Avifauna Along Missouri River Regularly Surveyed, Yet Relatively Unknown

Whether it was a just a couple of years ago or two hundred years back in the historic past, birds along the lower Missouri River have been regularly noted and consistently reported, yet there the information needed to adequately understand the birds species and their occurrence is insufficient.

Early historians, and when considering this aspect, the notes scribed by Lewis and Clark upon their great quest to the Pacific Northwest and then back into the Louisiana Territory - based on the known historic records - was a first.

Other exploratory endeavors followed, especially these impressive examples:

• Thomas Say and Titian Ramsey Peale at the Engineer Cantonment in 1819-1820, noted details for the birds as well as other natural history features, in what has been recognized as perhaps the first biotic survey even completed for the continent. Information gathered here, including a list of birds observed from autumn to spring.
• Prince Maximilian de Wied came from Germany and went up the river into the northern Dakota territory, and with the efforts of David Dreidoppel and Karl Bodmer, created a distinctive and celebrated history.
• John James Audubon, in his hurried manner, went up the same river during on season, and found new species that have been a focus of bird life studies ever since.

These explorers convey details which illustrate historic conditions along the river during the earliest times of its ornithological history.

The legacy of observations continued to expand - evolving from explorers to shootists to naturalists to bird watchers - in subsequent decades in a myriad of individual ways. Each recorded effort has contributed further to what is known about the bird life of the Missouri River valley.

The species known is impressive not only because of the variety of sources, but in the context of a bird history that presents a distinctive record of the avifauna extant along the primary river of the northern plains.

Continual Bird History

Information conveyed for the birds along the Missouri River - in a particular section along the border of what is now Nebraska - has been regularly detailed in different publications. The notes present a sublime record of what bird occurred where and when. The information tells much about the avian diversity, but is still just a glimpse that relies on a relatively miniscule set of documented occurrences.

Records of birds given in the variety of sources issued in the past - whether 200 years ago or last Sunday - can be viewed in a number of distinctive ways. Once many of the known observations are compiled, they can be considered in an entirety for a particular locality, whether it is the Engineer Cantonment, land of a wildlife refuge, or to a different extent based on property boundaries, a county or state, or a particular section of something such as the Missouri River.

This is how an evaluation of known birds along the Missouri River on the eastern border of Nebraska border was accomplished. It was derived from a compilation of the records given in the various sources of literature ranging from narratives from historic expeditions, articles in newspapers and bird journals issued during many decades, posts provided by online bird forums, and observations during seasonal surveys given on a select few websites.

Species Diversity

There have been at least 365 different species of birds noted along the Missouri River valley along the border of the Nebraska, which goes from the lowlands about Squaw Creek NWR, up the river along the common Iowa-Nebraska border, and into the very southern portion of South Dakota, near the confluence of the Niobrara River.

This list is derived from more ca. 84,000 records, primarily from after 1880. There are further instances of occurrence from prior times, based on further records in a separate database.

