31

Notes

Third Reported Nest of Solitary Sandpiperin Ontario

Jake Walker

On the morning of 10 June 2003, Ifound myself in a beautiful tract ofmature forest just east of WakamiLake Provincial Park in SudburyDistrict, near Chapleau, Ontario. Iwas conducting point counts on footfor the Boreal Forest Birds Project ofBird Studies Canada, and simultane­ously gathering data for the OntarioBreeding Bird Atlas. The day startedwell when two Gray Wolves (Canislupus) made a brief appearance onthe ATV trail I was following, appar­ent harbingers of good fortune. Bythe end of my first transect of sixpoint counts, I had found three nest­ing species of birds: Hermit Thrush(Catharus guttatus) , Black-backedWoodpecker (Picoides arcticus), andBoreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsoni­ca). I resumed hiking the ATV trail,heading south toward the startingpoint of my second transect. The trailbecame muddy shortly before theforest opened up at the edge of alarge beaver pond, where I spottedan old nest in a dead tree. To my sur­prise, there was a Solitary Sandpiper(Tringa solitaria) sitting on the nest.

The Solitary Sandpiper nest waslocated 3 m up in a dead BlackSpruce (Picea mariana), standing in a

metre of water. It was in atlas square17LN76, and the specific locationdetermined by GPS (NAD 83) was:UTM Zone 17; Easting 378182;Northing 5262221. The compositionof the nest was mostly twigs coveredwith lichen, and it appeared to havebeen built by an American Robin(Turdus migratorius). The nest haddefinitely endured inclement weath­er, for it was tattered and beginningto fall from the tree in such a mannerthat the cup of the nest was on aplane nearly 45 degrees below hori­zontal. Despite the tilt of the nest inmy direction, I was unable to see itscontents because the adult neverflushed, nor did it leave on a subse­quent visit.

From the ATV trail facing east(toward the nest), there was a one­metre high beaver dam that hadcreated a 200 m by 100 m pond.There were approximately 100 deadBlack Spruce trees in the near sideof the pond, one of which containedthe Solitary Sandpiper nest. To thewest, below the beaver dam, lay adense Speckled Alder (Alnusincana) thicket. On either side ofthe pond, mature Jack Pine (Pinusbanksiana) forest dominated the

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hills, while Black Spruce grew inlow wet areas.

DiscussionOf the world's 87 sandpipers,phalaropes and allies (Scolopacidae),only the Solitary Sandpiper, theGreen Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus),and occasionally the WoodSandpiper (T. glareola) lay their eggsin old tree nests of other birds,instead of on the ground (Moskoff1995, Warnock and Warnock 2001).Solitary Sandpipers commonly utilizeabandoned nests ofAmerican Robin,Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus caroli­nus), Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannustyrannus) , Gray Jay (Perisoreuscanadensis), and Cedar Waxwing(Bombycilla cedrorum).

Harris (1987) stated that theSolitary Sandpiper "probably neststhroughout northern Ontario" from"south of the tree-line" to the"southern edge of the largely conif­erous Timagami Forest section, justnorth of Sudbury". There have beenvarious reports of downy young,females in breeding condition, andterritorial behaviour in Ontario, butonly two previous nest records(Schueler et al.1974, Peck and James1983, Tallman and Tallman 1986,Harris 1987). Typical nesting habitatconsists of boreal forest near boggyponds and lakes. The breeding biolo­gy of the Solitary Sandpiper is poor­ly known due to "the difficulty ofgaining access to breeding habitatand finding nests" (Moskoff 1995).

The first confirmed SolitarySandpiper nest in Ontario was dis-

ONTARIO BIRDS APRIL 2004

covered on 28 June 1964 in a BlackSpruce forest on a hill above thesouthern end of Sutton Lake,Kenora District (Schueler et al.1974, Peck and James 1983). It wasthe old nest of an American Robin,situated 2 m up in a 4.5-metre BlackSpruce, against the trunk, and con­tained four eggs. Both the nest andthe eggs were collected anddeposited in the Royal OntarioMuseum (ROM #9479).

