Please excuse the ignorance of a novice, but learning birder. What does
"intergrades" mean? I have looked through several books and been unable
to find it.

While we're about it, I'm trying to understand the term "morph." I've
only been able to find one reference. In Clark and Wheeler's _A Field
Guide to Hawks of North America_ the following definition is offered.

Term used for recognizably different forms of a species,
usually color related, as in dark morph and light morph.

Okay, I can understand that as far as it goes, but I have some
questions.

Is morph the same as race?

Do different morphs within the same species interbreed?

If so, is there a tendency for a particular morph to be dominant
in the offspring? Are dark morphs more dominant as I might
expect from observing other species?

If two members of the same morph breed, will all the offspring
be of the same morph as the parents?

Is albinism a type of morph?

Anything else you might tell me including references that might
help me.

Finally, there seems to be a distinct absence of a book that
defines the words that birders on and off the list throw around. Does
anyone know of such a book, preferably one still in print? An online
resource would be even better.

Thanks,

Michael


> I believe this issue has been discussed, but a brief review is in order.
> Most active Western Washington birders don't believe in the "Northwestern
> Crow." That is, after 25 years of seeing crows round about Puget Sound
> we have thrown up our hands at separating two "species," since there is
> no longer any ecological barrier nor, apparently, any behavioral or vocal
> barrier separating what at one time no doubt were allopatric crow
> populations. The obvious differences in voice one is struck by upon
> arrival from back east or wherever is not at all apparent if one drives
> I-90 from Ellensburg ("American Crow") to Seattle (crow sp.) to Vancouver
> ("Northwestern Crow"). Definitive analyses of vocalizations remain to be
> done, & likewise DNA analyses, but morphological evidence (and informal
> vocal evidence) suggest the view that the northwestern crow intergrades
> clinally with adjacent American crow populations throughout the Puget
> Sound region.
>
> Gene Hunn (hunn at u.washington.edu)
>

.....................................................................
Michael Conner &=8-)} mconner at kristina.az.com
1809 H
Bellingham, WA 98225-3121