Roger Hoffman wrote: The numbers of mountain bluebirds reported in the
Olympic Mountains (of NW Washington State) have declined from "fairly
common" in the 1940's to nearly absent today (there are still occasional
summer sightings -- especially from the NE corner of the Olympic
Mountains).

Re: Questions 1. & 3. Since Mountain Bluebirds require meadows and other
open areas, has fire suppression also allowed increasing amounts of brush
and infilling of high meadows, as well as providing fewer nesting cavities?
Can the frequency and areal extent of fires in subalpine areas be
documented and correlated with Bluebird numbers?

Herb Curl

h.curl at hazmat.noaa.gov "You may be only young once but you can be
Hazmat/NOAA, 7600 Sand Pt. Wy., NE immature the rest of your life."
Seattle, WA 98115-0070
(206) 526-6272