Birds a Prominent Feature of Pre-Columbian Literature of Mexico

For the ancient people of Mexico, birds were a prominent feature of their culture, and this is vividly conveyed in the following pieces of literature from the mid-1500s that were thankfully preserved in the original chronicles that survived the Spanish invasion.

"The delicate sensitivity of the Mayas shows from the very beginning in their poems and legends. Reading their myths today evokes an image of an old Maya inscription on a stele or in the interior of one of their palaces which still remain from this ancient culture."

The first literary bit given is a legendary story about Prince Quetzalcóatl, a Toltec culture hero, and a priest named for the god. This epic poem tells about the deeds and accomplishments of Quetzalcóatl, the spiritual leader of the Toltecs.

The Toltecs, the people of Quetzalcóatl,

were very skillful.

 

Nothing was difficult for them to do.

They cut precious stones,

wrought gold,

and made many works of art

and marvelous ornaments of feathers.

Truly they were skillful.

 

All the arts of the Toltecs,

their knowledge, everything came from Quetzalcóatl.

 

The Toltecs were very wealthy,

their foodstuffs, their sustenance, cost nothing.

They say that the squash

were big and heavy.

That the ears of corn

were big and heavy as the pestle of a metate [grinding stone].

 

And the blades of amaranth, like palm leaves,

you could step on them,

climb on them.

 

Also they grew cotton of many colors:

red, yellow, pink,

purple, green, bluish green, blue, light green,

orange, brown, and dark gold.

These were the colors of the cotton itself.

It grew that way from the earth, no one colored it.

And also they raised there fowl of rare plumage:

small birds the color of turquoise,

some with green feathers,

with yellow, with flame-colored breasts.

Every kind of fowl

that sang beautifully,

like those that warble in the mountains... .

 

And those Toltecs were very rich,

they were very happy;

there was no poverty or sadness.

Nothing was lacking in their houses,

there was no hunger among them....

 

They say that when Quetzalcóatl lived there,

often the wizards tried to trick him

into offering human sacrifices,

into sacrificing men.

But he never did, because he loved his people

who were the Toltecs.

 

And they say, they relate,

that this angered the magicians

so that they began to scoff at him,

to make fun of him.

 

The magicians and wizards said

they wanted to torment him

so that finally he would go away,

as it really happened.

 

In the year I-Reed, Quetzalcóatl died,

truly they say

that he went to die there,

in the Land of the Black and Red Color.

 

They say that in the year I-Reed

he set himself on fire and burned himself;

they call it the burning place,

where Quetzalcóatl sacrificed himself.

And they say that when he was burned,

immediately his ashes rose up,

and all the exquisite birds came to see:

those which flew about in the heavens,

the macaw, the blue bird,

the sunflower bird, the red and blue bird,

the golden yellow one, and other birds of fine plumage.

 

When the pyre had ceased to burn,

Quetzalcóatl's heart came forth,

went up to heaven, and entered there.

And the ancient ones say

it was converted into the morning star... .

This is a Mayan account of the history of the earth.

"Although similar to Nahuatl poems of the ages or cosmological suns, the myth has its own distinctive flavor which might be described as a mystical approach to the realm of the gods and ultimate reality.

It was in the 11-Ahau Katún,

[during the eleventh period of twenty years]

when there appeared those who had great power

to hoodwink the thirteen gods of the heavens.

Their names were not known.

It was the time

when the earth had just awakened.

They did not know what would happen.

 

The thirteen gods of the heavens were seized

by the nine gods of the underworld.

It rained fire, it rained ashes;

trees and stones fell over.

The trees struck against each other

and the stones against other stones.

 

Seized were the thirteen gods,

with their heads battered,

faces bashed in,

and skin broken out;

they were bent over at the shoulders.

They were deprived of their great serpent,

with the bells on its tail,

also the plumage of quetzal was taken away.

 

They partook of ground beans,

together with the seed of the serpent,

together with its heart,

ground seeds of squash,

big ground seeds of squash

and ground kidney beans.

He who has no limit, nor end,

wrapped up everything and tied it together

and went to the thirteenth heavenly plane.

 

Then the skin of the serpent fell off

and pieces of its bones

fell here on the earth.

Then its heart escaped;

the thirteen gods did not want

their heart and their seed to escape.

The orphans, the forsaken ones and the widows,

those not strong enough to live,

were killed with arrows.

They were buried in the sand at the shore

of the sea, in the waves.

Then in a great sheet of water the waves came.

When the great serpent was taken away,

the heavens fell

and the earth was submerged.

 

Then the four gods,

the four Bacabs destroyed everything.

And when the destruction was finished,

they remained firmly in their

places, to ordain the dark-reddish men.

Then rose up the first white tree in the north.

Rose up the arch of the heavens,

symbol of destruction beneath.

