________________________________________ From: bounce-119925923-14379...@list.cornell.edu [bounce-119925923-14379...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Ardith Bondi [ard...@earthlink.net] Sent: Monday, November 23, 2015 8:26 AM To: NYSBIRDS Subject: [nysbirds-l] Fwd: Re: [BIRDWG01] Western Flycatcher: two species or one?
-------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Re: [BIRDWG01] Western Flycatcher: two species or one? Date: Sun, 22 Nov 2015 17:53:43 -0800 From: Andrew Rush <ar...@berkeley.edu> Reply-To: Andrew Rush <ar...@berkeley.edu> To: birdw...@listserv.ksu.edu Hello all, Because I am the primary author on the most recent genetic analysis of these species (mentioned in the post by Douglas Futuyma cited by Peter Post), I thought that I could add a little to this discussion. I recently finished my dissertation research, most of which focused on these two species. While it is true that the two species are admixed in their DNA over a large part of the West, the Pacific-slope populations west of the crest of the Sierra, Cascades, and Coast Ranges (i.e., the Pacific Slope) remain genetically and phenotypically distinct. We know that gene flow from interior populations to the west slope Pacific-slope populations occurs to some extent, but it does not result in widespread genetic mixing like it does on the east slope. So, it is a little more complicated than two species just merging (back) into one. Pacific-slope seems to be merging more into Cordilleran than Cordilleran is merging into Pacific-slope. I’m not sure taxonomists will take this nuance ! into consideration when deciding what to do with these species, but from an evolutionary perspective, it is interesting. I will have at least a couple of more papers on this out soon. As soon as you cross the crest of the Pacific Slope to the east side, you encounter mostly genetically intermediate birds with intermediate songs or calls. There is some proportion of admixed birds in populations all the way to the Black Hills and to northern Utah and Colorado. On the other hand, you almost never encounter birds with intermediate songs or calls on the west side and almost no birds are mixed in their DNA…and these are limited to areas like Mt. Shasta in California, which is very close to admixed populations. So, if you have seen a Cordilleran Flycatcher in southern Colorado, New Mexico, or Arizona, you are probably safe…in terms of listing. If your Cordilleran Flycatcher is from Alberta, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, or the eastern parts of the coastal states, you have a higher likelihood of having seen an admixed bird. One last thing in terms of identifying these species. I have not formally analyzed the position notes yet (i.e., ‘pee-o-weet’ and ‘weet-seet’) but it seems that these change in a slightly different way than the songs geographically. I.e., you can encounter birds whose position note is more purely Cordilleran that has a more intermediate song type and a more intermediate genotype. I hope this is interesting to some of you. Andrew Rush > On Nov 22, 2015, at 5:23 PM, Peter Post <pwp...@nyc.rr.com> wrote: > > In light of the recent discussion on "Western Flycatcher" I thought the post > by evolutionary biologist and birder Douglas Futuyma, earlier today on NYS > Birds, might be of interest. > > http://birding.aba.org/message.php?mesid=1027591&MLID=NY01&MLNM=New%20York > > Peter > > Peter Post > New York City > pwp...@nyc.rr.com > > > > > > Archives: http://listserv.ksu.edu/archives/birdwg01.html Archives: http://listserv.ksu.edu/archives/birdwg01.html -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
