Subject: [Tweeters] Fw: [bcintbird] Dusky/Sooty Grouse split
Date: Jul 11 11:44:41 2006
From: Wayne C. Weber - contopus at telus.net


Tweeters and Inland Birders,

The location of the "dividing line" between Sooty and Dusky
Grouse is being actively discussed in BC as well as in Washington.
The attached message from Dick Cannings, forwarded from the
BCINTBIRD group, may be of interest. In BC, as in Okanogan County,
WA, Sooty Grouse extend only a short distance east of the
Cascade and Coast Mountains divide, and birds on the lower east
slopes of these mountains are Dusky Grouse. E.g., in the Nicola
watershed of BC, where I have studied birds for over 30 years,
all "Blue Grouse" I have seen and heard appear to be Dusky Grouse.
The paper by Barrowclough et al. which suggests that the
"dividing line" runs down the middle of the Okanogan Valley
is simply incorrect on this point, according to my observations.

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net


----- Original Message -----
From: "Dick Cannings" <dickcannings at shaw.ca>
To: <bcintbird at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, July 10, 2006 9:32 AM
Subject: Re: [bcintbird] Dusky/Sooty Grouse split


Hi Laurie et al.:

According to the old "bible" of BC birds (Munro and Cowan 1947), the two
forms meet (not surprisingly) along the Cascade and Coast mountain crest.
Birds in the alpine area of Manning Park, for instance, are considered Sooty
with a bit of Dusky intergradation, while birds lower down on the east slope
at Lillooet are considered Dusky with a bit of Sooty. So I think birds in
the Okanagan could be considered "always" Dusky. If you see one, just look
at the tail--if it's got a nice grey band at the end, it's a Sooty, if it's
all black, it's a Dusky. That works for adults only (as we've been
discussing lately).

Dick Cannings
Naramata, BC