I have occasionally guided out-of-state visitors who visit Benton County and
there are 2 bird species often sought which give me pause: Bushtits and
Red-breasted Sapsuckers - that's because, tho they are present, it is often
difficult to guarantee you will find them in an outing. Bushtits are quite
common, but move around outside of breeding season and your timing has to be
right to hit a flock even in areas you know they are at. I'm not sure what the
best word to describe Red-breasted Sapsucker presence here in Benton County -
they're not really common, but not uncommon either - locally common isn't much
better (though at one place I did have a RB Sapsucker who was regular at the
apple tree behind my apartment in December). They are essentially widely
distributed in almost every habitat that has trees, but in low numbers. I tend
to say they're present, but not reliably found.
Marcia F. Cutler
Corvallis
On Oct 31, 2015, at 7:37 AM, Tim Rodenkirk wrote:
In Coos County, along the coastal plain, I always consider RB Sapsucker- a
good find. They breed in the Coast Range, where they are quite local even up
there. In the lowlands, they tend to hit apple orchards or other fruit trees
during winter but can be totally absent from a bunch of good habitat when
checking on the CBC. That said, if you are a lucky one who has a bird return
to your apple trees every year, they would seem common. On the Coos Bay CBC
this is an easy bird to miss and we normally only get one or two. They seem
to be a bit more regular on the Coquille Valley count where you find many
more orchards. Anyhow, I probably only see a few a year in Coos County and I
get around a lot. They just are not near as common along the coast as they
are in the Willamette Valley.
Suffice to say, when I see one in Coos I always think- nice find! Oh, and I
always hold my breath during the Coos Bay CBC countdown when we get to that
species hoping that someone has found one!
My two cents,
Tim R
Coos Bay
On Fri, Oct 30, 2015 at 11:33 PM, David Irons <llsdirons@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Greetings All,
In a post earlier today, Darrel Faxon was cited as saying that Red-breasted
Sapsucker is "a good bird in Lincoln County." This comment caught my
attention, as I think of Red-breasted Sapsucker as being a common to uncommon
species almost anywhere in northwest Oregon (west of the crest of the
Cascades), with perhaps more modest numbers on the coastal slope of the Coast
Range and outer coast and greatest densities in the lower foothills of the
west slope of the Cascades and the east slope of the Coast Range.
Typically, eBird provides a pretty good resource when such questions arise,
so I checked the map of sightings for Red-breasted Sapsucker in nw. Oregon.
Around the areas of greatest population and the highest densities of active
eBirders, the pin drops for Red-breasted Sapsucker sightings are quite dense.
The total number of pin drops was considerably less dense along the outer
coast and on the western slope of the Coast Range, perhaps by as much as an
order of magnitude. That said, there are still a lot of eBird reports of this
species in Lincoln County. I counted about 45 pin-dropped sites with
Red-breasted Sapsucker reports, with many sightings over time listed for some
locales (i.e. Janet Lamberson's yard).
Next I looked at the reporting observers listed for those sightings. Aside
from Janet's long roster of yard sightings, many of the Lincoln County
reports of this species have come from folks who live outside the county.
This raised another question. How many of the most active Lincoln County
birders are active eBirders? The answer....not many. Of the top 15 all-time
eBirders for Lincoln County (based on number of species seen in the county),
only two live in the county–Janet Lamberson at #3 and Dawn Villaescusa at
#12. Then I looked at the standings based on the number of checklists
submitted, which is a better indicator of overall observer effort. Janet and
Dawn are #1 and #2 respectively, but the next eight spots are held down by
non-residents, including Greg Gillson at #3. Greg doesn't even live in Oregon
anymore and to my knowledge has only been back in Lincoln County once (for a
pelagic trip) since he and Marlene moved to southern California a couple of
years ago.
Please understand that I am not making any value judgment here towards those
who opt not to record sightings into the eBird database. However, in this
case I think who is reporting to eBird in Lincoln County to some extent skews
the picture that the eBird distribution map shows for Red-breasted Sapsucker
in the county. If you consider that we out-of-town birders (who account for
probably devote most of our birding time to seawatches, shorebirding, and
hitting coastal vagrant traps rather than birding heavily-wooded inland areas
inhabited by Red-breasted Sapsuckers, maybe it's not that surprising that
eBird reports of this species are comparatively few.
Off the top of my head, I would add the following names (in no particular
order) to those of Janet, Dawn, and Darrel as the most active resident
Lincoln County birders (I'm surely overlooking someone):
Wayne Hoffman
Range Bayer
Phil Pickering
Deb Holland
Chuck Philo
Roy Lowe
I would be curious as to how some of these folks would characterize the
status of Red-breasted Sapsucker in Lincoln County. Perhaps this is no more
than a difference in what Darrel and I would call a "good bird" (a vague and
subjective notion at best). If a species is known to be resident and a
breeder in the county, I would call it expected, uncommon, or perhaps locally
uncommon even if that species might be missed during several visits to
appropriate habitat. In my view, a "good bird" is one that even a resident
birder would get excited about finding...a species that one might expect to
encounter only once or twice every few years of active birding.
Dave Irons
Portland, OR