After the first white tree was set up,

then rose up the first black tree,

on it perched the bird with the black breast.

Then rose up the first yellow tree,

and as symbol of destruction beneath

was perched the bird with the yellow breast.

The steps of the dark-reddish men were heard,

those of the dark-reddish countenance.

And then rose up the green tree of abundance,

in the center of the world,

in memory of the earth's destruction....

 

At that time Uuc Cheknal,

he who fertilizes the maize seven times,

came down from the seventh plane of the heavens.

Coming down, he stepped on the shoulders of Itzama,

he came while the earth and the heavens were being cleansed.

 

He walked along the fourth canopy of stars.

The earth was not yet lighted.

There was no sun,

there was no night, there was no moon.

They would awaken

when the earth awakened.

Then the earth awoke.

Many eons of time

after the earth awoke,

finally it dawned for them.

 

The kingdom of the second term was declared

the kingdom of the third term.

Then the thirteen gods began to weep.

In this age they wept.

All became red....

Then the foundation of the red age was established....

The following hymn "declares that death is transformation. Men are changed into flame-colored pheasants and women into owls. They are defied in the beyond, in the paradise of the rain god." These are the only lines which remain from the ancient poem which "invokes the coming of dawn as the beginning of a new life, while birds of many colors fly about in a heaven suffused with light."

Thus the dead were addressed,

when they died.

If it was a man, they spoke to him,

invoked him as a divine being,

in the name of pheasant;

if it was a woman, in the name of owl;

and they said to them:

 

"Awaken, already the sky is tinged with red,

already the dawn has come,

already the flame-colored pheasants are singing,

the fire-colored swallows,

already butterflies are on the wing."

 

For this reason the ancient ones said,

he who has died, he becomes a god.

They said: "He became a god there,"

which means that he died.

The following is another poem which conveys another view of death.

Truly I say:

certainly it is not the place of happiness

here on earth.

Certainly one must look somewhere else,

where indeed happiness will exist.

Or only in vain have we come to the earth?

 

Somewhere else is the place of life.

There I want to go,

there surely I will sing

with the most beautiful birds.

There I will have

genuine flowers,

the flowers that delight,

that bring peace to the heart,

the only ones that give peace to man,

that intoxicate him with joy....

This next example, proclaims the glory and power of the Aztecs in an "almost mystical exaltation."

From where the eagles are resting,

from where the tigers are exalted,

the Sun is invoked.

 

Like a shield that descends,

so does the Sun set.

In Mexico night is falling,

war rages on all sides.

Oh Giver of Life!

war comes near....

 

Proud of itself

is the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan.

Here no one fears to die in war.

This is our glory.

This is Your Command,

oh Giver of Life!

Have this in mind, oh princes,

do not forget it.

Who could conquer Tenochtitlan?

Who could shake the foundation of heaven?

 

With our arrows,

with our shields,

the city exists.

Mexico-Tenochtitlan remains.

Another lyric poem also refers to the bird with the golden feathers, indicating its prominence in the literature of the culture.

"Nezahualcóyotl sought in his heart songs and flowers that would endure forever. Aware of death, he hoped that at least these might be carried to the intermost house of the Lord of the Close and Near, where dwell the birds with golden feathers:"

They shall not wither, my flowers,

they shall not cease, my songs.

I, the singer, lift them up.

They are scattered, they spread about.

Even though on earth my flowers

may wither and yellow,

they will be carried there,

to the innermost house

of the bird with the golden feathers.

Like several other Náhuatl wise men and poets, Nezahualcóyotl succeeded in expressing himself by means of flower-and-song. The part of his work that has come down to us gives his ideas and sentiments about man's existence on earth, about death and the beyond, and about the mysteries that surround the supreme Giver of Life, the Lord of the Close and Near. Many rewarding discoveries await whoever explores in depth this form of more personal lyric poetry among the Nahuas."

This next example is "a declaration of the joy which can be found everywhere on earth:"

You are singing, little dove,

on the branches of the silk-cotton tree.

And there also is the cuckoo,

and many other little birds.

All are rejoicing,

the songbirds of our god, our Lord.

And our goddess

has her little birds,

the turtledove, the redbird,

the black and yellow songbirds, and the hummingbird.

These are the birds of the beautiful goddess, our Lady.

If there is such happiness

among the creatures,

why do our hearts not also rejoice?

At daybreak all is jubilant.

Let only joy, only songs,

enter our thoughts!

The following is basically a "farce," or a dramatic play about a buffoon arriving in the market plaza.

The main character "acts in different costumes, rapidly and skillfully putting on different masks. First he is a human being, then a deer, a rabbit, a thrush with a red breast, a quetzal bird, a parrot, and finally the same funny man again. What he says is amusing, but it also contains something to think about. The people watch and are entertained by the buffoon, who says:"

"My fine master, I have come; I am here to laugh.

