Pee oe UO U BaOeNe BU lek, Bersl N 3 
Ecology of Land Birds of the Chicago Area — Part IV 
By Fuoyp A. SWINK 
THE READER IS REFERRED to the September, 1959, issue of the Audubon Bul- 
letin for details on the methods and techniques used in conducting this 
statistical survey on the perching habits of local land birds. This article 
treats the family Icteridae, which in our area includes the blackbirds, 
meadowlarks, and orioles. Only those species are included which were ob- 
served commonly enough to exhibit significant data, and the survey period 
consists of the five years from 1955 through 1959. For the Common Grackle 
and Red-winged Blackbird, observations of less than 15 are not itemized; 
for all other species, the minimum of observations is five. 
COMMON GRACKLE MEADOWLARK 
Total Observations 1,215 Total Observations 305 
; ¢ No. of Per Cent ' : No. of Per Cent 
Perching Site Observations of Total Perching Site Observations of Total 
iteseee ee 145 11.9 ane Woh Syicoa i(ey We es aa ee 84 27.5 
telephone wire ....--.-.- ifabal 9.1 telephone wire ......... 56 nae 
American elm .........--. 90 7 it fg@nce Post 2... 4 es. 15 4:9 
aL ULONVMES Diemeere es ew. <k-2. 82 Oa wild black cherry...... 15 4.9 
COLLONWOOd! .2:..22-2----2=2 53 4.4 hawvchornwe <2 4s nie 8 2 6 
SED Cte sis Film sect sck se 43 3.5 COMMON O OOK! ae eek 7 2.3 
wild black cherry...... 37 3.0 Olen ONC Oxo ooc ts ee 7 2.3 
hawthorn. 2 -...-.--..--2----- 36 2.9 OE e’ Koh Bg een ee 7 By 
WAIUO” OE chase eee 36 2.9 ah OY) amma ee eget ed | 6 2.0 
DS 4. re 32 2.6 honey locust. ~..2-/2...... 6 Di) 
grassy roadside .....-.. 31 PhS AMIETIC AIM elm ye. eee oe 5 1.6 
TNE (ac. ed ea 28 2.2 DU On i ee ce ce Jc des 5 16 
OG Shi eas ee 25 2.0 SVEN Nek 21, Kegemeeesee Mea By 1.6 
Cin. Gh TGC C eee eee 20 1.6 
box co a---2-- ag ai a Ke RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD 
on a fence post-...--.--- xd Ae) F 
gravelly roadside ...... 16 1.3 Total Observations 949 
honey slocust) 2-2-2--..2-5 15 1.2 s No. of Per Cent 
Paved TORd a ctc:----o-- 15 iD Perching Site Observations of Total 
plowed ‘field ~-.......-.. 15 1.2 broad-leaved cat-tail....168 aly prs 
WAUUOMY BIOS sstcscnceeees ce 113 ala ieee) 
COWBIRD telephone wire .......... 96 10.1 
ee 3G COMMON OOK! eeecesasae 55) 5.8 
Total Observations 199 Fees poste es es 39 41 
J : No. of Per Cent ta Seal ere cee 2 eee ane 33 8.5 
Perching Site Observations of Total wild black cherry...... 31 23 
oO ic eee se ce 2 14 a0 in awit Om Nieeesenceneee ce eee 26 Qa 
telephone wire ...-...-.. 1b) 6.5 apples tes ae 20 Daal 
[eehscea AGH, ae ita 5.5 (ead thee - 2.22 eee ecee 2 18 ae) 
it i 10 5.0 FENCE -------2-2eee-ese scenes Atl nes 
Waitiesoak 220k. 10 5.0 oak A Ss yeaa Lok ie te 
wild black cherry...:.. 10 5.0 BERS ye MOAB RCC a tecs2-2- . a 
BOUEOMW OO. S2.2c---c2-ec ae 9 4.5 
4 9 ae BALTIMORE ORIOLE 
Wwibitterrasi es 2 FP 9 4.5 Total Observations 80 
mumerigan elm <..2.....--. al PRB No. of Per Cent 
RANVIER or, son 8 See Sse ff BaD Perching Site Observations of Total 
OLS oe Sea eee 6 3.0 Nicer onal Clben se 16 20.0 
D@aYr ....---..-..---2----eeeeeee- 6 3.0 Whitemoa ky pees. os tt. 13.8 
telephone pole .........- 6 3.0 Willows Spot c+: 9 11.3 
esde tres (2 3 ee Se 5 De UT Oe) eae eee ee ee 6 7.5 
OOMIO A Kmiec. Ack ate 5 Py) COULONW.OO.de qesceese- 5 6.3 
For the Meadowlark, the Eastern and Western species are lumped to- 
gether, inasmuch as a significant percentage of the observations involved 
non-singing birds seen at too great a distance or from too poor a position 
to make species identification certain. In this connection, the author would 
be interested in an answer to the question as to whether the Western 
Meadowlark utters the same buzzing trill often heard from the Eastern 
