BIRDS OF YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 75 



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Even before you have finished establishing your camp in one of the many 

 pleasant campgrounds of Yosemite National Park, you may be visited by a 

 bird accustomed to finding people friendly and ready to share their food. 

 In the face of such confidence one cannot be intolerant of the behavior of 

 the colorful western tanager (see cover) when he alights on the camp table 

 and helps himself to the butter, nor can one feel harshly toward the raucous 

 Steller's jay as he boldly snatches a piece of bread and eats it out of reach 

 but in full view of camp. 



As with many of the animals in Yosemite, birds have come to regard 

 man as a relatively harmless feature of their environment and therefore go 

 about seeking their food, building nests and rearing their young with a 

 minimum of diversion due to his presence. This results in a most favorable 

 situation for one; who would study the birds, for it often allows close 

 approach and detailed observation of birds with little alteration of their 

 behavior. Indeed, in Yosemite the birds will force your attention upon them 

 whether you are a bird lover or not, for who can fail to be interested in the 

 bird that joins the family circle at mealtime or feeds its young within a 

 few feet of one's tent? 



DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS 



Area Covered. — The Yosemite region, as referred to in this book, is the 

 area of Yosemite National Park, the foothills immediately west of the park, 

 and the slope from the Sierran crest to the shores of Mono Lake east of the 

 park. At the present time 202 species have been reported within the park 

 boundaries. Most of these have been described in the following pages. 

 Species not described are those that have been seen only once or but a 

 few times or about which there is doubt as to accuracy of identification. 

 These undescribed forms are listed on page 139. In addition three species 

 seen at lower elevations outside the park but not recorded within the 

 park boundaries are described. These species are marked with an asterisk. 



Habitats. — Birds have adapted themselves to many different environ- 

 ments, usually called habitats. This helps alleviate the competition between 

 different species for food and nesting sites. To cite a few examples — ducks 

 feed in open water and nest in marshes, swifts feed in the air and nest on the 

 cliffs, kingfishers dive for fish in streams and nest in the banks, sandpipers 

 feed on the shores and nest on the ground, woodpeckers frequent forests and 

 feed on wood-inhabiting insects and nest in tree trunks, kinglets feed and 



