On Thu, 20 Jun 1996, Dennis Paulson wrote:
> To me, we've stayed in the Stone Age with regard to our knowledge of the
> distribution of some Washington breeding birds. Wilson's and
> Orange-crowned Warblers have often been thought of as being widespread
> breeders east of the Cascades crest, but in fact, they're not! I think
> they are both very local, unlike their status west of the crest, and it
> would be interesting to try to put together a good account of their
> distribution and habitat preference. I haven't checked the web for range
> maps for either one; maybe there are answers there.

First a word of warning, the maps on the web-site are dated, I have better
ones in the printed drafts. Unfortunately, I have not had the time to
update the web site. But back to the topic.

Wilson's Warbler: I would agree with Dennis regarding Wilson's Warbler
east of the Crest. There really isn't much good habitat until the
'Columbian' forests of northeastern Washington. BBA data and other folks
will back this up. In the Blues, they are apparently limited to
willow/alder thickets or similar vegetation in damp shady areas.

Orange-crowned Warbler: apparently there is some disagreement among the
experienced, I have two sides to this story. There are a number of east
Cascades OC Warbler records, which could either be late migrants or
breeding birds. Actual breeding records are few. On our trip we found
three areas with Orange-crowned Warblers: two were very high in shrubby
vegetation (one dry area and one wet area), the third was way down along
Union Flat Creek near Pullman. I was worried when I first heard this bird
(thought I'd have to make extensive map changes), but after reading the
other posts about late migrants, I will assume that this is one. Anyway,
I won't name names, but some folks I've discussed this bird with are
admant that they are rare/local breeders in eastern WA and that most birds
are late migrants. Other folks believe just as strongly that this species
is a widespread breeder throughout the eastern Cascades at lower
elevations. So how about some evidence?

-------------
Michael R. Smith
Univ. of Washington, Seattle
whimbrel at u.washington.edu
http://salmo.cqs.washington.edu/~wagap/mike.html