Two recent visits to Twin Oaks WMA, Johnson county, Nebraska, provide current bird records that when combined with sightings made years ago, provide an interesting list of the local wildbirds.
This tally of 101 species is based upon more than 750 records, derived from observations on 55 different days. The largest number of species have occurred in May and June; notably from May 18th to June 7th. No records are available for November or December.
During the March 26th visit during a field trip of the Wachiska Audubon Society, 31 species were recorded, according to a list graciously provided by Shari Schwartz. There had also been a scouting trip made on March 20th. Some of the new additions to the avifauna list for this locality included the Canada Goose, Northern Pintail, Cooper’s Hawk, Eurasian Collared Dove (which would not have been present in the vicinity during the 1980s), Brown Creeper, Carolina Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet and Fox Sparrow.
This is a composite list of species as noted during different years, with the value given indicating the number of times the species was observed. Further details are available on the number of birds counted.
| Common Name | 1981 | 1982 | 1985 | 2003 | 2017 |
| Snow Goose | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- |
| Canada Goose | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Wood Duck | -- | 2 | -- | -- | 1 |
| Mallard | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Blue-winged Teal | -- | 2 | -- | -- | -- |
| Northern Pintail | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Ring-necked Pheasant | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Wild Turkey | -- | 3 | -- | -- | -- |
| Northern Bobwhite | 1 | 3 | -- | -- | -- |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Great Blue Heron | 4 | 1 | -- | 1 | -- |
| Green Heron | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Turkey Vulture | 6 | 4 | -- | -- | 2 |
| Northern Harrier | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Cooper's Hawk | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 2 | 7 | -- | 1 | 2 |
| American Kestrel | 1 | 1 | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Killdeer | 7 | 7 | -- | -- | 2 |
| Spotted Sandpiper | 3 | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| Solitary Sandpiper | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Upland Sandpiper | 6 | 5 | -- | -- | -- |
| Franklin's Gull | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Mourning Dove | 11 | 8 | -- | -- | 1 |
| Yellow-billed Cuckoo | 5 | 6 | -- | -- | -- |
| Black-billed Cuckoo | 3 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Eastern Screech-Owl | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- |
| Great Horned Owl | 5 | 6 | -- | 1 | -- |
| Barred Owl | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| Common Nighthawk | 3 | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| Common Poorwill | -- | 2 | -- | -- | -- |
| Eastern Whip-poor-will | 1 | 2 | -- | -- | -- |
| Chimney Swift | 5 | 5 | -- | -- | -- |
| Belted Kingfisher | 3 | 1 | -- | -- | 2 |
| Red-headed Woodpecker | 8 | 8 | -- | -- | -- |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 5 | 8 | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 8 | 6 | -- | 1 | -- |
| Northern Flicker | 11 | 7 | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Eastern Wood-Pewee | -- | 4 | -- | -- | -- |
| Least Flycatcher | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| Eastern Phoebe | 9 | 2 | -- | -- | 2 |
| Great Crested Flycatcher | 3 | 5 | -- | -- | -- |
| Eastern Kingbird | 11 | 8 | -- | -- | -- |
| Loggerhead Shrike | 3 | 4 | -- | -- | -- |
| Warbling Vireo | 1 | 2 | -- | -- | -- |
| Philadelphia Vireo | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Blue Jay | 12 | 9 | -- | 1 | 2 |
| American Crow | 7 | 8 | -- | 1 | 2 |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow | 5 | 4 | -- | -- | -- |
| Barn Swallow | 13 | 7 | -- | -- | -- |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 11 | 9 | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Tufted Titmouse | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | 1 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 5 | 9 | -- | -- | 1 |
| Brown Creeper | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Carolina Wren | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 |
| House Wren | 10 | 6 | -- | -- | -- |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Eastern Bluebird | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Veery | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| Swainson's Thrush | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| Hermit Thrush | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| American Robin | 8 | 7 | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Gray Catbird | 7 | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| Northern Mockingbird | 6 | 5 | 1 | -- | -- |
| Brown Thrasher | 5 | 8 | -- | -- | -- |
| European Starling | 3 | 3 | -- | -- | 1 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| Yellow Warbler | 1 | 3 | -- | -- | -- |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- |
| Black-and-white Warbler | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| American Redstart | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| Common Yellowthroat | 4 | 4 | -- | -- | -- |
| Eastern Towhee | 3 | 2 | -- | -- | -- |
| American Tree Sparrow | 1 | 4 | -- | 1 | -- |
| Chipping Sparrow | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| Clay-colored Sparrow | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Field Sparrow | 9 | 7 | -- | -- | -- |
| Lark Sparrow | 6 | 2 | -- | -- | -- |
| Savannah Sparrow | -- | 2 | -- | -- | -- |
| Grasshopper Sparrow | 9 | 8 | -- | -- | -- |
| Fox Sparrow | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 |
| Song Sparrow | 5 | 1 | -- | -- | 1 |
| Harris's Sparrow | 1 | 2 | -- | 1 | -- |
| Dark-eyed Junco | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | 2 |
| Northern Cardinal | 11 | 7 | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Rose-breasted Grosbeak | 2 | 5 | -- | -- | -- |
| Indigo Bunting | 2 | 4 | -- | -- | -- |
| Dickcissel | 5 | 5 | -- | -- | -- |
| Bobolink | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 10 | 8 | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Eastern Meadowlark | 10 | 8 | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Western Meadowlark | 7 | 5 | -- | -- | -- |
| Common Grackle | 8 | 7 | -- | 1 | -- |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 10 | 7 | -- | -- | -- |
| Orchard Oriole | 4 | 5 | -- | -- | -- |
| Baltimore Oriole | 8 | 6 | -- | -- | -- |
| American Goldfinch | 5 | 5 | -- | 1 | 1 |
| House Sparrow | 7 | 6 | -- | -- | 1 |
This larger-sized wildlife area has a very nice diversity of habitats, including a small native prairie and - along its western edge - a section of the Nemaha river. Because of the variety of plant communities, research was conducted in the early 1980s to evaluate the species of wildbirds and how their occurrence was influenced by typical habitat management practices carried out by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (i.e.; “The effects of habitat management on nongame birds” which was graduate school work done by James E. Ducey and as published as a M.S. thesis issued in August, 1984). A majority of the bird records available are from this project.
It would be interesting and valuable to get further details of the local – modern-era - avifauna during the mid-mid to early June breeding season period.