Mike Smith wrote:

>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.

(more on Orange-crowned)

Bear in mind that the western and eastern WA birds comprise two subspecies,
_Wilsonia pusilla pileolata_ in the east and _W. p. chryseola_ in the west.
They have probably had somewhat independent evolutionary histories,
including their choice of breeding habitat. I could imagine the two
populations being split by the Cascades/Sierra axis during a former glacial
period, when everyone moved south some degrees, and then advancing
northward. The interior birds would be up in the mountains, where there
were cool, moist habitats, while the coastal birds could stay in the
lowlands and find the same preferred habitat.

A similar scenario can be constructed for the Orange-crown. The western
lowland _Vermivora celata lutescens_ breeds in somewhat drier habitats with
shrubs and small trees, while the interior _V. c. orestera_ breeds in more
or less similar habitat, but that habitat is in the high montane forests
east of the Cascades. Because this species is happy in drier habitats,
_lutescens_ breeds coastally all the way south to the chaparral of southern
California, while the western lowland _chryseola_ Wilson's, of moister
habitats, breeds south to the same latitude but only in the mountains.

I'm strongly in the camp that thinks the only breeding Orange-crowns in the
east are in the high mountains of the NE corner and the Blues. According
to Jewett et al. (Birds of Washington State), there should be Orange-crowns
breeding in the Wenatchee Mountains, but they've sure eluded me.
Interestingly, Jewett considered these birds _lutescens_, otherwise
restricted to the western lowlands. It points out the need for more
specimens in collections; we have only one breeding _orestera_ in this
collection, from way up in the mountains of Ferry Co.

And, of course, those who claim breeding status are the ones who have to
furnish the evidence.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416