The second reported OntarioSolitary Sandpiper nest was locatednear a road about 60 m from theshore ofTobacco Lake (45° 51' N,82°27' W), Gordon Township, Manitou­lin District (Peck 1995), a little southof the breeding range described byHarris (1987). The nest site washeavy second growth woods ofWhite Birch (Betula papyri/era), RedMaple (Acer rubrum) , and BeakedHazel (Corylus cornuta), with someBalsam Fir (Abies balsamea) andWhite Spruce (Picea glauca). It wasan old American Robin nest, at aheight of 1.4 m in a small Balsam Fir,and contained four young whenfound on 17 June 1992 by Steve Halland his son, Gordon. The adultSolitary Sandpiper put on a vigorousdistraction display after two of theyoung flushed from the nest when itwas approached by the observer'sdogs.

Details of the third reportedOntario nesting of SolitarySandpiper described in this notehave been forwarded to theOntario Nest Records Scheme.

AcknowledgementsI would like to thank Ron Tozer forassistance with the literature andresearching Solitary Sandpiperbreeding behaviour and Ontario

Literature CitedHarris, R. 1987. Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa

solitaria). Pp. 166-167 in Atlas of theBreeding Birds of Ontario (M.D. Cadman,PEl Eagles and EM. Helleiner, compil­ers). University of Waterloo Press,Waterloo, Ontario.

Moskoff, W. 1995. Solitary Sandpiper (Tringasolitaria). In The Birds of North America,No. 156 (A. Poole and E Gill, editors).Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, and American Ornithologists'Union, Washington, D.C.

Peck, G.K. 1995. Ontario Nest RecordsScheme: Twenty-sixth Report (1956-1994).Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.

Peck, G.K. and R.D. James. 1983. BreedingBirds of Ontario: Nidiology andDistribution. Volume 1: Nonpasserines.Life Sciences Miscellaneous Publications,Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.

33

nest records. Details in the OntarioNest Records Scheme concerningthe second Ontario nest were kind­ly provided by Mark Peck of theRoyal Ontario Museum.

Schueler, F.W., D.H. Baldwin, and J.D.Rising. 1974. The status of birds at selectedsites in northern Ontario. Canadian Field­Naturalist 88: 141-150.

Tallman, D.A. and E.J. Tallman. 1986.Solitary Sandpiper breeding records innorthwestern Ontario. Ontario Birds 4:118-119.

Warnock, N. and S. Warnock. 2001.Sandpipers, phalaropes and allies. Pp.273-287 in The Sibley Guide to Bird Life& Behavior (C. Elphick, IE. Dunning, J r.,and D.A. Sibley, editors). Alfred A. Knopf,New York.

Jake Walker, Boreal Forest Birds Project, Bird Studies Canada, 115 FrontStreet, Port Rowan, Ontario NOE 1MO

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Lapland Longspnr Feedingon "Hidden" Grains

Bill Crins

During migration, and in the shoul­der seasons on the breedinggrounds (late spring and earlyautumn), the Lapland Longspur(Calcarius lapponicus) typicallyfeeds on seeds, and particularly,although not exclusively, on thefruits of grasses and sedges(Williamson 1968a, 1968b; Custerand Pitelka 1978; West and Peyton1980; Hussell and Montgomerie2002). In most species of plantsused as food by Lapland Longspurs,the fruits are visible and relativelyeasily accessible. In a study in thesouthern Yukon Territory, forexample, over 77 percent of identi­fiable plant materials in the diet ofmigrating Lapland Longspurs con­sisted of Foxtail Barley (Hordeumjubatum), Canada Bluejoint(Calamagrostis canadensis), TickleGrass (Agrostis scabra), AquaticSedge (Carex aquatilis) , and otherCarex species (West and Peyton1980). All of these grasses andsedges have erect inflorescenceswith readily accessible fruits.

