TRADITIONS OF WATERFOWL 



Equally interesting in its pioneering is the Arkansas Kingbird. This is 

 not a member of the original fauna of Manitoba and is not mentioned in 

 Thompson's (Seton) 1891 list "The Birds of Manitoba." The first record is 

 from Oak Lake, Manitoba, in 1907; this kingbird reached Winnipeg in 

 1912, and by 1921 it was breeding commonly in southern Manitoba. Now, 

 forty-five years after its arrival, it is a typical bird of Manitoba's agricul- 

 tural region; there is hardly a farmstead without at least one pair. In a 

 similar way it has invaded Minnesota (Roberts, 1932) and Saskatchewan. 



Such enlargements of range frequently go hand in hand with environ- 

 mental changes. f In some species, such as the Cliff Swallow and the Ar- 

 kansas Kingbird, the breeding area is occupied only during the spring and 

 summer, the birds migrating back to their wintering grounds after the 

 young are reared. In others, like the Prairie Chicken and the exotic Eng- 

 lish Sparrow, new ranges are held through the year. Many hunters think 

 that this pinnated grouse is a native of Manitoba, but Coues (1874) said 

 that "I have no reason to believe that it occurs at all in northwestern Min- 

 nesota or northern Dakota ... I have met with no indication of its oc- 

 currence north of the United States boundary," an observation in which 

 Thompson (1891) concurred. Leopold (1940) traced the spread of the 

 Hungarian Partridge in Wisconsin, where it moved "by slow overflow into 

 the vacant territory." Kessel ( 1953 ) has traced the far-flung pioneerings of 

 the European Starling in North America. In Manitoba, where the Hungarian 

 Partridge is a recent arrival, its spread now has covered the agricultural 

 region of the province, and locally its coveys have developed traditional 

 territories where the birds may be found in the same places year after year. 

 That is to say, the history of a covey in a locality is older than any members 

 of the band. Similar pioneerings are well known in the Cottontail Rabbit 

 and in the White-tailed Deer. 



In waterfowl, Hochbaum (1946) pointed out that the river ducks are 

 the most rapid pioneers, the Canvasback, Redhead, and other diving ducks 

 enlarging their ranges more slowly. In the Mallard, Pintail, and other river 

 ducks, the young are on the wing by early summer, hence have time to gain 

 broad geographical experience. Moreover, there is a wide tolerance of nest- 

 ing situations in these species, so that as long as there is water, they may 

 settle down to find nesting cover somewhere nearby. In the diving ducks, 



* A. G. Lawrence, "Chickadee Notes," Winnipeg Free Press, May 30, 1952. 



f Mayr (letter) points out that "range changes are sometimes due to changes of the habi- 

 tat, sometimes independent of it, such as the fantastic range expansion of Streptopelia decaocto, 

 the Collared Turtle Dove, in Europe." 



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