102 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 76 



Boreal chickadee (Parus hudsonicus). Cpr. Specimen: 

 RMSI962/36/32. 



This chickadee occurred throughout the Kilbuck Mountains. It 

 nested at the Salmon and Tuluksak (adult; DNW photo) rivers and may 

 have nested at the Kisaralik River. Mindell (1983) considered them 

 common in the Nyac area. M. Brown et al. (unpublished) found 1-15 

 chickadees per day at the Kisaralik River on 24-27 August and found 6-15 

 chickadees at the Kwethluk River on 26 July 1985. We found 1.4 pairs 

 per square kilometer in 1983 in undisturbed riparian plots, and none in 

 disturbed plots. Birds used closed or open spruce forests for nesting but 

 may have nested in spruce-birch and low, open spruce forests, and they 

 were found in low numbers in other tree-shrub habitats. Chickadees 

 (both species) composed about 1% of the breeding birds in tree-shrub 

 habitats at the Tuluksak River. At the Tuluksak River, two birds were on 

 nests on 9 June 1974, young fledged beginning 24 June 1974 and were 

 common thereafter, and volant young were present by 3 July 1978. We 

 saw family groups at the Kisaralik River in July 1979. 



Red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis), VRv. 



One red-breasted nuthatch was seen by M. C. Weeks in September 

 1974 at Platinum (Kessel and Gibson 1978). 



American dipper (Cinclus mexicanusy, Apr. Specimens: 

 RMSI962/36/33 and RMSI962/36/34. 



Dippers were found throughout the Kilbuck Mountains, occasion- 

 ally in the Ahklun Mountains, and rarely in coastal areas. We found nests 

 at the Salmon, Tuluksak (DNW photo), and upper Kisaralik rivers. Mindell 

 (1983) and B. J. McCaffery (personal communication) also found nesting 

 birds along the Kisaralik River. Dippers were also reported nesting near 

 Goodnews and Chagvan bays (B. Huffmon, personal communication). 

 They have been seen at the Kisaralik (19 August 1985) and Kwethluk 

 rivers (19 July 1985; M. Brown et al., unpublished), and in summer at the 

 Eek River (R. Baxter, unpublished) and in the Nyac area (Mindell 1983). 



At least 10 nest locations were occupied by dippers more or less 

 annually along 48 km of major streams at the Tuluksak River. In 4 years 

 with full censuses, we found 5 .0 ± 0.71 pairs per year with large or flying 

 young. On the Salmon, Tuluksak, and Kisaralik rivers, 16 nest sites were 

 75-300 m asl and 1-7 m above the water surface. Nests were located at 

 the foot of 5-60 m tall cliffs (14), on the crossbeam of a hydropower 

 turbine exhaust (1), and on the "I" section girder of a bridge (1). At the 

 Tuluksak River, in nests <180 m asl, one bird was incubating five eggs 

 on 1 June 1974, and four pairs were feeding young on 16-29 June 1974. 

 In contrast, two pairs were feeding young on 27 July 1979 in nests at 



