One of the most challenging puzzles in Oregon field ornithology in recent years has been to discern the ranges of Pacific-slope and Cordilleran Flycatchers. Work in recent seasons by Dr. Arch McCallum has shown that "Western" Flycatchers in the Warner Mountains have vocalizations of Cordilleran type, at a high level of confidence, based on statistical comparisons of spectrograms with Cordilleran Flycatcher recordings from Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, versus Pacific-slope Flycatcher recordings obtained from near the Pacific Coast.

This OFO field encampment will help to address the question, "Where and how abruptly do Western Flycatcher vocalizations switch from Cordilleran to Pacific-slope in character?" Our study area will be the upper reaches of the Rogue River, from Prospect north. In 1980, Ned Johnson found that Western Flycatchers in this area had Pacific-slope songs, but when collected showed some degree of Cordilleran influence in terms of morphology.

From our "encampment" in the Prospect Ranger District (several campgrounds and a couple of motels are available depending on personal preferences), we'll fan out each morning to sites where Western Flycatchers have been located, and record their dawn songs and, a little later in the morning, the male position notes. Later portions of the day will be used to scout for additional Western Flycatchers for the next morning's recording sessions, and/or for casual birding. Back in camp, we'll digitize the recordings and see how they compare with reference populations of Pacific-slope and Cordilleran Flycatchers.

If you're interested in participating, please contact the organizers for additional information on this event, including recording protocols, suggestions on equipment, and preparatory information and recordings of Western Flycatcher vocalizations.

Organizer: Joel Geier joel.geier at peak.org or (541) 745-5821
Acoustics Specialist: Arch McCallum archmcc at qwest.net
Local birding expert: Norm Barrett ndbarret at medford.net