Subject: FW: willow goldfinch
Date: Jan 6 15:11:55 1999
From: Jon. Anderson and Marty Chaney - festuca at olywa.net


Hi folks,

Got the following note from Kelly Bettinger, and thought that the folks
on the list would be interested.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kelly Bettinger <bettingk at ccmail.orst.edu>
Subject: willow goldfinch

Hi Russell and Jon - has anyone from the Washington birding
community ever pointed out to the legislature that the willow goldfinch
subspecies (Spinus tristis salicamans = Cardeulis tristis salicamans)
that was voted state bird in 1951 only occurs in California?
Just wondering......Kelly
--------------------------------------------------------
Kelly -

Spinus = Cardeulis because The 6th Edition of the AOU Check-List
joined goldfinches and the pine siskin with the Redpolls, European
Goldfinch, and the Greenfinch, but does note that we should see
comments under C. pinus: "Often placed in the genus (Spinus) along
with all species following.." Currently, the siskins are in subgenus
"Spinus" and the goldfinches are in the subgenus "Astragalinus".
'Way too much taxonomy for me....

The "Willow Goldfinch" was described as Spinus tristis salicamans
by Grinnell in the Auk volume 14, October 1897 from the type specimen
collected at Pasadena, California. At the time, this subspecies was
considered to breed from British Columbia south to Lower California
west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevadas.

Subspecies "Spinus tristis jewetti", was split off from 'S.t. salicamans'
by van Rossem (Condor, vol. 45, July 23, 1943) from the type specimen
collected at Ashland, Jackson County, Oregon. Salicamans was, by
type, the resident bird west of the Sierra Nevada in California and in
northwestern Baja. Subspecies 'jewetti' is now the breeding and resi-dent form west of the Cascade mountains from southwestern British
Columbia south to Southwestern Oregon. I am uncertain where the
split between the two races is considered to be located.... certainly
not just at the 42nd Parallel.

Since the 5th Edition of the A.O.U. Check-List of North American Birds
was not published until 1959, we must forgive the Washington State
Legislature their ignorance of the ornithological literature..... they were
relying on the most recent 4th Edition AOU Check-List (published in
1931).
"Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do..."

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net