[Tweeters] mtn/urban birds

[Dennis Paulson]

Hi David,

You are correct, although I wouldn’t have thought Black-capped Chickadees were very high in the mountains. How high have you seen them? Robins can be highly migratory, but I don’t know if our birds that are here only in the winter come from the north or—perhaps—some down from the mountains. It’s not good robin habitat up there in the winter!

We get other wintering birds in Seattle such as Sharp-shinned Hawks, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creepers, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Hermit Thrushes, Townsend’s and Yellow-rumped Warblers, and more. Again, I don’t know if some of them may be moving downslope as well as southward. Indeed Varied Thrushes are in that category, but do ours come from above or to the north?

Red-breasted Sapsuckers are not very migratory but are known to move down from higher elevations in some winters.

Dennis Paulson
Seattle


> On Sep 26, 2023, at 3:06 PM, David B. Williams <wingate at seanet.com> wrote:

> 

> Greetings. I have been thinking about the relationship between urban birds and mountains birds. When I am up in the mountains, I often see some of the birds of my Seattle yard, such as juncos, robins, and black-capped chickadees. It’s my understanding that “my” yard birds do not migrate up to the mountains. Is this correct? 

> 

> In contrast, I believe that the varied thrushes I see in my yard do migrate up to the Cascades. Is this correct?

> 

> Any insights on the connection between birds seen in the Cascades ones in the urban/Puget lowland landscape would be appreciated.

> 

> Sincerely,

> David 

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> David B. Williams

> www.geologywriter.com

> Free newsletter: https://streetsmartnaturalist.substack.com/

> I live and work on the land of the Coast Salish peoples and am trying to honor with gratitude the land and those who have inhabited it since time immemorial. I know that I have much more to learn and hope to continue that journey.

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