The Breeding Birds of Kansas Part 10

=Chimney Swift=: _Chaetura pelagica_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common summer resident in eastern Kansas, around towns. Temporal occurrence in the State is indicated in Table 12.

_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-six records of breeding span the period May 11 to June 30; the modal date for egg-laying is May 25 (Fig. 5).

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are secured by means of a salivary cement to vertical surfaces, usually near the inside tops of chimneys in dwellings of man, but occasionally in abandoned buildings and hollow trees.

=Ruby-throated Hummingbird=: _Archilochus colubris_ (Linnaeus).--This is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, and is rare in the west, in towns and along riparian vegetation. Temporal occurrence in the State is listed in Table 12.

_Breeding schedule._--Eight records of breeding fall within the period May 21 to July 10; there seems to be a peak to laying in the last third of June. _Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.

Most nests are on outer branches of shrubs and trees, in forks or on pendant branches, 10 to 20 feet high.

=Belted Kingfisher=: _Megaceryle alcyon alcyon_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common throughout the State in streamside and lakeside habitats. Timing of arrival and departure of the breeding birds is not well-doc.u.mented owing to the fact that the species is also transient and a winter resident in the State.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least from April 21 to May 20.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is near 6 eggs.

Eggs are laid on the floor of the chamber at the inner end of a horizontal tunnel excavated in an earthen bank. The tunnel is two to six feet long and many tunnels are strewn with bones and other dietary refuse.

=Yellow-shafted Flicker=: _Colaptes auratus_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common resident and summer resident in eastern Kansas, meeting, hybridizing with, and partly replaced by _Colaptes cafer_ westward, in open woodlands. _C. a. auratus_ (Linnaeus) occurs in southeastern Kansas, and _C. a. luteus_ Bangs occurs in the remainder, intergrading west of the Flint Hills with _C. cafer_.

_Breeding season._--Forty-eight records of breeding span the period April 11 to June 10; the modal date for egg-laying is May 10 (Fig. 5).

This sample is drawn from central and eastern Kansas, but includes records of breeding by some birds identified in the field as _C.

cafer_.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 6 eggs.

Nests are piles of wood chips in cavities excavated in stumps and dead limbs of trees such as willow, cottonwood, mulberry, and catalpa, ordinarily about six feet above the ground.

=Red-shafted Flicker=: _Colaptes cafer collaris_ Vigors.--This woodp.e.c.k.e.r is a common summer resident in western Kansas, meeting, hybridizing with, and largely replaced by _C. auratus_ in central and eastern sectors. The vast majority of specimens taken in Kansas show evidence of intergradation with _C. auratus_.

_Breeding schedule._--The few records of flickers identified in the field as _C. cafer_ have been combined with those of _C. auratus_ (Fig. 5).

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is perhaps 6 eggs.

Nests are like those of _C. auratus_.

=Pileated Woodp.e.c.k.e.r=: _Dryocopus pileatus_ (Linnaeus).--This is a rare and local resident in the east, in heavy timber. The species has been seen, chiefly in winter, in all sectors of eastern Kansas in recent years, but actual records of breeding come only from Linn and Cherokee counties. _D. p. abieticola_ (Bangs) occurs in the northeast, and _D. p. pileatus_ (Linnaeus) in the southeast.

_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in April.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 or 4 eggs.

Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated 45 to 60 feet high in main trunks of cottonwood, sycamore, and pin oak.

=Red-bellied Woodp.e.c.k.e.r=: _Centurus carolinus zebra_ (Boddaert).--In woodland habitats this is a common resident in eastern Kansas, local in the west.

_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-seven records of breeding span the period March 1 to June 30 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is around April 25.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs.

Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated in elm, cottonwood, box elder, ash, hickory, or willow, about 25 feet high (nine to 60 feet).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 5.--Histograms representing breeding schedules of the Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, woodp.e.c.k.e.rs, and flycatchers in Kansas. See legend to Figure 1 for explanation of histograms.]

=Red-headed Woodp.e.c.k.e.r=: _Melanerpes erythrocephalus_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common summer resident and uncommon permanent resident in open woodland; in winter it is noted especially around groves of oaks. _M. e. erythrocephalus_ (Linnaeus) occurs in eastern Kansas and _M. e. caurinus_ Brodkorb occurs in central and western Kansas.

_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-eight records of breeding span the period May 1 to August 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is June 5.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 or 4 eggs.

Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated about 25 feet high in willow, cottonwood, and elm.

=Hairy Woodp.e.c.k.e.r=: _Dendrocopos villosus villosus_ (Linnaeus).--This resident is common in woodlands throughout the State.

_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-eight records of breeding span the period March 21 to May 30 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is May 5.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated about 13 feet high in elm, honey locust, and ash.

=Downy Woodp.e.c.k.e.r=: _Dendrocopos p.u.b.escens_ (Linnaeus).--This resident is common in woodland throughout the State. _D. p. p.u.b.escens_ (Linnaeus) occurs in southeastern Kansas, and _D. p. media.n.u.s_ (Swainson) in the remainder.

_Breeding schedule._--Forty-one records of breeding span the period April 11 to June 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is May 5.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated about 20 feet high in willow, honey locust, ash, apple, and pear.

=Eastern Kingbird=: _Tyrannus tyrannus_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common throughout the east; it is local in the west but there maintains conspicuous numbers in favorable places, such as riparian woodland; preferred habitat in eastern sectors is typically in woodland edge. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 13.

_Breeding season._--Sixty-three dates of egg-laying span the period May 11 to July 20 (Fig. 5); the modal date for completion of clutches is June 15. Nearly 70 per cent of all eggs are laid in June.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.3, 2-3; 10). Clutches are probably larger than the average in May and smaller in June and July.