Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Breeding Range. (Fig. 98). Common throughout the Prairie Pothole Region, in the Turtle Mountains, and on the Coteau Slope and Missouri Slope; fairly common in the Agassiz Lake Plain Region and on the Little Missouri Slope.
Breeding Habitat. Largely restricted to areas with open-canopy woodlands or to areas containing scattered thickets or groves of small trees and tall shrubs. These include edge habitats created by man, such as shelterbelts, hedgerows, orchards, and partially wooded residential areas of farmsteads and towns. Natural edge habitats also are extensively utilized, including margins of woodland, and scattered thickets of tall shrubs and small trees located within tracts of native prairie. Some of the more common woody plant species of natural habitats include Saskatoon serviceberry, hawthorn, wild plum, choke cherry, and bullberry.
Nesting. Breeding season: Early June to early September; peak, mid-June to late July. Nest-building was recorded as early as June 5 [1963] on the Missouri Coteau in Stutsman County (RES) and as late as July 1 [1962] on the Audubon National Wildlife Refuge in McLean County (D. C. McGlauchlin). Extreme egg dates (34 nests): June 6 [1963] to July 11 [1961] in Stutsman County (RES). Extreme nestling dates (5 nests): July 6 [1921] in Logan County (Lincoln 1925) to July 27 [1913] in Oliver County (S. G. Jewett). Rolfe (1898b) recorded newly hatched young in the Minnewaukan area of Benson County in early September. Newly fledged young out of the nest were recorded as early as July 12 [1961] in Ward County and as late as September 5 [1974] in Kidder County (RES).
Nests were situated in a variety of woody plants as shown by the following records: hawthorn, nine nests; silverberry, two nests; bur oak, two nests; bullberry, two nests; choke cherry, one nest; wolfberry, one nest; western rose, one nest; and willow, one nest. The height above ground of 17 nests that had been placed in woody plants ranged from 1.3 to 9.0 feet, and averaged 4.4 feet. While collecting in Traill and Steele Counties in 1895, Barnes (1898) found a few nests that were situated less than 1 foot above the ground. Rolfe (1898b) discovered one nest only 6 inches above the ground. In the vicinity of Wahpeton, Jensen (1918) reported that nests were placed from 2 to 60 feet above the ground. According to Rolfe (1898b) and Judd (1917), nests may be built on artificial, man-made structures, if trees or shrubs are not present. These include plows, binders, and tin or galvanized iron eaves gutters.
Indicated clutch size (21 nests): 3 to 5 eggs; mean, 3.9 eggs.
 |
| Figure 98. Breeding Range of Eastern Kingbird. |
 |
|
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/bbofnd/species/4440.htm
Page Contact Information: Webmaster
Page Last Modified: Thursday, 03-Aug-2006 11:25:06 EDT
Menlo Park, CA [caww54]
