158 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 73 



Summer Tanager {Piranga rubra) 

 Status: Casual, two records. 



Records: One male was observed in Polk County on 18 May 1956 (Lound and 

 Lound 1956a). Another male was observed at Grantsburg, Burnett County, 

 on 29 September 1967 (Caldwell 1968). 



FAMILY FRINGILLIDAE: Grosbeaks, Finches, Sparrows, and Buntings 



Cardinal {Cardinalis cardinalis) 

 Status: Regular permanent resident. 



Distribution: Fairly common (locally common) resident of the Western 

 Upland. Uncommon to rare in the Central Plain, and rare and local in the 

 Northern Highland. Movement of the cardinal into this region has been very 

 recent. In 1919 Jackson (1943) failed to report this bird in northwestern Wis- 

 consin. Young et al. (1941) reported that the first records for Burnett and 

 Pierce counties were in 1920. Roberts (1932) reported several mid-1920 

 records for the Washington County region. By the 1960's Bernard (1967) 

 considered this bird a rare visitor in Douglas County and mentioned records 

 from Solon Springs. M. Link (personal communication) reported that cardi- 

 nals were regular at Pine City, Pine County, in 1974. 



Breeding season records of the cardinal provide excellent documentation 

 of their decreasing population, which is moving northward through the 

 Valley. Breeding Bird Survey data (Table 8) suggest an abrupt decrease in 

 breeding density from a mean of 1.5 per route in the Western Upland to 

 <0.1 per route in the Northern Highland. Goddard (1972) found the mean 

 density of breeding cardinals in the Kinnickinnic River Valley was 16 pairs 

 per 40 ha. 



Winter: Common winter resident in the Western Upland. As shown for the 

 breeding season, the abundance of this bird decreases rapidly as it moves 

 northward. On five CBC's in the Valley, the mean number of cardinals re- 

 corded per party hour ranged from 3.1 on the Afton CBC to 0 at Solon 

 Springs (Table 4). 



Habitat: Primarily a species of deciduous forest edge during the breeding 

 season. Use of Lowland Deciduous Forest and Southern Deciduous Forest is 

 usually restricted to openings and brushy edges. Highway rights-of-way and 

 windbreaks planted around farmsteads are important, as are shrubbery and 

 ornamental plantings in residential areas. 



Rose-breasted Grosbeak {Pheucticus ludovicianus) 

 Status: Regular migrant and nesting species. 



Migration: Common migrant throughout the Valley. Spring migrants arrive 

 1-5 May (earliest— 30 April 1978, St. Croix County), reaching peak abun- 

 dance 10-20 May. Fall migration begins in the Northern Highland 