On 20 October 2002, MichaelRuntz, Rory MacKay, BradSteinberg and I were birding at anopen old sawmill clearing and rail­way yard known as Odenback, atthe west end of Radiant Lake inAlgonquin Provincial Park,Nipissing District. A small group of

ONTARIO BIRDS APRIL 2004

Horned Larks (Eremophilaalpestris) and Lapland Longspurswas present in the large clearingonce occupied by the sawmill build­ings. While attempting to get a bet­ter view of the longspurs, I focussedon one individual that was feedingactively in low-lying grasses. Uponclose examination, I realized thatthis longspur was feeding on thefruits of Ensheathed Dropseed(Sporobolus vaginiflorus), a grass inwhich most or all of the inflores­cence is enclosed within the upper­most leaf sheaths. The longspur wasable to manipulate the plant with itsbill and tongue in such a way thatthe overlapping leaf sheaths couldbe separated, and the enclosedgrains eaten. Clearly, this longspurhad solved the puzzle of extractinggrains that were fully (and tightly)enclosed and not visible, since thisbird fed only on this species of grassduring my five-minute observation.

The ability of the LaplandLongspur to feed on EnsheathedDropseed or any other grass withflowers that remain enclosed withinthe sheaths (and where self-fertil­ization takes place, a process calledcleistogamy; Clayton and Renvoize1986) raises some interesting ques­tions. Are the cues visual, or is therean olfactory component? Do indi­vidual birds learn about potential

seed food sources from their par­ents? Ensheathed Dropseed doesnot occur within the breeding rangeof Lapland Longspur (Porsild 1957,Rulten 1968, Dore and McNeill1980, Porsild and Cody 1980). Thesesources also indicate that there arefew, if any, other grasses withensheathed, cleistogamous flowersin its breeding range. Thus, it is

Literature CitedClayton, W.O. and S.A. Renvoize. 1986.

Genera Graminum: Grasses of the World.Kew Bulletin Additional Series XIII.London, England.

Custer, T.W. and F.A. Pitelka. 1978. Seasonaltrends in summer diet of the LaplandLongspur near Barrow, Alaska. Condor 80:295-301.

Dore, W.G. and J. McNeill. 1980. Grasses ofOntario. Agriculture Canada, ResearchBranch, Monograph 26. Ottawa, Ontario.

Hulten, E. 1968. Flora of Alaska andNeighboring Territories: A Manual of theVascular Plants. Stanford University Press,Stanford, California.

Hussell, D.J.T. and R. Montgomerie. 2002.Lapland Longspur (Calearius lapponieus).In The Birds of North America, No. 656(A. Poole and F. Gill, editors). The Birds ofNorth America, Inc., Philadelphia,Pennsylvania.

Porsild, A.E. 1957. Illustrated Flora of theCanadian Arctic Archipelago. NationalMuseum of Canada Bulletin No. 146.Ottawa, Ontario.

Porsild, A.E. and W.J. Cody. 1980. VascularPlants of Continental NorthwestTerritories, Canada. National Museums ofCanada, Ottawa, Ontario.

35

highly unlikely that longspurs couldgain experience feeding on such"hidden" sources of grains beforemigrating southward. Thereappears to be no published evi­dence of Lapland Longspurs usingsuch grasses as food sources. So,questions remain about how sea­sonal granivores find and use foodsources, especially cryptic ones.

West, G.e. and L.J. Peyton. 1980. Foodhabits of Lapland Longspurs during springmigration in southern Yukon Territory.Canadian Field-Naturalist 94: 451-454.

Williamson, F.S.L. 1968a. Calearius lapponi­eus lapponieus (Linnaeus), CommonLapland Longspur. Pp. 1597-1608 in LifeHistories of North American Cardinals,Grosbeaks, Buntings, Towhees, Finches,Sparrows, and Allies. Part Three: GeneraZonotriehia through Emberiza, LiteratureCited and Index (O.L. Austin, editor).United States National Museum Bulletin237. Washington, D.C.

