I thought of a scenario to account for that Verdin. I'm probably wrong about it, but I'll toss it in the ring. Migrant (Mexican) workers go back and forth between southern and northern agricultural regions on a seasonal basis. Since their trucks could accidentally catch a curious Verdin down in Arizona, their children might have caged one for entertainment while on their northward trek, and then released it after arriving in eastern Washington. Well, it's just a thought.

Phil Hotlen
Bellingham, WA
-----------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Greaves" <lbviman at blackfoot.net>
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Tuesday, April 6, 2010 2:11:32 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: [Tweeters] Re: vagrancy, transport, verdins and others

Thank you for good comments. Bear in mind also, that some records
committees argue over those exact points: vagrancy versus transported
(or escapee). One "no" vote (for whatever reason) is okay in MT, but
two such votes denies it is "real" - ie, that it is/was unprovably
"vagrant", and could have been excape or transported by human... That
does not negate the sighting however! On a side note, the
ornithological "reason" given for the "expected" vagrancy of some
species is precisely because they are poor fliers -- rails, for
example... By no small stretch, one could assume as much of
curve-billed thrasher and verdin, and perhaps overlooked until a
relatively recent HUGE increase in eyes out there looking more
critically at birds, with its resulting "competitive" spirit - Jim Greaves, MT

At 01:05 PM 4/6/2010, Scott Downes wrote:
>For those who are tired of this thread ... [snipped] ... We should
>be diligent in a review, but diplomatic. For those being reviewed,
>try to take a second look at the intent of the review. It might be
>grilling, but no malice intended (hopefully).
>
>Off my soap box now.
>
>Scott Downes
>downess at charter.net
>Yakima WA

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