Dennis et al.,

Another factor is that Oregon is ca. 50% larger than Washington and
extends somewhat further east in places also.

Gene.

On Mon, 13 Jun 1994, Dennis Paulson wrote:

> Why is it after perusing Skip Russell's account of his birding trip that I
> have the continued feeling that Oregon features better birding than
> Washington? I am impressed by the number of species/individuals of northern
> and eastern birds down in Oregon that are rare in or absent from
> southeastern Washington; probably just the higher average elevation of
> northeastern Oregon provides wetter and more boreal habitats. Examples:
> Spruce Grouse, Northern Waterthrush, Great Gray Owl, Bobolink, Least
> Flycatcher (were there really *4* pairs last year?), Upland Sandpiper (if
> it's still there). And it almost seems that you can depend on some sort of
> vagrant on a visit to Malheur Refuge.
>
> On top of that there's all the southern species, added as part of the grand
> "lower latitudes have more species" trend. Or as one of the major
> biogeographic rules states: "The farther north you go, the fewer southern
> species you see."
>
> Dennis Paulson
>
>
>