Williamson, F.S.L. 1968b. Calearius lapponi­eus alaseensis Ridgway, Alaska Longspur.Pp. 1608-1627 in Life Histories of NorthAmerican Cardinals, Grosbeaks,Buntings, Towhees, Finches, Sparrows, andAllies. Part Three: Genera Zonotriehiathrough Emberiza, Literature Cited andIndex (Q.L. Austin, editor). United StatesNational Museum Bulletin 237.Washington, D.C.

Bill Crins, 170 Middlefield Road, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 8G1

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Turkey Vulture Nest Sites inSoutheastern Ontario

Daniel F. Brunton

In his review of nesting by TurkeyVulture (Cathartes aura) in Ontario,Peck (2003) illustrated a ratherspotty distribution for this species insoutheastern Ontario. No breedingwas reported for the City of Ottawa(former Region of Ottawa­Carleton), for example, and only a"sight record" is offered as evidencefor adjacent Lanark County. Thefollowing documents such a nestingin Lanark County and draws atten­tion to previous documentation of aCity of Ottawa record.

Lanark County NestingA Lanark County nest of TurkeyVulture was examined on 28 June1998 by K.J. Keddy, K.L. McIntoshand this writer on the Keddy prop­erty (45° 3.9' N, 76° 14.2' W) inDrummond Township, LanarkCounty, ca. 8 km southwest ofCarleton Place. Like so manyrecent nests in southern Ontarioand elsewhere in Canada (Peck2003, Houston and Terry 2003), thenest was situated in a small, aban­doned, wooden building (a huntshack). This structure (Figure 1),however, is in an area of extensivedeciduous forest with no sufficient­ly large canopy opening within atleast 75-100 m to accommodate thetake-off of a vulture. Adult birds

ONTARIO BIRDS APRIL 2004

likely would have accessed thestructure from the nearest clearingalong an overgrown cart trackwhich runs by the building.

One large, downy chick wasobserved at the nest site, perchedon the remains of a sleeping bench(Figure 2). P.A. Keddy (pers.comm.) photographed two compa­rably-sized young here the yearbefore (June, 1997), and based onobservations of adults in the vicini­ty, suspects that nesting occurred inyears prior to that.

City of Ottawa RecordAllison and Allison (2001) reportedand illustrated the nesting ofTurkey Vultures in a rural land­scape within the former City ofKanata. This nest was in an aban­doned log building also, and was sit­uated behind a fallen door amid theruins of a staircase. Allison andAllison (2001) included a photo­graph, taken on 25 June 2000, of asingle large, downy chick in thenest. Based on their discovery of aTurkey Vulture primary feather inthe building a year earlier, they sus­pected this site was used for nestingin 1999 as well.

Turkey Vultures have beenknown to summer and presumablynest east of Ottawa on or about the

37

Figure 1: Entrance to Turkey Vulture nest site in abandoned hunt shack, 28 June1998, Drummond Township, Lanark County. Photo by Daniel F. Brunton.

Figure 2: Turkey Vulture chick at nest site, 28 June 1998, Drummond Township,Lanark County. Photo by Daniel F. Brunton.

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massive cliffs of the EardleyEscarpment (the southern face ofthe Canadian Shield)\ in westernQuebec since at least the 1980s.That population is likely the source(or at least a major contributor) ofbreeding birds in adjacent south­eastern Ontario.

Breeding status in SoutheasternOntarioCadman (1987) and Peck (2003)described the Turkey Vulture asbreeding across southern Ontario.The Turkey Vulture population insoutheastern Ontario has increasedtremendously in recent decades.What was once a rare sighting in theearly 1980s has become an every­day event along major roadways inthe Ottawa Valley. Indeed, it is notuncommon to see concentrations of10 or more vultures (both adultsand young) roosting or resting indead trees or on fence posts alongHighway 417 west of Ottawa in latesummer and fall (pers. obs.). Itseems reasonable to assume thatnesting is occurring in this area on a

Literature CitedAllison, K. and J. Allison. 2001. Turkey

Vulture nest in Kanata. Trail & Landscape35: 179-181.

