Tweeters,

Mike Patterson's remarks about Northern Bobwhites may be accurate for
Oregon, but not necessarily for Washington.

There is one area of Washington which has a self-sustaining population
of Bobwhites-- the lowlands of Pierce and Thurston Counties. At least,
this population was considered to be self-sustaining by Smith,
Mattocks & Cassidy (Breeding Birds of Washington State, 1997). As far
as I can gather, they were first released in Pierce County in 1877,
and have been there ever since.

Mike is correct in that Northern Bobwhites are frequently released
almost everywhere in Washington and Oregon (mostly if not entirely
illegally, these days), and could pop up almost anywhere. There were
some large releases by game agencies prior to the 1960s. Jewett et al.
(Birds of Washington State, 1953) give a good history of Bobwhite in
the state up to that point. In the 1950s, they seemed to be widely
established east of the Cascades, but now the only remaining
population is in the South Sound region.

To get back to Mary Shane's original message, yes indeed, the bird she
saw at Montesano is very likely to be a Northern Bobwhite, but most
likely from a recent, local release. Jewett et al. specifically note
a Bobwhite record from Montesano prior to 1953, but Grays Harbor
County is not great Bobwhite habitat (too wet!), and if there ever was
an "established" population there, it probably died out long ago.

I would appreciate an update from birders in Pierce and Thurston
Counties. Are Bobwhites still fairly common there, or are they
declining? They certainly were not hard to find on Fort Lewis when I
looked for them there in the mid-80s, and they seem to have still been
widespread during the Breeding Bird Atlas years (1987-1996). Birds
were also noted from King and Kitsap Counties during the Atlas
project.

Wayne C. Weber
Kamloops and Delta, BC
contopus at shaw.ca



----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Patterson <celata at pacifier.com>
To: <rnbuffle at yahoo.com>
Cc: <mshane at techline.com>; <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Thursday, November 21, 2002 7:40 PM
Subject: Re: Northern Bobwhite


> Bobwhite is a commonly reared gamebird (along with Turkeys
> pheasants and California Quail) throughout Cascadia.
>
> There are no established, self-sustaining populations, yet.
>
>
> --
> Mike Patterson
> Astoria, OR
> celata at pacifier.com
>
> A child who becomes acquainted with the birds about him
> hears every sound and puzzles out its meaning with a cleverness
> that amazes those with ears who hear not.
>
> -Neltje Blanchan
>
> http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html