Alan Richards wrote:

>Swainson's Thrush and to be told (hopefully,
>in a nice way) that this is very unlikely. This
>is because they are wintering in southern Mexico,
>Ecuador, Argentina and other South American
>areas (as near I can tell from the bird books I
>have -- does anyone else have more detailed info?)

My experience from Northwest Argentina is that Swainson's Thrushes are very
common in Yungas (cloud) type forest. At one site near the city of Salta, I
heard several singing full songs in mid February. They sang only before the
sun had come up, after sunrise they would vanish. A birder arriving at this
site in the afternoon would never have known that the most common thrush present
was actually Swainson's. These were all "Olive-backed" Swainson's Thrushes,
the local "Russet-backed" Swainson's Thrushes (Catharus ustulatus ustulatus)
likely winter in Mexico as is typical of "western" birds.
Here in Vancouver, Swainson's Thrushes are all Russet-backed, as would be
expected. Last week I had the fortune of getting a great look at a nice
Olive-backed Swainson's Thrush (C.u. almae/swainsoni) and I wonder how rare
this sighting actually is. Have other birders ever seen an Olive-backed Swainson's Thrush at a coastal site?

Al Jaramillo
jaramill at sfu.ca
Vancouver, BC

> ******************************** In the midst of the word he was trying to say
> * Mike Patterson, Astoria, OR * In the midst of his laughter and glee,
> * mpatters at ednet1.osl.or.gov * He had softly and suddenly vanished away---
> ******************************** For the Snark *was* a Boojum, you see. L
>