Dear tweeters,

What are the most widespread breeding bird species in the Puget Sound lowlands?

The Seattle Audubon Society breeding bird atlas team, with the help
of many Kitsap County residents, has just completed surveying a
splendid sample of this habitat -- all of Kitsap County.

Atlasers found that 16 species occurred on >90 percent of the survey
blocks (58 or more blocks of 64 total). Nine of these were detected
on all 64 blocks. An additional five species were detected on >85%
of the blocks (55 or more blocks).

Can you put names to these species, and rank-order them? Go ahead,
give it a try! Here is a hint to get you started: of the 21
species, only one is a non-passerine.

If you are not familiar with the terrain, Kitsap County includes the
Kitsap Peninsula and Bainbridge Island. This is low-lying land --
high point 515m at the summit of Green Mountian, but mostly below the
200m contour. It was once completely covered with Puget Sound
lowland forest (Western Hemlock zone) but has been 99+% logged off
and is now a mixture of second-growth forest (deciduous and
coniferous), agricultural land, light to medium development
(ranchettes and single-family dwellings with parks and other open
spaces), and heavy urban/industrial development around Bremerton.
There are small lakes and ponds, streams, and wetlands here and there
but no large rivers; one major reservoir; and lots of saltwater
shoreline.

Post to the list if you want to share the fun, or send your guesses
to me privately if you prefer. Anonymity respected if requested
(unless you win!).

I'll post the actual species list, with annotations based on your
responses, some time next week.

This challenge is also being blind ccd to several non-subscribers.

Hal Opperman
Medina, Washington
mailto:halop at accessone.com