dune@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (sandon.l.joren) (08/15/89)
I just returned from a (much too brief) trip to Oregon. Although I only had one day to bird, I did manage to get a number (10) of life birds. One question I have though; what is the status of the Northwestern Crow in Northern Oregon, along the coast. My range maps and descriptions mention that it is only south to Puget Sound, and I have been told that even there, most of them are hybrids. Many of the crows that I saw in Ecola Park however, had a much more nasal call than I am used to. In fact, they sounded much like Fish Crows! As an aside, one of the life birds that I managed to get was a Heerman's Gull. This is one bird that I never really believed I would see. I am something of a gull fanatic, and I must say that it was one of the most beautiful birds that I have ever seen! Other lifers included Tufted Puffin and Pigeon Guillemot at Haystack Rock, Glaucous-winged and California Gull, Bushtit, Steller's Jay, Vaux's Swift, Pelagic Cormorant, and Band-tailed Pigeon. (Yes, it was only my second trip out west :-)). Greg Pasquariello att!picuxa!gpasq
dmark@cs.Buffalo.EDU (David Mark) (08/16/89)
In article <1480@cbnewsl.ATT.COM> dune@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (sandon.l.joren) writes: >I just returned from a (much too brief) trip to Oregon. Although I only >had one day to bird, I did manage to get a number (10) of life birds. One >question I have though; what is the status of the Northwestern Crow in >Northern Oregon, along the coast. My range maps and descriptions mention >that it is only south to Puget Sound, and I have been told that even there, >most of them are hybrids. ^^^^^^^ Many birders in Washinton feel that the "Northwestern Crow" has never been a valid species. Hybrids as such are difficult to detect, of course. Look at Washington Christmas Counts, and you'll find no NW Crows. However, in British Columbia they are treated as a full species. They probably will be lumped if an when someone does a dissertation on them. But, no one has, and so the A.O.U. has not (yet) lumped them. > Many of the crows that I saw in Ecola Park however, >had a much more nasal call than I am used to. In fact, they sounded much like >Fish Crows! Of course, recently-fledged young brachyrhynchus crows have very nasal, Fish-crow-like calls. Could they have been youngsters? To be honest, I havecounted them on range, and do not have them on my Oregon list. David Mark dmark@cs.buffalo.edu
sandee@loligo (Daan Sandee) (09/13/89)
In article <1480@cbnewsl.ATT.COM> dune@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (sandon.l.joren) writes: >I just returned from a (much too brief) trip to Oregon. Although I only >had one day to bird, I did manage to get a number (10) of life birds. One >question I have though; what is the status of the Northwestern Crow in >Northern Oregon, along the coast. My range maps and descriptions mention >that it is only south to Puget Sound, and I have been told that even there, >most of them are hybrids. Many of the crows that I saw in Ecola Park however, >had a much more nasal call than I am used to. In fact, they sounded much like >Fish Crows! I just came back from a week in the NW, and (having read your message) checked up on the crows. ALL crows on the Washington coast (from San Juan Islands to the Columbia River) looked and sounded different from the American crow : smaller, and a nasal call (As a resident of Florida, I have considerable experience with Fish Crows. They make a totally different, nasal, ah-ha call). I couldn't really see anything like a cline. But I do take somebody else's point that juvenile Am. Crows have a more nasal call. Having now seen and heard them myself, I side with the people that say it's a different bird. It's up to the behaviorists and the DNA experts to say if it's a different species - I'm willing to accept their decisions, which lost us a lot of nice birds already, like the junco's. > >Other lifers included Tufted Puffin and Pigeon Guillemot at Haystack Rock, >Glaucous-winged and California Gull, Bushtit, Steller's Jay, Vaux's Swift, >Pelagic Cormorant, and Band-tailed Pigeon. (Yes, it was only my second >trip out west :-)). > Well, it was my seventh trip, but my first North of San Francisco. So I got a lot of NW specials. Cape Flattery was great, once the fog lifted. I spent hours looking at Tufted Puffins from close by, and Pigeon Guillemots, Marbled Murrelets, Black Swift, Harlequin Duck, cormorants, loons, etc, and a bald eagle 20 ft overhead. And in the mountains I found just two woodpeckers. You won't believe it, but they were both black-backed. The other highlight was the North pier of both Gray's harbor and of the Columbia River. It was definitely worth it to clamber out at the risk of life and limb and watch hundreds and hundreds of sooty shearwaters from close by (the nearest at 150 ft, which is incredibly close from dry land). There were also still Brandt's cormorants available at the colony at the Lewis and Clark memorial at the mouth of the Columbia. Daan Sandee Supercomputer Computations Research Institute Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL sandee@sun6.scri.fsu.edu