> I have been hiking alot the past few weeks at the 3500 - 5000 ft. elevations
> on the east side of the Cascades. I have been trying to figure out why I
> sometimes see Mountain Chicadees and sometimes Chestnut-backed Chicadees.
> While the Mtn. tend to occur at higher elevations and in drier habitats,
> I am often surprised by Chestnut-backeds where I don't expect them. Are
> there other habitat characteristics that predispose to one species or the
> other? I would appreciate any thoughts. Thanks.

Also interesting has been some experiences I have had lately with
Mountain Chickadees and Black-capped Chickadees in Eastern Oregon. I
have had mountains and black-caps in two spots (Lost Valley in Gilliam
Co. and Wallowa Lake in Wallowa Co.) where at the same elevation, the
black-caps were in the riparian cottonwoods and the mountains were within
a few hundred yards in the ponderosas. Similar things happen, with a
little more elevation, at Kamiak Butte in Whitman Co, WA, where Mountains
are at the top of the Butte in the summer and the black-caps at the
bottom. Mountains will move down a little in the winter, but really
don;t wander off of the Butte that I saw. If you're in Whitman, Kamiak
Butte is a nice place to bird at most times of year.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ray Korpi "The intimate revelations of young
Wk: Clark College men . . . are usually plagiaristic and
Vancouver, WA marred by obvious suppressions."
Hm: Portland, OR --F. Scott Fitzgerald
address: rkorpi at clark.edu _The_Great_Gatsby_