DISTRIBUTION IN THE COASTAL SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 



In this section we present more detailed remarks on distribution in the 

 southeast. We incorporated as much recent information through 1979 as we were 

 able to obtain. This section is based on the most recent state ornithological 

 handbooks and check-lists, and includes information from a search through sea- 

 sonal observations published in American Birds and state journals. It also 

 includes information from a number of unpublished manuscripts dealing with dis- 

 tribution in various sections of the southeast. This section also incorporates 

 information on seasonal occurrence, breeding status and numbers, and occasion- 

 ally brief remarks on habitats. The emphasis is on coastal areas, but in some 

 cases remarks are also made about status elsewhere in the state. Available 

 data for some species are unsatisfactory, incomplete, or extremely scanty. This 

 is particularly true for transients whose numbers are seldom recorded. 



Information is given in order by state from North Carolina south and west 

 to Texas; we did not list states in which a species has not been recorded. 



SYNOPSIS OF PRESENT DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE 



This section in the species accounts summarizes information given in the 

 previous sections, often with additional data on population levels in the coast- 

 al southeastern United States. Some additional information on the world-wide 

 status of the species may be included, depending on our present knowledge of 

 the species. 



We show distribution of waterfowl wintering in coastal areas on a series 

 of maps. Most of these maps are based on Bystrak (1974), whose report was based 

 on an analysis of National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Counts (CBC) for one 

 or more of the years from 1970 to 1972. We chose 45 of 58 coastal Christmas 

 Bird Counts in the study area and compiled 5-year means for 1973-1977. In some 

 instances fewer than five years of counts were available and the mean is for a 

 shorter period. We picked the localities to show geographic variation in num- 

 bers and to emphasize where the largest concentrations were found. 



These figures should not be construed as indicating the true size of local 

 populations. The Christmas Bird Counts varied considerably in the amount of 

 estuarine, coastal, and marine habitat covered, but we tried to allow for this 

 by choosing counts that contained the most marine habitat. We realize that the 

 numbers reported in any given year may not be precise because of the limitations 

 of Christmas Bird Counts. We intend these maps to serve primarily as an index 

 of where winter concentrations are likely to be found and to show how this dis- 

 tribution varies throughout the southeast. 



HABITAT 



This section usually consists of brief remarks dealing with nesting, feed- 

 ing, and winter habitats. As in other sections in the species accounts, the 

 extent and detail of information reported depends on the relative importance 

 of the species in the southeast. 



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