On Wed, 7 Feb 1996, Eugene Hunn wrote:

> The Western Flycatcher split however is widely disputed by knowledgeable
> observers. The split is poorly justified and based on inadequate data.
> A cline in vocal parameters can be shown to exist across the northern
> tier of Washington counties and the southern margin of British Columbia
> that bridges the "gap" presumed to exist between the types.

A similar controversy on this bird exists in Oregon. Very few true
Cordillerans are found in eastern Oregon from what I understand, and this
topic has come up on OBOL. Atlas data from the first year of the Oregon
project is being treated as "Western" though we still have the data
separate. Also, the Birds of Oregon text by Gilligan et al treats
"western" as a lump still noting the problems. Most of the birds I saw
while I was in Pullman never called, so I was never sure what to call them.
BTW, now that I'm thinking about it, since I've seen Buillock's
Baltimore and had a hybrid in hand in Nebraska, do I get to count three
when the checklist comes out? :) Better go back to class now. RK
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ray Korpi "Life is a smorgasbord--
Hm: Portland, OR you decide whether or not you
Wk: Clark College make yourself sick" --k.d. lang
Vancouver, WA (the more accurate transcription)
rkorpi at clark.edu