Tweeters,

A lot of birding time and effort is spent on issuesrelated to the
"Frontiers of Identification." There is even an e-mail chat group with this
name. New identification guides roll off the press regularly, all purporting
to have a new and improved way to allow birders to more easily and
accurately identify birds they see.

Gains in knowledge in bird status and distribution doesn't seem to have
commanded as much our our communities attention. Personally, I think this is
a shame, as knowledge gained in this realm can directly aid bird and habitat
conservation, a special goal of many of us.

So, it was with special interest that I read and reread "Gray Vireos
wintering in California" by Philip Unitt in: Western Birds 31:258-262, 2000.
Gray Vireos are known to winter in northwestern Mexico, closely tied to
Elephant Trees ( Bursera microphylla), which is mainly Mexican in its
distribution, but scattered stands occur in southeastern California, mainly
in and near Anza-Borrego State Park, and also in extreme southwestern
Arizona. The trees have been censused, indeed each stand has been
identified. Heretofore, the likelihood of these trees hosting Gray Vireo
north of Mexico had not been investigated in California (though this was
known to be the case in Arizona since the 1960s, see "Birds of Arizona," by
A. Phillips et al. Univ. of AZ. 1964.). While atlasing San Diego County in
May 1999, Lori Hargrove located very large numbers of Elephant Trees,
perhaps thousands, and reported this to Philip. Philip "reasoned that an
undiscovered population of wintering Gray Vireos might occur there.
Therefore, to test the hypothesis, I organized an expedition on 4 and 5
December 1999." The rest of the story is probably easy to surmise. Philip
and his expedition did indeed find Gray Vireos, easily, and in numbers.

I find this discovery particularly important, given the fact densely
populated California still has "Frontiers of Distribution" issues to be
defined and researched. It is important, also, proving "citizen science" can
significantly add to the body of scientific knowledge.

And, you can bet my next winter trip to southeastern California's deserts
will include an "expedition" to the desert washes in eastern San Diego
County. It will be a two-pronged assault. Gray Vireos, of course, will be an
objective. Also Elephant Trees, a tree with gray bark nearly bleached
white, and boughs like an elephants trunk, and a wood that bleeds like an
animals when you cut it. It is the northernmost member of the Torchwood
Family, a tropical group and extremely sensitive to frost. Read more of this
fascinating tree and its discovery in the United States in "Western Trees,"
by Donald Culross Peattie. 1980. Bison (reprint of Houghton Mifflin edition
in 1953).

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA
steppie at nwinfo.net