>The only thing missing in Albany (Willamette Valley) is that there are no
>nesting gulls in the vicinity! I don't know what else to attribute the
>reduction in the nesting population.
>
>Jon. Anderson

I posted my hypothesis on this decrease earlier, and it might or might not
have merit, but I'd still like to let the gulls off the hook a little bit
more. In the Seattle area there are essentially no nighthawks, in the city
or out. Makes no difference how far east of Puget Sound you go, nighthawks
have nosedived (populationally, not behaviorally, speaking), and nesting
gulls are only on the roofs at and near the immediate coast. They *can't*
be the cause of the demise of nighthawks in this area.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416