Two noteworthy additions to the Varied Thrush references:
- an illustration from the famous Lapérouse expedition in 1786. I've got it
here at the bottom of this post:
https://thecottonwoodpost.net/2022/11/08/setting-the-record-straight-on-the-california-bee-eater-of-1786/
- and a delightful song and video from Sparkbird in 2024:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xwSzhOpZbU
On Mon, Jan 13, 2025 at 7:16 PM Diann MacRae via Tweeters <
tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:
>
Hi, Tweets
>
>
I have copies of all the Bent books and would be glad to share them but
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have no idea how to copy them out. The thrush writings are quite
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interesting as are most of his histories. If you live near Bothell, you're
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welcome to come over and read them!
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>
Cheers, Diann
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>
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*Sent:* Monday, January 13, 2025 at 6:05 PM
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*From:* "Dan Reiff via Tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
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*To:* "Blythe Horman" <blythe.horman at gmail.com>
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*Cc:* tweeters at u.washington.edu
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*Subject:* [Tweeters] Arthur Cleveland Bent "Pacific Varied Thrush: I owe
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my introduction to this large and elegant thrush to my old friend Samuel F
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Rathbone, who first showed it to me in the vicinity of Seattle, and who has
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given me a wealth of information on it in his copious notes. While we were
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waiting for the good ship Tacoma to sail for Aleutian Islands, in May 1911,
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he helped our party to locate for two weeks in the then small town of
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Kirkland across Lake Washington from Seattle -;Re: Robins and Varied Thrush
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Hello Tweeters,
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Varied thrushes are one of my favorite species.
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To add to the great discussion:
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1. I have heard them until the last day of May, the last four years on the
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southern end of Mercer Island. They may nest there.
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2. I reviewed the literature from 1911, Life Histories of North American
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Thrushes, Kinglets, and Their Allies (author: Arthur Cleveland Bent).
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He and others did field research near Kirkland, WA and other areas near
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Lake Washington. They reported nesting in those areas.
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I have photographed eight pages of that book and would like to share them
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with tweeters, but do not have a way of doing so.
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I will send them to Blythe, Gary, Dennis and Connie in hopes they have a
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way of sharing the page photos with Tweeters. If someone else a way of
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sharing the book page photos please contact me and I will send them to you.
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It is interesting, great read.
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Best regards,
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Dan Reiff
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>
Sent from my iPhone
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>
> On Jan 12, 2025, at 6:02 PM, Blythe Horman via Tweeters <
>
tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:
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> Thanks everyone for your research on this, especially Robert Bletsch
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for looking at historical records in books. I have seen varied thrushes
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very occasionally during the spring and summer, and my conclusion parallels
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Robert's direct quotes. That is, Varied Thrushes nested in the Puget Sound
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Lowlands until urbanization destroyed their habitat. Then, like many
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animals, they were forced to breed in more inaccessible, mountainous areas.
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Also like many animals, in the last 10-25 years, some individuals have
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begun to return to the lowlands to attempt breeding. How successful this
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will be remains to be seen. Are there banding records available?
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>
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> I think this recolonization of suburban areas is not an uncommon
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phenomenon. That's why we now have human-wildlife interaction experts, in
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the hopes of resolving conflicts with particularly charismatic or feared
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animals such as cougars, bears, and coyotes without the old method of
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simply killing the animal.
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>
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> As another example of a large, noticeable animal recolonizing degraded
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habitat, look at the humpback whale in Puget Sound. Unheard of when I moved
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here in 1991, they are now common enough to be feature prominently in whale
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watching tour advertising.
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>
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> I assume many birds (and other small native wildlife) are attempting to
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recolonize historical lowland breeding areas, but since they're not
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particularly charismatic or usually problematic to non-birders, they don't
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get much, if any, mainstream notice. They fly under under the radar, as it
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were.
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>
>
>
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> _______________________________________________
>
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>
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
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--
Steve Hampton
Port Townsend, WA (qatáy)