Dan,

Dick Cannings and I have a manuscript in the works that describes a broad
clinal belt linking typical Pacific Slope Westerns along the east base of
the Cascades & West thereof, through connecting populations all across the
northern tier of Washington Counties and southern British Columbia to
western Alberta, then south through your region. The se Washington birds
are closest to Cordilleran but still represent a somewhat intermediate
population with respect to the central/southern Rocky Mountains. No way
are they two species.

Gene Hunn.

On Sun, 12 May 1996, Dan Stephens wrote:

> Tweets,
>
> Three ornithological observations from the center of the state, ranked from
> beginner to advanced:
>
> Today (12 May) in my yard in Wenatchee: Western Tanager-2 (first of the year),
> Vaux's Swift-2 (feeding overhead) , Cedar Waxwing-2 (present all year),
> Evening Grosbeak-40 to 50 (first large flocks this spring, previous high 4 at a
> time), Yellow-rumped Warbler-0 (up to 30 in the yard at a time in late April).
>
> At Atkin's Lake in Douglas Co. (11 May) a Western and Clark's Grebe starting to
> court. Several pair of Eared Grebe nested at Atkin's last year. 30 Eared seen
> on the Lake on Saturday.
>
> And (the best for last) a Western Flycatcher 'Pacific-slope' and a Western
> Flycatcher 'Cordilleran' caught in the same net at the same time on Saturday
> at the famous Douglas Creek Banding Station. The brit ringer there to observe
> was thanking his lucky stars there were no Empids in England. You may be asking
> how I knew the difference in hand. It takes a while, Pyle et.al.,and some
> experience. I am familiar with the Cordilleran (then Western) from years of
> banding and birding Idaho. It is the (Cordilleran) that breeds in the
> Cottonwood riparian strips in Columbia, Garfield and Asotin Counties (in my
> humble opinion) where I've seen and heard them the last 3 years. What happens
> between Columbia County and the Cascades is a mystery. I've been banding at
> Douglas Creek for 5 years and have caught, seen, and heard Western Flycatchers.
> In my opinion (and without much hard evidence- I like limbs) I am in an
> introgression zone between Cordilleran and Pacific-slope Flycatchers. I believe
> the Cordilleran in SE Washington are pure Cordilleran (perhaps an ecotype as
> they tend to be found in dry Douglas-fir in Idaho) if there is such a thing; and
> the Pacific-slope along the east-slope of the Cascades (such as at the
> Leavenworth Fish Hatchery) are also 'pure'. Then again it is possible that the
> entire Cottonwood population of Western Flycatcher between Idaho and the
> Cascades is best explained by the bounded superiority model of Moore (Moore,
> W.S. 1977. An analysis of narrow hybrid zones in vertebrates. Q.Rev. Biol 52:
> 263-278). I've lived in Western Washington (Pacific-slope) and Idaho
> (Cordilleran), and believe that the cottonwood woodlands along the eastern edge
> of the Cascades is a hybrid zone for this species complex. I also believe the
> superspecies concept fits this group well (see the preface to 6th edition of the
> AOU Checklist). Questions? (sorry no answers, only more questions). Anyway some
> food for thought for some tweets. Enough rambling- back to grading zo exams.
> Dan
>
>
>
>
>
> Dan Stephens (509) 662-7443
> Dept. of Biology fax: (509) 664-2538
> Wenatchee Valley College e-mail: dstephen at ctc.edu
> 1300 Fifth Street
> Wenatchee, WA 98801
>
>