in severest winter weather do they come down to timber-line; rarely to 8,000 feet. In winter they are white; in summer fulvous or dull grayish-buff, barred and spotted with black. This bird is colloquially called the "mountain quail." The brown-capped leucosticte is the only other Colorado species that has so high a range.

305. =Prairie hen.= TYMPANUCHUS AMERICa.n.u.s. Resident; uncommon and local.

308b. =Prairie sharp-tailed grouse.= PEDIOECETES PHASIANELLUS CAMPESTRIS. Resident, not common; once common, but killed and driven out by pothunters; some breed in Middle Park; noted in winter at 9,500 feet.

309. =Sage grouse.= CENTROCERCUS UROPHASIa.n.u.s. Common resident. "As its name implies, it is an inhabitant of the artemisia or sage-brush plains, and is scarcely found elsewhere." Ranges from plains to 9,500 feet.

310. =Mexican turkey.= MELEAGRIS GALLOPAVO. Rare local resident; southern part of the State.

310a. =Wild turkey.= MELEAGRIS GALLOPAVO FERA. Resident; rare; once abundant, but will probably soon be exterminated; not certain whether Colorado birds are eastern or western forms.

312. =Band-tailed pigeon.= COLUMBA FASCIATA. Summer resident; local; breeds from 5,000 to 7,000 feet and occasionally higher.

316. =Mourning dove.= ZENAIDURA MACROURA. Summer resident; very abundant; breeds everywhere below the pine region up to 10,000 feet, though usually a little lower; in fall ranges up to 12,000 feet.

319. =White-winged dove.= MELOPELIA LEUCOPTERA. Four records of this straggler in Colorado; its usual range is subtropical, though not uncommon as far north as the southern border of the United States.

325. =Turkey vulture.= CATHARTES AURA. Common summer resident; breeds from plains to 10,000 and even 12,000 feet.