IOWA & MISSOURI 
Least Tern chicks were banded by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers personnel at an arti- 
ficial nesting island established this year at Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary in 
St. Charles County, Missouri, among them this one on 6 August 2009. Photograph by 
Charles Deutsch. 
30 Jul (SD), one or 2 Sanderlings at four Iowa 
sites 16-30 Jul (m.ob.), single Buff-breasted 
Sandpipers at Saylorville 27 & 30 Jul (SD) 
and at Coralville 29 Jul (DP), and a Red- 
necked Phalarope at Saylorville 25 Jul (SD). 
GULLS THROUGH WRENS 
Iowa’s usual Black-headed Gull was at Spirit 
L., Dickinson 21 Jul (E. Thelen). An ad. 
Franklin’s Gull at R.M.B.S. 14 Jun (JU), an ad. 
in Adair 27 Jun (PK), and a juv. at ER.C.A. 12 
Jul (DW) were unusual for Missouri. A sec- 
ond-cycle Laughing Gull in Adair, MO 27 Jun 
(ph., tPK) was the only report. The Region’s 
only Ring-billed Gull colony near Spirit L., lA 
had many nests in late Jun (SD). The 1189 
Ring-billed Gulls at Red Rock 25 Jul (SD) was 
a high count for summer. Single Herring 
Gulls were found in Polk, Dubuque, and John- 
son (m.ob.), more than usual for Iowa, and at 
R.M.B.S. (BR). Up to 7 Least Terns were seen 
at MidAmerican, but no nesting was reported 
OF). In Missouri, besides singles in Jun in 
Stoddard and at two sites 26 Jul in Pemiscot, 
all along the Mississippi R. (CB), one in Bates 
in w. Missouri 25 Jul (DW) was unexpected. 
Three Common Terns were at Saylorville 13 
Jun OG). In Iowa, a few Black Tern nests were 
at three sites in Dickinson and Winnebago 
(SD, SP), but no one reported nesting by 
Forster’s Terns. 
Eurasian Collared-Doves 
continued their conquest of 
Iowa, with reports from 
Fayette and Lyon QG, SD); 
they have been found in 96 
of Iowa’s 99 counties. Each 
state had a single White- 
winged Dove: in Mississippi, 
MO for the 4th year (PM) 
and in Dallas, lA (T. Law- 
son). Single Black-billed 
Cuckoos in Jasper, in St. 
Charles, and at O.S.C.A. 
(LH, PK, MR) were in s. 
Missouri, where rare. Three 
calling in Holt, MO 31 Jul 
(MR) were the most report- 
ed in either state. Two Barn 
Owls in Dunklin, MO 2 Jun 
(PM) and nesting pairs in 
Calhoun, Canvll, Lucas, and 
probably Fremont, lA (BE) 
indicate small populations persist in both 
states. A Short-eared Owl seen in late Jun in 
Ringgold, I A may have nested (TH). Late mi- 
grants in Iowa included 2 Olive-sided Fly- 
catchers 9 Jun in Witiiiesliieb (DK), 2 Yellow- 
bellied Flycatchers 7 Jun in Hancock and Kos- 
suth (PH, MK), and an Alder Flycatcher 23 
Jun in Hancock (RG). Missouri’s last Alder 
Flycatcher was 2 Jun at O.S.C.A. (MR). An 
Alder Flycatcher in Dallas 29 Jun-i- nested, a 
hrst for Iowa (SD). The eastward range ex- 
pansion of two flycatchers continued in Mis- 
souri, with single Western Kingbirds in St. 
Louis and St. Louis City (MT, PL, PK) and 2 
Scissor-tailed Flycatchers each at E.B.C.A. 
and in Buchanan (EW, F Cramer); nesting ac- 
tivity was observed in St. Charles for the 2nd 
year Q- Hitzeman, PK). A Scissor-tailed Fly- 
catcher in Union 24 Jun Q- Newton) made 
Iowa’s first summer record since 2006. A few 
Loggerhead Shrikes were found in five Mis- 
souri and 12 Iowa counties, mostly in the w. 
half of both states (m.ob.). A few Bell’s Vireos 
in St. Charles and St. Louis City (MT, PL, PK) 
were away from their expected St. Louis area 
locations, and 20 at O.S.C.A. 15 Jun (CB) was 
the most reported in Missouri. 
