Subject: Lake/Klamath Co, OR: black-backed wp everywhere!
Date: May 29 12:32:46 1997
From: "Kelly A. Bettinger" - BETTIKAB at dfw.wa.gov


Hi Obol & Tweeters:
Just returned from 5 days of bird surveys
for a lodgepole salvage/bird study on the
Fremont and Winema National Forests. The
study area falls within the triangle made by
Chemult, La Pine, and Silver Lake, Oregon.
The highlight was finding 6 BLACK-BACKED
WOODPECKER nests without any effort at all.
All occurred in live lodgepole pine trees, all
were no higher than eye-level (my eye
level!), and had the bark stripped from
around the cavity entrance - this is what
made them stand out like beacons in the
otherwise gray sea of tree trunks. Common
to abundant species in the pure lodgepole
stands included YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER,
MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE ( + nest), HERMIT
THRUSH, CASSIN'S FINCH, DUSKY
FLYCATCHER, MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD,
CHIPPING SPARROW, DARK-EYED JUNCO,
AMERICAN ROBIN (+ nest) and TOWNSEND'S
SOLITAIRE (+ nest). Other species in these
stands included RED CROSSBILL (very few
compared to last year), GRAY JAY, WESTERN
TANAGER, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, GRAY
FLYCATCHER, PINE SISKIN, HAIRY
WOODPECKER, and WILLIAMSON'S
SAPSUCKER. In stands where some
ponderosa and grand fir were mixed in with
the lodgepole, I also tallied WHITE-BREASTED
NUTHATCH, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, and
SOLITARY VIREO. That's probably not all the
species, as I don't have my notes nearby, but
close. A few incidental species from some
nearby wet meadows included TREE
SWALLOW (nest), SANDHILL CRANE,
RED-WING BLACKBIRD, SAVANNAH
SPARROW, and many large overhead flocks
of CANADA GEESE.
On another note, CASSIN'S FINCH songs have
fascinated me for some time...I have kept a
tally for 4 years now of songs and calls of
species that the Cassin's will imitate within it's
own songs. I have no clue why they do this.
Do they do it throughout their range? My
observations are all from Klamath, Lake, and
Deschutes Counties in Oregon. There are
two papers out on Cassin's finch songs and
the earlier one doesn't even mention the
habit they have of imitating other species, I
think it was mentioned in the second paper. I
have heard them imitate robins (calls),
tanagers ("pddt pddt" calls), white-breasted
nuthatches (calls), Townsend's solitaires
("toot" calls), common nighthawks (calls), and
solitary vireos (song) among others. They
usually incorporate these bits into their own
song, though once I watched a Cassin's sing
a Solitary vireo song by itself before
continuing on with it's own song. I have a
credible witness to confirm this last event
too! Anyone else been keeping track of this
phenomenon?

Kelly A. Bettinger
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
Habitat Management Program
Species-Habitat Project
600 Capitol Way North
Olympia, WA 98501-1091
360-902-2604
bettikab at dfw.wa.gov