Fred and other tweets,
The general consensus from researchers who have mapped out the hybrid zone
in the western washington cascades is that anything in the general
vicinity of the lower to middle king county crest, i.e. south of I-90 is
very likely a HETO (Hermit x Townsend's). I have personally heard HETO's
sound like both Hermits and Townsend's though its genrally a mix of the
two, often being much buzzier in quality. I personally have to see the
warbler to count it as a Townsend's or a Hermit in this range. Sites where
I have recently encountered HETO's are Rattlesnake Lake, Fire Training
Academy (I-90 exit 38). The take home message I think is that HETO's my
song as quite difficult to detect from pure TOWA or HEWA, though they may
be more buzzy in quality. If in the general area of the hybrid zone,
running in the cascades up to the I-90 area I would error on the side of
conservative and classify the bird as a HETO rather than a TOWA or a HEWA.
Again as an example I encountered a migrant flock of HETO's on May 9th and
ALL 30-35 were HETO's of the form mostly TOWA, except there was no yellow
extending onto the breast. Though not great for lists, I think caution and
conservative judgement should be made in this area.

Scott Downes
sdownes at u.washington.edu
Seattle WA

"Birds don't read bird books. (That's why they are seen doing things they
are not supposed to do)." -Mary Wood


On Thu, 20 May 1999, Fred Sharpe wrote:

> Are there any new insights on identifying the song of Hermit Warblers from
> Townsend Warblers, as well as the hybrids? Any general trends?
>
> fred
>
>
> <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <"}}}}}}}><{
> Behavioral Ecology Research Group
> Dept. of Biological Sciences
> Simon Fraser University
> Burnaby BC V5A 1S6 Canada
> phone: (604) 291-4374 Lab
> 291-5864 Office
> fax: (604) 291-3496
> email: fsharpe at sfu.ca
> Alaska BC Whale Foundation webpage:
> http://www.biol.sfu.ca/berg/whale/abcwhale.html
>
>
>