Cadman, M.D. 1987. Turkey Vulture(Cathartes aura). Pp. 106-107 in Atlas ofthe Breeding Birds of Ontario (M.D.Cadman, P.EJ. Eagles, and EM. Helleiner,compilers). University of Waterloo Press,Waterloo, Ontario.

regular basis now, despite the sur­prisingly inconspicuous nature ofsuch activity by this large animal.

Given the frequency with whichTurkey Vultures are seen in extremesoutheastern Ontario along majorhighways such as Highways 416, 417and 401, it is expected that theabsence of nesting records noted inthe former counties of Prescott,Stormont and Dundas (Peck 2003)does not reflect actual distributiongaps. Natural Turkey Vulture breed­ing habitat (extensive forest withlarge individual trees or cliffs andcaves; Cadman 1987) isrelatively rarein these areas, however. Accordingly,nesting will most likely be confirmedhere in isolated, abandoned buildingsas has been the case in adjacent areasof southeastern Ontario.

AcknowledgementsPaul Keddy and Kathy Keddy kind­ly provided access to the Lanarknest, a confirmational photographof the 1997 nestlings, and informa­tion on the history of the landscapesurrounding the site.

HODston, C.S. and B. Terry. 2003. Wing-tag­ging Turkey Vultures. Blue Jay 61: 204-209.

Peck, G.K. 2003. Breeding status and nestsite selection of Turkey Vulture in Ontario.Ontario Birds 21: 129-136.

Daniel F. Brunton, 216 Lincoln Heights Road, Ottawa, Ontario K2B 8A8

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39

Anting by Common Grackles

Paul D. Smith and Ron Tozer

At about 1840h on the evening of30 July 2003, Paul Smith and hiswife, Anna-Marie, watched a groupof three adult and four youngCommon Grackles (Quiscalus quis­cula) that were busily picking some­thing off the ground and thenpreening themselves, in an area nomore than a few metres across ontheir front lawn in WestFlamborough, Hamilton, Ontario.Eventually, there were 10 adult andseven young grackles all crowdedinto the same small area of lawn.About 15 minutes later, they werestartled and all left, but within twominutes, four young and two adultsreturned. At 1904h, the four adultsand five young that had gatheredfor the second time left for good.

The grackles seemed to workover their whole bodies, the under­surface and along the leading edgeof the wings, along their sides, at theupper and lower base of their tails,on their backs and up on theirbreast and neck areas, as far as theycould reach. They occasionallystopped to scratch about theirheads or sides.

After the birds left, Smithinspected the area where they hadbeen concentrated and found theground covered with small, pale"red" ants, all with wings, andapparently preparing to swarm.

They were spread over an oval­shaped area about 2 by 2.5 metresacross. The density of the ants wasestimated to be about 20 perdecimetre squared. Smith collecteda number of the ants and preservedthem in alcohoL

Over the 12 years the Smithshave lived in West Flamborough,they have seen anting by Blue Jays(Cyanocitta cristata) , grackles, andAmerican Robins (Turdusmigratorius) on three or four occa­sions, but never more than one ortwo birds at a time. The number ofbirds crowded into such a smallarea, and the amount of aggressionbetween them, was surprising tothem. Frequently, the adults wouldlunge at the young, and would oftenpresent the typical aggressive stancetoward each other: bill pointed sky­ward; spread tail, wings and bodyplumage; and frequent "screeching"as they did. This was in marked con­trast to their behaviour toward eachother when they fed. The Smithshave an area of about 2 by 3 metrescovered in flagstone on their sidelawn where they spread crackedcorn daily. This frequently attractedup to 20 or 30 grackles at a time.Here there was the occasional con­frontation between adult males, butthe young were just as likely to befed by the adults as chased off.

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It appeared to be near the peakof molting by these birds, as evi­denced by the many grackle feath­ers scattered across the lawn, and itwas tempting to speculate that theanting was somehow related to this.However, there were many otheranthills sprinkled across the lawn,and the jays, judging by the feath­ers, were just as far into their moltas the grackles. It was a mystery asto why the grackles were the onlyspecies taking part in the anting,and why they were so concentratedand aggressive.

