July, 1911 
129 
WINTER BIRDS OF THE SALTON SEA REGION 
By A. VAN R(.)SSEM 
T he species listed here were taken during the six weeks between December 1, 
1910 and January 14, 1911. Localities worked were Brawley, about fifteen 
miles southeast of Salton Sea, Alamoria, five miles north of Brawley, and Mecca 
on the west end of the Sea and about a mile from it, making a very convenient base 
from which to work the Sea and surrounding country. The Alamo River running 
near Brawley on its way to Salton, and the country closely adjacent form an ideal 
collecting ground, and on the whole the most productive one worked. 
The river itself is a muddy stream from thirty to fifty yards wide and runs in 
the channel carved by the Colorado on its recent outbreak, which formed the new Sal- 
ton Sea. The steep, almost perpendicular banks are washed out in many places, re- 
sulting in gulleys often running back a mile or more and supporting such growth 
as dwarf cottonwoods and weeping willows. Near the outlet where worn down to 
the river’s level, tule bordered inlets are the result, attracting such species as the 
Desert Song Sparrow, Tule Wren, and Western Yellowthroat. The country about 
is as flat as a table, and at some time most of it has been cleared and then abandon- 
ed. Now a dense growth of “inkweed” has sprung up and it is difficult to distin- 
guish it from the natural desert about. There is also a little mesquite but not nearly 
as much as at Mecca. 
Here are found the typical desert birds, Leconte and Crissal thrashers, Plum- 
beous Gnatcatchers, Roadrunners and Cactus Wrens. Nearer the towns of Braw- 
ley and Alamoria the whole country is a network of canals and irrigation ditches, 
and in planting time, flooded meadows. These last make a handy and convenient 
larder for the thousands of ducks for which Imperial Valley is noted, as well as Sand- 
hill Cranes, Ring-billed Gulls and several species of shore birds. 
I was much interested in the feeding time of the different birds which came 
from Salton to the grain fields. The ducks all fed at night, arriving in the fields 
about dusk and leaving usually before daylight forllie safer Sea. There was no 
definite time though, as flocks could be heard coming and going at all hours of the 
night. But the Sandhill Cranes were as regular as the clock, passing over my 
tent every morning from 7:00, the earliest to 7:15, the latest, returning just at 
sundown. Gulls and other shore birds did not come until late, usually about 8:00 
and leaving as- early as four in the afternoon. 
At Mecca were found many species either rare or entirely absent from the 
other end of the Sea, perhaps on account of the slightly cooler climate. Fine 
drizzles fell three times during my stay there. The greater attraction was undoubt- 
edly the mistletoe, which at this time was covered with berries furnishing food 
for the Phainopeplas, Bluebirds and Robins. Cover, too, was more plentiful, several 
planted rows and groves of cottonwoods and much native mesquite. 
Two species to be expected, the Sage Thrasher and Desert Sparrow were en- 
tirely missing. There were also several surprises, the most noteworthy being the 
English Sparrow, quite a little colony of a dozen pairs or more having established 
itself at Brawley about the main street and freight depot. No one seemed to know' 
anything of their time of arrival. 
Salton Sea is rapidly drying up, and for a mile from the present shore line is a 
stretch of white, even the bases of the dead mesquites and bushes being crusted 
with alkali. The Farallon Comorants prefer to build in the tops of the trees about 
