first digit indicates major food source: 1 indicates seeds and vegetation (> 75% 

 of diet); 2, invertebrates; 3, omnivorous (25-75% plant material); 4, verte- i 

 brates; 5, carrion. The second digit indicate: foraging stratum: 1 indicates ' 

 bark or bole; 2, ground, grass, and low shrubs; 3, tall shrubs or low forest 

 canopy; 4, mid-to-high forest canopy or tall trees; 5, air; 6, water. The 

 third digit indicates foraging strategy: 1 indicates bark or bole drilling; 2, 

 bark/bole gleaning; 3, ground and brush foraging; 4, tree foliage foraging; 5, 

 sallying; 6, raptorial; 7, dabbling or stalking in water; 8, diving in water; 

 9, mud probing; 0, soaring or swooping. The fourth digit indicates preferred 

 nest site: 1 indicates cattails or bulrush; 2, shore, marsh, or water; 3, 

 cliffs, caves, rims, badlands, buildings; 4, ground, grassland; 5, low shrub 

 (less than 1 m or 3 ft); 6, tall shrub ( 1 m - 3 m or3ft-10 ft); 7, tree branch 

 (greater than 3 m or 10 ft); 8, tree cavity; 9, underground burrow; 0, non- 

 breeding in study area. 



Status (Birds Only ). First letter denotes indicated status in the study 

 area: M indicates spring and fall migrant only; R, permanent resident; S, 

 summer resident; V, summer visitor (nonbreeding) ; W, winter resident. For per- 

 manent and summer residents, evidence for breeding is given in parentheses using 

 a modification of Binford's (1973) categories, which are, in order of decreasing 

 conclusiveness: PJ .ndicates prejuvenal young observed; NY, nest with young; 

 NE, nest with eggs; AN, active nest completed, contents unknown; NC, active 

 nest completed but empty; UC, nest under construction; UN, active nest, condition 

 unknown; AF, adult carrying food; AC, adult carrying nest material; CO, copu- 

 lation observed; CD, courtship display observed; TO, territoriality observed; 

 RH, range, habitat, and dates; SS, observed in area outside breeding season 

 (for sedentary or permanent resident species only). Only the most conclusive 

 evidence encountered during this study is listed in the table. An asterisk in ( 

 this column indicates additional nesting data are presented in table 10, which 

 summarized data obtained for nests located during this study. 



Mo nthly Sample Abundance . Numbers indicate total individuals/numbir 

 of stops that were recorded each month for the four standard roadside wildlife 

 survey routes (Circle, Missouri River, Prairie Elk, and Flowing Well) combined. 

 Where no records were made during these counts, other records made during the 

 month are indicated by the following symbols, listed in order of decreasing pre- 

 ference: X indicates encountered on one or more of the four regular routes but 

 between stops or outside the counting radius; D, recorded on the Dreyer Ranch 

 route but not encountered on the four regular routes; B, encountered only be- 

 tween stops on the Dreyer Ranch route but not encountered on the four regular 

 routes; S, seen during month but not on roadside counts; T, seen during month but 

 seen during a year other than 1977. Only the highest ranking symbol is listed in 

 the table. (NOTE: Roadside wildlife routes were not run during November 1977.) 



Additional data on wintering birds near Fort Peck have been collected as 

 part of the Fort Peck Christmas Bird count and are summarized in Appendix J. 



Narrative Accounts for Selected Species 



Data in addition to that presented in tables 7 through 9 were obtained for 

 selected species (indicated by an asterisk before the common name in these tab- 

 les) and are summarized in the following narrative species accounts. Where i 



56 