Three ad. Black-billed Magpies were near a 
nest in Plymouth, lA 11 Jun (G. Von Ehwe- 
gen), their lone Regional nesting site. A Red- 
breasted Nuthatch in Webster, lA 26 Jul (T. 
Johnson) may have been an early migrant. 
Single Bewick’s Wrens were found in both 
states: 13 Jun in Jefferson, MO QE) and at its 
usual Lee, lA site 6 Jun-7 Jul (]G, DP, SD). 
Sedge Wrens seemed to be fairly common 
through much of Iowa (m.ob.) and in n.-cen. 
Missouri (SK). Farther s., a few in Pettis, Pike, 
and St. Charles (EW, JE, BR) were considered 
Jul arrivals. Twelve Marsh Wrens at Fountain 
Grove C.A., Linn/Livingston 21 Jul (SK) and 
19 in Pike 19 Jul QE) were high counts for so 
far s. in Missouri. 
WARBLERS THROUGH FINCHES 
Late warblers in Iowa, all singles, included 
Nashville Warbler in Hancock 1 Jun QB), 
Black-throated Green Warbler in Hardin 3 Jun 
(MP), and Blackburnian Warbler in Hancock 
7 Jun (PH). A Black-throated Green Warbler 
in Dallas, MO 28 Jun (P Sensenig) represent- 
ed the 5th summer record for Missouri, and 
one in Polk, lA 3 Jul (B. Engebretsen) was 
similarly puzzling A Northern Waterthrush in 
Hancock, lA 3 &15 Jun (RG) may have sum- 
mered. A Nashville Warbler in Stojy, lA 27 Jul 
(C. Gregory) was one of the hrst signs of 
southward migration. In Iowa, 4 Chestnut- 
sided Warblers in Allamakee 10 Jun (DK) and 
one in Winneshiek 1 Jul (D. Carter) were 
probably nesting, and a singing Pine Warbler 
in Lee 6 Jun-7 Jul was close to where this 
species nested in 2004 OG, DR SD). Cerulean 
Warblers were found in 10 Iowa counties 
(m.ob.), with nesting noted in Monroe (SP). 
Five in Franklin and one in Crawford QE) 
were reported from new locations within its 
expected Missouri range. One or 2 Black-and- 
white Warblers in Boone, Callaway, Crawford, 
and Morgan, MO (EW, JE) and mid-summer 
reports in Lee (CE, SD) and Warren, lA Q. Sin- 
clair) suggested breeding away from its usual 
range. All of Iowa’s reports of Worm-eating 
Warbler were in Lee and Van Buren in se. Iowa 
(m.ob.). A Hooded Warbler 8 Jun in Taney 
(GS, A. Kinslow) was the only one reported in 
Missouri. 
Clay-colored Sparrow broods in Dickinson 
and Worth (AB, SP), and singing males in 
three other counties (RG, D. Harr, MK, SP), 
were all along Iowa’s n. border. At least 3 Ves- 
per Sparrows in Sullivan, MO (SK, J. New- 
man) were near the s. limits of its range. 
Henslow’s Sparrows were reported in 29 
counties, mostly in s. Iowa but n. to the Min- 
nesota border (m.ob.). An estimated 50 males 
were at Neal Smith (KVS). A female White- 
throated Sparrow in Winnebago 8 Jul (L. 
Ralls) is Iowa’s 3rd summer report in the last 
four years. Counts of 31 Grasshopper Spar- 
rows in Dade, MO 8 Jun (D. & B. Blevins), 30 
at Neal Smith (KVS), and 120 Dickcissels in 
S A The upper Mississippi R. once provided abundant nesting habitat for Least Terns. However, nesting is now limited to 
Osandbars below its confluence with the Missouri River. On 30 Apr 2009, two barges topped with a sand-gravel mix were 
placed by the Army Corps of Engineers Rivers Project Office at R.M.B.S. (St. Charles, MO and Madison, IL). Least Tern decoys were 
placed on this artificial nesting habitat to try to lure terns. The first report of a pair using the barges was 14 May, and by 1 9 Jun, 
the first nest was confirmed. About a month later, 12 nests containing 30 eggs were present. By 31 Aug, 20 chicks had been 
banded, and all terns had left the area for their southward migration. The project will be repeated in 2010 (JU). 
604 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