Species and number of considered records. • Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - 1 • Taiga Bean-Goose - 2 • Greater White-fronted Goose - 258 • Snow Goose - 714 • Ross's Goose - 92 • Brant - 3 • Cackling Goose - 30 • Canada Goose - 826 • Trumpeter Swan - 57 • Tundra Swan - 29 • Muscovy Duck - 1 • Wood Duck - 1049 • Gadwall - 737 • Eurasian Wigeon - 1 • American Wigeon - 582 • American Black Duck - 53 • Mallard - 1008 • Blue-winged Teal - 780 • Cinnamon Teal - 25 • Northern Shoveler - 741 • Northern Pintail - 470 • Garganey - 5 • Green-winged Teal - 529 • Canvasback - 368 • Redhead - 426 • Ring-necked Duck - 649 • Greater Scaup - 42 • Lesser Scaup - 851 • Common Eider - 3 • Harlequin Duck - 6 • Surf Scoter - 30 • White-winged Scoter - 30 • Black Scoter - 11 • Long-tailed Duck - 36 • Bufflehead - 563 • Common Goldeneye - 659 • Barrow's Goldeneye - 11 • Hooded Merganser - 409 • Common Merganser - 702 • Red-breasted Merganser - 225 • Masked Duck - 1 • Ruddy Duck - 657 • Gray Partridge - 5 • Ring-necked Pheasant - 327 • Ruffed Grouse - 6 • Sharp-tailed Grouse - 5 • Greater Prairie-Chicken - 19 • Wild Turkey - 525 • Northern Bobwhite - 176 • Red-throated Loon - 11 • Pacific Loon - 6 • Common Loon - 205 • Pied-billed Grebe - 959 • Horned Grebe - 181 • Red-necked Grebe - 3 • Eared Grebe - 124 • Western Grebe - 66 • American White Pelican - 587 • Brown Pelican - 1 • Neotropic Cormorant - 1 • Double-crested Cormorant - 1005 • Anhinga - 5 • American Bittern - 63 • Least Bittern - 87 • Great Blue Heron - 1200 • Great Egret - 325 • Snowy Egret - 61 • Little Blue Heron - 92 • Tricolored Heron - 3 • Cattle Egret - 156 • Green Heron - 353 • Black-crowned Night-Heron - 86 • Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - 45 • Glossy Ibis - 2 • White-faced Ibis - 41 • Roseate Spoonbill - 2 • Wood Stork - 2 • Turkey Vulture - 730 • Osprey - 271 • Swallow-tailed Kite - 6 • Mississippi Kite - 6 • Bald Eagle - 821 • Northern Harrier - 316 • Sharp-shinned Hawk - 428 • Cooper's Hawk - 206 • Northern Goshawk - 21 • Red-shouldered Hawk - 244 • Broad-winged Hawk - 232 • Swainson's Hawk - 103 • Red-tailed Hawk - 950 • Ferruginous Hawk - 5 • Rough-legged Hawk - 64 • Golden Eagle - 21 • American Kestrel - 475 • Merlin - 71 • Peregrine Falcon - 84 • Prairie Falcon - 23 • Yellow Rail - 1 • Black Rail - 1 • King Rail - 15 • Virginia Rail - 27 • Sora - 89 • Common Moorhen - 56 • American Coot - 902 • Sandhill Crane - 45 • Whooping Crane - 2 • Black-bellied Plover - 53 • American Golden-Plover - 52 • Snowy Plover - 2 • Semipalmated Plover - 146 • Piping Plover - 273 • Killdeer - 1152 • Black-necked Stilt - 12 • American Avocet - 65 • Spotted Sandpiper - 342 • Solitary Sandpiper - 201 • Greater Yellowlegs - 208 • Willet - 53 • Lesser Yellowlegs - 383 • Upland Sandpiper - 36 • Eskimo Curlew - 3 • Whimbrel - 2

