Eisenhower

TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE BIRDS OF EISENHOWER S T A T E P A R K A FIELD CHECKLIST 2018 INTRODUCTION E isenhower State Park, located on the edge of Lake Texoma, is part of the Cross Timbers and Blackland Prairies regions of Texas. The hillsides and ravines of the park are heavily wooded with eastern red cedar, ash, and cedar elm trees. Older trees in the park include red oak, chinquapin oak, post oak, and bois d’arc. Small areas of pocket prairies feature colorful wildflowers and tall grasses. The rocky limestone shoreline represents a third of the habitat in the park and offers the best vistas for seeing shorebirds. This checklist represents species seen on Eisenhower Road leading into the park, from the park’s shoreline, and within the park boundaries. Because we are interested in maintaining and revising this checklist, we solicit your help and ask that you share new and unusual sightings and/or comments on the status of the park’s birdlife with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. You may leave your sightings at the park headquarters (Eisenhower State Park, 50 Park Rd. 20, Denison, Texas 75020) or mail them to the Natural Resource Program, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas 78744. The nomenclature and organization of this listing follow the American Ornithologist’s Union Check-list of North American Birds, 7th edition as currently supplemented. This list was first compiled by Terry Ferguson in 2003 and updated by Texas Master Naturalist Jack Chiles in 2018. Please help us protect the natural avian communities in our parks by refraining from using playback tapes of bird songs. Frequent use of these tapes disrupts normal avian activity patterns and essential territorial behavior, and may lead to nest failure. Thank you for your cooperation. 1 LEGEND Abundance c – Common (Present, easy to find) f – Fairly common (Present, should see or hear) u – Uncommon (Present, harder to find) r – Rare (Present, hard to find, or may not occur every year) x – Accidental (not usually present, lost, result of an event) Seasons Sp – Spring (March, April, May) S – Summer (June, July, August) F – Fall (September, October, November) W – Winter (December, January, February) Cover: Illustration of Great Blue Heron by Rob Fleming. 2 CHECKLIST Sp S F W ____ Greater White fronted Goose...................... r r SWANS, GEESE, DUCKS ____ Snow Goose................................................ x ____ Canada Goose............................................. r r ____ Wood Duck................................................ r r ____ Gadwall...................................................... u u u ____ American Wigeon....................................... u u u ____ Mallard...................................................... c f c ____ Blue winged Teal........................................ r r r ____ Northern Shoveler...................................... u u u ____ Northern Pintail.......................................... u u u ____ Green winged Teal...................................... u u u ____ Canvasback................................................ u u u ____ Redhead..................................................... u u u ____ Ring necked Duck...................................... u u r r ____ Lesser Scaup.............................................. u r u ____ Common Goldeneye................................... r ____ Bufflehead.................................................. u u ____ Hooded Merganser..................................... u u ____ Red-breasted Merganser............................ r r ____ Ruddy Duck............................................... u TURKEYS, QUAIL ____ Northern Bobwhite..................................... r ____ Wild Turkey................................................ u 3 u u u Sp S F W u u u GREBES ____ Pied billed Grebe........................................ ____ Western Grebe............................................ x PIGEONS, DOVES ____ Rock Dove.................................................. u u u u ____ Eurasian Collared Dove.............................. u u u u ____ White-winged Dove...................................... u u u u ____ Inca Dove.................................................... u u u u ____ Mourning Dove.......................................... f u u u ____ Yellow billed Cuckoo.................................. u u u ____ Greater Roadrunner................................... u u u ____ Common Nighthawk................................... u u u ____ Chuck-will’s-widow.................................... f f r u u u f f f CUCKOOS, ROADRUNNERS u GOATSUCKERS SWIFTS ____ Chimney Swift............................................. HUMMINGBIRDS ____ Ruby throated Hummingbird...................... GALLINULES, COOTS ____ American Coot............................................ f f f CRANES ____ Sandhill Crane............................................ r PLOVERS ____ Killdeer...................................................... 4 f f f f Sp S F W SANDPIPER ____ Greater Yellowlegs...................................... u ____ Lesser Yellowlegs........................................ u u ____ Solitary Sandpiper...................................... u ____ Spotted Sandpiper...................................... u u u ____ Western Sandpiper..................................... r r ____ Least Sandpiper.......................................... u u ____ Pectoral Sandpiper..................................... r u ____ Wilson’s Snipe............................................ u u u u GULLS, TERNS ____ Franklin’s Gull............................................ f f r ____ Bonaparte’s Gull......................................... u u u ____ Ring billed Gull.......................................... c c c ____ Herring Gull............................................... u u u ____ Forster’s Tern............................................. f f f f u f ____ Neotropic Cormorant................................. u u u ____ Double crested Cormorant.......................... f f f u u u ____ Great Blue Heron....................................... c c c c ____ Great Egret................................................. f f f ____ Snowy Egret................................................ f f u LOONS ____ Common Loon............................................ CORMORANTS u PELICANS ____ American White Pelican.............................. HERONS, EGRETS 5 Sp S F ____ Little Blue Heron........................................ f u u ____ Cattle Egret................................................. u u u ____ Green Heron.............................................. u u u W ____ Black crowned Night Heron....................... r ____ Yellow crowned Night Heron...................... r IBISES, SPOONBILLS ____ White faced Ibis.......................................... r VULTURES ____ Black Vulture.............................................. f f f f ____ Turkey Vulture............................................ c c c c ____ Osprey........................................................ r r r r ____ Mississippi Kite........................................... f f ____ Bald Eagle.................................................. u u u u ____ Northern Harrier........................................ u u u ____ Sharp shinned Hawk.................................. u u u ____ Cooper’s Hawk........................................... u r u u ____ Red shouldered Hawk................................ u u u u ____ Red tailed Hawk......................................... u r u f ____ Eastern Screech Owl .................................. u u u u ____ Great Horned Owl...................................... u u u u KITES, EAGLES, HAWKS TYPICAL OWLS ____ Barred Owl................................................. r KINGFISHERS ____ Belted Kingfisher........................................ 6 f f f f Sp S F W WOODPECKERS ____ Red headed Woodpecker............................ r ____ Red-bellied Woodpecker............................ c c c c ____ Yellow bellied Sapsucker............................ r u f ____ Downy Woodpecker................................... f f f f ____ Hairy Woodpecker...................................... r r r r ____ Northern Flicker......................................... f u c ____ Pileated Woodpecker.................................. r FALCONS ____ American Kestrel........................................ f u f TYPICAL FLYCATCHERS ____ Eastern Wood-Pewee.................................. u u ____ Least Flycatcher.......................................... u u ____ Empidonax sp............................................ u u ____ Eastern Phoebe.......................................... c c c ____ Great Crested Flycatcher............................. f f u ____ Western Kingbird........................................ u u ____ Eastern Kingbird......................................... f r ____ Scissor tailed Flycatcher............................. c c c r r r ____ White-eyed Vireo........................................ c c c ____ Blue-headed Vireo...................................... u u ____ Warbling Vireo........................................... u c SHRIKES ____ Loggerhead Shrike..................................... VIREOS 7 u Sp S F u u u ____ Blue Jay...................................................... c f c c ____ American Crow........................................... c c c c u u u ____ Red-eyed Vireo........................................... W JAYS, CROWS SWALLOWS ____ Purple Martin............................................. ____ Tree Swallow.............................................. r ____ Northern Rough winged Swallow................ r r ____ Cliff Swallow............................................... u u u ____ Barn Swallow............................................. u u u ____ Carolina Chickadee.................................... c c c c ____ Tufted Titmouse.......................................... c c c c u u u u u u u ____ House Wren................................................ r r r ____ Carolina Wren............................................ c c c c ____ Bewick’s Wren............................................ u u u u c c c CHICKADEES, TITMICE NUTHATCHES ____ White-breasted Nuthatch............................ CREEPERS ____ Brown Creeper........................................... WRENS GNATCATCHERS ____ Blue gray Gnatcatcher................................ KINGLETS ____ Golden crowned Kinglet............................. u r u ____ Ruby crowned Kinglet................................. c f c 8 Sp S F W ____ Eastern Bluebird........................................ c c c c ____ Swainson’s Thrush...................................... u ____ Hermit Thrush............................................ u u ____ American Robin......................................... c u c ____ Gray Catbird............................................... r x r ____ Brown Thrasher......................................... u u u u ____ Northern Mockingbird............................... c c c c c c c c THRUSHES c MOCKINGBIRDS, THRASHERS STARLINGS ____ European Starling....................................... WAXWINGS ____ Cedar Waxwing........................................... c c OLD WORLD SPARROWS ____ House Sparrow........................................... c c c c ____ Purple Finch............................................... r r r ____ House Finch............................................... u u u ____ Pine Siskin................................................. u r u ____ American Goldfinch.................................... c u c FINCHES u PIPITS ____ American Pipit............................................ u u SPARROWS ____ Eastern Towhee.......................................... u u u ____ Spotted Towhee.......................................... u u u ____ American Tree Sparrow.............................. x x 9 Sp S F W ____ Chipping Sparrow....................................... f u f ____ Field Sparrow............................................. u u u ____ Vesper Sparrow.......................................... u u u ____ Lark Sparrow............................................. u u r ____ Savannah Sparrow...................................... u u u ____ Grasshopper Sparrow................................. r ____ Fox Sparrow............................................... u u ____ Song Sparrow............................................. c c c ____ Lincoln’s Sparrow....................................... f u f ____ White-throated Sparrow............................. c c c ____ White-crowned Sparrow............................. c c c ____ Harris’ Sparrow.......................................... c c c ____ Dark-eyed Junco........................................ c c c ____ Red-winged Blackbird................................ c c c c ____ Eastern Meadowlark................................... f f f f ____ Western Meadowlark.................................. r r r u MEADOWLARKS, BLACKBRIDS, ORIOLES ____ Brewer’s Blackbird..................................... r ____ Great-tailed Grackle................................... u u ____ Common Grackle....................................... u u u r ____ Brown-headed Cowbird.............................. u u u u ____ Orchard Oriole........................................... u u ____ Baltimore Oriole........................................ u u u WOOD-WARBLERS ____ Tennessee Warbler..................................... u ____ Orange crowned Warbler........................... u u 10 u Sp S F ____ Nashville Warbler....................................... f u ____ Yellow Warbler........................................... f f ____ Yellow-rumped Warbler............................. c c ____ Black-throated Green Warbler.................... u u ____ Black and white Warbler............................ u ____ Blackpoll Warbler...................................... r ____ American Redstart...................................... u ____ Common Yellowthroat................................ u u ____ Wilson’s Warbler........................................ u u u W c u TANAGERS, GROSBEAKS, BUNTINGS ____ Summer Tanager........................................ u u u ____ Northern Cardinal...................................... c c c ____ Rose-breasted Grosbeak............................. r r ____ Blue Grosbeak............................................ f f ____ Indigo Bunting........................................... f f u ____ Painted Bunting.......................................... f f f ____ Dickcissel................................................... f f u 11 c citation Chiles, Jack. January 2018. Birds of Eisenhower State Park: a seasonal checklist. Natural Resource Program, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In 1983, the Texas Legislature created the Special Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Fund. This fund may be used for nongame wildlife and endangered species research and conservation, habitat acquisition and development and dissemination of information pertaining to nongame management. Money for this fund is obtained through private donations and sale of nongame wildlife art prints and stamps. This fund now gives Texans a unique opportunity to help support this state’s valuable and sensitive nongame resources. Your individual contributions and purchases of nongame art prints and stamps will help determine the level of nongame conservation activities in Texas. For more information call toll-free (1-800-792-1112) or contact: Nongame and Endangered Species Program, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas 78744. TPWD receives funds from the USFWS. TPWD prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, disability, age, and gender, pursuant to state and federal law. To request an accommodation or obtain information in an alternative format, please contact TPWD on a Text Telephone (TDD) at (512) 389-8915 or by Relay Texas at 7-1-1 or (800) 735-2989. If you believe you have been discriminated against by TPWD, please contact TPWD or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office for Diversity and Workforce Management, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041. 12 Natural Resource Program Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 4200 Smith School Road Austin, Texas 78744 © 2018 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department PWD BK P4503–0032C (7/18) In accordance with Texas Depository Law, this publication is available at the Texas State Publications Clearinghouse and/or Texas Depository Libraries.