DiscussionAccording to The AudubonEncyclopedia of North AmericanBirds (Terres 1980), over 200 speciesof birds (all passerines) have beenknown to practice anting, and 24species of ants have been identifiedas having been utilized in this behav­iour. However, Whitaker (1957) list­ed 16 non-passerine species thathave been reported also to under­take anting. Common Grackles areamong those species that have beenreported previously in the anting lit­erature (e.g., Brackbill 1948,Groskin 1950, Whitaker 1957).

Anting has been observed mostoften during August in NorthAmerican birds, coinciding with"the seasonal molt and new feathergrowth", and it is presumed that it"does have possible effectiveness insoothing skin irritation" during thatprocess (Terres 1980), apparentlydue to formic acid from the ants. Ithas been suggested also that anting

ONTARIO BIRDS APRIL 2004

probably would "kill or discourageectoparasites" (Terres 1980),although Potter (1970) "found nopositive evidence to support thetheory that birds ant to soothe skinirritated by ectoparasites".

With respect to the aggressive­ness exhibited by the grackles antingon the lawn, perhaps the concentra­tion of ants in that one small area wasa particularly attractive and scarceresource, causing the birds to com­pete vigorously and vociferously togain access to it. Other bird speciesmay have been discouraged fromjoining the aggressive grackle meleethat ensued.

The ants were later identifiedas Acanthomyops interjectus (G.Umphrey, pers. comm.), a speciespreviously reported to have beenused by birds for anting (Whitaker1957). The Acanthomyops genus ofants are "exclusively subterraneanants (that) are rarely found aboveground except during the nuptialflight". They often can be identifiedby "the strong lemon verbena orcitronella odor that is emitted as adefense chemical" (UNC 2004).These characteristics of the antsinvolved in this incident may havemade them very attractive andinfrequently available.

AcknowledgementsWe would like to thank Rob Dobosfor his early encouragement andassistance with the literature, andGary Umphrey of the University ofGuelph for his identification of theants.

Literature CitedBrackbill, H. 1948. Anting by four species of

birds. Auk 65: 66-77.Groskin, H. 1950. Additional observations

and comments on "anting" by birds. Auk67: 201-209.

Potter, E.F.1970. Anting in wild birds, its fre­quency and probable purpose. Auk 87:692-713.

Terres, J.K. 1980. The Audubon SocietyEncyclopedia of North American Birds.Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

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[UNC] University of North Carolina. 2004.Catalog of Ants of North America. GenusAncanthomyops (Subfamily Formicinae).<http:/www.cs.unc.edu/-hedlund/dev/ants/G e n u sP a ges/Fo rro icin a e/G e n us2­paper.html>. Accessed 27 January 2004.

Whitaker, L.M. 1957. A resume of anting,with particular reference to a captiveOrchard Oriole. Wilson Bulletin 69:195-262.

Paul D. Smith, 1605 Westover Road, R. R. 3, Puslinch, Ontario NOB 2JO

Ron Tozer, 1017 Spring Lake Road, R. R. 1, Dwight, Ontario POA 1HO

Distinguished Ornithologist Award

The Distinguished Ornithologist Award is granted by theOntario Field Ornithologists to individuals who have madeoutstanding and authoritative contributions to the scientificstudy of birds in Ontario and Canada, who have been aresource to OFO and the Ontario birding community, andwhose research on birds has resulted in numerous publica­tions and a significant increase in new ornithological knowl­edge. Recipients to date have been: Earl Godfrey (1997),Ross James (1998), Murray Speirs (2000), George Peck(2001), Bruce Falls (2002), and Bob Curry (2003). The edi­tors of Ontario Birds (Bill Crins, Ron Pittaway and RonTozer) form a committee responsible for proposing candi­dates for this award to the OFO Board of Directors.

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