• Long-billed Curlew - 11 • Hudsonian Godwit - 70 • Marbled Godwit - 23 • Ruddy Turnstone - 27 • Red Knot - 3 • Sanderling - 49 • Semipalmated Sandpiper - 201 • Western Sandpiper - 19 • Least Sandpiper - 276 • White-rumped Sandpiper - 86 • Baird's Sandpiper - 182 • Pectoral Sandpiper - 317 • Dunlin - 64 • Stilt Sandpiper - 130 • Buff-breasted Sandpiper - 25 • Short-billed Dowitcher - 16 • Long-billed Dowitcher - 94 • Wilson's Snipe - 188 • American Woodcock - 50 • Wilson's Phalarope - 94 • Red-necked Phalarope - 17 • Red Phalarope - 3 • Laughing Gull - 7 • Franklin's Gull - 476 • Little Gull - 1 • Bonaparte's Gull - 237 • Ring-billed Gull - 1204 • California Gull - 2 • Herring Gull - 264 • Thayer's Gull - 12 • Iceland Gull - 1 • Slaty-backed Gull - 4 • Glaucous Gull - 14 • Sabine's Gull - 8 • Black-legged Kittiwake - 14 • Ross's Gull - 3 • Least Tern - 235 • Caspian Tern - 126 • Black Tern - 284 • Common Tern - 19 • Forster's Tern - 226 • Pomarine Jaeger - 1 • Ancient Murrelet - 1 • Rock Pigeon - 76 • Eurasian Collared-Dove - 8 • Mourning Dove - 524 • Passenger Pigeon - 7 • Common Ground-Dove - 1 • Carolina Parakeet - 9 • Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 637 • Black-billed Cuckoo - 60 • Barn Owl - 6 • Eastern Screech-Owl - 46 • Great Horned Owl - 128 • Snowy Owl - 13 • Burrowing Owl - 7 • Barred Owl - 334 • Long-eared Owl - 6 • Short-eared Owl - 15 • Northern Saw-whet Owl - 11 • Common Nighthawk - 140 • Common Poorwill - 1 • Chuck-will's-widow - 6 • Whip-poor-will - 73 • Chimney Swift - 505 • Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 285 • Belted Kingfisher - 820 • Red-headed Woodpecker - 946 • Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1115 • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 31 • Downy Woodpecker - 1070 • Hairy Woodpecker - 404 • American Three-toed Woodpecker - 1 • Northern Flicker - 1245 • Pileated Woodpecker - 80 • Olive-sided Flycatcher - 183 • Eastern Wood-Pewee - 790 • Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 9 • Acadian Flycatcher - 50 • Alder Flycatcher - 45 • Willow Flycatcher - 73 • Least Flycatcher - 301 • Eastern Phoebe - 337 • Say's Phoebe - 4 • Great Crested Flycatcher - 717 • Western Kingbird - 119 • Eastern Kingbird - 541 • Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - 7 • Loggerhead Shrike - 66 • Northern Shrike - 8 • White-eyed Vireo - 34 • Bell's Vireo - 182 • Black-capped Vireo - 1 • Yellow-throated Vireo - 584 • Blue-headed Vireo - 170 • Warbling Vireo - 742 • Philadelphia Vireo - 44 • Red-eyed Vireo - 686 • Blue Jay - 1043 • Black-billed Magpie - 35 • American Crow - 1069 • Chihuahuan Raven - 1 • Common Raven - 8 • Horned Lark - 206 • Purple Martin - 309 • Tree Swallow - 448 • Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 489 • Bank Swallow - 193 • Cliff Swallow - 223 • Barn Swallow - 559 • Black-capped Chickadee - 1212 • Tufted Titmouse - 824 • Red-breasted Nuthatch - 91 • White-breasted Nuthatch - 1066 • Brown Creeper - 440 • Rock Wren - 2 • Canyon Wren - 2 • Carolina Wren - 595 • Bewick's Wren - 5 • House Wren - 1053 • Winter Wren - 158 • Sedge Wren - 100 • Marsh Wren - 91

