The Breeding Birds of Kansas Part 9

=Screech Owl=: _Otus asio_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common resident in woodland habitats throughout Kansas. _O. a. aikeni_ (Brewster) occurs west of Rawlins, Gove, and Comanche counties, and _O. a. naevius_ (Gmelin) occurs in the remainder of the State except for the eastern south-central sector, occupied by _O. a. hasbroucki_ Ridgway.

_Breeding schedule._--Fifteen records of egg-laying span the period March 20 to May 10; there is a strong mode at April 5.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.0, 3-6; 12).

Nests are placed in holes and recesses in trees, three to 20 feet high.

=Great Horned Owl=: _Bubo virginia.n.u.s_ (Gmelin).--This is a common resident throughout Kansas, especially near woodlands and cliffsides.

_B. v. virginia.n.u.s_ (Gmelin) occurs east of a line through Rawlins and Meade counties and _B. v. occidentalis_ Stone occurs to the west.

_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-seven records of egg-laying span the period January 11 to March 20 (Fig. 4); the modal date for laying is near February 10.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs (2.4, 2-3; 22).

Nests are placed about 30 feet high in cottonwood, elm, osage orange, hackberry, juniper, locust, cliffsides, and buildings of man. Old nests of hawks, crows, and herons are frequently appropriated.

=Burrowing Owl=: _Speotyto cunicularia hypugaea_ (Bonaparte).--This is an uncommon summer resident in western Kansas in gra.s.sland and open scrub habitats. Stations of breeding all come from west of a line running through Cloud and Barber counties. Arrival in spring is between March 22 and April 17 (the median for 7 records is April 9), and dates last seen in autumn span the period September 8 to November 14 (the median for 9 records is September 26).

_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-one records of egg-laying run from April 11 to July 10 (Fig. 4); the mode of laying is May 15.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 7 or 8 eggs.

Nests are informal aggregations of plant and animal fibers in chambers of earthen burrows usually made by badgers or prairie dogs.

=Barred Owl=: _Strix varia varia_ Barton.--This is a local resident in eastern Kansas, in heavy woodland. The species is said by implication (A. O. U. Check-list, 1957) to occur in western Kansas, but no good breeding records are available, all such records coming from and east of Morris County. Specimens from southeastern Kansas show morphologic intergradation with characters of _S. v. georgica_ Latham.

_Breeding schedule._--Three records of egg-laying are for the first half of March.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size in our sample is 2 eggs.

Nests are situated in cavities in trees or in old hawk or crow nests.

=Long-eared Owl=: _Asio otus wilsonia.n.u.s_ (Lesson).--This owl is a local resident or summer resident in woodland with heavy cover throughout the State. Breeding records are available from Trego, Meade, Cloud, and Douglas counties.

_Breeding schedule._--Four records of egg-laying are for the period March 11 to April 10.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 or 6 eggs.

Nests are placed in hollows of trees, stumps, cliffsides, on the ground surface, or in old hawk, crow, or magpie nests (Davie, 1898).

=Short-eared Owl=: _Asio flammeus flammeus_ (Pontoppidan).--This is a local resident or summer resident in open, marshy, and edge habitats; records of nesting come from Republic, Marshall, Woodson, and Bourbon counties.

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

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 6 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are simple structures of sticks and gra.s.ses, placed on the ground in gra.s.ses, frequently near cover of downed timber or bushes.

=Saw-whet Owl=: _Aegolius acadicus acadicus_ (Gmelin).--This is a rare and local resident, in woodland. There is one breeding record (summer, 1951, Wyandotte County; Tordoff, 1956:331).

=Chuck-will's-widow=: _Caprimulgus carolinensis_ Gmelin.--This is a locally common summer resident in woodland habitats in eastern Kansas.

Stations of occurrence of actual breeding fall south of Wyandotte County and east of Shawnee, Greenwood, Stafford, and Sedgwick counties.

_Breeding schedule._--Five records of breeding come between April 21 and May 31, with a peak perhaps in the first third of May.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.

Eggs are laid on heavy leaf-litter, usually under shrubby cover.

=Whip-poor-will=: _Caprimulgus vociferus vociferus_ Wilson.--This is a local summer resident in woodland in eastern Kansas. Breeding records are available only from Doniphan, Leavenworth, and Douglas counties; there are sight records in summer from Shawnee County.

_Breeding schedule._--Two records of breeding cover the period May 21 to June 20.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.

Eggs are laid on heavy leaf-litter in shrubby cover.

=Poor-will=: _Phalaenoptilus nuttallii nuttallii_ (Audubon).--This is a common summer resident in western Kansas, in xeric, scrubby woodland. Breeding records are chiefly from west of Riley County, but there is one from Franklin County; specimens taken in the breeding season are available from Doniphan, Douglas, Anderson, Woodson, and Greenwood counties.

_Breeding schedule._--Six records of egg-laying are from the period May 1 to June 20.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.

Eggs are laid on the ground, with or without plant cover.

TABLE 12.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT CAPRIMULGIDS AND APODIDS IN KANSAS

==================+==========================+============================ Arrival Departure SPECIES +----------------+---------+------------------+--------- Range Median Range Median ------------------+----------------+---------+------------------+--------- Chuck-will's-widow Apr. 20-May 1 Apr. 28 Oct.-Dec. Oct. ?

Whip-poor-will Apr. 6-Apr. 25 Apr. 17 Sept. 10-Oct. 11 Sept. 21 Poor-will Apr. 12 ... Sept. 20 ...

Common Nighthawk Apr. 29-May 23 May 15 Sept. 13-Oct. 18 Sept. 23 Chimney Swift Apr. 2-Apr. 30 Apr. 22 Sept. 18-Oct. 30 Oct. 4 Ruby-throated Hummingbird Apr. 2-May 19 May 6 Sept. 3-Oct. 15 Sept. 10 ------------------+----------------+---------+------------------+---------

=Common Nighthawk=: _Chordeiles minor_ (Forster).--This is a common summer resident throughout Kansas. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 11. Three subspecies reach their distributional limits in the State, _C. m. minor_ (Forster) in northeastern Kansas, _C. m.

chapmani_ Coues in southeastern Kansas, and _C. m. howelli_ Oberholser west of the Flint Hills.

_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period May 11 to June 30; the modal date for egg-laying is June 10 (Fig. 5).

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.

Eggs are laid on the ground in rocky or gravelly areas, on unpaved roads, or on flat, gravelled tops of buildings of man.