Hans-Joachim and others,

Interestingly, Cornell's Living Bird magazine has recently addressed the question of which birds should represent each state, based on a vast collection of eBird data. And they propose the Varied Thrush for us 😊. We apparently have 24% of the global population overwintering here, for instance. Here's Part 2<https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/can-ebird-help-choose-better-state-birds-part-2-robins-chickadees-goldfinches-and-bluebirds/> of Matt Smith's and Marc Devokaitis's extended report, which briefly addresses the Varied Thrush -; see the linked Part 1 for their methodology.

I hope the article answers some of your questions. I treasure the Varied Thrush couple who overwinters in my own yard.

Trileigh

Trileigh Tucker
Pelly Valley, West Seattle
NaturalPresenceArts.com<http://naturalpresencearts.com/>



From: Hans-Joachim Feddern <thefedderns at gmail.com>
Date: Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 10:58 PM
To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] Twin Lakes Varied Thrush - Again
I hope that I am not boring everyone, but we just arrived home from a rather exciting birding trip to the San Diego area, when I looked out into our backyard and saw a female Varied Thrush! Maybe the same individual we had all winter. It does seem rather late, though but having seen the snow in the mountains from the plane today, I can see why her ladyship is in no hurry!
It raises the question if this bird is indeed a local - Washington State - bird, or is a migrant from as far north as Alaska?

Good Birding!

Hans

--
Hans Feddern
Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA
thefedderns at gmail.com<mailto:thefedderns at gmail.com>