• Golden-crowned Kinglet - 244 • Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 468 • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 309 • Eastern Bluebird - 828 • Mountain Bluebird - 1 • Townsend's Solitaire - 6 • Veery - 41 • Gray-cheeked Thrush - 95 • Swainson's Thrush - 292 • Hermit Thrush - 62 • Wood Thrush - 422 • American Robin - 1024 • Varied Thrush - 1 • Gray Catbird - 820 • Northern Mockingbird - 22 • Brown Thrasher - 484 • Curve-billed Thrasher - 1 • European Starling - 443 • American Pipit - 31 • Sprague's Pipit - 2 • Bohemian Waxwing - 7 • Cedar Waxwing - 428 • Blue-winged Warbler - 27 • Golden-winged Warbler - 34 • Tennessee Warbler - 384 • Orange-crowned Warbler - 404 • Nashville Warbler - 417 • Northern Parula - 432 • Yellow Warbler - 430 • Chestnut-sided Warbler - 131 • Magnolia Warbler - 76 • Cape May Warbler - 9 • Black-throated Blue Warbler - 8 • Yellow-rumped Warbler - 669 • Black-throated Green Warbler - 86 • Blackburnian Warbler - 76 • Yellow-throated Warbler - 267 • Pine Warbler - 4 • Prairie Warbler - 3 • Palm Warbler - 60 • Bay-breasted Warbler - 65 • Blackpoll Warbler - 172 • Cerulean Warbler - 141 • Black-and-white Warbler - 306 • American Redstart - 681 • Prothonotary Warbler - 316 • Worm-eating Warbler - 12 • Swainson's Warbler - 1 • Ovenbird - 417 • Northern Waterthrush - 241 • Louisiana Waterthrush - 176 • Kentucky Warbler - 146 • Connecticut Warbler - 13 • Mourning Warbler - 111 • Common Yellowthroat - 840 • Hooded Warbler - 11 • Wilson's Warbler - 241 • Canada Warbler - 82 • Yellow-breasted Chat - 46 • Summer Tanager - 109 • Scarlet Tanager - 384 • Western Tanager - 4 • Green-tailed Towhee - 1 • Spotted Towhee - 55 • Eastern Towhee - 913 • American Tree Sparrow - 386 • Chipping Sparrow - 358 • Clay-colored Sparrow - 100 • Field Sparrow - 478 • Vesper Sparrow - 61 • Lark Sparrow - 72 • Lark Bunting - 3 • Savannah Sparrow - 90 • Grasshopper Sparrow - 105 • Henslow's Sparrow - 8 • Le Conte's Sparrow - 23 • Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow - 4 • Fox Sparrow - 182 • Song Sparrow - 994 • Lincoln's Sparrow - 367 • Swamp Sparrow - 233 • White-throated Sparrow - 494 • Harris's Sparrow - 305 • White-crowned Sparrow - 90 • Golden-crowned Sparrow - 2 • Dark-eyed Junco - 556 • Lapland Longspur - 21 • Smith's Longspur - 4 • Chestnut-collared Longspur - 6 • Snow Bunting - 6 • Northern Cardinal - 979 • Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 721 • Black-headed Grosbeak - 5 • Blue Grosbeak - 102 • Lazuli Bunting - 7 • Indigo Bunting - 787 • Dickcissel - 213 • Bobolink - 18 • Red-winged Blackbird - 756 • Eastern Meadowlark - 112 • Western Meadowlark - 155 • Yellow-headed Blackbird - 344 • Rusty Blackbird - 121 • Brewer's Blackbird - 23 • Common Grackle - 517 • Great-tailed Grackle - 104 • Brown-headed Cowbird - 448 • Orchard Oriole - 274 • Bullock's Oriole - 1 • Baltimore Oriole - 667 • Pine Grosbeak - 3 • Purple Finch - 124 • House Finch - 145 • Red Crossbill - 26 • White-winged Crossbill - 6 • Common Redpoll - 19 • Pine Siskin - 161 • American Goldfinch - 1058 • Evening Grosbeak - 21 • House Sparrow - 331

There is so much information inherent in the occurrence and distribution associated with these records that they could only be considered in a separate evaluation.

A number of important birding places occur along this portion of the river where different birders have repeatedly gone afield to observe what birds were present, and then took the time to note what was seen.

There have been a tad more than 250 species noted prior to 1900. During the decades from 1900 through the end of the 1980s, which was a dramatic time of change for the river - when it went from a shifting natural waterway to a constricted and controlled channel - there were 323 species noted in various ways by bird watchers during those times which are now just history to review, but which in each instance convey details of superb importance about representative species.

Modern Times

During the past fifteen years, the bird list for the river valley and bluffs has continued to provide observations of essential ecologic importance. The observations are spread across a vivid spectrum of sources, which with the ever-changing dynamic of record-keeping making it difficult and essentially impossible to compile known instances of where and when birds have occurred. The following summary is, however, based on an attempt to get known details for the river region from Squaw Creek NWR, northward to the southern-most portion of South Dakota.

There are 317 species which have been noted for the past few years.

The following list indicates known geographic locations, and the number of distinctive records available as determined from an array of sources, and as compiled by one effort. This tally is certainly not complete due to the extreme difficulty of compiling different records into a single recordset suitable for comparing what birds have been present, and when.

This list is representative, and not comprehensive as it is impossible to aggregate all of the bird sightings being gathered. Published information can be readily reviewed, but details can be issued in so many places that it would require a herculean effort to determine each instance and integrate the essentials into a single record-base. And there is also the information which is not published and thus remains unknown.

This tally conveys the particulars for the records as of October 2009, and dating back to 1995 (from a set of ca. 43,500 records). These particulars would obviously get revised as a result of additional observations, etc.

