The Breeding Birds of Kansas Part 5

=Black Vulture=: _Coragyps atratus_ (Meyer).--This is possibly a summer resident in the southeastern sector of Kansas. There is one nesting record, for Labette County (Goss, 1891:245).

_Breeding schedule._--There are no data for this species in Kansas.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are placed in hollows (logs, stumps, _etc._) on the ground surface.

=Swallow-tailed Kite=: _Elanoides forficatus forficatus_ (Linnaeus).--This kite was formerly a summer resident in eastern Kansas; it no longer occurs as a breeding species.

_Breeding schedule._--In Kansas the season seemed to occur relatively late in the year for a raptor; eggs were laid in May, so far as is known.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 2 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are placed in tops of trees.

=Mississippi Kite=: _Ictinia misisippiensis_ (Wilson).--This is a common summer resident in southern Kansas, west to Morton County.

Specimens taken in the breeding season and records of nesting come from south of stations in Grant, Barton, Harvey, and Douglas counties; the present center of abundance is in Meade, Clark, Comanche, Barber, and Harper counties.

_Breeding schedule._--Seven records of breeding span the period April 20 to June 10; the peak of egg-laying seems to be in the first week of May.

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

Nests are placed about 35 feet high (from 25 to 50 feet) in cottonwood, willow, elm, black locust, and the like.

=Sharp-shinned Hawk=: _Accipiter striatus velox_ (Wilson).--This rare summer resident apparently occurs only in the eastern part. The two nesting records are from Cloud and Pottawatomie counties.

_Breeding schedule._--The information at hand suggests the birds lay in April and May.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are placed 20 or more feet high in coniferous or deciduous trees.

=Cooper Hawk=: _Accipiter cooperii_ (Bonaparte).--This is an uncommon resident. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual records of nesting come from east of stations in Cloud, Anderson, and Montgomery counties.

_Breeding schedule._--Fourteen records of breeding span the period March 21 to May 30; the modal date of egg-laying is April 25.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.8, 2-5; 5).

Nests are placed from 15 to 30 feet high, averaging 25 feet in elm, oak, and other trees.

=Red-tailed Hawk=: _Buteo jamaicensis borealis_ (Gmelin).--This is a common resident east of the 100th meridian; to the west numbers are reduced, although the species is by no means unusual in western Kansas.

Red-tails probably always were uncommon in western Kansas; Wolfe (1961) reports that they were "very rare as a nesting species" in Decatur County shortly after the turn of the 20th Century. _Breeding schedule._--Thirty-six records of breeding span the period February 21 to April 10 (Fig. 3); the modal date of egg-laying is March 5.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (2.6, 2-3; 20).

Nests are placed about 40 feet high, ranging from 15 to 70 feet in cottonwood, honey locust, osage orange, sycamore, and walnut.

=Red-shouldered Hawk=: _Buteo lineatus lineatus_ (Gmelin).--This is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in riparian and bottomland timber. Nesting records are available from Leavenworth, Woodson, and Linn counties, and red-shoulders probably also nest in Doniphan County (Linsdale, 1928).

_Breeding season._--Eggs are laid in March and April.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 3 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are placed up to 70 feet high in elms and other streamside trees.

TABLE 11.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF THE SUMMER RESIDENT VULTURE AND HAWKS IN KANSAS

===============+===========================+============================ Arrival Departure SPECIES +-----------------+---------+------------------+--------- Range Median Range Median ---------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+--------- Turkey Vulture Mar. 7-Mar. 30 Mar. 15 Sept. 24-Oct. 28 Oct. 5 Red-shouldered Hawk Feb. 10-Mar. 14 Feb. 26 Oct.-Dec. Broad-winged Hawk Apr. 4-Apr. 21 Apr. 12 Sept. 1-Oct. 20 Swainson Hawk Mar. 24-Apr. 28 Apr. 12 Oct. 5-Nov. 2 Oct. 11 ---------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------

=Broad-winged Hawk=: _Buteo platypterus platypterus_ (Vieillot).--This is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in swampy woodland.

Specimens taken in the breeding season and nesting records are from Shawnee, Douglas, Leavenworth, and Johnson counties; there are several nesting records from Missouri in the bottomlands just across the river from Wyandotte County Kansas. Occurrence in time is listed in Table 11.

_Breeding schedule._--Four records of nesting span the period April 21 to May 30, but it is likely that the egg-season is longer than this.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 3 eggs.

Nests are placed high in deciduous trees.

=Swainson Hawk=: _Buteo swainsoni_ Bonaparte.--This is a common summer resident in prairie gra.s.sland with open groves and scattered trees.

Records of breeding are available from all parts of the State, but are least numerous from the southeastern quarter. Occurrence in time is listed in Table 11.

_Breeding schedule._--Sixteen records of breeding span the period April 11 to June 10; the modal date for completion of clutches is April 25.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs (2.4, 2-3; 5).

Nests are placed about 35 feet high, actually ranging from 12 to 75 feet, in cottonwood, elm, willow, and honey locust. Occasionally nests are placed on ledges in cliffs.

=Ferruginous Hawk=: _Buteo regalis_ (Gray).--This is an uncommon resident in western Kansas, in gra.s.sland with scattered trees. Records of nesting and specimens taken in the breeding season come from Wallace, Hamilton, Gove, Logan, and Finney counties.

_Breeding schedule._--Five records of breeding span the period March 11 to April 30.

_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 3 eggs (3.3, 3-4; 4).

Nests are placed on the ground surface on small cliffs or promontories or low (six to 10 feet) in small trees such as osage orange, cottonwood, and mulberry.

=Marsh Hawk=: _Circus cyaneus hudsonius_ (Linnaeus).--This is a local resident in gra.s.sland throughout Kansas. Most records of breeding come from east of the Flint Hills, but it is not certain that the few records from the west actually reflect a low density of Marsh Hawks in that area.

_Breeding schedule._--Sixteen records of breeding span the period April 11 to May 20; the modal date for egg-laying is May 5.