I'm a rascal. My singing is a flower;

it gets mixed up, then it gets untangled.

Oh, I'm a master in the house.

Now let us begin. Already there has come

the sweet-smelling flower; may it please you.

It is going to rain flowers;

may they please you!

I am scattering many different flowers.

I come to offer songs, intoxicating flowers.

Oh, I'm a rascal, who comes from there,

where the water flows.

I come to offer songs, intoxicating flowers.

"Next, using a rabbit's head, he appears as a god of pulque (a native wine) and again mentions the flowers and songs. Always acting like the animal he represents, he dances in front of the people.

I who come am the Deer-Two-Rabbit,

the Rabbit which bleeds,

the Deer with big horns....

My fine master, my friends, we open

his book of flowers, his book of songs.

Whose?

His.

Erect is the Flowery Tree,

it has many branches,

it has grown large; now it is scattering flowers.

We have come to listen at your threshold,

on the branches you are walking, Precious Pheasant.

You are singing....

"The buffoon then changes his costume and becomes a thrush with a red breast. He dances and sings, telling of poetry, laughter, and suffering:

I'm a rascal.

I am the thrush with a red breast,

now I shrill my song: jojojojon.

I come to make paintings

where the courtyard spreads out;

I am the thrush with a red breast;

shrill, shrill, my song: jojojojon.

I wink my eyes,

as I go laughing;

from within the court I come,

into a flower I am changing myself,

I am the Rabbit who suffers....

"Finally he becomes a chattering parrot, a wise parrot from the interior of Tula, who invites everyone to listen to his song. While speaking the last lines, the buffoon takes off his mask and sings an exquisite song in honor of poetry.

I am the chattering Parrot,

I go to catch it, I throw it....

Now I begin, now I can sing.

From there I come, from the interior of Tula;

now can I sing; my voice bursts forth,

the flower has opened.

Listen to my song:

"Stealer of songs, oh my heart,

where can you find them?

You are in need. But like a painting

grasp firmly the black and red ink,

then perhaps you will no longer be a beggar."

What a delight this presentation would be to the crowd watching the performance.

---

If there is one question which arises from these texts, it is the mention of the pheasant, which is mentioned as the "flame-colored pheasant" and the "precious pheasant" as well as just the pheasant.

There is no pheasant which is a native species of Mexico, and would have been present in the 1500s when these text were recorded. So what might be a more suitable species?

There are no clues provided by the known examples of terms for birds for this region during this particular period of time, i.e., 1571 for the Nahua of Mesoamerica and 1585 for the Mayans at Tenochtitlan. Neither lexicon includes a listing for a pheasant. There is also no mention of a bird with "flame-colored" plumage.

Two species that are referenced in the Nahua dictionary as birds with red plumage are the flamingo and roseate spoonbill. There were undoubtedly other species with the dramatic colors that can be considered as being a bright coloration resembling a flame. Yet there isn't a source which can provide a definitive answer ... so the mention of a pheasant is an enigma that cannot be resolved with the information available.

It is obvious that there were no "pheasants" so this attribution must have meant something else, probably some type of bird such as a quail or other prominent species.

Nonetheless, the chronicles of this era 500 hundred years ago convey a distinctive and especially important aspect of the historic ornithology of Northern America. If only there was a series of original sources from the era to read and study that could provide further clues and hep to understand the birds known to the people of the time, and how they knew and understood the variety of wild birds where they lived.

Spring-water and Other Flows Provide Midtown Fowl Havens

Despite the extremely cold weather in the Omaha region, there are a couple of places in midtown Omaha that continue to provide a safe haven for waterfowl.

With temperatures reaching -15oF, waters at these two spots remain unfrozen, allowing the birds to roost and feed.

At the upper reach of Happy Hollow Creek, the setting was suitable enough to attract a Gadwall, that was first seen two days ago. It was also noticed on 5 January.

This is the first record of this species having been observed in the parks of this neighborhood. This species was not noted for either the Omaha or Desoto Bend christmas bird counts.

Shadow Lake has been a haven for more than 20 Mallards during the entire winter thus far, with more than in last December when there was a greater amount of food (pondweed) available. Spring-water flows provide the warm water which the fowl appreciate. There is not enough disturbance to drive them away, so they should remain until conditions improve enough for them to go elsewhere, or until it is time for them to go elsewhere when spring approaches.

January Snowstorm

Another major snow event blew into town on January 6th. The mallards remained, hunkered down at the one place they knew where they could float around.

Mallards, some partially snow-covered, at Shadow Lake.

Shadow Lake, January 6, 2010 during another of the season's snow storms.

Group of Mallards looking for some food along Happy Hollow Creek.

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.