Site Name	Records	County	State
Fontenelle Forest	7000	Sarpy	NE
Neale Woods	4367	Douglas	NE
Squaw Creek NWR	3720	Holt	MO
Lake Manawa State Park	3324	Pottawattamie	IA
Fontenelle Forest Bottoms	2939	Sarpy	NE
Krimlofski Tract	1809	Washington	NE
Iowa Power and Light Ponds	1704	Pottawattamie	IA
DeSoto NWR	1333	Pottawattamie, Harrison; Washington in Nebraska	IA/NE
Hitchcock Nature Area	947	Pottawattamie	IA
Hummel Park	946	Douglas	NE
Forneys Lake SWA	883	Fremont	IA
Spring Lake Park	852	Douglas	NE
Ponca Creek at Hummel Park	812	Douglas	NE
Nathans Lake	667	Washington	NE
Indian Cave State Park	657	Richardson	NE
N.P. Dodge Park	641	Douglas	NE
Offutt Base Lake	640	Sarpy	NE
Waubonsie State Park	635	Fremont	IA
Great Marsh at Fontenelle Forest	517	Sarpy	NE
Boyer Chute NWR	502	Washington	NE
Jonas Prairie at Neale Woods	445	Douglas	NE
Schilling WMA	438	Cass	NE
Ponca State Park	402	Dixon	NE
Carter Lake	371	Douglas	NE
Waubonsie SWA	338	Fremont	IA
La Platte Bottoms	326	Sarpy	NE
Camp Wakonda	298	Sarpy	NE
Rock Creek at Neale Woods	283	Washington	NE
Center Island at Boyer Chute	271	Washington	NE
Haworth Park	259	Sarpy	NE
Knull Prairie at Neale Woods	252	Douglas	NE
Levi Carter Park	231	Douglas	NE
De Soto Flats	230	Washington	NE
Mandan Park	207	Douglas	NE
Big Lake State Park	202	Holt	MO
Mandan Flats	191	Douglas	NE
Highway Two - Iowa Bottoms	181	Fremont	IA
Nebraska Prairie at Neale Woods	148	Douglas	NE
Bob Brown CA	147	Holt	MO
Rush Bottom Bend CA	145	Holt	MO
Gifford Point	133	Sarpy	NE
Folsom Prairie	131	Pottawattamie	IA
Secret Pond	129	Fremont	IA
Downtown Omaha	125	Douglas	NE
Thurnau CA	125		MO
Koley Prairie at Neale Woods	109	Douglas	NE
Lake Yankton	99	Knox	NE
Sheldon Pond	99	Fremont	IA
Lower Hamburg Bend CA	96	Atchison	MO
Gavins Point Dam	85	Knox	NE
Eppley Airfield	79	Douglas	NE
Tobacco Island	78	Cass	NE
Stone State Park	76	Woodbury/Plymouth	IA
Plattsmouth	75	Cass	NE
Lewis and Clark Reservoir	74	Knox	NE
Peru Bottoms WMA	72	Nemaha/Otoe	NE
DeSoto Bend	72	Washington	NE
Retriever Marsh	70	Sarpy	NE
Keg Lake	69	Mills?	IA
Iowa West Ranch	67	Pottawattamie	IA
Hidden Lake at Fontenelle Forest	66	Sarpy	NE
Folsom Lake	60	Mills	IA
Deroin Bend CA	57	Nemaha/Richardson	NE/MO
Blue Lake SWA	49	Monona	IA
Niobrara Marsh	48	Knox	NE
Mound City	44	Holt	MO
13th Street Parkway	42	Douglas	NE
Rockport Wetlands	38	Washington	NE
Catfish Lake	35	Sarpy	NE
Highway 370 Flats	35	Mills	IA
Rulo Bluffs Preserve	34	Richardson	NE
Mount Vernon Gardens	32	Douglas	NE
Saint Marys Island	31	Sarpy	NE
Frazers Island	30	Otoe	NE
Blackbird Marsh	30	Pottawattamie	IA
Bartlett	28	Fremont	IA
DeSoto Lake at Desoto Bend	26	Harrison	IA
Bigelow Marsh	26	Holt	MO
Riverfront Park	25	Pottawattamie	IA
Gibson Bend SWA	24	Pottawattamie	IA
Niobrara State Park	22	Knox	NE
Rakes Creek WMA	20	Cass	NE
Missouri River, Cedar County	19	Cedar	NE
Beaver Lake	18	Cass	NE
Omadi Bend WMA	17	?Dakota	NE
Standing Bear Bridge	17	Knox	NE
Herbs Marsh	16	Pottawatamie	IA
Sandhill Lake	16	Woodbury/Monona	IA
Central Park Mall	16	Douglas	NE
