At 03:27 PM 10/27/97 -0500, you wrote:

Retracted range: interesting term. Flipped through NG's Birds of North
America and it appears that many birds have migratory retraction. Lewis's
Woodpecker seems a reasonable example. Does migratory retraction also
apply to altitudinal migrants?

"Indigenous'. Good question. It is also sort of like "What is endemic?".
Birds do not respect political boundaries but are habitat oriented. Many
South American birds are restricted in range, 'Tumbes' comes to mind, and
are only found in 'Tumbes' habitat. Unfortunately, 'Tumbes' lies on the
southern border of Ecuador that is shared with Peru. Therefore they are
not endemic to either Peru or Ecuador while they are endemic
(Bio-habitat-speaking) to 'Tumbes'.

A truly endemic bird to the Good Ol' USA is California's Yellow-billed
Magpie (of course, with the new splits both California and Florida have
their own Scrub Jays now!). But I don't believe the Magpie has ever been
found outside of California.

But in the "Birds of the Russia" a Collins Book by Knystautas, endemic
means it is the only place they breed even if they are migrants. So how
does 'indigenous' apply? I guess it's better than being indigent!

Bob
taylorrt at geocities.com




>Gene Hunn, I don't understand this reference in your recent
>post on Tropical Kingbirds:
>
>>Couch's is restricted to the Gulf lowlands of Mexico s to the Peten of
>Guatemala & Belize and exhibits limited migratory retraction from the
>northern edge of its range in s. Texas.>
>
>What is migratory retraction?
>
>Somewhat along the same lines, can one use the word
>"indigenous" of any species that migrate? If so, are they
>indigenous to their breeding grounds, their wintering grounds,
>or both?
>
>Chris "Jargon-challenged" Maack
>Anchorage, AK
>CMaack at compuserve.com
>