Regarding OCWA in eastern Washington:
It sounds like somebody needs to have a MAPS bird banding station or
at least a few mist nets up in the suspect OCWA breeding areas. A female
OCWA with a brood patch in June is pretty strong evidence for nesting
birds. Even better, how about finding a pair on a nest?
Janet Partlow
partlowj at elwha.evergreen.edu

On Thu, 20 Jun 1996 steppie at wolfenet.com wrote:

> >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
> >
> One of the problems with OCWa's is that they cease active singing rather
> early in the breeding season. I contend the brushy habitats are "crawling
> with this species"... but they are only occasional singers after say 20-25
> May. A breeding bird census of any eastside forest ecosystem in June is
> going to miss many Orange-crowned Warblers.
> Andy Stepniewski
> Wapato WA
>
>