Gibson Bend Woods	16	Sarpy	NE
Laukemper Wetlands	16	Holt	MO
Little Sioux Flats	15	Harrison	IA
Noddleman Island	15	Mills	IA
Peru	15	Nemaha	NE
Pigeon Creek SWA	15	Pottawattamie	IA
Crystal Cove Park	14	Dakota	NE
Elk Point WMA	14	Dixon	NE
Fort Atkinson SHP	13	Washington	NE
Cottonwood Cove Park	13	Dakota	NE
Highway 2 and Interstate 29	12	Fremont	IA
Heartland of America Park	12	Douglas	NE
Lower Copeland Bend	12	Otoe	NE
Gibson Bend	11	Sarpy	NE
Nobles Lake SWA	11	Harrison/Pottawattamie	IA
Little Oxbow	11	Sarpy	NE
McPaul Flats	10	Mills	IA
Missouri River, Dixon County	10	Dixon	NE
Middle Decatur Chute	10	Burt	NE
Wiseman WMA	10	Cedar	NE
Beck Memorial Park	9	Burt	NE
Wilson Island State Park	9	Pottawattamie	IA
Niobrara River Confluence	9	Knox	NE
Langdon Bend	9	Nemaha	NE
Ponds at Allied Chemical	8	Sarpy	NE
Nebraska City	8	Otoe	NE
Kansas Bend	8	Nemaha	NE
Brownville	8	Nemaha	NE
Big Lake Park	7	Pottawattamie	IA
Upper Decatur Bend	7	Burt	NE
Omaha Moorings	7	Douglas	NE
Omaha Riverfront Trail	7	Douglas	NE
Nobles Lake by Bertrand Bend	7	Harrison/Pottawattamie	IA
Lower Decatur Bend	7	Burt	NE
Pigeon Creek Bend	6	Pottawattamie	IA
Bellevue Bend	6	Sarpy	NE
Big Nemaha River Reach	6	Richardson	NE
Bullard Bend	5	Harrison	IA
Manawa Bend	5	Sarpy	NE
Lewis and Clark State Park	5	Monona	IA
Mulberry Bend	5	Dixon	NE
Riverbreaks Conservation Area	4	Doniphan	MO
Tieville Bend	4	Monona	IA
North Blair Island	4	Washington	NE
Omaha Riverfront	4	Douglas	NE
Mabrey Park	4	Pottawattamie	IA
Bazile Creek WMA	3	Knox	NE
Ashford Scout Camp	3	Thurston	NE
Verdel Landing SRA	3	Knox	NE
White Cloud	3	Doniphan	KS
Squaw Bend	3	Richardson	NE
Council Bend	3	Douglas	NE
Upper Louisville Bend	2	Burt	NE
Rulo River Flats	2	Richardson	NE
Boy Scout Island	2	Pottawattamie	IA
Lower Plattsmouth Bend	1	Cass	NE
Shoreline Golf Course	1	Pottawattamie	IA
Power Park	1	Douglas	NE
Louisville Bend WMA	1	Monona	IA

Despite the importance of knowing the detail of bird occurrence and distribution, there is no central repository of records to access in order to compare information from different times and places.

The current conditions of recording bird observations are not at all suitable for adequately documenting birdlife which occurs along the Missouri River valley. Only by knowing the available particulars can there be any comparative surveys, or a realistic understanding for a threatened or endangered species, or others species of particular concern and the other essential details needed to effective conserve habitats for imperiled bird species. For now, decisions by public and private agencies involved with river management, are being made with only limited information, instead of a comprehensive set of potentially available bird occurrence records.

Only by knowing the details should be an integral aspect for river habitat management, to ensure projects are done in a manner that will best benefit birds and other wildlife, and which makes certain the dollars being spent are being used in the best manner possible.