Date: 7/3/26 5:46 pm From: HAL MICHAEL via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] eastern WA birds moving west
Actually, haven't we had "eastern" species moving west for decades. Two that come to mind are the Eastern Kingbird in the Skagit Valley and Barred Owl moving south. We are also seeing the Tropical Kingbird moving north, but not yet breeding and Anna's Hummingbirds moving north and the east.
My perspective is that we have a couple things happening that allow range expansions. Climate Change, which is actually a normal (albeit now accelerating) process. The second is all the habitat changes. The movement of riparian trees west, the conversion of conifer forests from old growth to 60-year rotational farms, all the urbanization, and so on.
Hal Michael Olympia WA 360-459-4005 360-791-7702 (C) <ucd880...>
> On 07/03/2026 3:54 PM PDT Steve Loitz via Tweeters <tweeters...> wrote: > > > A few thoughts: > > 1. Snoqualmie Pass and other WA Cascade passes are on a long-term warming trend due to climate change. The 2025-26 winter was the mildest winter we've seen in over a decade. IME, it is not unusual to see E WA and Central WA species spill over to the west side in mild winters. (FTR, I'm a frequent mountain traveler, on foot and ski.) > > 2. Yellow-breasted Chats and Lazuli Buntings could have moved north from the Willamette Valley, which has been part of their summer range for decades. I regularly saw both species when I lived in Eugene in the early 1980s. Both species have been summer residents of Basket Slough NWR for as long as I recall. > > 3. Range expansion across the warming passes may be a bi-directional phenomenon, possibly due to climate change. Some predominately W-of-crest species have recently become more common sights E of the crest -- e.g., Pacific Wren, Bushtit, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Western Flycatcher -- all of which were uncommon IDs in and around Eburg when we moved here in 2016, but are now relatively common IDs. Some might suggest that the Western Flycatchers in our area may be Cordillerans which moved W, but the WEFLs we hear in and around Eburg sound like the Pacific-slopes I heard during the 30 years I lived in and around Seattle, not the voicings of Cordillerans I've heard many times in the Kettle Range, Idaho Sawtooths, etc. Also, RBSA range is somewhat confusing due to (IME) increased RBSA x RNSA hybridization (again, possibly the result of climate change warming), althogh we have had numerous confirmed sightings of RBSAs in the past few winters that did not appear to be hybrids. Also! note that RNSAs migrate S out of WA in winter. > > Steve Loitz > Ellensburg > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > <Tweeters...> > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters >
