Cassin's certainly breed commonly in SE Ariz. in July & August with the
onset of the monsoon. But are they the same individuals as breed earlier
to the north?

Gene.

On Tue, 23 Jan 1996, Maureen Ellis wrote:

> COMMENT BELOW
>
> On Mon, 22 Jan 1996, Alvaro Jaramillo wrote:
>
> >
> > There is also circumstantial evidence that Great Plains breeding Cassin's
> > Sparrows nest a second time in Arizona once the monsoon season has begun
> > >
> >
> > Alvaro Jaramillo "You are better off not knowing
> > Half Moon Bay, CA how sausages and laws are made"
> > alvaro at quake.net Otto von Bismarck,
> >
> > http://www.quake.net/~alvaro/index.html
> ***********************************************************************
> I just returned from the Univ of Maine (Machias) Institute for Field
> Ornithology Sparrows Workshop held in Sierra Vista AZ (Jan 07-13th). Our
> instructors were Jon Dunn (the consultant for the Nat Geo Guide and a
> "national heritage" level field ornithologist) and Charles Duncan, the
> director of U of MN (Machias) Inst for F. Ornithology. We saw a large
> number of wintering Cassin's sparrows. Nothing was mentioned at that
> time about a second breeding occuring in this species during the AZ monsoon
> season, i.e., during July/August. What was said is that there are
> large gaps in our knowledge of the natural history of even abundant
> species. Perhaps, Charles will comment on off-season second breeding in
> sparrows and other birds.
>
> I'll send a longer post about this wonderful field ornithology
> workshop when I have more time in the next couple of weeks.
>
> AZ was so sun-lit and WA is so soggy now,
>
> Maureen E. Ellis (me2 at u.washington.edu, U of WA, Seattle, WA 98195)
>